I’m not talking about C++ vs. Fortran here. I’m talking about actual spoken languages. I bring it up in this column for a couple of reasons: first, one of my kids really struggled with French this past year and I’m wondering if there are alternatives that might come more naturally for him (he’s high on the autistic spectrum, so language is a real challenge). That being said, we actually have a high proportion of kids in our school with language processing difficulties.

The other reason that is far more germane to technology is that the advent of Virtual High School and services like ePals mean that schools are no longer limited to a small number of languages in which teachers have expertise.

My European counterparts are probably scratching their heads right about now. Just to clarify, language instruction here in the States is generally treated as an elective; a couple years of a language and the average student is done, never to speak it again. In other parts of the world, it’s a given that students will learn English from an early age and will probably be able to speak in at least one or two other languages with some fluency by the time they graduate from secondary school.

If you live in Europe, this just makes sense (when you’re a couple hours by train from people who speak a different language, and might like to actually travel or conduct business someday, learning a foreign language is a basic skill). Similarly, in countries where different dialects exist (Mandarin versus Cantonese, for example), fluency in common languages like English is quite necessary.

We in the States are finally coming to grips with the fact that everyone else in the world doesn’t speak English and that we just might encounter the occasional non-English speaker. Geographically, Spanish seems like a no-brainer for us, although French is spoken just over that other border (and acts as a nice primer for Spanish). This being an increasingly global economy, Mandarin Chinese seems like a darn fine choice, too.

I took Japanese in high school and, although I’ve forgotten way too much of it, I have a much better understanding of Asian culture than I would have otherwise (IMHO, Asian cultures are far more difficult for the average American to understand than European cultures; a bit of insight into the way Asians think and do business should probably become one of those basic skills, too).

So what should we teach? Can Latin please die? There are just too many other good languages out there, whether available locally or via Web-based services to still teach Latin. What works best in your schools and what has been the most useful to your students? Folks outside the US, please feel free to chime in since we’ve only started getting a clue in the last week or so.

Source: ZDNet
http://education.zdnet.com/?p=1785

New parents should be able to share an 18-month leave from work after their baby is born, says a just- released report by renowned early childhood expert Dr. Fraser Mustard.

The report, for the South Australia government where Mustard was appointed a thinker-in-residence, recommends 39 improvements and sweeping changes the state can make in early childhood development, which it has deemed a priority.

Those changes equally apply to Canada, where parental leave is currently one year, says Mustard, considered a world leader in the area.

Key among his proposals is that the South Australian government continue to create a network of early childhood development and parenting centres, linked to schools, to provide families from pregnancy onward with nutrition, health and parenting — including programs for parents to “learn parenting by doing” as well as programming for children, as well as provide child-care where needed. Such centres would also “reduce isolation for parents and young children,” the report says.

“Their society buys that this is important,” said Mustard. “In South Australia, they’ve been working at this for some time.”

Mustard is perhaps best known in Canada for the 1999 Early Years study he co-authored with Margaret Norrie McCain for the Ontario government, and last year’s follow-up that detailed how Canada is last in spending among industrialized nations when it comes to early childhood development programs.

Those reports also urged a national framework for universal “hubs,” with trained staff providing community-based help to parents, activities for children as well as access to health professionals.

Research shows that literacy, school performance and lifelong health and behaviour are largely determined by the brain development in the early years.

Because parents are the main caregivers for children, Mustard says it’s essential they have strong skills.

He estimates the cost of behavioural and mental health problems to be more than $30 billion a year in Ontario alone. The price tag of providing these hubs and extended maternity leave? About $18 billion.

Among the highlights of his South Australian report:

* Implement parental leave: The first six months of parental leave should be for the mother, the remaining 12 to be divided between parents as they see fit. Income support, provided by the government, should be at least 80 per cent of earnings. Currently, there are no statewide maternity leave provisions.

* Assess young students: The government should assess all students in kindergarten given 25 per cent currently are already behind when they begin school; that assessment should be used to monitor communities on an ongoing basis to make sure programs address needs.

Source: Hamilton Spectator, Canada
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/410234

Address reading and speaking concerns early to prevent damage to a child’s academic career, say developmental experts at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

Drs. Sherry Vinson and Adiana Spinks-Franklin, both assistant professors of pediatrics - developmental pediatrics at BCM, said concerned parents should enroll their infants in an early intervention program if they suspect their child is behind on core developmental milestones such as speech and language.

“Children should meet three key milestones by their first birthday,” said Spinks-Franklin. “They should say one recognizable word, walk one step and follow a one-step command with gesture.”

Behaviors to Watch

Vinson and Spinks-Franklin outlined alarming behavioral characteristics to watch for in children:

- Not responsive to the parent’s command (”sit down”).

- Not self-initiating (saying “mama”) and not following a one-step command given with a gesture (e.g., handing the parent what the child has in his/her hand when the parent holds out a hand and says a command “give that to me”) at one year.

- Not self-initiating conversation, saying approximately 50 words, and spontaneously putting two words together (”go home”) plus following two simple commands put together without gesture (”touch your nose then clap your hands”) at two years.

- Following directions appropriately at one and two years, but not self-initiating the words.

There are significant challenges children with language and speech delays will have later in life if parents do not address the situation, they say. “Language allows them to become strong in so many important areas including academics, reading and social skills,” said Spinks-Franklin. “Children with well-developed language skills are overall more productive and perform much better in school.”

Reading, they say, can be a huge hurdle for these children but it is crucial for them to master. “If you cannot talk, then you cannot read,” said Spinks-Franklin. “These children will have significant reading disorders that will damage their academic career if they are not appropriately addressed at an early age.”

Early Intervention

Many states have resourceful, funded programs that evaluate a child’s strengths and weaknesses and devise a plan for enhancing their skills.

Vinson and Spinks-Franklin, who are also pediatricians at the Meyer Center for Developmental Pediatrics at Texas Children’s Hospital, refer parents to early childhood education programs available to children from birth to three years-old. The programs help children improve all developmental skills in a natural setting. Kids work with a variety of specialists including, speech pathologists, physical and occupational therapists and social workers and also provide psychological, educational and family support.

“The earlier the parents contact a program, the earlier the child can receive services,” said Spinks-Franklin. She also added that children do not have to be referred by a doctor to qualify for the services. “Concerned parents should call to have their children evaluated by an educational program.”

Clear Benefits

The benefits from evaluation programs are clear, say researchers who have followed the program for years. “Children with developmental delays who are enrolled in an evaluation program perform much better in school than those who are not,” said Spinks-Franklin. “We continue to follow them through elementary school, and they continue to do well when compared to children with developmental delays who do not receive early intervention services.”

Children involved in early intervention programs are more likely to live independently and graduate from high school, said Spinks-Franklin.

Risk Factors

A variety of factors may cause a child’s developmental delay, including genetics, prenatal environment (exposure to tobacco, alcohol or drugs) and premature birth (neurological development occurring outside the womb), they say.

The time it takes to overcome delays depends on the severity of the case. “If a child is challenged in several areas–language, speech, social and motor skills–it is going to take longer to develop language skills than for a child simply dealing with a speech delay,” said Spinks-Franklin.

Parental Participation

Most significant is parental participation. “Most programs make house calls only once or twice a week,” said Spinks-Franklin. “It is the parent’s duty to continue working with their children the rest of the time.”

Spinks-Franklin said parents should actively label their child’s environment by pointing out objects and colors to help develop certain areas of the brain. Another vital exercise for parents is reading to your child, Spinks-Franklin said.

Children over the age of three can be placed in preschool programs before kindergarten and if they continue to need services after preschool, they should receive special education services from the school system. Private speech and language disabilities programs are also available, including a variety of programs from Texas Children’s.

“Early intervention is very beneficial for these children’s overall development and quality of life,” said Spinks-Franklin. “The involvement and commitment from the parents makes this happen.”

Source: BCM News, TX
http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=1171

Three years after the president of Harvard, Lawrence H. Summers, got into trouble for questioning women’s “intrinsic aptitude” for science and engineering — and 16 years after the talking Barbie doll proclaimed that “math class is tough” — a study paid for by the National Science Foundation has found that girls perform as well as boys on standardized math tests.

Although boys in high school performed better than girls in math 20 years ago, the researchers found, that is no longer the case. The reason, they said, is simple: Girls used to take fewer advanced math courses than boys, but now they are taking just as many.

“Now that enrollment in advanced math courses is equalized, we don’t see gender differences in test performance,” said Marcia C. Linn of the University of California, Berkeley, a co-author of the study. “But people are surprised by these findings, which suggests to me that the stereotypes are still there.”

The findings, reported in the July 25 issue of Science magazine, are based on math scores from seven million students in 10 states, tested in accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The researchers looked at the average of the test scores of all students, the performance of the most gifted children and the ability to solve complex math problems. They found, in every category, that girls did as well as boys. (To their dismay, the researchers found that the tests in the 10 states did not include a single question requiring complex problem-solving, forcing them to use a national assessment test for that portion of their research.)

Janet Hyde, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, who led the study, said the persistent stereotypes about girls and math had taken a toll.

“The stereotype that boys do better at math is still held widely by teachers and parents,” Dr. Hyde said. “And teachers and parents guide girls, giving them advice about what courses to take, what careers to pursue. I still hear anecdotes about guidance counselors steering girls away from engineering, telling them they won’t be able to do the math.”

Girls are still underrepresented in high school physics classes and, as noted by Dr. Summers, who resigned in 2006, in the highest levels of physics, chemistry and engineering, which require advanced math skills.

The study also analyzed the gender gap on the math section of the SAT. Rather than proving boys’ superior talent for math, the study found, the difference is probably attributable to a skewed pool of test takers. The SAT is taken primarily by seniors bound for college, and since more girls than boys go to college, about 100,000 more girls than boys take the test, including lower-achieving girls who bring down the girls’ average score.

On the ACT, another college entrance test, the study said, the gender gap in math scores disappeared in Colorado and Illinois after the states began requiring all students to take the test.

Source: New York Times, United States
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/education/25math.html?ref=us

My daughter will turn five years old two days before the new school year starts.

I didn’t think about this much when she entered her first year of preschool, but now as she is about to start kindergarten I suddenly started questioning whether or not she is truly ready.

It all started when I was chatting with some of the other preschool moms one day. We were comparing our children’s letter writing.

I was pretty surprised to see that many kids in my daughter’s class had much better handwriting and easily kept those letters between the lines.

Geez. Addie doesn’t really enjoy writing her “sight” words over and over. And I don’t really enjoy trying to get her to do it. I want her to have a love of learning and be excited about it, not moan over writing sight words.

After that day, the stage was set for my next worry project. (My husband thinks I purposely think of things to worry about and move from one worry to another.)

I remember getting all those birthday invitations last year for kids who were turning five in October and November. Addie had just turned four. That’s a big gap, and at this age I think it makes a big difference.

I am not worried about my daughter socially. Verbally, her vocabulary rivals mine. She uses words like “unfortunate” and “afforded” in the right context.

But she doesn’t always count to 20 perfectly. And counting beyond that is kind of a mess. Other kids in her class are counting to 100.

Her letters need some work, but I think she’s doing well.

I worry that if I make the wrong decision, Addie will struggle in school.

The Internet is full of articles about kindergarten readiness and forums where parents support both sides of “redshirting” or not.

My aunt held my cousin back and she ended up being the valedictorian of her high-school class. Impressive, but would she have had that title if she started on time?

All this worrying hasn’t really gotten me anywhere, so I turned to the U.S. Department of Education’s website.

In a survey, public school teachers ranked physical well-being, social development and curiosity as more important for kindergarten readiness than knowledge of skills.

Of the almost 1,500 teachers surveyed, more than half said it is not very important to know the alphabet or count in order to be ready for kindergarten.

Sounds good, but learning all seems to be moved up now. Many children learn to read in kindergarten, not first grade like I did. I notice one boy in my daughter’s class is doing math that seems to be on at least a first-grade level.

So what’s a parent to do? Are there any long-term effects of starting my early birthday kid in kindergarten on time? Is it better to be the oldest or the youngest in a grade?

According to Deborah Stipek, dean at the Stanford School of Education, I might be putting a little too much thought into this decision.

“It probably matters much less than parents believe. Most of the research suggests that any differences in achievement associated with age that are seen in the early grades disappear within a few years,” she said.

“‘Unless your child is very immature or is developing language unusually slowly or something like that, there is probably no harm in sending her on,” Stipek said.

OK. That makes me feel better.

Stipek added that what happens to children depends a lot of how good their teachers are at providing differentiated instruction that is appropriate for all of their students, regardless of skill levels and learning styles.

So for now I’m putting my worries aside, and next month, ready or not, it’s kindergarten here we come.

Source: The Canadian Press, LAS VEGAS
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hIf7t7_qrjR_OkFxr7-qca7hZITg

With 85 percent of brain development occurring between the time of conception and age five, early influences - both good and bad- affect a child’s ability to learn and function in society, a panel of state leaders learned at a Harvard University seminar.

What happens to a woman during pregnancy and to a child in its earliest formative stages “actually reprints your DNA and changes the DNA,” said state Rep. Hollis Downs, R-Ruston, who assembled a team to attend the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child at Harvard University June 26-28.

Rep. Don Trahan, R-Lafayette, chairman of the House Education Committee, said the symposium confirmed his belief that “pre-natal to age five is the most important time in the development of child. Our duty now is to determine how to satisfy that need in Louisiana.”

“We actually have a road map,” Trahan said. “Zero to three in Head Start, LA4 for four-year-olds, five in kindergarten and by the first grade, everybody is on the same page, able to read.”

It will take a serious education effort to get parents to realize the importance of prenatal and early childhood factors that can make or break a child’s chances for success, said Linda Johnson, president of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, another member of the Louisiana team attending the conference.

Johnson said she will take the information to BESE and see what policies it can develop to improve the education climate.

Downs said scientists at the symposium showed evidence that numerous “stressors,” the most damaging of which is alcohol, can have long-lasting effects on brain development. Other factors include physical abuse, drugs, loud music, lack of nurturing, poverty and malnutrition.

Downs said alerting parents to these problems would improve their children’s school performance and “yield a 15-to-1 return on money spent.” He said the state for years has alerted mothers-to-be of the dangers of drinking and smoking while pregnant and “that was before we knew (other factors) had an impact on predisposition to heart disease and diabetes.”

Danny Bell, superintendent of schools in Lincoln Parish, said the stress factor “many times evolves into learning problems,” even autism. Also, “doing more from birth to the time a child enters school can have a significant impact on the success of a child.

“We learned from the science that stressors can have a lifelong impact that is almost impossible to reverse,” Bell said.

Janie Humphries, McGehee Professor of Early Childhood Development at Louisiana Tech University, said the group learned “Louisiana is doing things right.”

She said smaller class sizes, particularly in day care and pre-school, are important to development because children prosper from more personal attention.

“These are critical periods in a child’s growth” that “lay the foundation of higher thinking skills,” Humphries said.

Downs said having smaller classes is crucial because two-thirds of Louisiana’s pre-schoolers are in daycare. “Small is better and having a high ratio of adults to children is important.”

Trahan said the Legislature opened the door to universal access to the Cecil J. Picard LA4 Program but the state budget only covers at-risk children. Also, not every parish offers it. Parents of children who don’t qualify for state aid can still enroll their children in LA4 and pay on a sliding scale based on income.

Downs said the Louisiana team, which also consisted of Erin Bendily, education policy advisor to the governor, Senate Education Committee Chairman Ben Nevers, Joe Salter of the Department of Education, and Department of Social Services Secretary Ann Williamson, is planning a “mini-symposium” this fall to present the information to state policy makers. He said he expects legislation to be offered in the next session to address some of the issues that state government can influence.

Source: Opelousas Daily World, LA
http://www.dailyworld.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080723/NEWS01/807230304/1002

From the moment a child is born, he or she begins developing cognitive skills.

According to the Bush Administration’s Early Child-hood Initiative, found at www.whitehouse.gov, developmental scientists have found that the brain obtains a great amount of information in the first year of life. Long before babies can talk, they are learning about language.

“By the time babies utter or understand their first words, they know which particular sounds their language uses; what sounds can be combined to create words; and the tempo and rhythm of words and phrases,” the Bush Administration said.

The opportunity of success later in a child’s life is greatly enhanced by the development a child undergoes early in life, according to the Bush Administration.

“For example, infants who are better at distinguishing the building blocks of speech at six months are better at other more complex language skills at two and three-years-of-age and better at acquiring the skills for learning to read at four and five-years-of-age,” the Bush Administration said.

“When young children are provided an environment rich in language and literacy interactions and full of opportunities to listen to and use language constantly, they can begin to acquire the essential building blocks for learning how to read. A child who enters school without these skills runs a significant risk of starting behind and staying behind,” the Bush Administration said.

Parent’s are a child’s first and most important teachers, according to the Bush Administration. For this reason, the Bush Administration said it is important for parents to be provided with support in educating their children.

The USD 234 school district and the USD 235 school district in partnership with the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center, Greenbush has been offering support to some parents by providing a 4-year-old preschool program. The free program, which is funded by grants through the Kansas Department of Education, provides 4-year-olds opportunities and experiences that will prepare them for school success. In addition, it develops their social-emotional, physical, cognitive and language skills.

The 4-year-old preschool program is designed especially to meet the needs of children who are economically or environmentally disadvantaged, according to www.greenbush.com.

According to Greenbush. Early Childhood Director Cassandra Elsworth, the preschool program operates the same schedule as the regular school schedules. The preschool sessions are half-day sessions, Elsworth said. Most classes contain about 14 students.

The preschool program offers much needed support to parents and children by preparing children for kindergarten, Elsworth said.

“This free preschool will provide fun-filled, hands on opportunities and experiences to enhance a child’s cognitive, language, social, emotional and physical development in preparation for kindergarten,” a press release from Elsworth said.

According to the Bush Administration programs like the 4-year-old preschool are essential in the effort to improve early childhood learning.

“Efforts to improve early childhood learning will not work unless they involve States and school districts, which shoulder the primary responsibility for providing public education,” the Bush Administration said.

“Since States and districts are directly responsible for student learning and achievement in school, preparing children to learn before they start school is in their best interest.

“This is particularly true now that the No Child Left Behind law requires standards and accountability for every school in America. Many States and districts have already taken concrete steps in recognition that, in order for students to succeed once they reach school, they must come prepared to learn.”

Source: Fort Scott Tribune, KS
http://www.fstribune.com/story/1446042.html

Imagine this: 700 connections made per second! No, I’m not speaking of some sort of multi-gig, trillion-teraflop supercomputer. It’s an infant’s brain, whizzing away at breakneck speed, connecting millions of brain cells in the first years of life.

This circuit development of the brain — though invisible to any parent’s eye — is fundamental to understand how babies learn and grow. At a recent symposium held at Harvard that I attended, along with other business and government leaders from our state, we learned from the neuroscientists, research pediatricians and policy makers how brains are built over time — from prenatal through adulthood. The largest part of brain architecture happens during the early childhood years.

Yet, how many of us really give thought to what’s going on inside a baby’s head? After all, babies are cute — and sweet — and cuddly — and (hopefully) good-natured and not too colicky. Isn’t that all we need to understand about these precious little bundles of joy?

Well, the new science of brain development is forging a path that is both illuminating and frightening. It’s pushing the frontiers of early childhood practice (that’s where parents and child care providers come in) and policy (that’s where legislators and business leaders come in). In ways never before understood, we now know that an infant’s early circuits of the brain cannot be rewired later in life; optimal flexibility and plasticity of the brain occurs very early, during the first three years of life.

As effortless as this sounds, this precious interaction is essential because children develop in an environment where relationships are primary. While genetics play a large role, brain development is heavily influenced by the child’s environment and experiences during infancy and early childhood. According to the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, this can “either weaken or strengthen the initial blueprint; … the circumstances in which {the brain is} built are every bit as important as the … framework handed down by genetics.”

So, one of the take-aways from the recent symposium is that creating the right conditions in early childhood has vast implications. Secure and nurturing relationships that offer responsive (Serve and Return) experiences optimize neural growth. (This is one of the primary reasons why “educational” television for young children is pointless; there is no “Return” or response to the child’s “Serve.”)

Simply stated, parents and caregivers who understand that strong, bonding, responsive relationships are the building blocks of the environment’s influence on an infant’s healthy human development can do much to promote the well-being — and competence — of young children.

At another level, legislators and policy makers in Michigan should heed this important “new science” and find the will and the resources to develop strong early childhood policies to ensure that every child in our state has the opportunity to enjoy positive early learning experiences. Early childhood is a smart investment that yields long-term gains. How? These earliest relationships and experiences shape the brain development of young children, which in turn affects their ability to succeed in school and later in life. Having a capable, well-adjusted and educated population is in Michigan’s best interest.

State policies can help infants and toddlers get the positive start they need by promoting early childcare and education and ensuring services and resources dedicated to young children.

I’m proud to live in Michigan. But, I’d be even prouder to know that our state is in the forefront of promoting national early childhood policy instead of lagging in the middle of the pack. Our children deserve no less. And, our future depends on it.

Source: DetNews.com, MI
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080715/OPINION03/807150398/1031

Your child starts kindergarten next month, and you’re worried.

Is she prepared?

Does she know everything she needs to know?

How does she compare to other kids?

We consulted educators and compiled a list of the top 10 things a child should know before she starts kindergarten. Don’t worry if you haven’t nailed all of these — you still have time to catch up, these teachers said.

But don’t wait, because these skills are important.

If a child is behind, it can affect her attitude toward learning, said Melinda Wyssmann, kindergarten teacher at Mark Twain Elementary in Springfield.

“If they can’t read or write or do the math like other boys and girls, they start feeling frustrated and not wanting to come to school,” Wyssmann said. “It can set a pattern of how they feel towards academics.”

The academic rigor in kindergarten has increased, and parents aren’t always prepared for it, she said.

So here’s what your little one needs to know and how you can help her learn:

1
Know the alphabet. Just because your preschooler knows the alphabet song doesn’t mean he knows the alphabet, said Wendy Russell, a kindergarten teacher at Bingham Elementary who has been teaching for 26 years.

Children should know the alphabet without singing it, said Mea Childers, kindergarten teacher at Espy Elementary in Nixa who has been teaching for 15 years.

Children need to understand that the alphabet is made up of letters and that letters make up words. It’s just as important that he can grasp that concept as recite the song, said Russell.

What you can do: Talk to them about this concept, and practice the alphabet without singing it.

2
Know the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters. On the first day of school, most children write their name in all uppercase letters, said Debbie Hightower, a Wanda Gray teacher who taught kindergarten for four years.

It’s important to teach both upper and lowercase, these teachers said.

What you can do: Buy or make your own flashcards with upper and lowercase letters, Wyssmann said. Leap Frog products are great for teaching letters, she said.

As you read to your child, point out the difference between lowercase and uppercase letters, Hightower said.

3
Counting and number recognition. Your child should be able to count to 10 at a minimum, although 20 is becoming more mainstream.

Thirty is ideal, Russell said.

It’s also important that numbers are not an abstract concept. Children should understand the difference between one spoon and three spoons, Wyssmann said.

What you can do: Numbers can be a hard concept for kids, so take every opportunity to count with them, suggested Jennifer Newberry, former kindergarten teacher who now teaches preschool at the Nixa Early Learning Center.

A mother of three, she counts when she cooks, when she reads to the kids, when they look at the stars.

Use objects to demonstrate numbers: one cookie, three spoons, four plates etc., Wyssmann said.

4
Random letter recognition. This means your child actually knows her letters, instead of just memorizing the order of the alphabet, said Karen Evans, Wanda Gray teacher who taught kindergarten for six years.

She may know ABC, but does she know FSQ?

What you can do: Buy alphabet magnets and work with your child to identify letters. This is also good for learning upper- and lowercase, Wyssmann said.

You can also give your child random letters to trace or shape out of modeling dough, Wyssmann said.

5
Pencil grip: If your child learns improper pencil grip, it’s hard to unlearn it.

Improper grip affects the neatness of a child’s handwriting, Hightower said.

What you can do: Practice and demonstrate it for your child. He should grip the pencil with the pointer finger and thumb, resting on the middle finger, Hightower said.

More things your kids should know

6
Social skills: Social skills are almost more important than the academic, said Childers.

The reason: when school starts, the teacher knows she will have children on different academic levels.

“What makes it more difficult is if they are not mature enough, not ready to sit still, can’t take care of personal needs. Probably a parent’s most important job is to make sure their child is ready to come to school,” Childers said.

Russell agrees.

“I always tell parents the academics are very important, but even more important is that they learn good social skills: how to get along, how to make decisions, how to cooperate, take turns. Those are life skills,” Russell said.

What you can do: Make sure your child knows she will have to share toys, take turns, line up, take care of bathroom needs, zip her own pants, etc …

If your son has never seen one, the urinal can be surprising for boys, so parents should talk to sons about this in advance, Newberry said.

Children also need to be able to express their views and listen to other people’s views without arguing, Newberry said.

Talk to your child about each of these social skills and practice scenarios in advance.

7
Be able to focus: Listen and sit still for at least 15 minutes.

Children do this when they watch television, so it can be done, Hightower said.

What you can do: A good way to teach this is by reading to your child or telling your child stories, Hightower said.

“Reading to them helps them clam down and focus and pay attention,” Russell echoed.

Also try making your child sit at the dinner table, Childers said.

8
Responsibility: Children need to be responsible for their belongings, Childers said.

If she has 18 students, she can’t help all 18 put on their coats or track their jackets.

What you can do: Make them demonstrate responsibility at home by taking their plate from the dinner table to the sink, Childers said.

Have them do daily tasks, such as putting their toys back, and picking up after themselves, Evans said.

Give them different instructions and have them practice, Evans said.

9
How to use classroom tools. It’s surprising how many children haven’t used basic tools such as scissors, pencils and paper, said Russell.

Parents sometimes fear their child may cut themselves or color on the wall, but children need to know how to use those tools.

What you can do: “Let them cut things out of magazines and make collages. That develops their fine-motor skills, which in turn helps with handwriting,” Russell said.

10
Confidence. Children are more confident when they are familiar with something, teachers echoed.

What you can do: If you haven’t already, take your child to his school, let him play on the playground, meet the teacher, walk the halls, Childers said.

Talk to him openly about school and familiarize him with school as soon as possible, Newberry said.

When he has these skills, he will be more ready to learn as an individual and a class.

“Then they will absorb everything I throw at them,” Childers said.

Source: News-Leader.com, MO
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807150318

On the face of it, Luke Burton is a shining example of how someone from an economically disadvantaged background can succeed in education. His mum at one time was working in a chip shop and doing three other jobs to make ends meet, he didn’t go to a high achieving school and, by his own admission, he messed around in class more than he should have done.
Yet at 24 he is training to be an actuary with a big firm in London, has a maths degree from Oxford and an MA - the first graduate in his family. Why is it that some young people seem inoculated against less advantaged beginnings while others don’t? New UK and US studies are pointing the finger ever more clearly at particular kinds of parenting and home environments that do the trick. But the big money still doesn’t go into parenting education, despite research that proves it can be an enormous force for change. Yet stark facts suggest more finance for parenting education would be money well spent.

Attainment gap

Sizeable gaps in school readiness exist in the UK despite universal nursery education for three- and four-year-olds; in the US half the eventual gap in attainment between children from less advantaged and more advantaged homes exists when the child starts school. Here a bright but poor child can be overtaken in test results by a less bright child from an affluent home by age seven.

In England, poor children among the top performers in tests at 11 are much more likely to have lost that critical advantage by the time they take their GCSEs. All the money Labour has poured into the education system since 1997 has failed to increase the tiny numbers of young people from the lowest socio-economic groups getting into university. So why do Burton and others like him do so well?

Scratch the surface of Burton’s “disadvantage” and you soon start to see answers. He comes from Clevedon in Somerset and is the eldest of three. His father was a mechanic and his parents split up when he was small. Money was tight. His mum, Wendy Doig, had gone to what she describes as a “rubbish school - a Grange Hill type of school” where the idea of university was never considered, and she was seen as “posh” as she went on to work in an office rather than get pregnant or work in the local sausage factory.

But she chose to do part-time jobs rather than work full-time because she wanted to be in when the children came home from school. She also wanted money to pay for the Montessori nursery a friend told her was good. For Burton she feels that was a turning point. “Of all my children he was the most difficult to steer. It worried me how determined he was. I thought he was going to do something brilliant or terrible. I could see his strengths and the potential for disaster.

“I spent a lot of my time trying to find things to interest Luke. His playgroup lacked structure and it made him hyperactive. Joining Montessori was pretty key. That’s when the maths got off the ground.”

Burton remembers a male primary school teacher who told him he had potential and to stop mucking around. He remembers parents proud when he did well but who didn’t put him under pressure. He found it harder to respect teachers once he got to secondary school because there was less time to build relationships with them, but he does remember a maths teacher who took it as a given that he was going to university.

Burton’s mum remarried when he was 11, so he went to live with his dad for more freedom. His stepfather’s mother spotted a newspaper story about the Sutton Trust summer school at Oxford University for youngsters from families with no tradition of university. It was held at Magdalen College. “I thought: ‘This is quite nice. I’d like to come here.’ I didn’t know what other universities were like so it was not a big deal. It didn’t cross my mind that I wouldn’t get in once I’d decided to go.”

Doig says her own parents had been easy and supportive but she also read books on parenting to help her when the children were small.

Home learning

And it is that mindful attention to parenting style and home learning which is shown to be vital in a spin-off study from Europe’s largest piece of longitudinal research in this area - Effective Provision of Preschool Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) - which for more than 10 years has been following the educational development of 3,000 children from the age of three for the government .

The study has proved that high-quality preschool can ameliorate the effects of social disadvantage and break the cycle of deprivation, but it needs to be coupled with a good home-learning environment.

This is backed by unpublished research carried out for the Equalities Review by Iram Siraj-Blatchford, professor of early childhood education at the Institute of Education in London and a principal investigator for EPPSE, with 24 of the families whose children were succeeding against the odds in their education. Half were on free school meals, more than half were living with a lone parent, and four out of five were living in deprived areas.

In-depth interviews uncovered strong evidence of an adult or adults in the child’s life taking parenting seriously and valuing education either in the immediate or wider family or the child’s wider community, such as a religious community.

She believes the shift towards sending reading books home with children, which began in earnest in the 1980s, may be having an effect now those children are parents. In the interviews, it is clear that parents and their children think success at school is down to working hard and concentrating on what is said in class; when they hit difficulties they are not deterred. By contrast, the children from poor home-learning environments put school success down to ability and feel helpless in the face of lessons they find hard.

The crucial importance of the home is also pointed out by a new study, which has documented income related gaps in areas such as literacy, numeracy and behaviour. It shows between one-third and half of these differences are the result of parenting style and home-learning environment. But it is a particular kind of parenting, described as “sensitive and responsive”, that works.

The research is based on data from 19,000 UK and 10,000 US children born in 2000 and 2001 analysed by Jane Waldfogel, professor of social work and public affairs at Columbia University in New York, and Liz Washbrook, a research associate at Bristol University’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation on secondment to Columbia. The analysis was delivered to a private summit on social mobility and education policy organised by the Sutton Trust and the Carnegie Foundation in New York in June. Ed Miliband, minister for the Cabinet Office, who leads the government’s efforts to tackle social exclusion, was one of the leading politicians and education figures who attended.

Detailed observation of children in the US part of the study found parenting style having the biggest impact on school readiness gaps between low-income and middle-income children, accounting for 19% of the gap in maths, 21% of the literacy gap and a massive third of the gap in language. Sensitive and responsive parenting had the biggest positive effect. Observational data was not available from the UK.

Waldfogel says sensitive and responsive parents are able to provide “warm, supportive and nurturing parenting” and can respond to a child’s changing needs. Experience of parenting received as a child may affect responses to your children as may personal temperament and stress, she says.

Parenting programmes can and do help. Sure Start has been found to improve effective parenting and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) announced last week that it was extending the pilot of the Family Nurse Partnership, which works with vulnerable young women expecting their first child. Early signs suggest improved aspirations among the mothers after an intensive visiting programme from nurses who work with them from pregnancy until the child’s second birthday, advising on healthier lifestyles, baby and childcare, and planning life goals.

Positive changes

Another successful and rapidly spreading UK scheme is the Peers Early Education Partnership (Peep), which has been proved to boost cognition and self esteem in pre-school children by promoting parents’ and carers’ awareness of very early learning and development, and supporting adults in their relationships with the children.

Peep programmes are delivered mainly in children’s centres but are gradually being taken direct to vulnerable parents in their homes. But the programme remains a charity rather than mainstream provision. The government is spending £1bn on its ambitious 10-year Children’s Plan to ensure a better deal for children - including making sure 90% of them are ready to learn when they go to school - but education in providing a good home-learning environment currently doesn’t figure in it.

Last week it was revealed that an 18-month government initiative aimed at helping parents of young children from disadvantaged families become effective supporters of their children as learners was successful in making positive changes to parents’ behaviour. The Early Learning Partnership Programme, funded by the DCSF and undertaken by researchers from Oxford University’s departments of education and social policy and social work, aimed to support parents in socially disadvantaged areas across England.

It brought together the main agencies in the voluntary sector working with the parents of children aged between one and three but, because it was only funded for 18 months, it could not show whether it made differences to children’s long-term learning.

One good piece of news came last week when the DCSF announced £12m in backing for the Centre for Excellence and Outcomes in Children and Young People’s Services, which will gather and analyse information about what works in tackling a range of issues linked to child wellbeing.

This kind of work can’t come a moment too soon. Parenting is harder to influence, but without it good pre-schools and schools can only go so far - and it could take decades for the most disadvantaged to catch up.

Parental dos and don’ts

Sensitive and responsive parenting is about tuning into what your child needs from moment to moment, and adapting your behaviour.

Your child gets a new toy
Do watch how the child responds to the toy and let him/her explore it alone if he/she seems to want to
Don’t automatically show your child how it all works

A father bounces a child on his knee to cheer her up
Do watch for cues that the child is enjoying herself
Don’t carry on if the child cries. Think about what else she might need and experiment with meeting those needs, for example feeding or cuddling

Source: guardian.co.uk, UK
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,,2290865,00.html