What is It?Pinterest is a
social networking/marketing site that lets you upload and store images
in an organized manner. Before Pinterest, teachers could surf the web
and bookmark or add web pages they were interested in to Favourites on
their computer. If they wanted to store these ideas in a more compact
fashion they could copy and paste photos and text onto a Word Document.
The Pinterest system allows you to "pin" a photo, page or piece of text
immediately onto a board. Teachers could then create a variety of
different boards labelled by topic such as Math Ideas, Phonics
Flashcards or Writing Topics to paste these photos on to.
How Can Teachers Use It?
Pinterest is fairly new but there are some sites for teachers that
can be found by going to the Pinterest site. By typing in different
topics such as Education or Teacher Ideas, different photos, websites or
blogs will come up on the page to choose from. Many websites and blogs
outside of Pinterest are now adding a Pinterest option to their sites so
visitors can save or re post information with a click of a button.
Pinterest boards can be useful for ideas that can easily be
communicated visually through a photograph. Some ideas would include
flashcards, posters, worksheets, and art activities. It is an easy way
for a teacher to share with others what she is doing in the classroom.
Since teaching can be an isolating activity, teachers rarely have time
to visit other classrooms. Like teaching blogs, the more teachers that
post to Pinterest will help to make the profession more
interactive.Teachers often try to reinvent the wheel when they could use
an idea that another professional has already taken the time to invent.
Posting your projects and ideas suggests that you are okay with others
using your ideas.
What Are Problems With Pinterest?
There are a few cons when it comes to using Pinterest. One is that
the Pinterest education sites are lacking in materials that are harder
to communicate, such as concepts or ideas that have to be gotten across
by using more than one picture or a few words. Additionally, teachers
who worry about their ideas being credited should be wary of posting.
Pinterest does have a PinEtiquette note that states that sources should
be credited, but there does not seem to be a way to control this, and
some stock photo sites have complained about this problem. Finally, be
careful about posting or sharing photos that include children. Parent
permission should be granted first if you are going to post the picture
online.
Why Will Teachers Use Pinterest?
Teachers who use Pinterest find that it is a useful and easy way to
organize and store ideas that they can use in the classroom. They
appreciate that their information can easily be accessed on both their
home and school computers. As the Pinterest site grows, so will the
amount of useful resources that teachers can access. While some teachers
do admit, like other Pinterest users, that they get caught up in
pinning and repinning pretty pictures, many do actually use the ideas
they post to their boards in the classroom.
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
How to Talk about Age in the English Language
In English, you can talk about age in a number of different ways to
say how old someone or something is. For example, you can talk about
exact or similar age, or you can be less precise and indicate the
approximate age of a person or thing.
Asking about Age
When you want to ask about the age of a person or thing, you use the following formula:
How + old + the conjugated form of the verb be + a person or thing + question mark
When you want to state the exact age of a person or thing, you use the conjugated form of the verb be followed by a number. For example:
You can also express someone's exact age by placing a compound adjective in front of a noun:
Talking about Approximate Age
When you're not sure exactly how old someone is, or when you do not want to state their exact age, then you can use the verb be followed by the prepositions about, under and over, or the adverbs nearly and almost, and a number. For example:
When you want to say that someone's age is similar to someone else's, you can use the expressions such as my age, your own age, or her parents's age. For example:
If you want to say how old something is, you can use the verb be followed by a number and followed by years old.
A very common way of stating the age of a thing is to use a compound adjective in front of the noun referring to it. For example:
Asking about Age
When you want to ask about the age of a person or thing, you use the following formula:
How + old + the conjugated form of the verb be + a person or thing + question mark
- How old are you? / How old is your brother?
When you want to state the exact age of a person or thing, you use the conjugated form of the verb be followed by a number. For example:
- My sister is twenty-five.
- My sister is twenty-five years old.
- My sister is twenty-five years of age. (years of age is more formal than years old and is more common in written English)
- My friend has two little boys aged eight and ten.
You can also express someone's exact age by placing a compound adjective in front of a noun:
- My neighbor is a twenty-three-year-old (compound adj.) student.
- I have a four-month-old (compound adj.) baby.
- I have a four-months-old baby. incorrect
Talking about Approximate Age
When you're not sure exactly how old someone is, or when you do not want to state their exact age, then you can use the verb be followed by the prepositions about, under and over, or the adverbs nearly and almost, and a number. For example:
- I think he's about fifty. / She must be under twenty. / I'm sure she's nearly thirty. / He was only a little over forty years old. / I'm almost twenty.
- Most students in my class are above/below the age of twenty.
- I listened to Elvis Presley all the time when I was in my teens.
- He is in his twenties/thirties/forties, etc.
When you want to say that someone's age is similar to someone else's, you can use the expressions such as my age, your own age, or her parents's age. For example:
- I know a lot more about life than most girls my age.
- The couple was about her parents' age. / The detective was about his own age.
If you want to say how old something is, you can use the verb be followed by a number and followed by years old.
- My house is about forty years old.
A very common way of stating the age of a thing is to use a compound adjective in front of the noun referring to it. For example:
- Mr. Black's rattling, twenty-year-old car stands in front of his house
Paramedic College Grants
One of the most assuring sights at a traumatic event is the arrival
of a paramedic. It may be at an auto accident or assisting in bringing a
new life into the world. No matter what the medical situation, the
expertise of a well-trained paramedic is vital in easing pain or saving
lives.
The Role of the Paramedic
Before deciding on a career as a paramedic, there should be a clear understanding of the training involved and what the eventual job will call for. This includes being comfortable in working under stress as well as being a member of a team.
The ability to communicate easily with both the person needing attention and other medical care professionals is crucial.
While not being qualified as a doctor, a paramedic may sometimes perform similar duties in an emergency situation. The paramedic may have the responsibility to perform some necessary surgical procedures and know how to dress wounds.
Training to be a Paramedic
In choosing to become a paramedic, the first step is obtaining information about state-accredited schools and organizations that offer the courses and training. These may include hospitals, ambulance services, and private and community colleges. One-year and two courses may be available and some may off a Bachelor of Science Degree program.
Even after a course of study is completed, the paramedic will be required to renew the license every two or three years.
Services Provided by a Paramedic
A well-trained paramedic can respond to any medical emergency with competence. This includes expertise in using advanced life support techniques such as ventilators and defibrillators, being able to administer medication, oxygen, and drip fluids.
Lifesaving decisions about treatment are sometimes required of a paramedic in providing pre-hospital emergency care. These can include cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, immobilization, use of traction among other emergency functions.
Salaries for Paramedics
The salary earned by a paramedic in 2011 ranged from $30,000 to $50,000 a year with a median salary in the United States of $38,363. For a paramedic with less than one year of experience, the salary can range from about $21,000 to $40, 000.
The more experience a paramedic has may be reflected in the salary. In the US, some states pay paramedics more than in others ranging in salaries starting at about $15,000 to as much as $87,000.
Hourly salaries can range from as low as $13 an hour to as high of $20 depending upon location, the training of the paramedic and amount of experience.
Salaries of paramedics often depend on past experience, location of the job, and the amount of training in preparation to be medical care professional.
In thinking about becoming a paramedic, the pros and cons should be carefully considered. This is a profession that deals with people during some of the worst experiences in their lifetimes. It not only requires patience and understanding but the ability to respond quickly to traumatic situations. However, it can be one of the most satisfying careers in the field of healthcare.
The Role of the Paramedic
Before deciding on a career as a paramedic, there should be a clear understanding of the training involved and what the eventual job will call for. This includes being comfortable in working under stress as well as being a member of a team.
The ability to communicate easily with both the person needing attention and other medical care professionals is crucial.
While not being qualified as a doctor, a paramedic may sometimes perform similar duties in an emergency situation. The paramedic may have the responsibility to perform some necessary surgical procedures and know how to dress wounds.
Training to be a Paramedic
In choosing to become a paramedic, the first step is obtaining information about state-accredited schools and organizations that offer the courses and training. These may include hospitals, ambulance services, and private and community colleges. One-year and two courses may be available and some may off a Bachelor of Science Degree program.
Even after a course of study is completed, the paramedic will be required to renew the license every two or three years.
Services Provided by a Paramedic
A well-trained paramedic can respond to any medical emergency with competence. This includes expertise in using advanced life support techniques such as ventilators and defibrillators, being able to administer medication, oxygen, and drip fluids.
Lifesaving decisions about treatment are sometimes required of a paramedic in providing pre-hospital emergency care. These can include cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, immobilization, use of traction among other emergency functions.
Salaries for Paramedics
The salary earned by a paramedic in 2011 ranged from $30,000 to $50,000 a year with a median salary in the United States of $38,363. For a paramedic with less than one year of experience, the salary can range from about $21,000 to $40, 000.
The more experience a paramedic has may be reflected in the salary. In the US, some states pay paramedics more than in others ranging in salaries starting at about $15,000 to as much as $87,000.
Hourly salaries can range from as low as $13 an hour to as high of $20 depending upon location, the training of the paramedic and amount of experience.
Salaries of paramedics often depend on past experience, location of the job, and the amount of training in preparation to be medical care professional.
In thinking about becoming a paramedic, the pros and cons should be carefully considered. This is a profession that deals with people during some of the worst experiences in their lifetimes. It not only requires patience and understanding but the ability to respond quickly to traumatic situations. However, it can be one of the most satisfying careers in the field of healthcare.
To Improve Education, Improve the Lives of Children
The nation needs to recruit, support, and retain great teachers. But
even the greatest teachers and school principals in the world cannot
reduce inequalities and end poverty. They can make a colossal difference
in the lives of their students. Unfortunately, the corporate education
reform movement expects them to work miracles in the face of rising poverty and income inequality.
Like the No Child Left Behind reform effort, Race to the Top assumes that test results are the way to grade and reward or punish teachers, schools, and administrators as well as students. As a former test publisher, this writer knows that standardized assessments are developed to measure student performance, not teacher and school quality.
Reduce Poverty, Improve Student Achievement
Ask those who develop standardized tests, such as the people working at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, whether their assessments show a correlation between low scores and poverty. Consider their SAT. The highest SAT scores are recorded by students who come from the most affluent families. Those who test from the poorest backgrounds score the lowest.
Children from impoverished families need more than good schools. They crave safe neighborhoods, economic security, better diets, health clinics, first-rate early childhood education and facilities, arts programs, and rewarding after-school activities that keep kids from working single parent, latchkey homes off the streets. How can teachers and schools possibly provide all those necessities?
Look to Finland
This article demonstrates how Finland’s public school system succeeds by rejecting the constant testing foundation upon which the American reform system is built. In Finland, it is difficult to get into teaching. Entry is limited and competitive. Standards for new teachers are high. The profession is highly esteemed.
The American reform model, Race to the Top, is based on the corporate free market. Students are the products. Parents are the consumers. Teachers are the laborers. Teachers’ unions are the obstacles to efficient management. In Finland, however, all teachers and principals are members of the same union. Together, they work with the Ministry of Education to negotiate salaries, benefits, and working conditions in order to achieve one goal: best possible education.
Finland would never allow government officials, law makers, and corporate reformers to decide how to measure the quality of those who practice the teaching profession. Why? Because those people may be professionals, but they aren’t teachers. Teaching is not the profession of an accountant or a bank manager. As a true profession, teaching is expected to be self-regulating. Administration must be left to the practicing professionals.
To improve the profession, success in Finland tells us to raise entry standards, upgrade teacher education, and increase salaries. Demand academic excellence, a master’s degree, and certification from new teachers. Refuse to reinforce education’s low status as a profession by recruiting bright but barely-trained novices at low pay for a mere two-year commitment.
Teach for America, a Good Idea, But . . .
Like the Peace Corps, the students coming from the best universities and colleges who want to make a difference, especially in the lives of poor kids, are drawn to TFA. They commit to teaching for two years in distressed urban and rural schools.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised to support TFA since it was founded by Wendy Kopp, a Princeton student who developed the model as her Princeton senior thesis in 1989. The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded $50 million to TFA, the conservative Walton Foundation gave another $49.5 million, and $100 million more has been raised from other foundations and donors.
Every year, thousands of eager young students are selected and trained for five weeks. Then, off they go to teach America’s most vulnerable children and earn a starting salary. School districts reward TFA with about $5,000 per new teacher.
Can a Few Thousand TFA Members Transform a Profession of More Than 3 Million Teachers?
A few thousand college graduates who work for two years cannot cure the inequities in American society. Yes, the Peace Corps volunteers also serve poor communities for two years, but not as professional Foreign Service officers.
What has TFA achieved? They boast about model cities where their teachers have achieved improvements as measured by test scores. In Washington, D.C., TFA alumni Michelle Rhee was named chancellor in 2007, four years after federally sponsored tests began to be administered to assess performance. Test scores did indeed improve, but the district’s achievement gap between black and white schools continues to be the largest in America. In fact, it is two times greater than most other big city schools, according to the federal government.
They also brag about New York City achievements. A state investigation in July 2010 proved that tests had somehow become easier. New York City test scores and the achievement gaps between ethnic and racial groups collapsed back to 2002 levels.
The third TFA model city, New Orleans, is presented as proof that nonunion charter schools are the wave of the educational future. Public schools there were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Today, about 70 percent of New Orleans students attend charter schools under the instruction of TFA teachers. The State of Louisiana reports that 79 percent of the state’s charter schools received grades of Ds and Fs.
Also, most big city public school districts cannot be replaced by a few, scattered charter schools operating union-free under the management of different entrepreneurs, boards of directors, investors, and usually with no transportation and extra-curricular services.
To improve American education, the federal, state, and local governments might do well to recall the words of John Maynard Keynes: “The important thing for Government is not to do things which individuals are doing already, and to do them a little better or a little worse; but to do those things which at present are not done at all.”
And where should the federal, state, and local officials begin? As the late Tony Judt said, “Of all competing and only partially reconcilable ends that we might seek, must come first.”
Like the No Child Left Behind reform effort, Race to the Top assumes that test results are the way to grade and reward or punish teachers, schools, and administrators as well as students. As a former test publisher, this writer knows that standardized assessments are developed to measure student performance, not teacher and school quality.
Reduce Poverty, Improve Student Achievement
Ask those who develop standardized tests, such as the people working at Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey, whether their assessments show a correlation between low scores and poverty. Consider their SAT. The highest SAT scores are recorded by students who come from the most affluent families. Those who test from the poorest backgrounds score the lowest.
Children from impoverished families need more than good schools. They crave safe neighborhoods, economic security, better diets, health clinics, first-rate early childhood education and facilities, arts programs, and rewarding after-school activities that keep kids from working single parent, latchkey homes off the streets. How can teachers and schools possibly provide all those necessities?
Look to Finland
This article demonstrates how Finland’s public school system succeeds by rejecting the constant testing foundation upon which the American reform system is built. In Finland, it is difficult to get into teaching. Entry is limited and competitive. Standards for new teachers are high. The profession is highly esteemed.
The American reform model, Race to the Top, is based on the corporate free market. Students are the products. Parents are the consumers. Teachers are the laborers. Teachers’ unions are the obstacles to efficient management. In Finland, however, all teachers and principals are members of the same union. Together, they work with the Ministry of Education to negotiate salaries, benefits, and working conditions in order to achieve one goal: best possible education.
Finland would never allow government officials, law makers, and corporate reformers to decide how to measure the quality of those who practice the teaching profession. Why? Because those people may be professionals, but they aren’t teachers. Teaching is not the profession of an accountant or a bank manager. As a true profession, teaching is expected to be self-regulating. Administration must be left to the practicing professionals.
To improve the profession, success in Finland tells us to raise entry standards, upgrade teacher education, and increase salaries. Demand academic excellence, a master’s degree, and certification from new teachers. Refuse to reinforce education’s low status as a profession by recruiting bright but barely-trained novices at low pay for a mere two-year commitment.
Teach for America, a Good Idea, But . . .
Like the Peace Corps, the students coming from the best universities and colleges who want to make a difference, especially in the lives of poor kids, are drawn to TFA. They commit to teaching for two years in distressed urban and rural schools.
Hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised to support TFA since it was founded by Wendy Kopp, a Princeton student who developed the model as her Princeton senior thesis in 1989. The U.S. Department of Education recently awarded $50 million to TFA, the conservative Walton Foundation gave another $49.5 million, and $100 million more has been raised from other foundations and donors.
Every year, thousands of eager young students are selected and trained for five weeks. Then, off they go to teach America’s most vulnerable children and earn a starting salary. School districts reward TFA with about $5,000 per new teacher.
Can a Few Thousand TFA Members Transform a Profession of More Than 3 Million Teachers?
A few thousand college graduates who work for two years cannot cure the inequities in American society. Yes, the Peace Corps volunteers also serve poor communities for two years, but not as professional Foreign Service officers.
What has TFA achieved? They boast about model cities where their teachers have achieved improvements as measured by test scores. In Washington, D.C., TFA alumni Michelle Rhee was named chancellor in 2007, four years after federally sponsored tests began to be administered to assess performance. Test scores did indeed improve, but the district’s achievement gap between black and white schools continues to be the largest in America. In fact, it is two times greater than most other big city schools, according to the federal government.
They also brag about New York City achievements. A state investigation in July 2010 proved that tests had somehow become easier. New York City test scores and the achievement gaps between ethnic and racial groups collapsed back to 2002 levels.
The third TFA model city, New Orleans, is presented as proof that nonunion charter schools are the wave of the educational future. Public schools there were wiped out by Hurricane Katrina. Today, about 70 percent of New Orleans students attend charter schools under the instruction of TFA teachers. The State of Louisiana reports that 79 percent of the state’s charter schools received grades of Ds and Fs.
Also, most big city public school districts cannot be replaced by a few, scattered charter schools operating union-free under the management of different entrepreneurs, boards of directors, investors, and usually with no transportation and extra-curricular services.
To improve American education, the federal, state, and local governments might do well to recall the words of John Maynard Keynes: “The important thing for Government is not to do things which individuals are doing already, and to do them a little better or a little worse; but to do those things which at present are not done at all.”
And where should the federal, state, and local officials begin? As the late Tony Judt said, “Of all competing and only partially reconcilable ends that we might seek, must come first.”
A Bad Idea?
Performance related pay schemes work well in manufacturing where the
workers performance can be assessed by simple criteria such as time
taken to complete the process, number of units produced, and quality of
units produced. The best performing workers produce the highest number
of quality items in the least amount of time and deserve more pay for
saving the time and money of their employers. This system assumes the
same inputs, essentially the same processes, and the same required
outputs. The high performing worker may alter the processes in some way
but for all workers the inputs and outputs are constants. The process of
teaching individuals involves a multitude of variables at each and
every stage.
Students as Raw Materials
The supposed Jesuit maxim 'Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.' proposes that working with an infant full time from birth to seven years can give some lasting predictable outcome but the reality is that most teachers only teach a particular student for two to four years out of their compulsory thirteen years of formal education (NSW Australia) and this only commences after the child is four and a bit years old. Every teacher from preschool to University relies to a certain degree on the prior learning of their students. Is it fair to evaluate a particular teacher's performance without taking into account the nature of the 'raw materials' they have been given? This nature is not only determined by the students previous educational experiences but by factors such as their family composition, moral and ethical upbringing, socio-economic background (not only of the students themselves but of the school community as a whole), and the list goes on. As far as most departments of education are concerned teachers are to teach to individual learning styles and provide diversity in programs to cater for individual students, some students are even to be provided with Personal Learning Programs. Obviously teachers are expected to deal with students as unique individuals, even in classes of 30, and not as the raw ingredients in some sort of educational sausage factory.
Schools: The Factory Floor
Free and compulsory education has always been a thorn in the side for western societies. It is most often seen as a necessary liability rather than an asset and is treated accordingly. Because of this attitude schools vary almost as much in physical and human resources as the individuals taught in them. It is true that quality teaching has and will occur in the simplest of environments and in surroundings such as these it is easier to separate the quality of pure teaching from the resources that are available and from the behaviour of students (unfortunately it seems that the poorer the scenario the more attentive and appreciative the students). Is it fair to evaluate the performance of a teacher who has regular access to such things as new and innovative teaching technologies and classroom help in the form of student support teachers and technical assistants, on similar criteria to one who doesn't have access to these facilities or services? How can these, often immense, factory floor variations be taken into account when determining teacher performance?
Students as Manufactured Items: When I Grow Up I'd Like To Be
It's no wonder that teaching as a manufacturing process just doesn't work when the raw materials are given a say in determining what the final product is going to be. Students are the main decision makers in the education process. They always have been and always will be. The old adage 'You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink.' applies here. The highest performing teacher, by any criteria, can not make a student who doesn't want to learn, learn. How is the teacher's performance assessed in this instance? I suppose trained and highly qualified observers (high performing teachers in their own right) could determine that a teacher was performing at a high level despite the results of their students. Not very cost effective I would think. The other problem with most students (and their parents) is they have widely divergent and individualistic views as to what constitutes a good educational outcome and many of these outcomes are not currently examinable or statistically valid as far as educational systems are concerned.
Performance Pay In People Jobs: It Just Doesn't Work
Teacher pay by performance is just not viable. Governments need to realise that professional people who work with people, as teachers do, have too many variables in their occupation to evaluate their general performance to any realistic measure. It is easy to identify the ones who are simply not doing the job and deal with them but paying the rest on the level of their performance is too fraught with difficulties. Can anyone really image paying doctors, nurses, policemen or fire fighters on their performance?
Students as Raw Materials
The supposed Jesuit maxim 'Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.' proposes that working with an infant full time from birth to seven years can give some lasting predictable outcome but the reality is that most teachers only teach a particular student for two to four years out of their compulsory thirteen years of formal education (NSW Australia) and this only commences after the child is four and a bit years old. Every teacher from preschool to University relies to a certain degree on the prior learning of their students. Is it fair to evaluate a particular teacher's performance without taking into account the nature of the 'raw materials' they have been given? This nature is not only determined by the students previous educational experiences but by factors such as their family composition, moral and ethical upbringing, socio-economic background (not only of the students themselves but of the school community as a whole), and the list goes on. As far as most departments of education are concerned teachers are to teach to individual learning styles and provide diversity in programs to cater for individual students, some students are even to be provided with Personal Learning Programs. Obviously teachers are expected to deal with students as unique individuals, even in classes of 30, and not as the raw ingredients in some sort of educational sausage factory.
Schools: The Factory Floor
Free and compulsory education has always been a thorn in the side for western societies. It is most often seen as a necessary liability rather than an asset and is treated accordingly. Because of this attitude schools vary almost as much in physical and human resources as the individuals taught in them. It is true that quality teaching has and will occur in the simplest of environments and in surroundings such as these it is easier to separate the quality of pure teaching from the resources that are available and from the behaviour of students (unfortunately it seems that the poorer the scenario the more attentive and appreciative the students). Is it fair to evaluate the performance of a teacher who has regular access to such things as new and innovative teaching technologies and classroom help in the form of student support teachers and technical assistants, on similar criteria to one who doesn't have access to these facilities or services? How can these, often immense, factory floor variations be taken into account when determining teacher performance?
Students as Manufactured Items: When I Grow Up I'd Like To Be
It's no wonder that teaching as a manufacturing process just doesn't work when the raw materials are given a say in determining what the final product is going to be. Students are the main decision makers in the education process. They always have been and always will be. The old adage 'You can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink.' applies here. The highest performing teacher, by any criteria, can not make a student who doesn't want to learn, learn. How is the teacher's performance assessed in this instance? I suppose trained and highly qualified observers (high performing teachers in their own right) could determine that a teacher was performing at a high level despite the results of their students. Not very cost effective I would think. The other problem with most students (and their parents) is they have widely divergent and individualistic views as to what constitutes a good educational outcome and many of these outcomes are not currently examinable or statistically valid as far as educational systems are concerned.
Performance Pay In People Jobs: It Just Doesn't Work
Teacher pay by performance is just not viable. Governments need to realise that professional people who work with people, as teachers do, have too many variables in their occupation to evaluate their general performance to any realistic measure. It is easy to identify the ones who are simply not doing the job and deal with them but paying the rest on the level of their performance is too fraught with difficulties. Can anyone really image paying doctors, nurses, policemen or fire fighters on their performance?
Earth Day, Easter, Gardening, and Karaoke
April is famous for Easter and Earth Day, but that's not all that
happens in the spring time month. Week 1 in April is designated Library
Week. If you haven't already, this is an appropriate time to tour your
local library to learn more about the and to get library cards for all the members of your family. Most
library issue cards to anyone who can hold a pen to make a mark on the
application form.
Easter occurs on April 8, 2012, on the second Sunday, at the end of the first week. Your child may enjoy some as well as some history and legend about the old Eostre and traditions.
Spring Nature Study, Gardening, and Insects
Week 2 in April is Garden Week. My family will be celebrating by setting up mason bee nesting tubes in our garden, as well as by getting our vermicompost (worm compost) ready to go into our kids' garden boxes. Earth worms and other small garden dwellers make convenient homeschool science pets.
Here are a few more lesser known special days.
Spring Cleaning, Homeschool Recordkeeping, and Organization
Week 3 in April is Organize Your Files Week. This makes a good excuse for getting your homeschool records or projects in order. Here are some tips for to meet legal requirements.
If you have a nature collector in the house, you might try some new ways of Plus, this activity could help with those homeschool records.
Karaoke
Week 4 is Karaoke Week.
My kids love special days. It doesn't seem to matter what they're about, so long as there's a theme. As a homeschooling parent, this makes for convenient ways to bring up conversations and branch out to any number of topics.
Easter occurs on April 8, 2012, on the second Sunday, at the end of the first week. Your child may enjoy some as well as some history and legend about the old Eostre and traditions.
Spring Nature Study, Gardening, and Insects
Week 2 in April is Garden Week. My family will be celebrating by setting up mason bee nesting tubes in our garden, as well as by getting our vermicompost (worm compost) ready to go into our kids' garden boxes. Earth worms and other small garden dwellers make convenient homeschool science pets.
Here are a few more lesser known special days.
- April 2 - Children's Book Day
- April 8 - Draw a Picture of a Bird Day
- April 10 - Siblings Day
- April 14 - Pecan Day
Spring Cleaning, Homeschool Recordkeeping, and Organization
Week 3 in April is Organize Your Files Week. This makes a good excuse for getting your homeschool records or projects in order. Here are some tips for to meet legal requirements.
If you have a nature collector in the house, you might try some new ways of Plus, this activity could help with those homeschool records.
Karaoke
Week 4 is Karaoke Week.
My kids love special days. It doesn't seem to matter what they're about, so long as there's a theme. As a homeschooling parent, this makes for convenient ways to bring up conversations and branch out to any number of topics.
Wholeness and Happiness
During the early months of unschooling, I read as many books,
articles, and blogs about unschooling and learning as I could find.
Although I knew from first discovery via John Holt's writings that
unschooling made sense for my family, I knew only one family who
embraced the philosophy. I sought guidance and a sense of belonging from
the personal stories of others.
After ten years of my own experience with the unschooling lifestyle, I continue to read considerably more than I write about unschooling and natural learning. This steady stream of insights and experiences shared by other unschooling families has proven uplifting and inspirational along this unconventional journey. Below are some of my favorite posts and essays about the relationship between unschooling and wholeness.
Unschooling for Wholeness & Happiness
In one of my own blog posts about my deeper reasons for unschooling, I said: Unschooling is just a convenient way of saying I care about, respect, and truly acknowledge that my child is her own person. In other words, unschooling is about much more than how I might help my kids get an education. It's about providing the relationship and environment to protect and support their wholeness and safety.
That's why Eli Gerzon's essay, "On the Importance of Whole Soul Safety or the Real Reason to Rise-Out of School," is one of my favorites. He wrote about his experience of putting up shields before entering school, and the importance of protecting oneself from this harmful experience for the good of others and the world.
Gerzon said that school "draws out your life-force." In other words, the school system provides a systematic assault teaching children to deny their own needs. According to Jean Liefloff, author of The Continuum Concept, this denial of basic instinctual needs begins much earlier.
I read The Continuum Concept during my first pregnancy and it was powerfully in my mind during the early parenting years. It brings to mind the post, by Janet Fraser. If you agree that unschooling is about wholeness, you'll understand why I include writings on love, respect, and compassion for everyone. Fraser's "industrialised parenting" and "the slow whittling away of your instincts" applies to other impersonal systems in this culture (medicalized birth, methodical child-rearing, schooling).
Unschooling for Practicality
To bring the topic back to unschooling on a practical level, "Unschooling Skills in the Adult World," by Kate at Skipping School, who wrote: "as unschoolers, the skills we acquired weren’t just different from the ones kids in school earned, they were completely practical."
I've continued to follow the unschooling path because I love my life too much to give it to someone else. Likewise, my children's lives are their own. This is wholeness and happiness.
After ten years of my own experience with the unschooling lifestyle, I continue to read considerably more than I write about unschooling and natural learning. This steady stream of insights and experiences shared by other unschooling families has proven uplifting and inspirational along this unconventional journey. Below are some of my favorite posts and essays about the relationship between unschooling and wholeness.
Unschooling for Wholeness & Happiness
In one of my own blog posts about my deeper reasons for unschooling, I said: Unschooling is just a convenient way of saying I care about, respect, and truly acknowledge that my child is her own person. In other words, unschooling is about much more than how I might help my kids get an education. It's about providing the relationship and environment to protect and support their wholeness and safety.
That's why Eli Gerzon's essay, "On the Importance of Whole Soul Safety or the Real Reason to Rise-Out of School," is one of my favorites. He wrote about his experience of putting up shields before entering school, and the importance of protecting oneself from this harmful experience for the good of others and the world.
Gerzon said that school "draws out your life-force." In other words, the school system provides a systematic assault teaching children to deny their own needs. According to Jean Liefloff, author of The Continuum Concept, this denial of basic instinctual needs begins much earlier.
I read The Continuum Concept during my first pregnancy and it was powerfully in my mind during the early parenting years. It brings to mind the post, by Janet Fraser. If you agree that unschooling is about wholeness, you'll understand why I include writings on love, respect, and compassion for everyone. Fraser's "industrialised parenting" and "the slow whittling away of your instincts" applies to other impersonal systems in this culture (medicalized birth, methodical child-rearing, schooling).
Unschooling for Practicality
To bring the topic back to unschooling on a practical level, "Unschooling Skills in the Adult World," by Kate at Skipping School, who wrote: "as unschoolers, the skills we acquired weren’t just different from the ones kids in school earned, they were completely practical."
I've continued to follow the unschooling path because I love my life too much to give it to someone else. Likewise, my children's lives are their own. This is wholeness and happiness.
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