Preschool - how is your state doing?

Check out the State of Preschool 2007 to see how your state measures up to other states’ when it comes to funding preschool for three and four year olds. 

Not surprising to me… the report notes that 22% of all four year olds in America are sent to preschools paid for by state government or federal government funds.  And some politicians say we will fund how many three and four year olds if elected?  Coughing wildly over here… 100%!  Yes - it goes something like this… “if I am elected we will have preschool not just for SOME of our children but for ALL of our children.”  Read the report and you tell me - am I missing something?  How could this be possible?    

Don’t get your hopes up folks!  Remember this old saying… “if you want it done right… you better do it yourself.”  Children have the ability to learn the most between birth and age five and we (parents) have the obligation to make sure they are given the opportunities to do just that… no matter the sacrifice.  You are your child’s first teacher and favorite toy - early education is the key!

Link-Ed is a great website for connecting parents with education

Their mission: 

LinkEducation connects children with education opportunities by making it possible for parents, educators, and organizations to find programs and resources in their communities.

You can find all kinds of resources and events in your local, state and national area.   This website was one of the finalists for the IDEA BLOB - $10,000.00 idea of the month competition. 

Go on over to their website and see what you can learn and if you have anything to add!  Early education is the key to success in school and life!

Creativity flourishes when children entertain themselves

Fostering creativity in your children demands a lot of creativity on your part.

When I taught kindergarten, I was amazed at how many children were already critical of their creative abilities. We live in a culture where only the best is good enough. It’s easy to see why children are inclined to give up before they start on a creative project. I think both children and adults tend to think people are born talented. We lose sight of the fact that for centuries; people enjoyed creating products for what they were rather than to compare them to what is considered the best.

·         In today’s society, only first place equals success.

·         Often children equate being able to finish a project quickly with being good at it. Speed becomes the measure of success.

Therefore, we are dealing with quite a challenge in keeping our children enthusiastic and willing to take the risk of learning new creative skills. We need to find ways to emphasize the joy of doing a creative activity and to help them see that improving skills in any creative endeavor is a life long process.  Early education is the key - Visit us at Wiggle Giggle Learn to see how you can be your child’s favorite toy and biggest inspiration!

Is too much television really bad for children?

Is it true that television is bad for children?  Parents gaze at me hoping beyond hope that I will say… no, television is not bad for your baby.  However, as an expert in the field of early childhood education, I know better and I recommend to parents to do better than sit their child in front of the television.

“Ohhhh but my baby loves to watch the animals and the pictures on the screen.  She just giggles and gazes… nothing can interrupt her attention while watching the educational shows,” my friend says to me.  My reactions, first horror, second a tongue-lashing because I think she should know better.  She said it herself… “Nothing can interrupt her (the baby’s) attention while watching these ‘educational’ shows.”  This is a huge part of the problem.

While babies, toddlers, preschoolers and older children are watching television they are passively engaged in learning.  Some would argue television offers a natural way for a child to develop better listening skills.  I would argue it is decreasing brain connections and overall use while also encouraging a child to use selective hearing.  It is true, new studies are beginning to link ADHD with excessive exposure (a.k.a, addiction) to watching television.

There are plenty of other reasons not to let your younger kids watch a lot of TV though. Kids who watch too much TV are less likely to read well, and more likely to become overweight and display aggressive tendencies.

We often hear the phrase “learn by doing”. What does this mean? Some parents and teachers seem to think this means children spending hours “doing” worksheets.  In addition, what have you ever learned from completing a worksheet?  To “learn by doing” means the child is exhibiting “active learning” - engaging all of his senses and attention into discovering something new. When children listen to teachers lecturing or when they watch TV, we call this “passive learning”.

Story time can often turn into a passive activity for your child if you don’t work to keep your child alert while reading to him by asking him to questions like what do you think will happen next. Encourage your child to act out the stories you read and make up his own versions of the story.  To make television more active, act out what you are watching together and ask many questions that go beyond the color or shape of something you see.  Deep questioning like, “why is she crying?”  Even if a child can’t talk yet, it is important to model higher-order questioning.

It is a wonderful new world we live in but very young children still need active stimulation to grow their brains so their brains will be ready to comprehend complex thought processes needed to read and do math when they enter kindergarten.

Innovation in business and education

Did you see the show on CNBC about the business of innovation in companies today? As an educator who was on the frontlines of preparing “tomorrow’s innovators,” I was intrigued. I learned many things about business operations and employee motivation but most of all I learned that businesses are innovating when schools are not!

Inside of the classroom, you know you should be preparing the children for what their lives are like today and what they will be like tomorrow. However, when faced with outdated text books, bureaucratic red tape to “teach to the test” and a lack of technological tools for promoting innovation, what should one do?

Wikipedia defines innovation this way: The term innovation may refer to both radical and incremental changes in thinking, in things, in processes or in services (Mckeown, 2008). Invention that gets out in to the world is innovation. In many fields, something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change, e.g., in the arts, economics, business and government policy. In economics, the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. Innovation leading to increased productivity is the fundamental source of increasing wealth in an economy.

So… let’s look at this part. “In many fields, something new must be substantially different to be innovative, not an insignificant change, e.g., goverment policy.” Could someone please tell me what plans for educational innovation either of the presidential campaigns is offering? Is government policy going to change? Are we going to continue sinking billions of public dollars into an ancient public education system where the drop out rate is higher than the graduation rate in many states?

OH… and about early childhood education, the only Americans benefitting from those millions at present are the disadvantaged (and they should) but are we innovating the practices for which we offer that money? Be reminded of the other part of the definition: The goal of innovation is positive change, to make someone or something better. We have been funding early education for the disadvantaged since the 1960’s. How’s it working for us?

Teach a man to fish and he will fish for a lifetime… fish for him and he will always wait for more during his lifetime!

How would you innovate education? I know what I’m doing…