Author Archive

Safe Science Crafts for Children by Ashley Hardway

Monday, April 14th, 2014

Safe Science Crafts for Children by Ashley Hardway offers four safe scientific experiments you and your children can do at home. Once you get started with these activities, your children may not want to stop. Once you open the doors to scientific experimentation, your children just might never want to stop.

Intro

  • Science can be an entertaining way to expose children to how the universe works. Through various crafts and experiments, you can open doors to a world that the child may never have realized. Each example here can lead to additional questions that need answers. However, you want to ensure your child’s safety when exploring the many facets of science. Here are some sample projects can you do at the home that won’t turn your child different colors or catch your kitchen on fire.

1. Understanding Xylem

  • By using white flowers such as daisies, you can teach children how the xylem of a plant will transport water to buds and petals. This can be seen by using non-toxic food coloring such as those you would use in cake frosting. The xylem provides water and nutrients to the petals – including the dye itself. Over time, the daisies will actually begin to take on the color of the dye. This shows that even a cut flower can still reserve the ability to stay alive – for a short time. Do a Google search on “xylem diagram” to see how this works.
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Things Your Childcare Provider Absolutely Needs to Know by Rachael Cherry

Friday, April 11th, 2014







Things Your Childcare Provider Absolutely Needs to Know by Rachael Cherry can help both parents and child care providers increase the probability of a successful experience. This is written from the view point of the parent, but can also be great advice for people who provide child care who are often known as baby sitters.

Experience Helps

  • Experience can do a great deal to help a childcare provider prepare for the task ahead. Interacting with various children can provide an insight towards certain behaviors or assist in avoiding specific situations. Each child, however, is unique, and there could be things about him or her that the childcare provider should absolutely know. Even the child’s home environment can vary a great deal from one home to another. Parents should let the provider know what to expect as they give a complete tour of the home.

Disciplinary Actions

  • Not every household views disciplinary actions the same way. Although everyone involved would like the experience to go smooth, kids will be kids. The care provider needs to know what is considered an acceptable method of interaction. Is a time-out involved? Do certain toys or electronics get taken away? Most importantly, is the parent going to enforce the disciplinary action for severe situations after the care provider has left for the day? If you don’t collaborate with your childcare provider in this manner, the child could grow to disrespect any child care provider as an authoritative figure.
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Class Rank Weighs Down True Learning by Thomas R. Guskey

Thursday, April 10th, 2014

Class Rank Weighs Down True Learning by Thomas R. Guskey – Phi Delta Kappan, March 2014, V95 N6, pp. 15-19. This is my summary of this fine article, which makes the point that teaching and grading schemes that work to select the most talented students often fail to benefit all students and to notice promising students. This may cause you to rethink what your high school is doing regarding this matter. Here is the link to the abstract. You will probably need a subscription if you want to view the full article, or you could hit your nearest college library.

Thomas R Guskey, PhD

  • Thomas is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Kentucky. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago, and began his career in education as a middle school teacher. He served as an administrator in Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. He is the author/editor of 18 books and over 200 articles published in prominent research journals as well as Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, and School Administrator. You can find him on Twitter @tguskey or email him at guskey@uky.edu
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The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance by David Epstein (© 2013, Penguin Group: New York, NY) may not sound like a book for general educators and parents, but it is as it explores the messy relationship between biological endowments and the impact of training. You don’t need to be a sports fan to appreciate this look at modern genetic research that should apply to any kind of human accomplishment. Be sure to click at the bottom of any page to purchase this captivating book.

David Epstien

  • David is an award winning senior editor for Sports Illustrated where he covers sports science, medicine, and Olympic sports. He was a track start at Columbia University and has a master’s degree in environmental science.

Innate or Will to Train

  • The book opens by wondering how much of an athlete’s success is based on innate genetic composition (nature), and how much is a function of the will to train and time spent doing so (nurture). The first story deals with how a top flight women softball pitcher can routinely strike out the top men baseball hitters. How is it possible that girls can hit this stuff while top men can’t.
  • In addition to action sports, David looks at how chess masters can reconstruct a chess game in progress after a quick look. This is where chunking theory came from. It was discovered that what the chess masters remember were clusters of pieces rather than each individual piece. Others also discovered that elite players of action sports need less time and less visual information to know what will happen in the future. Top tennis players, for example, can discern from the minuscule pre-serve shifts of an opponent’s torso whether a shot was going to their forehand or their backhand. No one is born with such anticipatory skills. Such skills are analogous to software, while genes are analogous to hardware.
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It’s a Technological World, Are Your Teachers Up to Par? by Ken Myers

Saturday, March 15th, 2014

It’s a Technological World, Are Your Teachers Up to Par? by Ken Myers is aimed at helping education leaders with their vision in regard to modern technology and its use by teachers. Since just about any decent job today requires technical skills, we can no longer abide teachers who aren’t interested in making the most of their school’s technical resources.

Ken Myers

  • Ken Myers is a father of three and passionate about great childcare. He’s always looking for ways to help families find the support they need to live fuller, richer lives. He is the owner of GoNannies, a nationally known nanny recruiting website. He strives to provide parents and caregivers with quality and up-to-date content. Find out more about expert childcare by checking out @go_nannies on Twitter.

It’s a Technological World, Are Your Teachers Up to Par?

  • As we live in the digital age, technology is abundant no matter where you turn. Our pockets are full of gadgets and gizmos that make life more efficient on a professional and private level. With every innovation, education has been impacted by the same technology as well. However, many teachers are simply not using the tools to their fullest potential. Statistical analysis and device capabilities look good on paper, but they don’t live up to expectations of educators if they’re not used correctly.
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