Monthly Archives: July 2008

Teaching

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From Teacher Magazine

Comment: last night our faculty met at Angelo’s for a spectacular dinner party. We discussed the upcoming year and how much we are all looking forward to teaching. Our classes are small and the students are A+. This morning when I read the article that follows, I thought how much each teacher embodies all these five points. It doesn’t matter if you are teaching three year olds or college kids. Teaching is a work of the head that is delivered by the heart. If you want to see what it’s like from a positive insider’s point of view, read on.

Teaching Secrets: Five Tips for the New Teacher

By Cindi Rigsbee

As the average birth year of our school faculty begins to dip below the year I began teaching, it becomes apparent that I am what some would consider an “experienced teacher.” That and my tendency to repeat myself. It occurred to me not long ago that there are expressions I use over and over when giving advice to beginning teachers. Here, in no particular order, are some possibly useful maxims from Ms. Rigsbee’s Guide to the Teaching Life.

1. Hit the floor running and breathe when you leave.

I have always been one of the first teachers to pull into the parking lot in the mornings. Getting to work a good 20 to 30 minutes before the “official” start time is necessary for me. First of all, it gives me time to think quietly about my day. Also, it alleviates the problem of standing in line at a copy machine (or finding a jammed copy machine that was left blinking wildly by a teacher who didn’t attempt to fix it). After the copies are made, the agenda and goals are on the board, and the room is ready, there’s time for nice adult conversations (there may not be another opportunity until after school) and opportunities for relationship building as students arrive.

I understand there are “circumstances.” The year my chronically oversleeping son was a senior in high school, I had to fly into the school parking lot on two wheels every morning just as the second hand on the office clock was announcing I was late. So I do know it may be difficult to arrive as dawn breaks. But the earlier the better, so you can begin the day relaxed and ready.

Relaxed and ready is also the way to end the school day. I tell beginning teachers to beware of the 3:30 Club. Never get between them and the door at 3:30 (or whatever time school is out for you). I prefer to take my time in the afternoons, look over some lesson plans, straighten up my classroom from the day’s activities, and get ready for tomorrow. Also, I like to wander around the school to see what my students are up to. There’s nothing better than grading a few papers outside on the bleachers on a warm fall afternoon during football practice. My students, who should be paying attention to their coaches, always wave wildly when they see me (like they didn’t just see me in class 30 minutes before).

The “breathe when you leave” part? That means teachers need to take care of themselves and relax during their hours out of school. This doesn’t mean they can’t grade the occasional paper or do schoolwork. For me, it’s very relaxing to do my lesson plans on Sunday afternoons, turn on some professional football and plan the week. But this routine may not work for some teachers. I tell new teachers to figure out what works for them, but to make sure to breathe.

2. Always remember, the show must go on.

I have always said teaching is a performance. Standing in front of (or facilitating around) a classroom of kids of any age requires energy and enthusiasm. We don’t work behind a computer screen at a desk all day, so we can’t just slump in our seats if we feel like it. There have been many days in my career when I have looked at the clock to see that it was time for my next group to come to me. “I can’t do it,” I would think. But I would take a deep breath, put a smile on my face (it’s OK if it’s fake at first), and start slapping some fives when those kids entered the room. Pretty soon their energy level would match mine, my smile would be real, and we would take it from there. The idea is to prepare ourselves for the “audience” and be the best we can be when we’re with them. Our students deserve no less.

3. Put on your cheerleading uniform.

Yes, we have to encourage and inspire. We know that. Some of our students come to us from dismal situations. I often wonder how some of them can even put one foot in front of the other to get to the bus stop. But they do, and while they’re with me, I’m going to do what I can to make their school day the best it can be.

But I’m not only talking about students. We need to cheer each other on, too. Schools can be toxic places. The job is stressful, and hopefully we aren’t complaining to kids all day. So when teachers get together, there can be some “venting.” That’s when I put on my metaphorical cheerleading uniform and go at it. Don’t worry—I don’t act like Little Mary Sunshine. I do understand, and many times agree with, the complaints that are discussed in team rooms and school hallways. But I do try to put a positive spin on things if I can.

Also, I feel strongly that it’s important to be cheerleaders for our profession. I am weary from hearing “if you can’t do … teach” and other misrepresentations of what we do every day. We have to market ourselves as the professionals we are. Some folks have the idea that teachers are still Charlie Brown’s wa-wa-wa-ing lecturers, whacking kids with yard sticks if they misbehave. But we know real teachers are committed professionals who believe in purposeful instruction and who have our students’ best interests at heart. As we speak to others, in the grocery store or by the neighborhood pool, we must embody that professionalism—not fuel the negative fires that surround so many schools.

4. If you make them the enemy, you will lose.

The rest of this expression goes like this: There are more of them, and they have an audience. As a middle school teacher, this is one saying that I share with teachers often. Teaching cannot be an “us” and “them” situation. In the community of a school, we are all family, and when the students know this (and feel this), they are much more likely to cooperate, be pleasant, and learn.

If, instead, they are aware of the animosity a teacher feels toward them, they will push back, and it probably won’t be pretty. Being in this school thing together is much more productive and much less stressful. A student on your side can be the difference between loving your job and dreading getting up in the morning. Do what needs to be done to ensure they’re on your side—and it’s mostly about being on theirs.

5. Don’t hide your light under a bushel.

I can’t take credit for this one. I believe it was mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. It was also mentioned by my Mama about once a week as I was growing up. Basically, it means “don’t hide your talent.” I share this one with new teachers as I encourage them to use their talents, even some that aren’t so obvious, to make their teaching experience more enjoyable.

For example, I love to write poetry. I’m not a published poet, but I don’t need to be. I have a captive audience every day. By sharing my poetry and bits of my personal life, I’m able to connect to my students in a way that may be difficult otherwise. Some teachers use their athletic talents to inspire students; I’ve worked with two Ultimate Frisbee playing teachers (in two different schools) who have taught their students these skills while at the same time teaching teamwork and perseverance. One of my dearest teacher friends teaches math and clogging at the same time. (And if you don’t know what clogging is, check it out on YouTube!)

Another way I hope new teachers will shine their lights is by marketing themselves as professionals. Each parent who has a child sitting in a classroom should know the credentials that got that teacher there— college degrees, honors and awards received, types of experiences (not necessarily years of experience but types—has the teacher worked with different grade levels before or taught other subjects?). I believe teachers should have a pamphlet ready to hand to classroom visitors that includes all of your career highlights.

There are a few other expressions I throw out now and then. For example, “He is the boss of you” is one I use when teachers are complaining about the principal’s expectations. But that’s a story for another day. For now, I’ll just look back over the years I’ve been teaching and wonder when I stopped asking so many questions and somehow got so old that I started answering a few.

Cindi Rigsbee is a National Board-certified reading teacher at Gravelly Hill Middle School in Orange County, North Carolina. She was recently selected as North Carolina’s State Teacher of the Year for 2008.

From Georgia Education News

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Early Life Nutrition May Be Associated With Adult Intellectual Functioning

Comment: I’m a fan.

• Adults who had improved nutrition in early childhood may score better on intellectual tests.
• Poor nutrition during childhood is associated with poor cognitive performance in adulthood.

Adults who had improved nutrition in early childhood may score better on intellectual tests, regardless of the number of years they attended school, according to a report in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

“Schooling is a key component of the development of literacy, reading comprehension and cognitive functioning, and thus of human capital,” says Aryeh D. Stein, PhD, MPH, an associate professor of global health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.

Research also suggests that poor nutrition in early life is associated with poor performance on cognitive (thinking, learning and memory) tests in adulthood.

“Therefore, both nutrition and early-childhood intellectual enrichment are likely to be important determinants of intellectual functioning in adulthood,” Stein says.

Between 1969 and 1977, Guatemalan children in four villages participated in a trial of nutritional supplementation. Through the trial, some were exposed to atole–a protein-rich enhanced nutritional supplement–while others were exposed to fresco, a sugar-sweetened beverage. Stein and colleagues analyzed data from intellectual testing and interviews conducted between 2002 and 2004, when 1,448 surviving participants (68.4 percent) were an average of 32 years old.

Individuals exposed to atole between birth and age 24 months scored higher on intellectual tests of reading comprehension and cognitive functioning in adulthood than those not exposed to atole or who were exposed to it at other ages. This association remained significant when the researchers controlled for other factors associated with intellectual functioning, including years of schooling.

“Nutrition in early life is associated with markers of child development in this population, and exposure to atole for most of the first three years of life was associated with an increase of 0.4 years in attained schooling, with the association being stronger for females (1.2 years of schooling),” Stein says.

Thus, schooling might be in the causal pathway between early childhood nutrition and adult intellectual functioning, says Stein. The data, which suggest an effect of exposure to an enhanced nutritional intervention in early life that is independent of any effect of schooling, provide additional evidence in support of intervention strategies that link early investments in children to continued investments in early-life nutrition and in schooling.

###

In addition to Stein, study authors were Meng Wang, MS, Ann DiGirolamo, PhD, Usha Ramakrishnan, PhD, Kathryn Yount, PhD, and Reynaldo Martorell, PhD, all of the Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University; and Ruben Grajeda, MD, and Manuel Ramirez-Zea, MD, PhD of the Unit of Public Policies, Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama.

This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the National Science Foundation. The National Institutes of Health, the Thrasher Fund and the Nestle Foundation have funded the work of the INCAP Longitudinal Study since its inception. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.

Reference: Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162[7]:612-618

Sugar Drinks and Diabetes

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From Food Navigator

Comment: What we notice at school is the heavier children drink a great portion of their food. In drinking, a person consumes many more calories than eating. Drinking is easier for some children. When a child drinks sugar juices as the predominant food, the child tends to be overweight. When children break this habit, the weight drops off.

Breaking News on Food & Beverage Development – North America
Study links fruit drinks to sweet beverage diabetes risk
By Neil Merrett

Sugar sweetened beverages like fruit-flavoured drinks may increase the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a new US study.

The research, which appears in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that African American women within the US, who consume at least two soft drinks a day, were 24 per cent more likely of developing the disease compared to those who drank one product a month.

The same daily consumption of fruit drinks led to a 33 per cent hike in incidence. However, juice products derived from oranges and grapefruit, as well as diet soft drinks, were not linked in the study to diabetes, said lead researcher Julie Palmer of Boston University.

In a number of markets, consumer demand for health and wellness products has led manufacturers to develop a growing number of fruit drinks for their portfolios, due to their association with the health benefits of their flavours.

Fruit drink consumption

Despite the research’s conclusion, the study pointed to some differences in the consumption patterns of regular sugar-sweetened soft drinks compared to sugar-sweetened fruit drinks.

The researchers said that consumption patterns between the two beverage types were not linked to respondents Body Mass Index (BMI) or education background, but to some dietary and activity trends.

“[Fruit drinks] were positively correlated with physical activity, cereal fibre intake, and eating a low-glycemic index diet,” the researchers stated. “To some extent, then, soft drink consumption was correlated with unhealthy behaviours and fruit drink consumption with healthy behaviours.”

Sugar concerns

In identifying contributing factors for the study’s findings, weight gain from beverage consumption was identified by the researchers as a key element in the onset of diabetes.

“A systematic review of the literature indicates a positive association between greater intakes of sugar sweetened beverages and weight gain and obesity in both children and adults,” the researchers said. “These beverages are dense in calories and are typically consumed as an addition to usual food intake.”

The researchers claimed that the use of sweeteners such as high-fructose corn
syrup (HFCS) were likely to have a particularly strong impact on weight gain, due in part to the possible affects it has on insulin secretion and leptin release.

By comparison, the naturally occurring sugars in orange and grapefruit juice, identified in the research as glucose and fructose, were linked to different metabolic effects than those associated with HFCS.

Methodology

The findings were derived from an ongoing health study of 59,000 African American women aged between 21 and 69 years of age across the US.

The research began with a baseline survey back in 1995, which called for various medical and lifestyle information such as weight, height, reproductive history and everyday questions on diet, cigarettes and alcohol use, according to the study.

Updates of these surveys were then issued every two years to respondents detailing current lifestyle practices, with an average return rate of 80 per cent, over the ten-year period that the beverage study was based on.

Researchers added that subjects that had reported already having diabetes, gestational diabetes, cancer, heart conditions like strokes or being pregnant at baseline were not included in the testing.

A total of 43,960 respondents’ information was used in the final study.

Other studies

The researchers said that the findings reflected similar follow on studies conducted on US nurses, which was a predominantly white respondent group by contrast.

“Positive associations, somewhat stronger than in the present study,
were found for both soft drinks and fruit drinks,” said the researchers. “The weaker associations observed in our study may be due to the higher baseline risk of diabetes experienced by African American women.”

Source: Archives of Internal Medicine
 Vol 168, Issue 14, July 2008
“Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Incidence of Type 2
Diabetes Mellitus in African American Women”
Authors: Julie Palmer, Deborah Boggs, Supriya Krishnan, Frank B. Hu et al.

The Garden School Tattler

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It’s going to be very hot today. We’re going swimming. It should be a great swimming day.

On hot days, we take a lot of drinks and we mind who is drinking what. We also tell the kids there is a drinking fountain on the deck of the pool for those who need it. Keeping hydrated is an important part of child care.

When we arrive back at school after we swim, children are encouraged to drink as much water as they can. We will then cool off in the building and relax with cool down period.

Taking care of little ones is a multi faceted scheme. These days are exhausting for young children and parents should make sure that children are in bed before 8:00. If possible, don’t wake them up until they wake up in the a.m.

This week we will swim three times. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

August 8 is our last out of town field trip. It’s to the Garden of the Gods and then Pounds Hollow Lake. It’s a great trip and parents are encouraged to come. The lake has a sandy bottom as far as the feet can manage to touch bottom, and the lake is beautifully clean and wide. Swimming with your kids in this beautiful lake is a great plan!

We will be taking hot dogs and hamburgers to cook on the spot. If you want to come, please let us know on the sign up sheet on the front door. There are bathrooms at the lake, so you can change there, but wearing you swimsuit with a pair of shorts and a t-shirt over makes the most sense. Bring a towel!

From Population Reference Bureau

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Rural Children Lag in Early Childhood Educational Skills

by Charles Dervarics

(January 2005) A new study on early childhood educational achievement says that young rural children begin elementary school well behind their urban and suburban peers in reading and math skills.

According to study author Glenn D. Israel, rural children entering kindergarten and first grade have lower reading and math scores than any other category of youngsters tested—whether from urban, suburban, or small town environments.

And Israel, professor and program development/evaluation specialist at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, says that rural environments often aren’t giving their children a good chance to succeed.

“Low-capacity rural areas, where educational attainment, income levels, job skills, and community engagement are more limited, can create a milieu that does not place a high priority on education,” Israel says.

The Crucial Role of Parents in Academic Achievement

Israel analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS), which sampled 21,260 students at 1,280 schools in 1998. He found that some rural students in the study scored at least 10 percent lower than suburban youngsters in math and nearly 20 percent below suburban children in reading (for overall scores from the ECLS study, see Table 1).

Table 1
Mean Math and Reading Test Scores for Students by Residential Location

<>Kindergarten to 1st grade

Autumn of Kindergarten Kindergarten to 1st Grade
Location Math Score Reading Score Math Gain Score* Reading Gain Score*
Large city 19.5 22.7 23.2 32.8
Mid-size city 19.9 22.8 24.1 33.6
Large suburb 21.3 24.6 24.0 34.0
Mid-size suburb 20.1 22.6 24.1 33.1
Large & small towns 19.5 21.9 23.6 33.9
Rural 18.8 21.2 23.7 32.0

Note: Sample size for this table is 9,934 children. This number is smaller than the 21,260 subjects at the beginning of the ECLS study; the lower number reflects loss of children who did not stay in the study through the end of first grade as well as children who remained in the study but for whom certain data were not reported.
* “Gain score” is the increase in score students achieve between the autumn they enter kindergarten through the spring of 1st grade.
Source: Glenn D. Israel’s calculations based on the U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey (1998).

Israel also focused on whether social networks and parent involvement can increase student achievement at an early age. He found that many factors—such as underfunded schools, a lack of community resources, rural isolation, and inadequately trained teachers—can contribute to the lagging achievement of rural children.

Parental modeling and involvement is key to educational success, however. And Israel discovered that many rural parents—particularly those in poverty—have weak links to social networks and the resources that promote early learning.

Rural parents have the least education among their adult peers, with relatively few having completed postsecondary education (see Table 2). Israel says this disparity affects children’s early language development and a parent’s educational aspirations for their child—a key motivator for youngsters. “Some adults need help on how to be a positive parent,” Israel says. “Setting high expectations has a very strong effect on how children expect to do in school.”

Table 2
Student- and School-level Variables by Residential Location

Large City Mid-Size City Large Suburb Mid-Size Suburb Town Rural
Parents’ highest education level
(6 = 4-year degree)*
4.7
4.8
5.1
4.7
4.6
4.4
Teacher certified in early childhood education (%)
58.8
57.3
58.9
67.6
55.2
48.8
Degree parent expects of child
(4 = 4-year degree)**
4.2
4.1
4.2
4.0
3.9
3.7
Read to child 3 or more days/week (%)
76.9
79.0
85.3
82.4
82.8
78.2
Parent involvement in school
(up to 5 activities)
2.7
2.9
3.2
3.0
2.8
2.6

* For this variable, the study defined values as the following: 1=8th grade or below; 2=9th to 12th grade; 3=High-school diploma/equivalent; 4=Vocational/technical program; 5=Some college; 6=Bachelors degree; 7=Graduate/professional school, no degree earned; 8=Master’s degree; 9=Doctorate or professional degree. When two parents were present in a household, the higher value of the two was used.
** For this variable, the study defined values as the following: 1=1 year of college completed; 2=2 years of college completed; and so forth.
Source: Glenn D. Israel’s calculations based on the U.S. Department of Education’s Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey (1998).

Israel adds that rural families also score low in another critical area of child development: the percentage of parents who read to their young child at least three days a week. About 78 percent of rural parents met this target, compared with 85 percent of parents from large suburbs and 82 percent of parents living in mid-size suburbs.

Rural Schools Also Need More Training in Early-Childhood Education

Israel also documented the importance of a teaching force well trained in early-childhood education—an area in which rural areas also lag. He found that fewer than one-half of rural schools had a teacher certified in early-childhood education, compared with 68 percent of schools in mid-size suburbs and 55 percent to 59 percent in towns, cities, and other more populated areas. Rural parents also were somewhat less likely to participate in school activities—a condition Israel attributed in part to the long distances between many families’ home and their child’s elementary school.

He adds that this limited parental involvement in school may affect student achievement. “Students whose parents are involved in their school, through parent-teacher organizations and other activities, perform better in their academic courses,” he says.

Literacy, Parental Modeling, and Pediatricians: Some Steps Toward Helping Rural Children

To help improve rural early education, Israel recommends early literacy activities as well as more parent education programs and policies that build strong relationships within and between families. Such services might include home visits, learn-by-mail programs, or even laptop loaner programs to get rural families more wired into community resources. “Not only do these social networks translate into direct benefits for children,” says Israel, “they also help strengthen the community’s social infrastructure”—thereby reducing children’s isolation.

Israel adds that some rural parents also may need their own “modeling activities” on how to be a positive parent. “[Rural] parents need someone coming to their door rather than be expected to participate in a workshop,” he argues.

Many of Israel’s findings are consistent with thinking among rural education experts. The combination of rural isolation and poverty leaves many rural children behind from the preschool years onward, says Mary Logue, professor of early childhood education at the University of Maine. “The main indicator is oral language,” she says. “Kids in poverty come to school with thousands of fewer words.”

Another challenge in rural communities is that students might spend years with the same peer group in class because of the small overall class enrollments. “If it’s a low functioning group, higher achievers may suffer,” Logue says.

One effective program for the youngest children is Head Start, the federal program providing services to disadvantaged preschoolers and their families. Such programs have strong parent involvement, something that needs to carry over to elementary school.

Home visits, formal and informal playgroups, and school-based parent resource centers are other strategies that may improve a community’s social and family capital. “The goal is for school to become more of an extended family,” says Logue.

In addition, pediatricians are often overlooked as a resource for students. Logue says she often has reached out to these physicians to emphasize their role in working with parents on healthy rural child development.

The Difficulties in Training and Recruiting Rural Teachers

Israel’s findings about early-childhood teachers are particularly important to Logue, who helps prepare students for rural teaching careers. At the University of Maine, she has seen that prospective teachers from rural backgrounds have trouble passing required tests. “My students from rural communities know a lot but aren’t passing standardized tests,” she said. “They are coming from underfunded schools.”

And while many suburban or small-town students pass teacher-licensing exams, Logue finds that few of these students seem willing to move to a more-isolated community after graduation. “It’s hard to live in that type of setting,” she said, “if you haven’t come from that environment.”

Charles Dervarics is a freelance writer based in Alexandria, Va., who specializes in education, health, and employment issues.

From England

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From The Times

July 24, 2008

Authors unite against drive for toddler literacy

Comment: Glad this isn’t us.

A toddler working through a phonics reading book

Nursery teaching framework sets more than 500 development milestones

Nicola Woolcock

School Gate: Are we teaching our children too much too young?

Alpha Mummy: How the under 5s recommendations and sex education are related

A powerful lobby of leading authors and educationists accuse the Government today of setting children up for failure.

In a letter to The Times they say that ambitious education targets – including using punctuation before a child turns 5 – are unrealistic and risk harming pre-school children by setting back their development.

They accuse Beverley Hughes, the Children’s Minister, of ignoring her advisers and shelving research commissioned by her department because it contradicted policy.

Philip Pullman and Michael Morpurgo, the children’s authors, Susie Orbach, the sociologist, and Steve Biddulph, the psychologist, have joined dozens of academics to demand that the reforms be scrapped or turned into a voluntary code before they come into force this autumn.

Children as young as 4 are expected to write in sentences and use punctuation under the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework – widely described as a “toddlers’ curriculum”.

This sets 69 goals and more than 500 development milestones that children in England should reach by the age of 5.

They are supposed to use mathematics to solve practical problems, retell stories in the correct sequence, understand right from wrong, read simple sentences on their own, sit quietly, be able to use a computer and understand that other people have different views, cultures and beliefs that need to be respected.

However, two of the most contentious targets are being reviewed by Sir Jim Rose, who carried out an inquiry into primary school literacy teaching. These are that children should “write their own names . . . and begin to form simple sentences, sometimes using punctuation” and, “use phonic knowledge to write simple regular words and make phonetically plausible attempts at more complex words”.

Evidence suggests that only 30 per cent of five-year-olds achieve the first target and 46 per cent the second.

Campaigners claim that young children affected by EYFS will become “guinea-pigs of ministerial whim”.

An outcry from nurseries, child-minders, pre-schools and independent schools, who will have to adopt the framework, prompted two concessions from Ms Hughes, including the review of the two literacy targets.

But these are lambasted today by the Open Eye campaign, founded by Richard House, a child psychologist and university lecturer.

The letter, signed by more than 80 campaigners, says the two “alleged ‘concessions’ fail to address the concerns” because Ms Hughes has “ignored calls to scrap or suspend literacy goals that are widely deplored as being far too advanced for many young children.

“Her other ‘concession’ – the 34-page exemption process purporting to enable providers to opt out of some of the ‘learning requirements’ – is expertly camouflaged, labyrinthine and bureaucratically complex, appearing to have been intentionally designed to deter anyone from applying.”

It adds: “Parents should have the right to choose how their preschool children are cared for and educated.”

The letter is signed by Tim Brighouse, Visiting Professor at the London University’s Institute of Education; Pullman, who wrote the His Dark Materials trilogy; Morpurgo, the former Children’s Laureate; Sally Goddard Blythe, director of the Institute for Neuro-physiological Psychology; Lilian Katz, Professor of Education at the University of Illinois; Katherine Langrish and John Dougherty, the children’s authors; and Sue Palmer, the educational consultant and author of Toxic Childhood.

Dr House told The Times: “Certain parts of the learning requirements set some children up for failure, particularly those who haven’t got the necessary foundations of social learning or basic skills.” He said that children who did not come from middle-class families, or those who were less academically bright, were particularly at risk. “They may withdraw into themselves and stop trying. Trying for them becomes associated with fear and angst.

“Just because you can get children to do something at 4 or 5 it doesn’t follow that it’s appropriate for them, and Beverley Hughes has never made that distinction.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that the commissioned research had not been published because “the evidence base was too small to be significant”.

Ms Hughes said: “The EYFS is hugely important as a single framework for play-based early learning and care, based on the kind of support that helps children thrive in the early years. We have always said that we will keep the EYFS under review.”

A hard lesson – or too much, too soon

— The National Curriculum was established by the Education Reform Act 1988. It was revised at all key stages and in all subjects in August 2000

— The Foundation Stage, which lasts from a child’s third birthday to the end of the reception year, became part of the National Curriculum in 2002. Early Learning Goals were achieved through play and group activities, not sitting at desks

— In 2005 the Government announced that the Early Years Foundation Stage would be included in its Childcare Bill and become part of the national curriculum

— There was mounting criticism of the new national curriculum for under5s. In November 2007 a lobby of academics said it would induce needless anxiety and dent children’s enthusiasm for learning

— It requires children to be continually assessed on 13 learning scales including writing, problem solving and numeracy

— It will apply to 25,000 private and state nurseries and aims to make children aged 3 and 4 write simple sentences using punctuation, interpret phonic methods to read complex words and use mathematical ideas to solve practical problems

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Comment: something worth knowing about and something worth doing something about.

On March 16, 2006, Brady Blaine Hinton was born at St. Vincent’s hospital in Bridgeport, CT. He passed away two years later on March 16, 2008, his 2nd birthday. In between those dates, Brady endured a life complicated by intricate medical conditions. Through everything his little body endured, he never stopped smiling. He beamed from ear-to-ear when listening to music and experiencing the brightest of lights. He showed people that despite it all, you can maintain a positive attitude. Now, his mother and father are taking the opportunity to honor their little boy’s spirit by making a difference in the lives of those who need the most help. They are a “mom and pop” with a personal cause. A start-up company dedicated to the greater good who hope to fulfill one ultimate goal: to become the largest children’s based charitable foundation in the world. Brady’s Smile, Inc. has applied to become a 501(c)(3) company and is awaiting approval.

FAIRFIELD, CT (July 24, 2008) – Starting August 7, 2008, Brady’s Smile, Inc. will officially begin “Doing Big Things For Little Ones In Need.” We are thrilled to introduce three very special programs that will take a step towards accomplishing our goal of making life easier for children in the ICU. All three of our programs will be provided to newborn babies/children and their caregivers at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital (“YNHCH”) Newborn Special Care Unit (“NBSCU“) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (“PICU“). The NBSCU cares for over 1,500 infants every year, while the PICU cares for children recovering from illness, trauma, cardiothoracic surgery and transplant operations, and serves more than 800 children every year.

“It is with the help, dedication and support we have received over the past three months, that we are able to accomplish this goal,” says Annie Hinton, co-founder of Brady’s Smile, Inc. “We hope everyone feels as passionate about these programs as we do. We set out to touch children’s lives, and we are so honored and touched to provide these programs to the children at YNHCH.”

Brady’s Smile will provide Brady’s Smile Comfort Bags, Brady Blankets and Music in the ICU (“MICU“) to very deserving people. Brady’s Smile Comfort Bags will provide basic essentials to caregivers and toys to babies and children. Brady Blankets are homemade fleece blankets that will be distributed to babies and children during their time in the ICU. The MICU program will give every baby and child an opportunity to benefit from the power of music during his or her time in the ICUs.

Please find additional information on each program below or at www.bradyssmile.org.

Rules by Judy Lyden

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Too cute for his own good!

One of the things we talk about all the time at school among faculty is children’s behavior, good bad and in between. The other day, while watching our little crowd, I asked Miss Kelly our kindergarten first grade teacher, if it was true that children who behaved poorly at school most likely behaved poorly at home. She said an emphatic “yes.” And then she did something interesting, she added, “And children who behave poorly at home have no rules.”

I thought a lot about that over the next few days, and I continued to watch our kids. Are rules the bottom line in rearing children? If you want a child’s behavior to be the kind of behavior you can take anywhere, and that’s what we spend most of our time doing – going out – establishing a set of rules for home that are “take along” is the logical progression. But this is not happening.

The question is: Why is establishing a set of rules, which is so basic, so difficult for so many parents? Why do so many children lack these rules? If the parent focuses on a very old rather golden idea – “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” it would seem to engage the very idea of community living and make the creation of rules matter more. But this very ancient and simple notion might be where it all begins, but it quickly falls apart. Children have contempt for neighbor and some children even have contempt for the parents. The question is what is happening and why?

In the home (any home) a child is simply ONE of the participants, and yet too often children think they are the only participant, and everything in the room is his or her “due.” “Me first or rather “me only,” is the common demand. “He hit me,” is a one sided argument. Just once I’d like to have a child come to me and say, “We hit each other,” but that’s never the point. The point is, “He,” the dog in the kennel, has hit “Me” the star in the sky. You can see the wheels turning, “If I’m the only one who counts, then I don’t need rules.”

The point of establishing rules at home is for the sake of order and peace. Some parents have a set of rules that resemble the telephone book. Even the parents don’t remember them all and that’s one big problem. When parents neglect the rules, how do we expect children to obey?

And then there is the opposite theory of rules – less is more. I established one rule at my house: “Don’t fall into the river we eat at six.” This one rule for my house meant, “Be safe and remember the needs of your family.” In other words, “Be smart enough to not fall into the river which is a block from the house, and be smart enough to know that we are home expecting you.” I figured all other rules were self evident, but then I was a very demanding mother with a concrete routine.

And with the word “routine” said, I began to think more about rules and how rules play off routine. How can there be rules if there is no routine? Establishing an order at home means routine. If a family always eats dinner at 6:00, then it follows that the children always need to be home, clean, and ready to eat by 6:00. It also follows that in order to eat dinner at six, mother needs to be at home as well by about 4:30 or 5:00 to make that dinner. If mother keeps the routine, then the kids easily follow suit. To complete the order, it follows that the table needs to be set, the toys need to be picked up, hands need to be washed every time we expect dinner on the table at 6:00. These things don’t magically happen. There is a pattern a little like counting. You don’t begin with ten, you begin with one.

At the Garden School, we ring the bell. That’s 1. Then there is the announcement that we are picking up our toys in order that we can eat. That’s 2. Then we do that – we pick up. That’s 3. Then we go to a communal spot. That’s 4. Then we pray. That’s 5. Then we are dismissed to wash our hands and sit down. That’s 6 and 7. Then we eat. That’s 8. But these are not rules; they are part of the routine order of the day. The rules surround the order of the day and give a super order: we don’t push in line. We are quiet during prayers. We sit criss cross. We listen for our names. We use the toilet and sink one at a time. We use ONE paper towel. We don’t touch our neighbor during meals.

By establishing a routine and an order any place, the obvious rules simply fall into place. If we are making a line to go into the building, most of the children will understand the concept for the sake of everyone in the building. They know that if we have something REAL to do, then the logic is to be about doing that, and you can see most of the children understand that and enjoy it.

The one thing that upsets the order or routine is an evil demon called chaos. There are agents of chaos in every group. Children and adults who can’t maintain the routine and sabotage the entire group’s order. These are the people who upset the routine and then ultimately break the rules. And when one person breaks the rules, the whole house has reason to copy. Children who break the rules are not thinking communally. They are thinking about self only.

People who break the rules do so for their own sake. They don’t follow the golden rule “Do to others as you would wish them to do to you,” because ultimately their target is the group. When children come from homes lacking in order, teachers have to remember that these kids have no guidance and no parental help. They are waif like and struggling to understand a world that has little patience for their barbarism.

Parents are the primary educators of the child. Parents are the primary establishers of routine in the home. Routine is the natural goodness that emanates from the home for the sake of the people who live there. Rules are the natural byproduct of routine. Obedience is the natural byproduct of the love necessary to establish order in the home. A well ordered home creates a whole and creative child, and best of all, it creates peace.

Swimmers Advance!

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We’re at it again! We keep growing. This week the teams are:

Jelly Fish ( Children who still have trouble putting their heads under the water)

CJ, Caroline, Zoe, Corey

Sun Fish ( Head dunkers who are still too young to swim in deep water )

Isaac, Nathan, Devin, India, Zoey, Alyssa, Paige, Donovan, Luke, Reese, Emma,

Whales ( Children who really swim in deep water but have not gone off the board)

Phoebe, Sam, Stoggy, Cole, Skylar, William, David, Kanin, Javeon, Brady, Jay

Sharks ( Children who can swim and go off the board)

Andrew, Austin R, Alex s. Dax, Hadley, Michaela, Aiden, Briauna, Dawson, Hannah, brycek, Alex H, Jackson, Alexis, Jack H, Morgan, Jack S., Austin W, Wyatt, Adyson, Nikolai, Logan, Spencer, Mara, Nicholas, Madison, Addie,

I’m afraid that’s closing in on it for the summer. I took some of the Sun Fish over to the Whale swimming teaching section, but they aren’t ready. Maybe next year. Of the Whales, most of them are still to skittish to go off the board. Not sure about Skylar – she’s been on vacation. David is coming close – hope he does it by the end of the summer. Kanin is “in” the pool, but still won’t put his head under. Brady is close and so is Cole. I’d still like to see four more sharks.

We’ll be swimming on Friday this week. Two extra days of swimming might just be the ticket some of the kids need to make that little decision about a three foot jump. It’s a bit daunting when you look down and know that you’ll be sailing through the air and then splash in that DEEP water and then you have to be able to make it to the side. It’s not for everyone.