New research shows that disparities between lower- and higher-income students’ tests scores increase significantly over summer vacations…

In “Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap,” Johns Hopkins University sociologists Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle and Linda Steffel Olson document evidence that future academic success can be explained, to a significant degree, by experiences during summer vacations in the elementary school years…

Alexander said a more enriching family environment over the school break — if newspapers and magazines are around the house, if the parents are college-educated, if children are taken to the library and museums, if they’re in organized sports, for example — makes a quantifiable difference in academic achievement…

“We have to help them have experiences over the summer months that build academic skills, such as high-quality summer school programs, or begin to consider breaking up the school year or having year-round schooling,” Alexander said.

Source: The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/a-642970~Summer_break_increases_achievement_gap.html

Nearly one in five students in Year 7 do not have the basic numeracy skills required to progress through high school.

The key finding of a national snapshot of literacy and numeracy skills yesterday prompted bi-partisan support for a new push to force schools to release more information to parents about student performance against state and national benchmarks…

The findings also provide more evidence that state and territory governments are failing to deliver on a 1998 pledge that every child starting school that year would reach minimum acceptable standards in reading, writing and mathematics within four years…

Australian Council for Educational Research’s Ken Rowe said the results suggested teachers needed more help and that early intervention was the key to improving students’ performance.

“These benchmarks simply tell us there’s a group of children who should have had more help earlier,” Dr Rowe said.

“Schools are very keen to ensure children are offered evidence-based teaching methods - that includes letter-sound relationships. We need to ensure all students have been taught the basic skills required.

“But it’s also about teaching teachers how to teach,” Dr Rowe said. “There’s also a concern indigenous students are not doing as well as they could or should. Again, that’s probably because of inappropriate teaching practices.”

Source: The Austalian
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21460126-601,00.html

Psychologists have identified four primary “parenting styles” — determined by the balance between showing love and setting limits. Too much love, and parents become enmeshed with their children. Too many limits, and parents become rigid in their relationship with their children.

While specific characteristics (and names) of each style may vary among analysts, the primary hallmarks are similar. For this quick guide, we use the definitions of Ron Huxley, a licensed child and family therapist who created and operates parentingtoolbox.com.

1. Passive –low love/low limits

Also called uninvolved or neglectful. Uninvolved parents demand little and respond minimally…

2. Authoritarian — high limits/low love

Also called controlling or strict. Parents consider setting limits more important than showing love…

3. Permissive — high love/low limits

Also called indulgent. Parents consider showing love to be more important than setting limits. Parents are highly attuned to their child’s developmental and emotional needs but have difficulty setting firm limits, resulting in inconsistent discipline…

4. Authoritative — high love/high limits

Also called balanced. This is the most labor-intensive but widely considered the favored parenting style today. Parents and children are considered equal in terms of their need for dignity and worth but not in terms of responsibility and decision making. Parents, like the president in a democratic society, have veto-power over decisions that may affect the health and well-being of family members…

Source: Detroit News
http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/LIFESTYLE/703270401/1005

How do you know when your child is ready for kindergarten?

Unfortunately, that determination isn’t always as easy as A, B, C. In the United States, kindergarten readiness is defined by law: Your child must be 5 years old by a certain date. Any other criteria in public schools would be discriminatory. About 88 percent of children enter kindergarten at age 5. But is age the only factor to consider when making the important decision about whether to send a child on to elementary school?

Today’s high-quality preschool programs integrate literacy skills (such as phonemic awareness, phonics, and letter recognition) into a print-rich environment and include science, math, art, cognitive development, motor skills and music. Children in these programs will be ready to enter kindergarten because they are learning to work with words and numbers. They are discovering how to get along and understand their world in ways that respond to the child’s developmental needs and are appropriate for their ages. Children learn best when the curriculum is based on theoretically sound early-childhood practices and principles of development.

Source: Orlando Sentinel
http://tinyurl.com/2kc4uy

Canada ranks “dead last” among developed nations in its spending on early childhood education – despite overwhelming evidence of how crucial the first six years of life are, says a new study by the country’s foremost expert in the field…

In fact, Canada spends just 0.25 per cent of its GDP on early childhood programs – less than even the United States – whereas other developed nations spend up to 2 per cent…

Studies have also shown that the return on investment for early childhood programs is eight to one; with primary and secondary education, the return becomes three to one…

About one-quarter of Canadian children experience some learning or behavioural difficulty by age 6. By not intervening in the early years, “that’s a huge opportunity lost,” said Elena DiBattista, director of Peel’s Success by 6 program, which is mentioned in the report for its initiatives…

“People have intuitively understood the importance of early childhood development for hundreds of years,” Mustard noted. “But now that scientific knowledge has come through to explain how the development of the brain in the earliest years – this is before a child enters the school system – sets trajectories of physical and mental health that will last throughout life, as well as learning behaviour, that’s pretty fundamental…

“Only about one-third of the population are actually highly competent parents, the rest are okay, but about 17 per cent are godawful,” said Mustard. “You do have to improve parenting – parents have a huge impact on brain development.”

Source: Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/195984

The first years of a child’s life, all the research shows, are the most vital for intellectual development. Most brain development occurs before age 6, which is why it’s such good news that a national study has ranked Oklahoma’s child-care centers as among the top 10 in the nation.

Obviously, it’s always best when children can stay home with a parent, but in today’s economic reality, many families need two incomes and day care simply is a necessity for most working parents. That means parents need high-quality day care that engages children in the world around them, rather than sitting them in front of a TV…

Those standards require child-care workers to receive 20 hours of annual training, with DHS inspecting each child-care center three times a year. Simple criteria laid out by the Stars program, such as reading to children daily, has a huge impact on cognitive development.

That’s good news for the future of our state. High-quality child care, whether provided by a stay-at-home parent or a day-care center, will produce children who are ready to enter school and ready to learn. Studies indicate these children will do better academically and will be well-suited for the high-paying, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.

Source: Edmond Sun
http://www.edmondsun.com/opinion/local_story_086010731.html?keyword=topstory

Children who got quality child care before entering kindergarten had better vocabulary scores in the fifth grade than did youngsters who received lower quality care.

Also, the more time that children spent in child care, the more likely their sixth grade teachers were to report problem behavior…

In the study’s latest installment, being released Monday, researchers evaluated whether characteristics observed between kindergarten and third grade were still present in fifth grade or sixth grade. The researchers found that the vocabulary and behavior patterns did continue, though many other characteristics did dissipate.

The researchers said the increase in vocabulary and problem behaviors was small, and that parenting quality was a much more important predictor of child development…

The researchers said the enduring effect of child care quality is consistent with other evidence showing that children’s early experiences matter to their language development.

Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/1500AP_Child_Care_Health.html

Policymakers are increasingly requiring that public preschool teachers have at least a bachelor’s degree, preferably in early childhood education. Rather than focusing solely on teachers’ educational attainment, however, they should take a broad approach, supporting effective and comprehensive professional development activities. An analysis of seven major studies of early care and education suggests that policies focused solely on teacher education are not likely to increase classroom quality or boost children’s academic gains…

A group of researchers led by scholars at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looked at seven major studies of preschool classrooms. The studies were conducted in different parts of the country and included teachers and children from varying backgrounds. Teacher education was considered over and above other potentially important factors, such as class size, length of school day, poverty, and children’s skills when they started preschool.

The researchers found that, for the most part, more teacher education was not linked to better classroom quality or greater learning. Neither teacher education nor teachers’ degree—including whether or not the teacher had studied early childhood education–was related to classroom quality or children’s learning.

Source: EurekAlert!
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-03/sfri-pte031907.php

Parents are frequently encouraged to use praise with children, giving them positive recognition for jobs and behavior done well.

I’d like to add a caveat to that parenting strategy: give kids specific praise. Specific praise is praise with description. It’s a way of saying to your child: “Here is what you accomplished that I liked, and what effect it had!” It’s a great teaching tool…

Consider this: If we say “good boy” or “good girl,” our kids will understand we approve, but may not know specifically what we approve of. What we want them to do really shouldn’t be a guessing game. It should be crystal clear.

So, in addition to giving clear direction, (”I expect all the homework to be done before computer games”), we owe it to our kids to give equally specific follow-up. (”Good job! You got your homework all done before you headed to the computer!”) - at least until this desired behavior becomes habit and they begin to experience the benefits of it themselves…

Another thing I like about this way of praising is that it builds esteem. A child who may be feeling “down” on himself (read that: most adolescents at any given time) can begin to see himself in a better light when he hears “I am so happy with the spotless kitchen counters and the full dishwasher, that’s what I call helpfulness!”

Source: Bradenton Herald
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/living/health/16953629.htm

A solid foundation in reading is a base for better school performance across academic disciplines and across grade levels. Successful reading skills, acquired at an early age, promote better overall school performance. If a student cannot read, there will not be success in science, social studies, mathematics, health or any other discipline. Students with solid reading skills have a higher rate of graduation than those who move through school systems without a reading base. Students who read have a good foundation to be productive citizens in a representative or democratic society…

Investing in reading development at an early stage in the educational process is critically important — especially in preschool through second grade.

Education research indicates that acquisition of reading skills becomes more difficult the older students become. Greater and greater investments of time and energy are required to help a student to recover skills that were “lost” at an early age…

Support for professional development efforts for preschool to second-grade teachers is needed. Our teacher training programs, especially those preparing these teachers, need to provide experiences and knowledge in scientific reading strategies to allow new teachers to make reading an emphasis in their classrooms.

Source: St. Cloud Times
http://tinyurl.com/2pan9w