The school is endeavouring to put the theory of personalised learning into practice. The idea is that learning should be tailored to individual need, so that every pupil gets the chance to fulfil their potential, whatever their background or circumstances. But how are teachers, with upwards of 30 children in a class, supposed to deliver this particular aspiration?

According to Caroline Haynes, the principal at TTC, the answer is to involve parents. “They have the biggest influence on a child’s education. Children only spend about 15% of their time at school, but about 85% at home. All the research shows that children whose parents engage with their education are at a huge advantage. The problem, however, is that although most of our parents want their children to do well, many are unsure how to motivate them.” …

Richard Brennand, an advanced skills teacher at TTC, says the key to getting parents involved is to emphasise that they can make a real difference to their children’s learning.

Source: Guardian Unlimited
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,1929508,00.html

Often confused with mental retardation, by the lay person, Autism is a complex developmental disability that affects an individual in the areas of social interaction and communication.

With as many as 1.5 million Americans - children and adults - affected, the National Institute of Mental Health states that autism is a spectrum disorder that affects each individual differently and to varying degrees of severity…

“Parents need to be aware of the typical developmental milestones of a child,” stresses Anthony J. Cuvo, Ph.D. …

“I advise parents to look at research based, scientifically validated therapies and make informed decisions,” says Trammel. “Make a decision on facts and education; not on hearsay and non-validated research.”

Source: Southern Health Magazine
http://tinyurl.com/2jphrb

Imagine taking your child to a preschool that could scan each little brain, take blood samples, administer psychological tests or do genetic testing to help decide which teaching techniques best suit each youngster.

That school will open next year in Sacramento’s Oak Park neighborhood, a shared vision of university neuroscientists, educators and activists who’ve long labored to revitalize the sometimes distressed community…

“These young kids in our community are competing against families and students in affluent communities. If you get behind even 1,000 words in vocabulary, it’s very hard to catch up,” Johnson said…

While most of those attending will be typically developing youngsters, roughly one-fourth will have autism, learning disorders, hyperactivity or other issues.

Source: Bradenton Herald
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/local/15824259.htm

Women in their 50s and 60s who conceive after fertility treatment are just as capable of being good parents as women in their 30s and 40s, a study has shown…

Even though they run greater risks of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, once their children are born they are just as good at raising them…

Bill Ledger, professor of obstetrics at the University of Sheffield, said: “The problem I have is not what happens to mothers at 50 to 55. What worries me is what happens when their children are 18 and they are in their 70s and 80s. I am not in favour of banning things but I am concerned for the welfare of a child whose parents are as old as its peers’ grandparents.”

Source: The Independant
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1919324.ece

Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success. The secret? Painful and demanding practice and hard work

“The evidence we have surveyed … does not support the [notion that] excelling is a consequence of possessing innate gifts.” …

The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work…

The best people in any field are those who devote the most hours to what the researchers call “deliberate practice.” …

Consistency is crucial. As Ericsson notes, “Elite performers in many diverse domains have been found to practice, on the average, roughly the same amount every day, including weekends.” …

Researchers also note, for example, child prodigies who could speak, read or play music at an unusually early age. But on investigation those cases generally include highly involved parents…

“Some people are much more motivated than others, and that’s the existential question I cannot answer - why.”

The critical reality is that we are not hostage to some naturally granted level of talent. We can make ourselves what we will. Strangely, that idea is not popular.

Source: Fortune
http://tinyurl.com/yfbws9

Large tutoring companies that have long helped high school students prepare for the SATs are now helping three- to six-year-olds prepare for kindergarten…

With kindergarten becoming more academic and waiting lists for the right schools long, parents are divided.

Turn any corner, like at the local bookstore, and parents can feel bombarded. Classics like Goodnight Moon are up against books on how to raise the IQ of your preschooler — adding to the pressure to compete and compete early.

There are no studies on the effects of private tutoring for young children, and many education experts believe parents can do just as good a job.

Source: MSNBC
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15333887/

Telling women they can’t do well in math may turn out be a self-fulfilling statement. In tests in Canada, women who were told that men and women do math equally well did much better than those who were told there is a genetic difference in math ability.
And women who heard there were differences caused by environment - such as math teachers giving more attention to boys - outperformed those who were simply reminded they were females…

“Our study doesn’t explore whether innate sex differences exist,” said Dar-Nimrod. “Instead, we investigated how the perceived source of stereotypes can influence women’s math performance.”

Source: Wichita Eagle
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/15799126.htm

It was a scene all too familiar in retail America.

A mother calmly paged through a magazine at a grocery check-out line, ignoring her 3-year-old child five feet away, crying for attention at 90 decibels. After several minutes (it seemed like an eternity) of this, the mother nonchalantly followed the carryout clerk out the door with the howling child in hot pursuit.

Throughout the ordeal, the mother never made eye contact with her son. The pair left in their wake dozens of astonished shoppers with furrowed brows and shaking heads…

… Unfortunately, too many of today’s parents lack role models because they themselves were raised improperly, perpetuating an intergenerational problem...

The common theme, Jones said, is that more children are entering school without the necessary social and behavioral skills to receive and process information.

Source: Star-Telegram
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/15805735.htm

Maher argued that those companies, Merck, Pfizer and the rest, are turning our children into a bunch of junkies by promoting drugs to treat such things as ADD, hyperactivity and other disorders, “diseases” that didn’t exist until the health-care industry - including health-care professionals who make their living diagnosing and treating them - created the market, so to speak…

It’s probably too late to save most of the adults whose medicine cabinets are filled with potency drugs, sleep-aids, anti-depressants, mood enhancers and all the rest. But we should tell the drug companies to leave our kids alone. They are merely creating another generation of adults who will be dependent on drugs just to get through the day.

Source: Naples Sun Times
http://tinyurl.com/2gnarn

Schools need not be fun to be effective

… The Brookings Institution is reporting today that countries such as the United States that embrace self-esteem, joy and real-world relevance in learning mathematics are lagging behind others that don’t promote all that self-regard…

According to the Washington think tank’s annual Brown Center report on education, 6 percent of Korean eighth-graders surveyed expressed confidence in their math skills, compared with 39 percent of U.S. eighth-graders. But a respected international math assessment showed Koreans scoring far ahead of their peers in the United States, raising questions about the importance of self-esteem.

In Japan, the report found, 14 percent of math teachers surveyed said they aim to connect lessons to students’ lives, compared with 66 percent of U.S. math teachers. Yet the U.S. scores in eighth-grade math trail those of the Japanese, raising similar questions about the importance of practical relevance…

Several countries in Asia and some in Europe tend to beat the United States in math scores, even though their students show less satisfaction with performance and less love of math, and even though the lessons they receive are less “relevant,” the report found…

Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the D.C.-based Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, said the report shows that schools need not be fun to be effective. “Schools should work on academics, not feelings,” Finn said. “True self-esteem, self-confidence and happiness are born of true achievement.”

Source: Washington Post
http://tinyurl.com/sbqzd