March 30, 2012
Bibles in public schools?!?
I wanted to share the mission of this exciting group – Easter European Missions. They have been distributing Bibles all through Russia and the governments have been incorporating Bible curriculum within their classrooms. They do a fantastic work. Check them out today!
March 20, 2012
How to Play
I just read an amazing article that talked about the importance of play and had many suggestions to inspire play time! I hope you enjoy.
http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2011/03/central-importance-of-play.html
January 20, 2012
Reading Fluency 1 will begin on Feb. 13 at 5pm!
If you haven’t discovered The Knowledge Exchange yet, then you need to head over there. They are located at 5151 Babcock St. NE, Palm Bay, FL. They have amazing educational materials and they rent out rooms to educators for classes and tutoring. Footsteps of Brevard has booked a room from Feb 13th through June 4th on Monday evenings from 5pm to 6pm. It is a ready class intended for children just learning how to read. The cost is $200. You can register at Footsteps of Brevard’s website: http://footstepsofbrevard.yolasite.com
Can’t wait to see you!
July 22, 2011
Location Location Location
So we have a waiting list of students ready to start this school year! We need just 5 more students to officially open our doors this fall. Go visit http://footstepsofbrevard.yolasite.com to register today!
We are considering several possible locations for our facility. It will be within the Melbourne/Palm Bay area.
July 9, 2011
Cursive Handwriting – There’s more to it!
There is so much more to cursive handwriting that we are all missing. Phasing it out of our curriculum will have detrimental effects. The biggest advantage to cursive writing is the diminishing effects it has on dyslexia. Take a moment to write the following letters out in cursive and print: p d q b
Do you see how it would be difficult to flip the letters? And when letters are connected, it’s hard to mix them up. It’s like a little train that keeps everything in order.
If the school system won’t teach it – then parents should. A Beka books has an excellent curriculum for cursive and they even make them for kindergartners.
http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookDescription.aspx?sbn=26476
June 17, 2011
Don’t count on the government for education!
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-prek-budget-cuts-20110617,0,3132049.story
If you are not willing to invest what needs to be invested, the little you toss to it will be a waste. Everything is about money these days, and the government needs to prioritize important programs. Our education system will have the biggest impact on our future. It will make or break us somewhere along the line. At the rate we are going, parents who spend $0 on homeschooling their children will do a better job than the public schools system. You get what you pay for. If you don’t have competitive salaries, you’re going to have poor performing employees.
A friend who once made a 6 figure salary found himself with a job. He became a substitute teacher while searching for a new job. After his first day, his comment was, “I have never done so much work in my entire life!”
Really? And he made 6 figures? It takes a lot to move up the ladder to a 6 figure salary. Just how much is the government paying our teachers? The majority of the good ones will move on before working 5 years. A few will stay. Those are the ones who really really love the job and are not hurting for money.
So, if we want quality education, we’re going to have to take matters into our own hands.
June 6, 2011
Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms
This was very intriguing . . .
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html
April 11, 2011
Recreational Reading
Lately, I have been reading the book, Readicide by Kelly Gallagher. He goes in depth about how schools today are killing potential readers by turning them into test-takers. I suggest you get a copy for yourself and check out the research he has studied.
Another reason why home schools and private schools might be better options. We need less “testing” and more reading and creating going on. We need to teach our children how to be thinkers and problem-solvers as opposed to multiple-choice champions.
February 15, 2011
The Montessori Method
I am a huge fan of the Montessori philosophy and try to incorporate it into what we do at home. I found a wonderful resource that provides sample materials here: http://montessori-home-schooling.com/ Enjoy!
August 31, 2010
Too old for phonics?
First, we must learn how to learn. How do we absorb and retain information? Second, we must learn to read. First we learn the sounds of our language. Then we learn to name our letters and match the sounds to the letters. Then we learn to put those letters together to make words. We become fluent in our reading, reading with ease and reading quickly. Then we begin to comprehend what we are reading. Once we’ve learned to read, then we should read to learn.
Too often, we skip some of the first few steps. Even when we’ve recognized missing links in this process, we keep charging forwards expecting a miracle to take place and that our students will just figure it out. After all, phonemic awareness and phonics is an elementary thing. We can’t waste our precious time teaching our high schoolers how to sound out letters.
Do we see the disservice such an attitude has? If we keep insisting our older students to analyze and apply their knowledge to what they’ve read – and they can’t read what they’ve read, how on earth are they going to learn anything? Yes, it takes time to learn phonics and how to sound out words and break syllables apart. If we take the time, however, to fix the problems where they’ve begun, our students would learn so much more in the long run. More than if we continued to ignore the lacking skills.
We cannot expect our students to analyze literature or non-fiction if they cannot read properly. Age is not a factor. Skills and knowledge and abilities should be the focus. You cannot suddenly become a fluent reader just because you turned 8 years old. You cannot become a literary critic just because you turned 18.
Let’s meet the students where they are, fill in any missing holes they might have in their education and take the time to make it right.
