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Early childhood education

5 ways to buoy early science learning at home

More parents would focus on science-related activities with their young children if they knew how to actually engage in such activities, according to a new survey.

The survey from Education Development Center (EDC) and SRI International includes data from more than 1,400 parents of young children ages 3 to 6—many of whom (63 percent) are from low-income households.

One of the biggest takeaways from the results? Science for young children doesn’t have to involve expensive devices or equipment—it can be as simple as encouraging inquiry, curiosity, and asking “Why?” with young children.…Read More

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Why keeping parents and kids connected in the early years is critical

In more than 60 percent of all two-parent households, both parents work, and in nearly all of these households, at least one parent is employed. This means that the vast majority of parents in our country experience regular and prolonged periods of time away from their children. Since parental involvement is one of the most influential factors in students’ academic success, the question then becomes how to help working parents stay abreast of what their child does when they are apart.

As a lead teacher at a YMCA Early Childhood Center, I believe children of all ages benefit from having their parents and teachers on the same page with their growth, health, and education on a regular basis. We offer care for more than 3,500 children (from infants through preschoolers) every year.

Being a YMCA facility, we teach kids to make healthy choices, as well as teaching them the ABCs, and other important life skills, like good sportsmanship and how to be themselves. We know that the values and skills children learn early on become the building blocks for their future lives.…Read More

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Are these preschools changing the future?

In education, there are always a host of programs and policies clamoring for funding. But of all the options policymakers could invest in, the most worthwhile may very well be universal preschool.

Recently, Nobel laureate James Heckman and his colleagues published a report that makes this point loud and clear. Their research analyzes the long-term benefits of a high-quality early-childhood program in North Carolina targeted at serving disadvantaged children and their families.

According to the researchers’ estimates, the long-term financial impact of the program—from labor incomes of participants, improved health and the quality of life, crime, education, and the labor income of the mothers of the participants through subsidizing their childcare—amounts to roughly a 13 percent annual rate of return.…Read More

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Media specialist: 3 ways to break down barriers between students and reading

What do you picture when you think of a librarian? If you have an image in mind of this little old woman, stamping books in her half-rimmed glasses, then you would be one of many still drawing on this archetype. Many people today would be surprised by how much librarians have shifted from the stereotype I just described. In fact, we’ve changed so much that the title “librarian” barely applies anymore.

Now, with so much technology as an interwoven part of a library’s infrastructure, my fellow ex-librarians and I are more frequently referred to as “media specialists,” though I sometimes go by “library media specialist” to help people gradually adjust to the new identity.

As a media specialist at Southside Middle School in Tallassee, Alabama, my responsibility is to oversee the distribution and use of most of our school’s technology—both in the library and out. Much of this tech is already integrated into the classroom environment, with every teacher having their own smartboard and projectors and all the middle schoolers in the district carrying their own iPads as part of our new 1:1 program.…Read More

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6 steps to strengthen early STEM learning

Although STEM education is inarguably essential in today’s economy, it is not always seamlessly incorporated into early childhood education–and the barriers to inclusion are more pervasive than many educators might realize.

“Just as the industrial revolution made it necessary for all children to learn to read, the technology revolution has made it critical for all children to understand STEM,” according to the report.

After a 2013 STEM workshop targeted to early childhood educators, those who attended said they were excited by evidence-based STEM education practices and tools, but many also noted various barriers to implementation, including feeling limited by existing school structures and policies; the misapplication of new education standards; disconnects between preschool and elementary school practices; and an underprepared workforce.…Read More

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5 ways to reduce the harrowing STEM teacher shortage

No technology can replace high-quality teachers. But what happens when high-quality STEM teachers become hard to find, and what happens when STEM teacher applicant pools dry up? And how can the U.S. extend critical STEM learning opportunities to its youngest students?

Students today need more STEM learning opportunities inside classrooms and outside of school. Those opportunities can occur across content areas. But there are barriers to this learning, including teacher recruitment and training, the way STEM learning is structured in some schools, and existing policies.

A Top Education Priority…Read More

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Are online preschools signaling the future of education?

[Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on the Hechinger Report.]

In education, there are always a host of programs and policies clamoring for funding. But of all the options policymakers could invest in, the most worthwhile may very well be universal preschool.

Recently, Nobel laureate James Heckman and his colleagues published a report that makes this point loud and clear. Their research analyzes the long-term benefits of a high-quality early-childhood program in North Carolina targeted at serving disadvantaged children and their families.…Read More

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Teachers want more support in early education communication

While almost all educators feel support of parents with children younger than school age is important, only 23 percent of educators have sufficient tools to do so, according to a survey from Office Depot.

The nonprofit Center for College & Career Readiness and Office Depot’s “Committed to Learning” initiative surveyed thousands of teachers to understand their perceptions of early education preparation.

“The survey findings show the increased demand for learning initiatives that equip educators with tools to more effectively work with families,” said Becki Schwietz, senior director of K-12 initiatives for Office Depot, Inc. “We are proud to partner with school districts around the country to address the critical unmet needs of students and affect positive change at home and in the classroom.”…Read More

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Can simple games make kids better at math?

Kindergartners participating in a Johns Hopkins study demonstrated increased math performance after exercising their intuitive number sense with a computer game.

“Math ability is not static—it’s not the case that if you’re bad at math, you’re bad at it the rest of your life. It’s not only changeable, it can be changeable in a very short period of time,” said Jinjing “Jenny” Wang, a graduate student in the Krieger School of Arts and Science’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. “We used a five-minute game to change kids’ math performance.”

Humans and animals are born with an intuitive sense of quantities and can demonstrate this knowledge as infants, researchers said. For instance, when presented with a choice between a plate with a few crackers and another with more of them, even a baby will gravitate to the option with more. This intuition about number is called the “approximate number system.”…Read More

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Researchers develop preschool STEM education curriculum

In an effort to address the national need to guide more students to careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers are developing curriculum which introduces STEM principles during the formative preschool years.

“The ability to apply STEM concepts to solve a variety of problems is key for students’ future success as well as the nation’s competitiveness in the global economy,” said Martha Cyr, principal investigator of Seeds of STEM: The Development of an Innovative Pre-Kindergarten STEM Curriculum; and executive director of The STEM Education Center at WPI.

“Despite the evidence that introducing STEM during the pre-kindergarten years supports children’s cognitive development and positive attitudes toward learning and inquiry, there is very little STEM instruction in pre-kindergarten classrooms. Through this initiative we aim to increase STEM instruction practices in preschool classrooms, increase children’s exposure to STEM, and ultimately improve children’s curiosity, knowledge, and skills in STEM.”…Read More