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Education for Citizenship. What on earth is this – could it be any use. |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
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I was quite bewildered as to what Education for Citizenship would possibly be. Would this be like saluting the flag stuff like the Americans ? Surely not. No, it turns out to be nothing like that at all, and though looking at some evaluation studies I can see some point in certain aspects, I can’t really see how this more than woolly curriculum as it is developing, can meld our children into respectful citizens (in fact, some of the issues seem determined to foster rather selfish ideals.)
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Teaching sentence combining likely to improve children’s writing skills |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Sunday, May 28, 2006
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A systematic review of literature on the teaching of grammar identified a particular technique as likely to improve writing skills. If teaching time is limited, the researchers suggested that using the time to teach techniques such as sentence combining would help children write better, rather than teaching formal grammar which they say there is little proof of it improving writing skill in young children.
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Do you think grammar should be taught formally in schools ? Is such teaching effective ? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Saturday, May 27, 2006
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I have found reports of two research reviews about grammar teaching. The two reviews had some rather controversial findings and want ministers to review National Curriculum guidelines about the teaching of formal grammar teaching. At the moment, younger primary children are required to learn about nouns, verbs and pronouns, and older primary school pupils learn all major parts of speech as well as the grammar of complex sentences.
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Its Adult Learners’ Week. Is this an outdated concept ? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
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Adult Learners’ Week is when events are staged all over the country to celebrate Adult Learning and Learners’ achievements. But, there have been major changes in priorities in further education and money for leisure provision has gone –and support for learners over 19 cut (at least that’s how it seems to have ended up).
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Parents should support children in working hard at school |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Sunday, May 21, 2006
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The Chief Inspector of Schools (the head of OFSTED) Maurice Smith has said that parents should make sure that their children do not stay up late watching TV and do not look scruffy going to school. He says that parental support was important for children and schools’ success.
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The Government cuts funding for Adult Education |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
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It seems a weird thing that a government that came to power chanting “education education education” could be responsible for so many cuts along the way. The cheap day and evening class programme subsidised by education funding will soon be a thing of the past.
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Disciplining young children: I’m losing my temper with this child ! What can I do ? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Thursday, April 13, 2006
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It is so very difficult when a child’s behaviour makes you so cross and you get so angry you think you will lose your temper. In this state there is the danger that you will shout and scream and even hit the child. There were certainly times in my teaching career that a child’s behaviour – either to me or another child made me very angry. You can never solve any problem when you are in this state,
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Disciplining young children. So what do I do when my children break the rules? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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The most important thing to do, however irritated you feel is to stay calm. Think what is fair and what is fair to do. Sometimes, the child or children (if there are a group of them) can help you decide what is fair to do when a rule is broken. Do something that is fair and makes sense and will help them learnnotto make the same mistake again. For example, if they write on the wall, have them help clean it up.
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Start saving up NOW to send your children to University |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Saturday, April 01, 2006
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I think its time for parents and grandparents to start saving up NOW to help their children go to University in the future – though I think it’s a good thing that more students are working to go toward their costs for higher education –they are also borrowing a great deal and this may well become a major millstone round their necks year on year. A Department for Education and Skills (DFES) survey
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Is GCSE Coursework going to be abolished ? I hope so. |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Friday, March 31, 2006
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GCSE Coursework assessment has had many critics over the past few years. Firstly, there is the huge opportunity for cheating – or for over-helpful parents to be doing more work than their children, ......However, coursework could become a thing of the past for GCSE students in many subjects, the government's exams watchdog said
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Disciplining young children – Setting limits for behaviour |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
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I do find it difficult sometimes as a Grandparent to be as firm with rules of behaviour – quite often things that annoy parents are quite OK for me (such as the child rushing around and making noise – I quite like the change!). But there are some main ideas that, as a former teacher of young children, I know are important to do with early education in setting up rules of behaviour.
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Disciplining young children – setting routines and keeping to them ! |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
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I think probably the first and most important education of young children is to set routines for the key activities of the day such as bathtime and bedtime, mealtimes and key jobs that children should be starting to do, such as tidying up their toys or clothes. Routines help children feel safe and calm, because they know what parents expect,
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Helping Children eat correctly |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
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Its not easy to know what to do with a pre-schooler who picks at her food and only shows enthusiasm about puddings and sweeter things. So I’ve been researching to find out what we should be doing – or if there is anything we could do. I find that the evidence that is available says that children have an innate ability to control their calorie intake.
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Is your child clever ? “Seven ways for young children to be clever” |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Sunday, March 19, 2006
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I’ve been looking at the work of American psychologist Howard Gardner, and am taken by how his Multiple Intelligence Theory reinforces our belief that there are many different ways for children to be thought of as “clever” – though the Americanism in the article I read calls this “smart” which has rather negative connotations for us (too smart for his/her own good
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Poison prevention with young children – parents need reminding |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Thursday, March 16, 2006
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I was reading about the Poison Prevention week in the USA and thinking how the advice was no doubt useful for parents – but not particularly applicable to me (now a grandparent) until I came to check my cupboards and found a large range of poisons and harmful chemicals within reach of little hands.
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A generation is unable to cook due to failure of the education system |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
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School children are more likely to learn how to design food packaging than how to cook a meal, says a new report. So where have these stupid cookery lessons left us ? It's an old cliché that many men leave home not even knowing how to boil an egg, but now it seems there is a whole generation of people who lack basic cooking skills.
Cookery has virtually disappeared from school timetables and the result is a generation of young adults who have passed through the school system without learning how to cook and look after themselves nutritionally, say campaigners.
A new Ofsted report backs them. It says even when cooking - or food technology as it is now known - is taught pupils are more likely to be using computers to produce drawings of icing on cakes than learning how to cook nutritious meals. Efforts to get children eating more healthily are being hampered as a result, it adds.
Many young adults don't know how to chop vegetables, grill meat or even make a salad, leaving ...
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Research shows Eyes and Ears understand differently – implications for learning and working |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Sunday, February 19, 2006
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A new study by Carnegie Mellon University scientists in Pittsburgh have shown that because of the way the brain works, we understand spoken and written language differently, something that has potential implications in the workplace and in education, among many other things.
In the first imaging study that directly compares reading and listening activity in the human brain, Carnegie Mellon scientists discovered that the same information produces systematically different brain activation. And knowing what parts of the brain fire during reading or listening comprehension affects the answer to one of the classic questions about language comprehension: whether the means of delivery through eyes or ears makes a difference. "The brain constructs the message, and it does so differently for reading and listening. The pragmatic implication is that the medium is part of the message. Listening to an audio book leaves a different set of memories than reading does. A newscast heard on the radio is processed different
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Research shows online access increases student learning |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Saturday, February 18, 2006
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A detailed and interesting research study in America quoted here demonstrated clearly that using the children who had access to the Internet to gain information performed a great deal better on key comprehension, communication and presentation skills than those that had no access. As parents we need to understand that our child’s access to the Internet is now essential for them to learn to succeed in this modern world – however, Internet access is a two-edged sword – it makes it even more important that kids are kept away from harmful sites – and also are not just left to randomly surf the net – but helped to learn the research, independent information-finding skills, and ability to analyse and weigh the quality of information. They will need help to do this – parents themselves may well have to brush up on their own skills. The report of this research will help you (like it helped me) to know what the skills to be developed actually are !
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Preparing Emily for School – Language and General Knowledge (2) |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Friday, February 17, 2006
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Children in Infant classes are involved in many activities that require them to use language and to solve problems. Children who can't or don't communicate easily may have problems in school. There are many things we can try to do to help children learn to communicate, solve problems, and develop an understanding of the world.
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Getting Emily Ready for School (1) |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
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There is no one quality or skill that children need to do well in school, but a combination of things contributes to success. These include good health and physical wellbeing, social and emotional maturity, language skills, an ability to solve problems and think creatively, and general knowledge about the world. We try to help our children develop in these ways though its true that children develop at different rates, and most children are stronger in some areas than in others. Also we are aware that that being ready for school depends partly on what the school expects. Children who match the school's expectations may be considered better prepared. Its important to visit the child's school to learn what the Head and teachers expect and discuss any areas of disagreement.
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Helping to develop good television habits |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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Children have watched an average of 4,000 hours of television by the time they begin school. Most experts agree that this is too much. But banning television isn't the answer, because good television can spark curiosity and open up new worlds to children – develop vocabulary , encourage listening and develop attention-spans (at its best). But its obviously a good idea to monitor how much and what television children watch helps them, starting at an early age, to develop good viewing habits.
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Are parents doing the homework ? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Saturday, February 11, 2006
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The issue of parent’s involvement in homework has been in the national press as well as being a focus for educational research – it is being said that parents can create more problems for children than they solve. This is affecting the confidence in the reliability of GCSE coursework as an indicator of student’s ability. The government QCA guidelines suggest that parents help at many stages of child’s homework – so what on earth is it that parents should do ? Where do they draw the line ? It its not clear is it ? Children should do their own work – is this heresy ?
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So how do you find out if your child has ADHD or not ? |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
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There appears to be no single diagnostic test for ADHD or similar conditions so different sorts of information needs to be gathered. ADHD requires a medical diagnosis by a doctor, usually a child or adolescent psychiatrist, a paediatrician or paediatric neurologist or a GP. Treatment can be behavioural management or drug therapy and/or other therapies that depends on the particular diagnosis. Around half the children diagnosed with ADHD appear to grow out of it, but for others some symptoms follow them through to adult life.
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So when are behavioural difficulties in children ADHD or ADH or something else ? (2) |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
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Looking through the research data and information available on ADHD and ADH and other behavioural problems it seems that parents and teachers could end up labelling a perfectly normal child – as well as having serious worries unnecessarily. Many children have tantrums and difficult periods – which is just a by product of growing up naturally – and sometimes one wonders if the problem is in the skills of being a parent and setting a framework of house rules and discipline and not with the child who is being allowed to behave badly. It is true, however, that there are illnesses and learning problems that can affect children’s behaviour that are NOT ADH or ADHD and that need considering separately. But also parents need to develop a flexible toolkit for dealing with behavioural problems in their children whether they are diagnosed ADH or ADHD or any other acronym, I feel.
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Paying attention – young children often have difficulty –when is it a problem ? (1) |
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Education
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By Fusive on
Sunday, February 05, 2006
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There is so much in the press about attention disorders and “hyperkinetic” disorders where children have behavioural problems associated with a poor attention span. ADD refers to Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. BUT many young children (especially boys) are full of energy, restless and have short attention spans. It is really difficult to understand when impulsiveness and inattentions are the actions of a perfectly normal boisterous child who will later settle down, or when the behaviour is symptomatic of something that will prevent a child learning effectively and socialising with other children. Some pointers on attention and hyperactivity are given here.
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