Parenting Articles | Kindles Fire Up Students’ Desire for Learning

Students at two Cheatham County elementary schools and one middle school are taking part in a pilot program designed to not only help improve their reading skills, but also radically change textbook distribution.

The myON reader from Capstone Digital engages students at all reading levels by providing a personalized reader-friendly environment that includes a list of over 2,000 enhanced digital books.

“It is wonderful to see these children so excited over learning,” said Dianne Williams, the district’s chief academic officer.

The program was initiated on March 19 for sixth-graders in Kristen Hagan’s language arts class at Sycamore Middle School and third-graders in Kelly Phillips’ class at East Cheatham Elementary School and Jonet Williams’ class at Ashland City Elementary School.

One of the features that drew interest was the online delivery and exchange of resources.
“In the near future all of our testing will be online, so we had to think of how we’re going to do that,” said Dianne Williams, noting the possibility of textbook delivery online in the near future.

Using funds from “First To The Top,” it took several months to get the program under way.
After learning about the myON reader, Williams said the county’s plan was revised to focus on language arts and to raise reading scores. There was a waiting period because state and federal approval on revisions to the plan was required before funds could be used for the investment.

One of the initial challenges was to find the right device for delivering the program to the students. The Kindle Fire was read more . . .

For more parenting articles, visit the Child Up Blog.

Parenting Articles | Does Music Make Children Smarter?

During Music In Our Schools Month, musicians raise awareness of impact of music education on lives of students.

Can playing the piano strengthen a child’s reading and math skills? Can joining a school band be a catalyst for building self-confidence? Does one develop strong analytical abilities by taking violin lessons? Some music experts say yes.

"Every minute that you’re engaged in music, you’re applying more than one concept or one knowledge," said Dr. Kevin Strogher, Head of Music at The Heights School in Potomac, Md. "Music develops analytical thinking because it requires students to be creative. They don't just regurgitate memorized facts. They have to apply those facts."

March is Music in Our Schools Month and some music aficionados are trying to raise awareness about impact of music education on the lives of students. The National Association of Music Education in Reston cites a strong body of evidence which shows that participation in musical activities can enhance a student's education. "For today's students to succeed tomorrow, they need a comprehensive education that includes music taught by exemplary music educators," said Elizabeth Lasko, assistant executive director. "Music In Our Schools Month gives music teachers the chance to … let everyone know how learning music benefits kids, and how it contributes to their growth and development both as students and as future adult citizens."

Instructors say playing music can boost brain power. "Music helps build and develop cognitive skills because you have to do three or four things at the same time to perform music," said Holly Vesilind, music instructor at Westgate Elementary School in Falls Church and a private flute instructor in Fairfax. "It builds math skills because it involves counting and fractions.

Experts say music activities can affect social development. "Music ensembles work much like team sports, students learn the necessity of teamwork and collaboration," said Dr. James Criswell, director of the Middle School advanced band and Upper School wind ensemble and orchestra at St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria.

Strogher dispels the notion that the discipline attracts social misfits. "It is not just the choir geeks or the band nerds," he said. "When [The Heights Men’s Chorus] was performing in Austria recently, we had the [school’s] best lacrosse player with us, we had baseball players, basketball players. In fact, most of our top athletes are also in the music program. It is actually a cool thing to be in music." read more

For more parenting articles, visit the ChildUp Blog.

Parenting Articles | Smaller Classes Don’t Necessarily Make a Difference

An era of austerity is a poor time to be demanding much of anything.

In B.C., the province’s teachers are the latest public-sector union to be discovering this. There’s no money for wage increases. There’s no money for extra time off. And there’s certainly no money for reducing class sizes – an issue that has sparked contentious debate in recent days.

The B.C. Teachers’ Federation believes that class size is fundamental to quality education. The fewer kids in the classroom, the better the learning environment for students – or so the argument goes. read more

For more parenting articles, visit the ChilUp Blog.

Parenting Articles - America’s Students Must Improve their Math Skills

If one manages to graduate from high school without the rudiments of algebra, geometry and trigonometry, there are certain relatively high-paying careers probably off-limits for life — such as careers in architecture, chemistry, computer programming, engineering, medicine and certain technical fields.

For example, one might meet all of the physical requirements to be a fighter pilot, but he's grounded if he doesn't have enough math to understand physics, aerodynamics and navigation.

Mathematical ability helps provide the read more...

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Parenting Articles - Bilingual Kids Gain Benefits in Literacy Skills

Bilingual children score higher on some cognitive tests than children who speak only English, a new Toronto study found.

It's known that children who grow up speaking two languages tend to be slower in picking up each language than children raised speaking just one, but the study suggests the benefits of bilingualism outweigh any drawbacks.

Bilingual children develop a deeper understanding of the structure of language, an important skill for literacy, researchers from York University said in Wednesday's online issue of the read more...

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Online Parenting Class And Early Learning Tools From ChildUp

If you don't know yet, Childup offers online parenting classes and early learning tools that includes game cards that teaches kids to count from 1 up to 10 or helps them identify animals.

Here are actual kids that are learning how to count long before kindergarten:
Yael
part 1
part 2
part 3

Stephanie
part 1
part 2

ChildUp has 2 sets of game cards
Teach Your Child to Count to 10 - Math & Logic 1
Teach Your Child to Count to 20 - Math & Logic 2

If you are interested in their online parenting classes, do visit them at Online Parenting Class | ChildUp

Parenting Articles - Parental Involvement Is A Key In Reading Improvement

Across England and Wales, 16% of 11-year-olds failed to reach the expected level or better in reading.

Maybe this is due to the rapid growth of technology. Most kids these days just glue their eyes on electronic gadgets and the television. Not only will this lead to being solidarity, it may also affect their reading skills. Parents should supervise and limit the number of hours their kids spend with those. They should encourage theit children to read short stories. It really helps a lot.

As a kid, my parents will read to us stories before bed. Not only did it nourished our imaginations, it made us curious about reading and this resulted in our parents teaching us how to read in an early age. Reading in class is never enough. Occasionally reading at home helps too, it gives children a boost of confidence in their reading skills.

An excerpt from the ChildUp Blog:
"Children going in to school who have been read to as infants; children who share stories with their parents; children who go in to school with a wide vocabulary and an understanding of stories and how stories work and how the world works are at a huge advantage."


Happy Holidays to all!!


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