Author: Targetedreadingintervention.org

Children learn best when they are encouraged to pursue their interests. They also need to build confidence and self-esteem. This can be achieved through daily routines and positive interactions.

Education is a fundamental right of every child, regardless of their gender, location, or economic status. However, many obstacles stand in the way of children exercising this right: conflict, natural disasters, disease, poverty, geographical isolation, and lack of access to quality education.

Learning to think for themselves

The ability to think for yourself is a vital skill that can help kids feel confident and motivated. It also helps them be resilient, a key factor in success at school and in life. It also enables children to cooperate with others, cope with frustration and resolve conflicts. However, children must be provided with the appropriate challenges to develop this capability.

This requires children to be open to new ideas and willing to question them. They need to know how to interrogate information, including online sources. It is also important to teach them that it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as they learn from them.

This is why it’s important to support your child’s decision-making skills, such as by allowing them to choose what they wear or what afterschool activities they want to participate in. This will give them confidence that they can make good choices and build their self-esteem. You can also encourage them to take on projects that require teamwork or collaboration, fostering a sense of responsibility and empathy for their community.

Learning to cooperate with others

Cooperating with others is an essential life skill that should be taught from a very early age. Whether it is playing a game, working on a project, or just having friends over, children need to know how to work together and care for each other. This is especially important for only children, who may not have siblings at home to help them develop these skills.

Children learn character mainly through imitation, so they need to see adults and peers cooperating with one another in a respectful and friendly way. This can be done by encouraging open communication and by teaching kids how to communicate their thoughts, feelings, and ideas with each other.

Teachers also teach children how to cooperate with their peers by setting up activities that encourage teamwork, such as board games and group puzzles. They also teach children how to share and take turns, which is an essential aspect of cooperation. They also encourage children to express themselves, listen respectfully, and resolve conflicts peacefully.

Learning about different cultures

From an early age, children are absorbing culture and customs through their everyday experiences. Parents can enlighten their kids about different cultures by watching foreign movies, listening to cultural music and taking them to museums. They can also use world map puzzles to discuss countries and their backgrounds with their kids, fostering acceptance and openness towards new languages and cultures.

Children’s emotions and behaviour are influenced by their own culture, as well as the cultures of their families and community. This is why it’s so important to have culturally responsive teachers and caregivers.

Exposing children to diversity in their environment helps them understand that differences are normal, and teaches them to value people’s differences. This can be done by reading books about diverse characters, visiting places that are culturally sensitive and using games, handheld animals and dolls to teach children about the world.

Learning to interact with others

Interacting with other children is important for a child’s social development. This helps them develop empathy, which is key for understanding the responses of others. They also learn to see the world from another person’s perspective. For instance, two kids playing pretend may have wildly different stories. One kid may be battling dragons on the top of the world while the other is running around a car wash.

They also build social skills and learn to respect each other. These skills help them interact with adults and peers both at school and when accessing out of school activities like sports teams or Scouts.

In addition, children will learn to use their large motor skills to run, jump, climb, throw, catch, and explore with their hands (small motor). They will also develop a sense of self-worth as they interact with others at school and during out-of-school activities. This is a skill that will carry over into their adult lives.

With school back in session, students and teachers alike need supplies. You can help by donating classroom essentials, money to a school emergency fund or your time.

Districts that have made significant academic gains among struggling students typically provide them with extra instructional time each day to maximize teacher expertise in content instruction.

Education Support Professionals

Education support professionals keep schools running and students safe, healthy and ready to learn. They include paraeducators, secretaries, custodial staff, food service workers, bus drivers and other school employees vital to student and teacher success. They’re the backbone of our preK-12 public education system.

They help teachers with instruction, assist students with disabilities and perform myriad administrative duties. They also serve on district-wide and individual community school steering committees, bodies that do the work of establishing structures for two-way communication and involvement between schools and the people and communities they serve.

MSEA is fighting for ESP members across the state to have decent wages and good working conditions, a voice in decisions that affect them and their families, and protection against layoffs and privatization. They’re the reason kids get extra help when they need it, the bell rings on time and buses arrive to take them to class. It’s hard to imagine our schools without them.

Job Duties

Education support professionals play a key role in keeping schools running smoothly. They perform a variety of duties in areas including clerical services, custodial and maintenance services, food service, health and student services, transportation and skilled trades.

Education supports also work with students to create educational plans and assist instructors in classroom observations, providing feedback to improve teaching techniques. They are the backbone of our school system and deserve respect for their tireless efforts to help children learn and thrive.

Whether they’re picking up kids for early morning bus rides, providing the comforts of home in school counseling centers, or bandaging a scraped knee, ESPs do it all for our nation’s youth. MEA is fighting to ensure they get the respect and pay they deserve – plus money-saving benefits like medical, dental, vision, life and disability insurance, retirement savings options and more. Learn how you can help support ESPs in your community by joining MEA today.

Education Support Job Description

An education support professional is a school employee that performs a variety of tasks to help students and teachers in the classroom. Colleges, universities and schools of all types hire education support professionals for full-time work during school hours. They receive several weeks off for holidays and report to the principal or dean of students.

A teacher’s aide works under the supervision of a certified teacher or instructor to give extra attention and instruction to individual students. Greets students and parents in the morning, prepares resources and undertakes logistical and operational tasks such as cleaning and food preparation and storage. Enforces school and class rules to encourage positive behavior.

An occupational therapy assistant assists with daily living activities for an assigned student who has physical or medical disabilities. May assist with bathing, dressing and toileting; change soiled clothes, sanitary napkins, colostomy bags or tube feedings; administer medication; teach hygiene; and monitor and interact with students to promote positive self-image.

Education Support Employment

Education support staff are employed in a variety of positions at schools, colleges and universities. The charity Education Support champions good mental health and wellbeing for teachers, lecturers and all education support staff. It provides telephone counselling, financial assistance and fact sheets of information useful to staff. Its roots date back to 1877 when it began as a benevolent fund for teachers. It merged with sister charities Teacher Support Network, Recourse and Worklife Support Partnership in 2015 to become Education Support.

There is little on the job training for education support workers, who typically come to their roles with previous experience. New employees may be given a grace period, lasting no more than two weeks, to observe classrooms and other school staff before beginning their daily tasks. School staff are entitled to a number of weeks off throughout the year for school and federal holidays. They are paid twice a month. They are employed at-will and can request professional leave with prior approval from their immediate supervisor.

School articles are informative and share research findings while fostering discussion on current trends in education. They are often written by teachers, researchers or educational professionals.

Schools are the place where children learn, socialize and develop as people. They also assist with social change. Students are around hundreds of other kids their age and this teaches them how to interact with people of different backgrounds.

1. Learning

Students learn best when they have opportunities to do so in ways that engage them. They love learning about topics that are relevant to their lives, and when instruction helps them understand content by linking it to skills they already have, like cooking, sports, art or science.

Many schools that offer good educational outcomes have a variety of ways to increase student-learning time and opportunities. These include looping, where teachers stay with a group of students for more than one year, and advisory classes, where students have the opportunity to build lasting relationships with teachers. They also use pedagogies that practice cultural competence and invite students’ experiences into the classroom, such as by listening to them respectfully and giving them credit for their knowledge.

School administrators, teachers and staff should seek out new ways to improve learning. This may include re-arranging the classroom, going outside for field trips or even hosting workshops in film and art.

2. Socializing

Socializing at school provides kids with opportunities to develop their social skills and interact with others. When children engage in positive socialization, they are more likely to feel confident and have a greater sense of self-worth, which is important for their mental health.

Socialization at school also helps children learn to recognize and respect other cultures and backgrounds. This can help reduce their egocentrism, which is common in young kids. Taking them to an early childcare Greenville NC can further enhance their socialization by exposing them to diverse people and experiences.

Teachers also play an important role in the socialization of their students. They present a curriculum that assumes certain knowledge and skills that they think all students should have. They are also involved in enforcing rules, which is another form of socialization.

3. Meeting New People

School is an ideal place to meet new people. Many students will be in the same situation as you, so they will be more than happy to meet someone new. Try talking to people around you, especially those that have the same interest as you.

If you are a student at university, you can also attend Frosh Week or orientation events to meet other freshmen. There are usually a lot of other students that you will see over the course of the week, giving you more time to talk and get to know them.

Other opportunities to meet new people are clubs, sports teams and even on-campus jobs. Try to connect with people who share similar interests and make friends that you can look back on years later.

4. Developing Hobbies and Interests

Hobbies are a great way to reduce stress for students. They help them take a break from the pressure of academics and peer pressure, while allowing them to tap into their inner passions.

Hobbies also encourage creativity. Whether it be painting or playing music, hobbies allow kids to express their personalities and develop creative skills. These skills will be essential for their future.

Hobbies can also help students build strong relationships by enabling them to interact with other people who share the same interests. This helps them to learn how to communicate with other people and build trust, Alison Ratner Mayer at Child Therapy Boston explains. In addition, showing interest in others’ hobbies demonstrates empathy and builds rapport, she adds. This is important for a healthy social life.

5. Developing Skills

A diverse set of skills is increasingly valued in the workplace. Schools can help students acquire a range of skills that will serve them well in their professional careers.

Skills development in school includes activities like collaborative learning, peer teaching, and group projects. These activities promote inquisitiveness, team spirit, trustworthiness, and assertiveness in students. They also help develop a student’s ability to tackle issues and situations on their own.

Schools that prioritize skill development also incorporate pedagogies and assessments that foster a mastery-oriented approach to learning. For example, they may offer year-long research projects or a capstone project where students work to address an issue in their community.

Students can also be exposed to open mindsets through debating sessions, visits to a workplace or Q&As with a local business leader.

Kindergarten is an important step in a child’s education. It’s where they transition from a play-based environment led by their parents to an educational one with other children and adults.

Kids learn everything from how to treat others to basic math. They also begin writing and learning about the world around them.

Social Skills

In kindergarten, children must learn to share, resolve conflict and be kind to their peers. They also need to learn how to be patient and take turns.

Social skills are also improved by playing with both younger and older kids. This helps them understand their own emotions and those of others.

Researchers have discovered distinct growth trajectories for social skills in the kindergarten period. These are influenced by the home-rearing environment and demographic characteristics.

Emotional Wellbeing

A child’s emotional well being is a crucial part of learning. It helps them be able to form close, secure relationships with others and explore their environment.

Education experts say that kindergarten can be a major opportunity for children to learn everything from cognitive skills to literacy. Even everyday activities like going grocery shopping can be great opportunities to help children learn about the world around them.

Kindergarten is more structured than preschool and follows a set curriculum. Many states have different cutoffs for entry age, and children may need to attend preschool before starting kindergarten.

Physical Wellbeing

Young kids need to be physically healthy and active in order to learn. This includes regular physical activity, proper nutrition, and developing critical motor skills.

Encourage children to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. Play in the yard, go for walks around the neighbourhood and, on rainy days, rug up and splash through puddles together.

Limiting children’s screen time to 1 hour a day is important, as well as encouraging them to be physically active throughout the day. This should include muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities.

Communication Skills

Communicating is an essential skill for kindergarteners. They often have to provide answers or presentations in class, which requires excellent communication skills.

Encourage them to talk openly by asking questions and encouraging their responses. Asking open-ended questions and using body language to convey your interest will help children feel valued for their input.

Teach them about pragmatic skills like facing the speaker, making eye contact and listening carefully before responding. This will ensure that they learn and practice important communication skills for life.

Creativity

Kindergarteners learn through play and exploration. But they also need to start putting letters together to form words and short sentences.

Try this fun art project that helps them build letter-sound relationships and explore impressionism. Or have them use a digital art tool to draw an object that represents one of their emotions.

Develop lifelong learners with a comprehensive kindergarten curriculum that fosters curiosity and creativity. Streamline planning, teaching, and family engagement with 24/7 access to curriculum resources, and two-way communication with families.

Math Skills

Kindergartners learn basic number sense, including counting objects; understanding the relationship between numbers and their physical attributes (such as big, small, longer, shorter); and comparing quantities. Playing board games like Trouble or Hi Ho Cherry-O and activities that involve identifying and ordering numbers — such as jumping rope or hopscotch — help develop these skills.

They also begin to understand shapes and patterns. Practice these math topics by going on a scavenger hunt or asking children to sort objects by color or shape.

Language Skills

Children’s vocabularies expand rapidly in kindergarten. They learn to question and answer in full sentences, rather than relying on head nods as their main mode of communication.

Kindergartners enjoy expressing themselves in ways they consider grownup. At the same time, they are eager to show off their new vocabulary.

They will begin to read and write with early writing programs that help them understand the conventions of print and letters and letter sounds. They will learn to recognise upper and lower case letters and string those letters together to read basic sight words.

Self-Discipline

Children need self-discipline to prioritize learning and demonstrate a commitment to personal growth. It’s also necessary for advancing in their careers and relationships.

Self-discipline differs from obedient behavior. An obedient child follows directions because they want to please their parent or avoid punishment. A child with self-discipline does the right thing regardless of how they feel.

Encourage your children to practice self-discipline by teaching them routines, setting consequences, and assigning responsibilities like caring for a pet. Just be sure to praise good behavior regularly.

Students with reading difficulties need intensive, targeted word-reading and language comprehension interventions. However, many inquiry survey respondents from schools across Ontario reported that students often didn’t get these programs unless they had a diagnosis and significant parental advocacy.

Many school boards rely on unreliable assessments of students’ book-reading levels to determine who needs intervention, and to judge the effectiveness of programs. These methods are not effective.

Individual

Reading intervention strategies help students who have difficulty in reading, improving their literacy skills and ultimately enabling them to participate fully in the classroom. This is often a challenging goal, especially in schools where resources for such programs are scarce. However, there are proven interventions that can improve student outcomes.

A successful program includes universal screenings, followed by diagnostic assessments that identify specific skills a student lacks. Teachers then reteach those skills, working from the most basic to the most complex. For example, a student who struggles with phonics may begin with a phonological awareness program, followed by a phonics program. Alternatively, the teacher may focus on building a student’s morphological awareness (the ability to distinguish prefixes, suffixes and base words).

Individualized interventions provide students with more attention and a more personalized learning experience. This helps increase motivation and fosters a strong teacher-student rapport, which increases student engagement. Additionally, the individualized instruction allows students to work at their own pace, addressing their unique learning needs.

Group

In group reading interventions, students with similar reading skills are grouped together and receive instruction from a teacher. The benefits of this approach include increased peer interaction and collaborative learning. Group instruction also allows educators to allocate their time and resources by catering to the specific needs of multiple students simultaneously.

A good program for reading intervention involves intensive instruction in the five core elements of reading proficiency: phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. It is important to provide explicit and systematic phonics instruction, as it is the most critical component in improving reading skills.

Formative assessments should be given along the way to help teachers determine what skills are most challenging for their students. Students should be taught systematically, starting with the most basic skills and progressing to more complex ones. Teachers should also teach students to build morphological awareness, which is the ability to pull apart and define words that do not follow traditional patterns.

Family

Students requiring reading intervention are chosen based on teacher recommendations, classroom performance and assessment results (including standardized tests, district local assessments and individual screenings). Students attend small groups that meet regularly with a certified reading specialist to receive supplemental instruction in decoding, comprehension, writing and study skills at their instructional level.

Comprehension is a child’s ability to visualize, imagine, infer and think about what they read. This is the ultimate goal of reading. When a child understands what they read, they can answer questions, make connections and laugh at jokes.

Some instructional programs are best suited for whole classroom implementation (tier 1), such as Wilson Fundations which teaches phonemic awareness, sound-symbol relationships and word study and spelling in Kindergarten to Grade 1. Other programs are better suited for small group interventions (tier 2), including Lexia which teaches phonics, syllables and sight words and provides support for comprehension. These programs are backed by strong research evidence.

Community

Many inquiry school boards indicated they need more direction from the Ministry regarding which programs to use for reading intervention. This would help ensure that all boards are rowing in the same direction and that they’re using programs based on evidence of effectiveness. The What Works Clearinghouse and the Best Evidence Encyclopedia provide overviews of effective programs.

Reading comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading – the ability to understand and enjoy stories, information, and books. It requires students to visualize what they’re reading, make inferences and predictions, and think about the aspects of a story or text that the author is communicating.

Most schools offer a range of reading interventions to address students’ specific needs. These include supplemental instruction outside of classrooms, private tutoring, changing the way teachers instruct students, and offering alternative learning texts and computer reading programs for students. Effective RTI/MTSS frameworks incorporate these approaches and more. The key is ensuring that all teaching and interventions are based on evidence from research.

Kids who have access to education have the opportunity to learn a lot of things that they wouldn’t be exposed to otherwise. They are also given the chance to develop self-expression and emotional development.

They can also learn how to cooperate with others and respect other cultures in a safe environment. It is important for them to be able to learn through different methods.

Learning to Cooperate

Cooperation is an important skill that can help children feel a sense of belonging and contribution. It is also a key to academic and social success. Children who cooperate get along better at home and at school, and they are more likely to have friends.

Parents and teachers can model cooperation with their own behavior and interactions. They can show how to take turns and play games like peek-a-boo with each other. They can also use praise to encourage cooperation.

Teaching children to cooperate is not always easy. Toddlers often focus on their own needs and find it hard to consider someone else’s point of view. They may want to draw on a piece of art, while a friend wants to use the same marker.

But by providing opportunities for cooperation, kids can learn to balance their own needs with those of others and develop empathy for the feelings of other people. They can work together to solve a puzzle, complete a craft project, or create a play. And research shows that cooperative experiences promote greater effort and engagement than competitive or individualistic ones.

Learning to Respect Different Cultures

From an early age, children are exposed to different cultural customs and traditions. They notice differences based on race, religion, gender, socioeconomic status and language. This awareness is a positive part of their development, but it’s important to teach them that the people around them are more than just those differences.

At this stage, children begin to show empathy and respect for others. They become interested in learning about the cultures of people they meet, as well as their personal and family experiences.

It’s important to talk with your child about diversity to prevent them from judging people based on their appearance or culture. Also, encourage them to be receptive to their friends’ different ideas and beliefs. This will help them understand that different cultures make the world more interesting. It will also give them the confidence and the skills to deal with people from other countries if they decide to travel.

Learning to Communicate

Children’s communication skills are a critical part of their education. As they grow, presentations in class, class discussions, dramatisations and oral exams will become regular activities that rely heavily on their verbal abilities. A child who is good at communicating verbally will be able to make a more confident impression in these situations than one who struggles with the written word.

Children learn to communicate through interactions with family and caregivers. They learn the sounds, tones and patterns of their language through observing adults talk and imitating them. In addition, they learn non-verbal communication signals such as turning away, sucking their thumb or yawning, which signal possible pleasure or displeasure.

During the preschool years, children’s ability to understand what other people are saying increases rapidly. They will develop an extensive vocabulary, including nouns for persons, pets and things in their environment (e.g. mom, dad, dog, cat, shoes) as well as verbs such as running, jumping and drinking.

Learning to Focus

Developing focus is an important part of children’s education. It helps them follow directions and complete tasks. It also helps them learn new things and remember them later. But for some kids, learning to concentrate can be a challenge.

Teachers can help kids develop concentration skills by providing activities that match their interests. But they should also encourage kids to try new activities that stretch their cognitive, linguistic and motor-skill abilities.

Kids that have trouble concentrating may be distracted by noise, TV or other kids. A teacher can address this by limiting screen time, having kids study in a quiet place and making sure the classroom has everything they need to complete homework or school assignments.

They can also teach kids to use self-regulation strategies, like the head, shoulders, knees and toes song. And by encouraging them to use a notebook for their schoolwork and take good notes. A well-organized notebook can help them quickly find what they need when studying, which will make it easier to concentrate.

Education support is essential for students to learn in a way that matches their needs. This can include individualized learning, home schooling, and alternative educational methods.

Many companies offer employee tuition reimbursement. This is an effective way to increase employee loyalty and boost productivity. It can also help reduce turnover and improve the company’s workforce.

Education Supporters

Education support workers can help with a range of issues. They are often the ones behind the scenes that make sure everything runs smoothly in schools. They can assist with administrative work as well as providing supplementary academic instruction to students who need it. They also conduct classroom observations and provide advice on improving teaching methods.

Education helps to create stable communities that are more prone to taking part in projects that help improve their neighborhood and society. It is one of the biggest reasons why people strive to get their children to school and nations work toward promoting easier access to education for everyone.

Educated people are better equipped to understand the problems that are faced by their community. They can also differentiate right from wrong and easily take part in solving local problems. They are able to make informed choices and are more likely to become leaders in their societies. Hence, they are the key to a more prosperous future for all.

Education Specialists

Education specialists work with teachers and students to optimize the learning process. These professionals may specialize in areas such as curriculum development and classroom organization, or they can focus on serving students with disabilities or implementing technology in the classroom. They work in public school districts, individual schools and private academies.

An online education specialist program is a great option for educators seeking a postgraduate degree. It offers the same specialized knowledge of an EdD without the time and resources required to complete a dissertation.

An education specialist credential can boost a teacher’s resume and career prospects, whether they are looking for a promotion or a lateral move. It can also help educators who are passionate about a particular niche to deepen their understanding of theory and best practice. Educators who wish to further their professional development can also gain valuable experience by presenting at education conferences. This allows them to become more widely known in their field and build a network of colleagues.

Learning Support Specialists

Some students are natural learners, absorbing everything their teachers present in class with little effort. For others, however, academic work may be a struggle. These problems can stem from a variety of factors, such as learning disabilities, behavioral issues or even family and home life challenges.

To help those students catch up, schools often employ learning support specialists. These educators focus on the specific needs of students who struggle in school, usually those with learning disabilities or different types of psychiatric disorders.

In addition to identifying children in need of academic help, these professionals also educate teachers and parents about learning differences. They also update teachers and parents regularly about a student’s progress and keep abreast of current teaching methods.

In our Lower School, the Director of Learning Services along with psychologists and learning support teachers act as advocates for identified students in need of additional support. These professionals work with each child’s family to outline strengths and challenges, then coordinate outside referrals and supplemental educational services.

Tutors

Tutoring provides kids with a fresh voice and perspective that they may not get at school or home. It also helps identify obstacles to learning and provides strategies for overcoming them.

The best tutors have superb knowledge of subject matter (content knowledge) as well as an intuitive understanding of how students learn and a strong sense of how to engage with them in tutorial sessions. They know when to emphasize their tutees’ strengths and when to draw attention to their mistakes, often by implication rather than directly.

Tutors can also help students use the online resources available to them, ensuring that they understand the content and are able to apply it confidently to their work. The goal is to teach them study skills so that they can eventually become independent learners. Tutoring builds confidence and a positive attitude towards learning. Small classroom successes build on each other and help boost self-esteem, which in turn increases the student’s motivation to continue to learn.

A school is a place where people go to learn. It may include classrooms, labs and workshops. It might also have cafeterias or dining halls.

Students crave learning that relates to their lives. They appreciate teachers who understand and practice cultural competence. They want looping, where teachers stay with the same students for more than a year.

Education

The primary function of schools is to teach students the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic and other subjects. This education is necessary to ensure that all members of a society have the skills needed to get a job and support themselves financially.

As societies become more complex, there is an increasing quantity of knowledge that must be passed from one generation to the next. This knowledge is too extensive for an individual to learn from observing or imitating, so formal education is required. Schools are the most common means of this transmission of culture.

Schools are also responsible for teaching students how to think independently and solve problems. This is important because it will prepare them for the future, no matter what career they choose. Many public schools are able to offer advanced classes and courses in specialized fields, such as technology or the arts. These choices can help students who want to excel academically and those who prefer a more relaxed classroom environment to find their educational niche.

Socialization

School is a crucial part of socialization. Children spend much of their time at school, and they learn many of their socialisation skills from the teacher-student relationship. In addition, the school setting introduces them to a different set of social expectations and norms than they are used to at home.

For example, schools often establish codes of conduct which students are expected to follow or face a sanction. These codes are based on values such as fairness, hard work, and respect for others.

Socialisation also involves developing friendships which promote collaboration. Friendships increase learning through the sharing of ideas, encourage a range of viewpoints, and generate enduring memories. Children who have a supportive network of peers are more resilient and self-confident, which is important when they encounter challenges like starting school. This enables them to take risks and approach strangers with confidence. They also develop cognitive skills through socialisation such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving.

Sense of Community

Schools are natural hubs of community activity and can play an important role in providing students a sense of belonging. Students need to feel safe and supported at school, which includes feeling connected to their teachers and peers and being given a voice in the classroom.

Creating a sense of community in schools requires collaboration and communication from administrators, teachers, parents and students. This should start at the top, with school administrators setting the tone and promoting culture building activities. This should include fostering open lines of communication, which can be done through modern discussion management platforms like ThoughtExchange.

In addition, teachers should collaborate together on class initiatives and activities that build student confidence and support their sense of belonging. Classroom shared agreements that reflect a common understanding of classroom norms are a powerful way to bring teachers and students together. The same goes for teacher collaboration on group projects, which can help build a community of learners who are more likely to succeed in their academics and beyond.

Collaboration

The Latin word collaborare means “to labor together.” Teachers who collaborate often say that working with their peers is a very satisfying part of the job. The research supports this sentiment, with studies showing that teacher collaboration leads to greater teaching skills and student achievement.

A good example of collaboration occurs in collaborative learning classrooms, where students work together on projects or other activities that require group work. This teaches students to communicate their thoughts and opinions in an open, respectful manner and allows them to learn from each other.

The collaborative learning environment also teaches students how to evaluate their own performance by using group evaluations. This makes assessment less threatening than when a teacher assesses each individual student. It also helps students make important connections between their own knowledge and the lessons they learn in school. Administrators can encourage collaboration by making the time and space for teachers to connect with each other and brainstorm ideas. For example, they can use Critical Friends Groups (CFGs), which are a type of PLC that is designed to develop trust and relationships among educators.

Kindergarten is a new world for children, moving from home-based learning to the classroom. They’ll learn about school rules and expectations, as well as social skills and academic pursuits.

Teachers around the world use similar practices to teach this grade, but poorer regions often struggle to maintain kindergartens. These kindergartens often don’t have the facilities to accommodate students, or they’re overcrowded.

Language and Literacy

Language and literacy are the ways in which we communicate ideas to each other. Infants and toddlers develop their communication skills through responsive relationships with nurturing adults. Toddlers learn to recognize and name things in their environment through reading books together and talking about them.

In kindergarten, children develop their print concepts and phonological awareness. They also learn high-frequency sight words, which are words that don’t follow a particular spelling pattern or sound but appear frequently in text.

Many kindergarten classrooms take a developmental approach to teaching writing. This means that children focus on conveying their ideas and knowledge on paper, rather than learning the rules for spelling and grammar. In kindergarten, children may start to recognize rhyming words, which is another level of phonological awareness.

Math

A child’s first official year of schooling is a critical milestone in the development of many skills, including math. Learning how to count, recognize numbers, and understand basic shapes sets the stage for more advanced math concepts in elementary school.

Kindergarten students work to develop number sense by understanding that the last number counted tells how many objects were accounted for (one-to-one correspondence). They also learn about number families, such as 2+3=5, and use manipulatives to demonstrate addition and subtraction within 10.

To set up kids for success in math, it is important that they have a comprehensive curriculum. Time4Learning’s kindergarten math curriculum uses bright, colorful and engaging activities that make it easy for children to log in and work on their own pace. It also provides a clear scope and sequence so teachers know exactly what standards they are covering with each practice page or center. Each lesson also includes extensive teacher notes with best-practice teaching strategies, formative assessment options and suggested questions for eliciting student thinking.

Social Studies

Social studies, sometimes perceived as a subject reserved for older students, holds an important place in the kindergarten curriculum. Social studies at this early educational stage nurtures children’s natural interests in the world around them and builds their understanding of how societies function.

Developing Geographical and Historical Awareness

Kindergarten social studies helps children understand their environment through the stories of where they live and the people who lived before them. The curriculum also teaches about the roles they play as members of their community.

Teaching About the Local and National Holidays

Teachers are often a vital link to children’s social studies learning. Kindergarten teachers encourage their students to learn about themselves, their families and the communities where they live through classroom activities that include a daily class meeting to share news. They also teach children to recognize differences in culture, and build skills for collaborative problem-solving. Educators should strive for purposeful, powerful integrative social studies instruction that is values-based, challenging, and active.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is vital for children’s health and well-being now and in the future. They need different types of physical activities to keep their bones and muscles strong. Preschool-aged children (3-5 years old) should be physically active for at least 180 minutes per day. Find ways for the whole family to get active together, like taking your kids on walks, riding bikes or playing active games.

In the present study, using stratified random sampling, 4,600 kindergartens are selected and a questionnaire survey and children’s healthy physical fitness test are conducted. SPSS 21.0 is used to analyze the data and crosstabs, correlation and regression analysis are performed, with a significance level of a=0.05.

Results show that kindergarten environmental factors significantly affect children’s healthy physical fitness. Children with large playgrounds and more sports equipment in their kindergartens, who take more game classes a week and with appropriate levels, have better healthy physical fitness. Family environmental factors also influence healthy physical fitness, with those whose parents are good at sports and have high ability, having better performance.

Students with reading problems need to build solid foundational word-reading, fluency and spelling skills. The inquiry revealed that many schools are not using evidence-based interventions to meet this need.

School boards should provide clear direction on what evidence-based programs to use, and fund these programs directly so that all schools can access them. This would be more equitable and result in cost savings based on economies of scale.

Word Recognition Difficulties

Many children with reading difficulties have problems in recognizing the individual parts, or syllables, of words. They may not understand that words are separated into sounds in spoken language and mapped to letters on the page, or they may have trouble learning how to segment and reconstitute those sounds to read words (Catts, Adlof, & Weismer, 2006).

Children with word recognition difficulties usually benefit from organized instruction in sound-to-letter correspondence, and strategies for breaking up words into syllables. They also need to practice decoding words with varying vowel patterns, and strategies for identifying multisyllabic words.

Educators should provide students with the time and intensive intervention required to build these foundational skills. They must help students apply these skills to text-based learning experiences so that they can gain automaticity, which is needed for comprehension. Children with these struggles often struggle with fluency, which can impede reading comprehension because the attention necessary to sound out words takes away resources that could otherwise be used for understanding a text’s meaning (Catts, Adlof, and Weismer, 2006)..

Spelling Difficulties

Spelling difficulties can be frustrating for children. They can also be a sign of an underlying learning difference. The good news is that spelling difficulties can be overcome with the right intervention.

The same processing challenges that impact word decoding in students with dyslexia impact spelling. Dyslexic individuals find it difficult to split words into their component sounds (phonemes) and to remember spelling patterns for high-frequency service words.

Several strategies are effective for overcoming spelling difficulties. These include incorporating spelling into daily reading and writing, teaching students to use a spelling dictionary, providing students with frequent opportunities to write and practice their spelling skills (including writing in sentences) and offering a variety of strategies to teach irregular words. A behavioral concept called “shaping” (developed by Skinner in 1957) is also a useful tool for helping students to develop their spelling skills. This involves delivering reinforcers for successive approximations towards achieving an objective. For example, a student who is struggling to spell could be rewarded for each correct word they successfully complete.

Reading Comprehension Difficulties

Comprehension is an important reading skill that combines a reader’s ability to decode and understand words with his or her ability to interpret what is read and make connections between the reading material and knowledge of the world around him. Readers with strong comprehension skills are able to think deeply about the material and draw conclusions about what is read, for example, “what is the most important information in this passage?”

Children who have SRCD tend to have mild weaknesses in broad vocabulary or language comprehension and typically do not exhibit speech-language difficulties (Nation, 2005). Thus, they may be better served by a multicomponent reading intervention that includes oral presentation of grade-level text to support phonics instruction and vocabulary development than by a single-component approach to reading intervention such as practice reading and questioning.

While the pattern of reading difficulty provides only a partial explanation for an individual child’s struggles, it is valuable information to have as teachers prepare to implement reading intervention programs. For example, Ms. Jackson can use this information to help her differentiate classroom instruction by providing students with one group that receives additional explicit phonics instruction to focus on breaking down multisyllabic words and building sentences and another group that is provided with additional reading-comprehension instruction.

Motivation

When students have difficulty reading, they may not be motivated to do so. Whether or not they are successful, they do not have the same incentive as their peers to keep trying. This is because the forces that energize motivation are different from those that energize the behaviours that allow a student to obtain desired outcomes (for example, circadian factors energize food seeking actions but not reading efforts).

School psychologists can play a significant role in motivating students who have trouble reading by providing a range of intervention suggestions including word study phonics and semantic mapping approaches as well as teacher mediation and review strategies. See Telzrow’s chapter on intervention integrity in this volume for more information.

The inquiry found that many Ontario students have very limited access to evidence-based interventions. Currently, schools typically start with commercial programs that have little basis in research and often mirror instruction approaches that do not work in classrooms. Students then endure years of ineffective support in tier 1 and tier 2 before finally being offered an evidence-based program in Grades 3-4 or later, if they are lucky.