Latest Articles by jdsarticles

Children Learning

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Just as it is important for the child to learn, it is important for the teacher to know that they are actually getting through to the children. This means that the teacher will continue to see children learning in their classroom because they are encouraged by the look of realization that moves across the faces of children when they “get” something.

But learning doesn’t happen only in the classroom. It happens at home as well through parents who are concerned about making sure their child gets the best education possible. There are various concerns that exist in classrooms today such as teachers who may not be qualified to teach a particular area, class sizes that are too large to allow for individual assistance, and then, sadly enough, there are those teachers that are filling a space in a classroom because, although not qualified, they may have been the most qualified for the position. These factors can be offset a bit by doing certain things at home.

These things include reading to your child and encouraging them to read to you. Making special trips to the library and checking out books that interest your child can give them a good reading experience. You can also write fun notes to each other to encourage writing in order to promote the development of writing skills and you can further encourage writing by giving your child fun writing projects that both of you can enjoy. You can provide positive feedback and encourage developing a sequential storyline. Chances are this is going to teach the child patience with themselves and how to place events in a sequential order.

You can find books in the library promoting reading and writing skills as well as books that make math, science, and history fun instead of boring. Many children learning subjects they think they will never need believe these subjects to be boring, so what they must be taught is that these subjects are actually fun and necessary. Many adults went through school as children thinking that they didn’t need to learn a subject such as history only to find out that they should’ve paid better attention to the teacher in school. The same goes for science. There is something scientific in everything, but due to the lack of interesting presentation, kids find subjects such as science and math to be a burden rather than a necessity.

Basically, all aspects of education are important and even if a child feels that they will not use what teachers are teaching to them, they may find out later in life that they really do need those things and will be looking up on the internet what they didn’t pay attention to in class. It is amazing how many areas of life certain subjects such as grammar, science, math, and social studies can come in handy. Even if children will not use some of these things in their lives as adults, chances are that their own children may encounter the same materials.

Through aiding in the education of your children you are ensuring your children play a proactive role in the education of their own children. So what it comes down to is that the more proactive each generation is in the education of the next, the better off they will be when they are grown and the better off future generations will be.

--

Child Font Phonics curriculum is written by Brenda Geier, a K-12 Reading Specialist high quality Educator and Scholar.While teaching in a L4 locked-down facility for troubled youth, Ms. Geier was deeply moved and strongly concerned about the poor reading performance (affecting all academic areas) by the majority of enrolled students. Child Font - the art of reading and writing.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Home School

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Parents, guardians, grandparents, relatives or other tutors will end up teaching children at home and the children end up learning and following the curriculum set for them by their home teacher rather than by the publicly mandated curriculum that all public schools are required to follow.

Demographics

The largest concentration of home schools in the world is by far within the United States, where a recent estimate showed that approximately 2.5 million students are educated at home. There is also very little evidence to indicate that on average home school education and learning is of a lower quality than the teaching that students would receive at public or private school and it is perhaps this lack of evidence that has inspired more people to start their child's education in a home school teaching environment.

Another point that is interesting to note is that the average teacher in a home school environment is actually more likely to have advanced degrees from post-secondary institutions than the average teacher in a public school. Of course, the counterargument to that is the fact that teachers in public schools are required to obtain teaching degrees from accredited teaching institutions whereas learning about teaching methods is not an express requirement for parents that wish to home school their children.

There are a number of different reasons why parents choose to home school their children. In the most reason survey done regarding home schooling within the United States, it was found that 415,000 students or roughly 49 in which case the parents home schooled their children because of assorted religious reasons. The next most popular choice in the survey was the parents feeling that there was a poor learning environment in the schools in their area, which accounted for approximately 26% of respondents' answers.

While these are the main reasons according to the United States surveys, they may not be the main reason worldwide. The lack of informational surveys and data regarding home schooling in many areas of the world makes it difficult to draw conclusions regarding reasons for home schooling on a global level, but some sort of dissatisfaction with the current school system in their location is usually the underlying reason for home schooling on the part of most parents, even if the way in which that dissatisfaction manifests itself is rather different.

Doing it Yourself If you are interested in home schooling your child, there are a number of resources around that can help you. Your local bookstore very likely carries outlines for different courses at different levels and there are a number of home schooling resources online that you can get to with just a simple web search. As the home school becomes more and more popular, what people are finding is that it is easier to get their children involved with home school education. Expect this to become easier as time goes on, so if you are doing this research right now because of an expected child in the future then it appears by trending that you can rest easy that the option will readily be available when you come to need it.

--

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Child Development

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600

This means that parents should constantly be teaching their children and ensuring they get the proper education because learning is a very important aspect of child development.

Child development covers the growth of a child all the way up until adolescence and this development is very important to society because of the cognitive, educational, and emotional development a child undergoes in order to be a productive member of society. Studying how a child develops is especially important since it results in the creation of developmentally appropriate programs within school systems. Even toy companies must know at what point children are developmentally at certain ages so that they can make their toys appropriate for the certain age groups. One can’t expect a two year old to play video games with numbers and letters, but they can expect a 5 to 6 year old to successfully play the game.

These phases in which children are learning to do things such as read and write are considered milestones. Even walking is considered a milestone along with various phases in physical development and these milestones become a huge focus in the stages of child development. Accomplishments such as hand-eye coordination, talking, walking, and learning how to solve a problem are all milestones in child development that must be noted by parents.

When parents are aware of what the age-specific milestones are, they are able to keep track of the child’s development and know that the child is either exceeding or meeting where they should be at specific points in their development. Some of the crucial parts of development that needs to be monitored are: problem-solving, social skills, patience, and creativity. Teaching these traits to children at a young age and practicing them frequently can result in proper development of these traits. If it is noticed that despite the teaching the child is not picking these necessary traits up, that may be indicative of a development delay, which is a common concern in child development.

If such a delay is occurring, it can be helped through early intervention in the form of therapy and delay. Although it may never be completely eradicated since a developmental delay is more or less a life-long disability. The good news is that the training and education opportunities are expanding as are the knowledge of those teaching these programs. There seems to have been an increase in those wanting to become involved with aiding those with developmental delays and helping them become functional members of society despite their disability.

So as you can see, child development is very important and knowing the phases of child development and their milestones is important for society to understand. Anytime there is a delay in activities such as the transfer of objects from one hand to the other at 6 months of age, for instance, there is need for further evaluation by the parents and this information should be presented to the baby’s pediatrician. If other delays occur in development such as not crawling by 9 to 10 months, something may be going on that with early intervention can become less severe in the child’s life.

Basically what it comes down to is educating parents on the stages of child development, what to look for to identify a developmental delay, and knowing what to do if there is one. Child development is very important to the child and society, so having the appropriate knowledge is very crucial in many ways.

--

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Peel\

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Imagine the impossible: imagine having the ability to employ a few strings of code to your site easily and seamlessly which will do two things: First totally revamp the look and feel of your web site bringing it into the Web 2.0 age and second they will turn your web site into a cash generator by hugely increasing the amount of money you can make from online advertising.

Until now the above scenario was firmly in the realm of fiction. Webmasters could only dream of a means that would allow them to make more money from their online visitors while at the same time effortlessly updating the look of their site.

What has changed is the Peel Away Ad script. Lightweight, easy to implement and immensely powerful the Peel Ad script allows the average webmaster to have powerful, interactive ads running on their site within minutes. The effect could not be more stunning. Pages that used to be humdrum and ordinary suddenly become transformed into eye-catching displays of page-turning (quite literally) quality, all within an incredibly short length of time, giving you complete control over the effect.

So, how does it work?

Well, the Peel Away Ad script uses short, powerful code to implement interactive Flash coding on your site which creates, as the name aptly suggests, a peeled corner effect that captures the visitor's eye and gives a tantalising glimpse of the ad underneath.

Because the effect is eye-catching but unobtrusive it appeals to the most powerful human emotion: curiosity. This makes nine out of ten visitors to the peel back the page to see what's hidden underneath.

The result is that the ad that you have chosen to display then becomes fully visible. Better still, because the visitor to your site is fully engaged a Peel Away Ad delivers more responses to adverts and better results than practically any other internet advertising campaign.

It is this dual effect of cool looks and an approach that makes online advertising actually work that make the Peel Ad script a winner when it comes to delivering results on websites which employ advertising.

Do you need to be technical?
One fear webmasters have is that employing scripts like the Peel Away Ads script on their websites requires tremendous technical knowledge. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Peel Away Ad script is easy to implement straight from the box. It gives webmasters all the tools they need in order to control how it displays on their site. You could, for example have it in just one corner, two or even all four and yet have complete control of which ads you display, where through the powerful admin tools that come with it.

The other worry that webmasters often face is the degree of accessibility that a powerful new script like the Peel Away Ad script will offer those who visit their site. Unlike fancy programs the Peel Ad script utilises FLASH technology, needs nothing more than the Flash player to be viewed and because this is often automatically embedded in the web browser of more than 98 of your online visitors will be able to view and act on the Page Peel Ads script effect.

Is it cost effective?
Unlike most powerful high-end technologies which require a significant outlay in money in order to provide a suitably high-end effect at the front end of your site the Page Peel Ad script is very cost effective. Use it on one site, or many, the important thing is that it does not cost a lot, it is not bulky so it loads fast and does not cause your web site to slow down and it provides results.

Your chance to make money
Because the Page Peel Ads script is so powerful and because web site visitors absolutely love it the chances are that it will more than just help your website make money from online advertising.

So, now that you know all this the question is, if you are a webmaster dedicated to creating a thoroughly contemporary end-user experience on your website, and really want to make money from the sale of ads, what are you waiting for?

Go for the Peel Away Ads script and turn your website into a money generating machine that will simply earn and keep on earning for you.

--

Apeelingad.com is a new website launched recently by Jose' Rocha. This venture is the perfect way for me to share an innovative product and for you to get extra attention from your customer on your site. Peel Away Ads is a small animated "Peel" also knows as "Curl" or "Dog Ears" on your Web site. ApeelingAd - Creative ads are a peeling.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Using Poetry to Teach Reading Skills

Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Why use poetry? Children love rhythm whether it is in songs, words or tapping on a table or desk. Home schooling parents and teachers using word play with children every single day in one form or another are boosting children’s learning power, child development and natural curiosity.

Young children are highly motivated to read and hear poetry in any form. Choose poetry books that are adequate for the age of the child, books that are less threatening for beginning readers with a humble amount of text.

Poetry can be predictable and is easily modeled by children. More importantly, it develops oral language. Short stanzas encourage children to re-read again and again. Repetitive reading provides consistency allowing young children to read without really reading.

Poetry is entertaining and informative. It instills a love of reading at an early age which is necessary for latereducational success. If the reading process is pleasurable, children become self-disciplined in searching for additional reading material. What a joyful feeling it is to witness a young child searching for a new book to read!

Make poetry and learning come alive by acting out parts of the entire poem. Children absolutely love this activity! Assign one line to one child, another line to another child, one line to the parent or teacher, etc. Play the part by using your body and gestures to act out the words as the words are spoken. Move around the room using your arms, legs and hands. Ask children to make up their own words to a poem and act them out. Soon, children will be initiating this activity during play time, turning play time into learning time!

--

Child Font Phonics curriculum is written by

Brenda Geier, a K-12 Reading Specialist high

quality Educator and Scholar.While teaching in a

L4 locked-down facility for troubled youth, Ms.

Geier was deeply moved and strongly concerned

about the poor reading performance (affecting all

academic areas) by the majority of enrolled

students. <

b>Child Font - the art of reading and writing.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

The Truth about Phonological Awareness

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Phonological awareness is the ability to discern sound units smaller than a single syllable. It is imperative that children learn these small sound units at an early age and it is not an easy task. First, the letters of the alphabet must be learned, but the sounds of the letters must be taught next. Teach children as early as age 3 and 4 each individual sound that each individual letter makes. This process is the base children must have to be able to learn the next sequence of sounds. Resources such as picture books that show the letter and an accompanying picture work well.

Vowels (short first, then long) must be taught next. By making a game out of this learning process, the child's interest is not lost. Parents and teachers alike can be very creative. Now is the time to use that creativity to make learning and child development fun for the child. Most of the short vowels are fairly easy for children to learn with the exception of the short /e/ sound. I have found in my years of teaching that many children have problems discerning between the short /e/ and the short /i/ sound. They do sound a lot alike. One way I make the difference clear is to use the edge of a desk or table. I run my palm along the edge of the table and say /eh/ for edge, which is the short /e/ sound. Then, each time a child comes across a word that has the short /e/ sound, I remind them with my hand on the desk, but do not say anything. They quickly learn to discern the difference. Use models as often as possible to aid in learning and teaching.

Teaching blends as in two-letter and three-letter blends must be taught after the vowels (short and long) are mastered, but that's another paper.A child's level of phonemic awareness on entering school is widely held to be the strongest single determinant of the success that he or she will experience in learning to read, or conversely, the likelihood that he or she will fail )Adams 1990). Parents who home school their children and teachers in the business of educating our students should be aware of this research and seek counsel from Reading Specialists to assure our children do not fail to learn to read.

--

Child Font Phonics curriculum is written by Brenda Geier, a K-12

Reading Specialist high quality Educator and Scholar.While teaching

in a L4 locked-down facility for troubled youth, Ms. Geier was deeply

moved and strongly concerned about the poor reading performance

(affecting all academic areas) by the majority of enrolled students.

Child Font - the art of reading and writing.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

Education & Teaching - Language Acquisition

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Brenda Geier K-12 Reading Specialist - The research tells us that with the support of parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators, as well as exposure to a literacy-rich environment, children progress from emergent to conventional reading. By interacting through reading aloud and conversation, children are exposed to learning early. It is very important to read aloud to children and provide opportunities for them to talk about the stories that they hear. As Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, and Wilkinson (1985) state, "The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children, especially during the preschool years". It helps them develop oral language, cognitive skills, and concepts of print and phonemic awareness.

Children read to develop background knowledge about a range of topics and build a large vocabulary, which aids them in later comprehension and development of reading strategies. They also watch how others read and therefore become familiar with the reading process. They are constantly learning. Still, many enter elementary school without a strong background in literacy. These are the children who are most at risk of developing reading problems. To provide high chances of success, teachers should be involved in professional development to learn more about child development as it relates to literacy acquisition.

At age 3-4, children begin to "read" their favorite books by themselves. They begin to use "mock handwriting" (Clay, 1975). Around age 5, in kindergarten, most children are considered emergent readers. They make rapid growth in literacy skills if they are exposed to literacy-rich environments (Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999). Children may try to recall what has been written or use a picture created with the text to reread instead of using the letter clues (Kamberelis & Sulzby, 1988; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). Although they are beginning to apply phonetic knowledge to create invented spellings, there is a lapse in time before they use phonetic clues to read what they write. For those parents who choose to home school their children, an enormous advantage exists to teach children phonetic knowledge, sight words and decoding before they enter school. This learning advantage gives them power with text that most will not be equipped with.

Most children will become early readers during the first grade. They commonly look at beginning and ending letters in order to decode unfamiliar words (Clay, 1991; Pinnell, 1996b; Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998). They know a small number of sight words.

By second grade, they are transitional readers, able to read unknown text with more independence. They use meaning, grammatical, and letter cues more fully and use pictures in a limited way while reading (Clay, 1991; International Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Pinnell, 1996b; Snow, burns, & Griffin, 1998). Transitional spellers can apply spelling rules, patterns, and other strategies to put words on paper.
By the third grade, children are typically fluent readers. They can read for meaning while focusing less on decoding. They may use transitional and phonetic spellings to spell infrequently used words.
The child's concept of words changes as the child's literacy development evolves. Children construct their own knowledge thus the difference between how an adult understands reading and writing and how a child understands reading and writing.
Children progress through several categories of phonological skills from rhyming to blending. The most difficult task involves the complete segmentation of phonemes and manipulation of them to form new words (Griffith & Olson, 1992; Hall & Moats, 1999).

If we begin teaching our children how to segment and manipulate phonemes at the pre-school age, they will have the tools necessary to spell correctly, understand the meaning of words and be able to write and read complete sentences with ease. Screen and assessment are crucial tools to determine children's literacy needs. Data helps teachers identify children who are developing at a less than normal pace and are in need of intervention. The earlier, the better to find these children. Throughout kindergarten and first grade, children can be screened for phonemic awareness, alphabetic knowledge, and an understanding of basic language concepts (Texas Education Agency, 1997a).

Performance based assessments, such as observational records of reading and writing, developmental benchmarks, and portfolios can also be used to inform daily teaching (Allington & Cunningham, 1996; Burns, Griffin, & Snow, 1999; international Reading Association & National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1998; Slegers, 1996). Teachers, parents and caregivers need to understand and support children's emergent literacy and, in later years, children's transition to conventional reading and writing. Teachers, administrators, and specialists must understand the developmental nature of emergent literacy and early conventional literacy and ensure that the curriculum and instructional materials are appropriate. Parents need to be educated in child development and support sharing and exploring literacy with their children. The literacy program needs to support children's social, emotional, aesthetic, maturational, and cognitive needs. The reading program must be balanced and include quality literature, writing opportunities, development of phonemic awareness and alphabetic knowledge. To provide opportunities for children's literacy acquisition, schools should work with community groups and libraries to provide informational programs for parents regarding the development of literacy skills in young children.

Teachers should review research on reading and young children and become familiar with Learning to Read and Write: Developmentally Appropriate Practices for Young Children. (The joint position statement of the International Reading Association and the National Association for the Education of Young Children).

All teachers should develop an understanding of phonological terms and work to provide a developmentally appropriate curriculum in reading and writing that is attainable but challenging. Educators need to develop strategies for preventing reading difficulties to begin with. Libraries or resource centers should have extensive and varied resources.

Learning should be a fun process that instills a desire to learn even more. If we all work together, we can accomplish this.

--

Child Font Phonics curriculum is written by Brenda Geier, a K-12

Reading Specialist high quality Educator and Scholar.

While teaching in a L4 locked-down facility for troubled youth,

Ms. Geier was deeply moved and strongly concerned about the

poor reading performance (affecting all academic areas) by the

majority of enrolled students.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com