Preschool tutoring is all the rage. Is it right for your child?
Latest Additions - Education
Teaching Babies To Read? Sat May 6, 2006 12:21 am
Finding a Good Early Reading Program Tue Apr 18, 2006 11:13 pm
The United States Department of Education offers some surprisingly useful tips for parents on finding a good reading program.
Beware the Helicopter Parents Mon Aug 29, 2005 5:55 pm
If you have a child heading off to college, take note of the message in this Associated Press article brought to us by Yahoo!. Colleges and universities have steadily increased the level of customer service offered to parents in recent years due to popular demand, but it seems the tide is turning. This piece highlights Colgate University in particular which says it is focusing more on high quality education than keeping parents happy 100% of the time. Regardless of which college your child is headed off to, it seems that this renewed direction is a trend, so we need to know what to expect....and not expect from our children’s higher education institutions.
Afterschool Tutoring...In Preschool? Mon Aug 22, 2005 6:44 am
Yes, folks. That appears to be the new thing. Getting your kids signed up with the tutoring center in their preschool years. They will receive homework and mind-bending exercises to make sure they are at the top of their class. It is really quite amazing when you think about it. The tough part is, we chuckle when we hear of pre-emptive after school tutoring, but then, we become anxious and look for options when we read our morning paper about the sad state of American education. What’s a parent to do? When you figure it out, let me know.
The Whole Child-A New Concept For Our Day Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:51 am
In an age when education has become a big number battle to combat low test scores and students’ lack of ability to perform the basics after high school, The New York Times offers an article highlighting new support for social and emotional learning. A Loyola psychologist and a Times staff member conducted a large quantitative study to understand the effects of social and emotional learning on academic learning. They found that children who had components of both performed 10 percentage points higher on standardized exams.
As a parent, I think this is great, and I can only hope that schools will start helping some of the bratty, pushy kids I see in public adjust their behavior. I am constantly trying to find new ways to explain to my kids that even though they see other kids pushing and bullying, it is not ok, and that I as a parent will not tolerate it. It would be nice to go back to some decent social standards so that parents who want to teach their kids to wait their turn for a piece of playground equipment do not have go find a nice plastic bubble somewhere to live in.
But I digress from the educational issue. It is easy to understand why test scores would go up if kids are taught how to behave. The academic time spent in the classroom is much more fruitful, and the children know their boundaries, and hopefully would spend less time testing them. So, I wait patiently for the idea of educating the whole person to take flight. Until then, I’ll be searching for my bubble.
Want To Give Your Children Access to The Classics? Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:35 pm
Wow. I found out about this project through another parenting list I belong to, and it looks fabulous. The Baldwin Project is working to provide online access to children’ literature that is in the public domain, which includes works published prior to 1923. If you think that is too ancient for your kids, the mission page of the website says “The period from 1880 or so until 1922 offers a wealth of material in all categories, including: Nursery Rhymes, Fables, Folk Tales, Myths, Legends and Hero Stories, Literary Fairy Tales, Bible Stories, Nature Stories, Biography, History, Fiction, Poetry, Storytelling, Games, and Craft Activities.” This is a really awesome effort that I wanted to share with Kidzwire readers, just in case you are looking for something unique and different for your kids to read during the last few weeks before school starts. Your schools might even be interested because permissions are in place to print the works for personal and educational use. Happy reading everyone!
Getting Homework Done At McDonalds Sat Aug 6, 2005 2:09 pm
This is an awesome story. Many parents wouldn’t encourage their kids to visit a local fast food joint to complete homework assignments, but for those kids who work, McDonald’s and some other franchise owners are giving school age kids extra time on the clock if they use the time to study. This shows real dedication to education, and personally gives me some hope that our nation has not devalued school to a disastrous level. According to this Associated Press article, “In a 2000 study by the Families and Work Institute, 38 percent of students employed during the school year said that working harmed their school performance.” This is a significant number when you consider that 25% of high school freshmen and 75% of high school seniors balance work and school.
It seems that if a child is struggling to manage schoolwork, then their work schedule should be cut back or eliminated until they are ready to resume and handle it, but for those kids who really need to work, I applaud the McDonald’s franchisees for pitching in to help.
Your Kids' Next Teacher Could Be a Former Banker Mon Aug 1, 2005 8:49 am
This article from The New York Times doesn’t provide direct advice for parents, but does offer an interesting look at the next generation of teachers. While fewer high-achieving college graduates opt for education as a profession, mid-level career professionals are starting to fill the ranks, and they’re bringing their business heads with them. This is a significant trend, according to the National Center for Education Information. In the last two years, approximately 70,000 professionals have initiated career changes into teaching, and these folks are forecasted to relieve shortfalls in math, science, foreign language and special education. Certification processes are making the change easier for mid-career shifters. According to the article, “forty-seven states and the District of Columbia have created 122 alternative routes to teacher certification in recent years.”
This trend may not be a surprise after witnessing Enron and other recent corporate blunders, but the effect on education processes will be pronounced. “With an average age of 35 and seven to eight years’ experience in another profession, this new breed brings marketplace attitudes to teaching and presents a challenge to the status quo, says Susan Moore Johnson, a professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education.” As parents, it is important for us to realize that our kids will not likely have teachers who have chosen education early in their career. The communication processes will likely be very different in the years to come, and we need to not only keep up with the trends, but also make sure the coming changes are actually an improvement.
Toddler Expulsions...Where To Begin? Wed Jul 13, 2005 1:51 am
Good article in Salon covering one parent’s story of having a child expelled from preschool. Also contains some interesting statistics on child expulsions. The prevalence of this practice is scary, as are the implications for individual and societal school performance.
