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Education support services are essential to the overall learning experience. They help students succeed and thrive, and improve teacher quality and satisfaction.

Education Support is a UK charity that champions good mental health and wellbeing for teachers and all education staff. Its services include counselling and telephone advice. The charity was formed in 2015 from the merger of three sister organisations: Teacher Support Network, Recourse and Worklife Support.

1. Identify your needs and goals.

When it comes to education support, there are a wide range of options available. Depending on your needs and goals, you may want to consider getting help with homework, finding a tutor or mentor, or receiving career guidance. You can also find information and resources on the internet, through books or other publications, or by talking to friends or family members.

Education support services can benefit students by improving their academic outcomes, fostering innovation and collaboration, and strengthening accountability and governance. They can also strengthen educational institutions and systems by providing guidance, resources, and training.

Educators can use education support services to enhance their teaching and professional development, such as through coaching, mentoring, or communities of practice. However, they can face challenges in delivering and utilizing education support services, such as lack of time, resources, or training. They can also experience resistance, conflict, or misunderstanding from their peers or students.

2. Research your options.

Education support services can help students, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders meet their needs and address the challenges and opportunities in their education systems. These services can include a wide range of activities and programs, including tutoring, mentoring, counseling, coaching, assessment, evaluation, and accreditation. They can also be provided by a wide variety of actors, such as peers, parents, volunteers, experts, and organizations.

Education supporters can be found in schools of all types and sizes, from public to private. They perform a variety of tasks, such as reviewing instructor lesson plans, conducting classroom observations, and suggesting teaching techniques to improve educational effectiveness.

Education support services can also be offered through online resources and community forums. For example, Paper’s ESP platform gives students access to a live writing coach to help them develop and improve their writing skills.

3. Engage with the service.

Education support services can help learners overcome academic, personal, and social challenges that may interfere with their learning or well-being. They can also connect them with relevant resources, opportunities, and networks. As educational practice becomes increasingly collaborative, interdisciplinary, and project-based, learners will need more integrated and coordinated education support services that can provide them with holistic and seamless support throughout their learning journeys.

It’s important for educators to be as communicative as possible with education support professionals to share information about students and day-to-day classroom occurrences. A culture of shared knowledge will promote an effective and innovative staff.

Educators should also make an effort to include education support professionals in school-wide events and celebrations, such as community nights, open houses, and graduations. This shows them that their contributions to the school environment are valued, and can make a difference in student lives. It’s also a great way to model inclusivity and kindness for students.

4. Make the most of the service.

From a simple exchange with a bus driver to an IEP meeting with a paraeducator, students interact with education support professionals every day in minor and major ways. These interactions can illuminate students’ needs and influence their learning paths. It is important that schools make the most of this service to ensure student success from Pre-K through college.

Providing individualized services can help students feel valued and confident, especially in the face of challenges or setbacks. This can boost self-esteem and lead to a more resilient mindset, especially for students with special educational needs. Moreover, tailored support can foster inclusive classroom dynamics, encouraging students to recognize and celebrate their unique learning styles.

In addition, it is crucial that education support services are accessible and affordable to all students. This can be achieved by increasing the availability and quality of resources and funding. Furthermore, a learner-centered approach can allow students to select their own tutors, mentors, and counselors according to their goals, preferences, and capabilities.

Looking into school options can feel like sorting threads in a tapestry. With terms such as montessori and magnet sending you on tangent searches, it can be hard to get a clear picture.

Schools help children learn things about life, such as religion and ethics. They also help them recognise socially accepted norms and behaviour.

History

The invention of schools is a fascinating story that spans many centuries and civilizations. Teachers should make sure that students learn about the history of school invention, not just the usual societal and political trends.

The early schools in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome provided citizens with knowledge consistent with their interests. Students learned rhetoric, philosophy, arts and literature. Later, the Industrial Revolution encouraged people from all levels of society to attend school. This helped to democratize education and increase its scope.

Horace Mann is credited with inventing modern schools in the United States, but he doesn’t get all of the credit. In fact, the first public school in America was built by a society that promoted free education for poor children. Its members wanted to encourage citizenship and national loyalty. They also wanted to promote international harmony by discouraging crude national stereotyping and the perpetuation of old grudges and grievances. Later, a new generation of educational reformers helped create standardized curricula and public school districts.

Purpose

School is a place to train or educate someone in a particular field or subject. The word also can refer to a set of rules and traditions that guide students in their behavior, including how they should dress, speak, and act.

Among the main purposes of schools are to prepare students for life and work, instill values, and build relationships with others. However, people have different ideas of what these goals should look like.

Some believe that schools should function primarily as the personnel department for business and industry, creating a pool of workers with the skills and personal styles required to fill available jobs. Other people think that schools should seek to create active citizens by encouraging their children to acquire knowledge that can help them make informed choices and contribute to society as active participants in democracy.

In addition to these general purposes, some people go to school in order to learn specialized skills and knowledge that will enable them to succeed in their careers. This includes technical education and career training programs, as well as university degrees in specific fields of study such as medicine or law.

Types

There are many different types of schools at the elementary, middle and high school levels as well as at the university and vocational school level. Some of these include traditional public schools that are subsidized by taxes. Others may be private or alternative, such as forest schools or outdoor education centers, that teach classes in nature.

Effective schools have a positive atmosphere and a culture of teaching and learning that includes a commitment to students, families and the community. They convey the attitude that all children can achieve academically and that it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure their success.

They are also hospitable and respect teachers by providing them with adequate resources and opportunities to grow professionally. They communicate frequently with teachers, staff and students to reduce rumors and gossip. These quality schools also establish clear goals for each department and work together to prevent politics within departments. They are also free of a rigid hierarchy that is based on seniority.

Locations

Schools provide a lot of benefits to families, such as encouraging independence, promoting active lifestyles and increasing academic performance. However, there are also some downsides to living near a school. These include noise levels, congestion and limited privacy. Additionally, schools may host events on weekends or evenings that can be disruptive to local residents.

Homes located near a good school often have high resale value. They are in demand among young parents who want to live close to their children’s schools. In addition, schools often have security measures such as student resource officers and speed-limit reduction zones that make them safer for kids to walk in.

School grounds are also usually open to the public when not in use, so children can enjoy playgrounds and sports fields without having to go too far from home. Some communities have schools that function like a park, which is great for kids and adults alike. Some schools even allow organized adult classes, such as yoga and martial arts.

Kindergarten offers children their first opportunity to socialize with a group of other kids. Kids learn to interact respectfully and to share.

Teachers encourage kindergarten students to be curious and make discoveries. They support their learning by providing hands-on activities. They also teach children to organize information and solve problems.

Language Arts

A key foundation in language arts is developing phonological awareness, which enables students to recognize the alphabet and letter sounds. Kindergarten students also take part in prewriting activities, forming letters and words on their own.

By the end of kindergarten, children should be able to print their names and some simple vocabulary words. They will learn that written language is read from left to right and that punctuation marks are used to separate sentences or parts of a sentence.

Reading and writing help develop imagination and creativity in children. Reading stories with diverse characters and perspectives can help foster empathy and emotional intelligence. Writing allows children to communicate their ideas and emotions in a safe environment. This helps them become more aware of their own emotions and experiences.

Math

As your child moves into kindergarten, they will develop their early math skills through counting, basic shapes and patterns. These skills are the stepping stones for more advanced concepts in later grades.

Children learn that each object counted has a number corresponding to it in the counting sequence (one-to-one correspondence). They also start adding and subtracting within 10. This is an important foundation for more complex addition and subtraction in later years.

Students use geometric vocabulary to identify and classify 2-D plane shapes (squares, circles, rectangles, triangles) and 3-D solid shapes (cubes, cylinders, and spheres). They also explore patterning by finding and creating patterns during fun activities like nature walks. They also begin understanding how to represent data through simple graphing. This will help them later make informed decisions about their world.

Science

Children learn science through exploration, play and hands-on activities. This is the ideal way for young children to gain experiences with science concepts.

A successful science curriculum for kindergarten should be based on the premise that young children have a natural propensity and capacity to observe, explore and discover and that this discovery is the foundation for constructing knowledge.

The teacher should also have a deep understanding of the important underlying science concepts she is using as her focus for the children. This is often called pedagogical science knowledge.

The most important areas of science in kindergarten are life sciences (everything relating to living things) and Earth sciences (the study of everything that is on the planet, including rocks and weather). In addition, kindergarten students learn about how living things grow, change, and have certain needs.

Social Studies

Kindergarten is a social time as children build classroom community and learn to follow school rules. Children often start their day with a class meeting or circle time where they share class news about the calendar and weather, or any other topics of interest.

In addition, kindergarten students will learn that a community is made up of people who work together to meet their basic needs. They will also explore the major holidays celebrated by different cultures, and how those traditions may differ from their own.

Challenging social studies instruction is important for young children because it supports their ability to identify real world problems and participate in creating a democratic society. This requires educators to design learning experiences that are holistic, value-based, and challenging.

Physical Education

In a day when kids often spend too much time at computers and in front of screens, physical education is important for developing healthy lifestyle habits. The benefits of regular exercise are many, including increased attention spans and better classroom behavior.

Children can develop a positive body image and learn how to manage stress in PE classes. They can also build skills to stay active throughout the rest of their lives.

In NY State, students with disabilities are required to have a minimum of 30 minutes of PE class each school week. This is not recess or before- or after-school sports; it’s a formal class with a structured curriculum based on learning standards. Children will participate in a wide range of activities, from jumping to throwing to catching, while also developing motor skills and spatial awareness.

Students who struggle with both word reading and language comprehension need targeted, intensive reading intervention. However, access to effective programs varies widely across boards.

Student/parent survey respondents reported that it was often difficult to get their children into effective reading interventions. Some students have to change schools, go to a Provincial Demonstration School or pay for private tutoring.

Scaffolding

Imagine being handed a box of odds and ends and told to figure out what to do with them. That’s what it feels like to many students who struggle to read. Fortunately, we can provide them with scaffolding, which helps to make the process less intimidating and overwhelming.

Scaffolding involves adding instructional support to help learners master skills and strategies. This can occur before, during or after reading. Some examples of pre-reading scaffolding strategies include arming students with academic vocabulary concepts, previewing the text and its topics ahead of time, and practicing multisyllabic decoding strategies for texts that have a more challenging language structure.

During reading, asking students to stop regularly to summarize or paraphrase what they’ve just read encourages self-monitoring and provides an opportunity to spot gaps in comprehension. Providing opportunities for students to discuss what they’ve read with classmates also promotes deeper thinking. Asking them to consider how they believe the information relates to their own experiences and hunches is another effective way to scaffold understanding.

Shaping

School boards often have unclear guidelines around who is eligible for interventions and which program they will receive. This may be because decisions are based on unreliable assessments or on inappropriate beliefs and criteria (e.g., one inquiry school board requires students to have a diagnosis to be eligible for the Empower program).

Inquiry schools also report that many programs are reserved for later tiers in the RTI/MTSS model rather than early implementation (tier 1). These programs often involve more teacher-directed instruction with less focus on systematically breaking down grapheme-phoneme correspondences and the blending of these sounds into word recognition and spelling, a key part of phonemic awareness and decoding skills.

Students who struggle to recognize words need intensive and targeted word-reading interventions to free up their cognitive energies for the more complex process of reading comprehension. They also need effective programing to address any oral language weaknesses that make it difficult for them to sound out or blend the sounds of words.

Connecting to Prior Knowledge

Many students come to reading with prior knowledge, beliefs, and experiences about a topic. Activating this prior knowledge can reduce the cognitive load for students as they read and learn. It can also help students to become metacognitive, as they learn to compare and contrast new information with their own beliefs and experiences.

Some teachers activate prior knowledge before introducing a reading by using graphic organizers such as KWL charts; by doing an alphabet brainstorm to familiarize students with the vocabulary that will be used in the lesson; or by giving students anticipatory guides that prompt them to recall relevant information before they start the new text. However, these activities do not always address the full range of skills needed to access subject-specific reading.

School boards determine which reading interventions to offer, which grades they provide them for and whether or not they include students who have a learning disability or other risk factors. While some boards offer evidence-based programs (e.g., Hamilton-Wentworth and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic), others do not.

Motivating

Many students struggle with motivation to read. Providing students with books of interest and engaging in learning activities that help them understand the relevance of reading can be motivating. Choosing texts that students have some background knowledge about makes them more interesting and relevant to the reader (Linnenbrink & Pintrich, 2003).

Interventions were coded for their theoretical basis, what motivational mechanisms they tried to elicit or foster, whether skills instruction was provided, and how many sessions and total duration of the intervention. They were also coded for whether they used narrative or informational texts and for the level of complexity of the text.

In our inquiry survey, teachers and parents reported that access to evidence-based programs was limited by school boards, with some students having to change schools or attend a Provincial Demonstration School to gain access to an intervention program. This is not fair to students and should be addressed. It would be ideal if every child could have access to an evidence-based reading intervention in their school without having to change schools, go to a demonstration school or pay for private tutoring.

Educators support children’s learning through a wide range of activities. They consider each child’s unique abilities, interests and cultural ways of knowing.

Children learn through seeing, hearing, exploring and experimenting. They develop important skills like self-regulation of their emotions and positive self-belief to face challenges. They also build on their social connections and develop their independence.

Social and Emotional Development

Early social and emotional development is a vital foundation that influences learning. It teaches children how to form and maintain positive relationships; experience, manage and express emotions; and navigate the challenges of life.

Infants and young children develop social-emotional skills in the context of their close relationships with their parents and caregivers. They learn to develop attachments with others, soothe themselves when upset and follow directions. They also begin to understand what goes on in other people’s minds, and are curious about the similarities and differences between their experiences and those of others.

Teachers are important partners in promoting social-emotional development, as they guide children’s interactions with others and model healthy ways to respond to challenging situations. They work with children to understand and respect different viewpoints, and encourage kids to take risks and persist at difficult tasks. However, a recent meta-analysis found that programs for children are not consistently effective in influencing SEL outcomes (as opposed to psychopathology symptoms or EF skills). This may be due to a lack of well-defined control groups.

Cognitive Development

Despite the sometimes negative stereotypes of young children, they do possess considerable cognitive capacity. For example, a growing ability to understand and self-regulate emotions enables them to cooperate with others, solve problems and resolve conflicts (see the next section). Children’s growing sense of competence, self-esteem and confidence in learning situations also promote cognitive growth and support academic motivation.

From the very earliest stages, children begin to develop implicit theories about people, living things, objects and numbers. These theories unite disparate observations or discrete facts into explanatory systems. Children then use these systems to predict and explain events, or to act intentionally in new learning situations.

Although every subject area requires content knowledge and skills acquired through developmental learning processes, for the purposes of this report the scope is limited to two core subjects–language and literacy, and mathematics. However, the insights that are presented here regarding the ways in which children acquire these concepts can be applied to other subject areas.

Physical Development

It is critical that children be physically healthy and active in order to learn. Children who engage in regular physical activity are more focused and have better retention of information. UNESCO works on a variety of initiatives that contribute to this domain, including advocacy, partnerships and capacity building.

Physical development refers to the advancements and refinement of motor skills, or the movement of a child’s body. For example, a child who starts walking requires the control of large muscles in their legs and arms. They also need to be able to balance and support their heads.

Teachers can support this area by offering a range of physical activities. They can encourage children to run, jump, climb, roll and skip (gross motor skills) as well as use their fingers and hands to explore materials like paint, play dough, puzzles and sand (fine motor skills). Learning through touch is another important part of physical development and can be encouraged with the provision of tactile experiences.

Personal Development

Education is a right of all children, yet too many obstacles stand in the way of accessing quality learning opportunities. These include poverty, health crises, natural disasters, geographic isolation and social exclusion. World Vision is working to make education accessible for all children by providing access to safe and affordable schooling. Through child sponsorship, the Raw Hope Initiative and our Gift Catalogue you can help make this possible.

Young children’s self-perceived ability to master learning challenges develops early and exerts a lasting influence on academic performance. High parental and educator expectations also influence children’s learning outcomes.

During this stage, children focus more on intellectual independence than physical independence. They use their growing understanding of the world to make sense of what they see and experience, including developing their theory of mind. For example, when children imitate actions they see others doing, they often imitate not the exact behavior but what they believe the actor intended—the goal or rationale of their action.

Education support professionals are critical members of the K-12 and higher-ed public school workforce. They are responsible for keeping students safe and cultivating a positive school climate that makes learning possible.

With the CHC40221 Certificate IV in School Based Education Support, you can prepare yourself for this exciting role that is transforming the educational landscape. Read on to learn more about the responsibilities and duties of this vital position.

Academic Support

Academic support is an educational strategy that can be used to help students overcome learning difficulties. This may be in the form of tutoring sessions, summer learning programs, and other academic interventions. This can be provided to individual students, specific student populations (such as non-English speakers or disabled students) or to all students in a school. Academic support may also be offered to address specific issues or trends, such as course failure rates or dropout statistics.

Research has shown that seeking academic support increases student performance. This is due to the fact that students who seek academic assistance tend to be more confident in their ability to succeed. Additionally, perceived teacher support has a strong positive correlation to academic achievement. This relationship is mediated by both student self-efficacy and engagement. Moreover, effective university support systems can play an important role in enhancing students’ performance. This is because they are typically based on student-centered and collaborative models.

Counseling

Students can experience a variety of personal issues that impact their mental health, including depression and anxiety. Counselors can help them manage their stress levels by offering advice and providing therapeutic support.

In addition, counselors help students develop helpful habits and skills that can benefit them throughout their academic career. For example, they may encourage students to stay organized and prioritize studying.

Finally, counselors work closely with administrators and teachers to evaluate school curriculums. They also collaborate with community professionals to provide additional guidance on relevant topics.

Become the mentor students need to thrive in and out of school. Led by world-class faculty, William & Mary’s online M.Ed. in Counseling with a concentration in School Counseling program prepares you to help students navigate early-life decisions and become resilient. Learn more today!

Special Needs Support

Special needs support helps students whose education is compromised by a physical, cognitive or behavioral condition. These conditions can include ADD/ADHD, allergies, arthritis, asthma, cerebral palsy, diabetes, depression, Down syndrome, epilepsy/seizure disorder, hearing problem, heart problem, learning disability, vision problem or other mental health issue.

Many of these students require special educational assistance, known as SEN (or aided education or alternative provision in England). The process begins with an assessment that determines whether or not the child qualifies for a specially tailored curriculum.

For some students, a special needs assessment can lead to an individualized family service plan or IEP. This outlines the student’s present achievement levels and plots out reachable goals. It can also detail accommodations and modifications, like different teaching approaches and a more flexible learning environment. Some students may benefit from a partial withdrawal or “pull-out” class that is more self-contained. This type of school provides extra help for specific subjects, and might be run by a separate staff member.

Student Referrals

When a student’s challenges are beyond your academic scope, you need to be able to quickly identify the right resources for them. This requires that you remain attentive to students, and that you be able to listen for clues that they may need an outside resource.

For example, a student who is struggling in class could be having trouble sleeping or experiencing family problems, and these are concerns that should be reported to the appropriate staff member.

The Referral Phase serves as the link between recognizing that students need more support and them being connected to it. It is important to document the details of each incident to help develop a more holistic picture of the students’ needs and to understand the patterns that emerge. This data is then used to design a tailored support pathway. This can be either Tier 2 or Tier 3 support depending on the situation. This process can take time, but it is often worth the effort once the students see improvement in their performance and skills.

Schools are a vital part of the world’s communities. They help people learn new skills and knowledge, develop confidence and achieve their long-term goals.

For many children, school is also a place to pursue passions and interests. From football to a love for reading, students have access to activities that can enrich their lives.

Education and Knowledge

In the simplest sense, education is the transfer of values and knowledge from one generation to the next. It also teaches people to adapt, innovate and thrive in an ever-changing world.

A well-developed curriculum is key to educating children. It should incorporate a variety of educational methods to engage students and promote the development of critical thinking skills, collaboration, empathy, and resilience.

The most common type of school is a primary and secondary education system that offers a wide range of subjects. Students can then choose to pursue tertiary education or a specific vocational program.

In order to learn, students need to have access to adequate teaching resources, a safe environment and reliable Internet connections. According to the World Bank, millions of children lack these essentials and are unable to participate fully in society or secure stable employment, which ultimately affects their health, wellbeing, and economic prospects. The learning crisis is a serious social and economic issue that needs to be addressed immediately.

Career Opportunities

There are many opportunities available for teachers who are looking for a change. For example, they can work at museums as tour guides and educate visitors about various exhibits and localities. They can also find positions at non-profit organizations that need people to help reach out for donations.

Another career option is an educational administrator. These jobs include roles like principal, superintendent and vice principal. They are responsible for managing all aspects of a school, and need someone who has great attention to detail and the ability to connect with students.

Other career changes for teachers include working as a student life coordinator, which focuses on college students and involves organizing cultural activities for them. It is an ideal job for a person who enjoys the social aspect of education.

Personal Growth

Personal growth is the feeling of improving oneself over time, acquiring new skills and knowledge, developing (healthy) attitudes and becoming open to embracing life experiences. This can be encouraged in leadership students by having them complete a Personal Leadership Project which allows them to learn about themselves as leaders and develop the habit of life-long learning.

By prioritising personal development in schools, teachers can ensure that pupils have a strong sense of purpose and an understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. This can help them become more self-aware and build stronger relationships with peers and professionals. Furthermore, it can also improve their emotional intelligence, allowing them to better understand and empathise with others. This is important in a school environment as it can tackle barriers to learning and raise aspiration. It can also teach children about British values such as tolerance, respect and diversity. It can even encourage them to be more active in their communities.

Social Interaction

The social interaction students experience through school and classrooms can impact their motivation for cooperation, feelings of belonging in larger peer groups, academic aspiration, life quality and more. Schools, therefore, are important environments for meeting students’ social affiliation needs – an essential factor for their well-being and success.

Education outside the classroom (EOtC) is a new school concept that enables the implementation of curriculum-compliant lessons in natural green and blue environments. It is assumed that EOtC promotes social interactions, as it combines teaching in natural environments with the reorganization of class structure.

Educators can enhance the level of social interaction in their classrooms by encouraging group projects and team-building exercises. They can also encourage their students to interact with peers outside of the classroom by matching children who share interests or other similar characteristics. They can also use child preferences to encourage interaction by providing them with opportunities to engage with peers through their preferred activities, such as dramatic play or outdoor games.

Kindergarten helps children get used to working and playing in a structured environment. It also allows them to make friends and settle disputes with peers in a controlled setting.

Kids will learn basic two-dimensional shapes and the importance of recognizing each side of a shape. They’ll also start learning the sounds of letters and begin identifying printed lower and upper case letters as well as correctly saying them.

Academics

Many parents and educators are concerned that kindergarten classrooms are geared too much toward academic instruction and not enough toward play and social-emotional development. These concerns are exacerbated by the emphasis on academic achievement that has occurred as a result of No Child Left Behind, which tied federal funding to test scores. Fortunately, recent studies examining the effect of classroom quality on student achievement suggest that academic content does not have to be at odds with children’s healthy growth and development.

During kindergarten, children will be expected to learn basic math concepts and how to read using a common core curriculum. They will also begin to learn the names of the letters in the alphabet and how to blend them together to form words, which is a foundation for writing.

Because of the increased emphasis on academic achievement, many schools have pushed back the age of entry for kindergarten. However, the modal cutoff date remains the child’s fifth birthday. Whether or not to start a child in kindergarten early is a decision that should be made based on the child’s developmental needs and the ability of the school to meet those needs.

Socialization

Children begin their socialization in kindergarten, where they learn to interact with other children and share experiences with them. They also have the opportunity to learn about different cultures and beliefs through these interactions.

Your child can learn to play creatively with others, develop new facets of their imagination, and figure out the best ways to express themselves through socialization. They can also learn to recognize and respect the feelings of those around them.

Kindergarten is an important step in your child’s educational journey, and while it may be hard for them to separate from their parents, it can help them to become better communicators and more confident in themselves. They can also work on learning the basics, such as letters and numbers.

Kindergartens vary widely across the globe, but they generally follow similar methods. In poorer countries such as India, China, and Africa, however, kindergartens face more difficulty in remaining open due to a lack of proper facilities.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is important for the physical development of a child. It helps children develop strong muscles and bones, which are needed for healthy growth and learning. It also improves the functioning of their heart, lungs and digestive system. Physical activity can help prevent obesity and other health problems.

Regular exercise can also help children manage their emotions. For example, children who participated in a cycling program for 30-40 minutes two times a week showed improved self-regulation and less need for disciplinary time-outs.

The study surveyed 4,600 kindergarten-age children in Chongqing. The sample was selected using a stratified random sampling method. Data were collected through questionnaires and a physiological test of the students’ healthy physical fitness. The analysis included multiple regression models. The results of the model indicate that the kindergarten environment has a significant impact on children’s healthy physical fitness. It is more influential than the family environment. However, the effect of physical activity on children’s healthy physical fitness is mediated by both the kindergarten environment and the family environment.

Creative Expression

Children need to express their creativity through art, dance, music and movement. Creative experiences foster the development of a child’s imagination, which is necessary for learning and understanding new concepts. Children also develop a sense of self-confidence and communication skills through creative expression.

Providing opportunities for children to create with different materials encourages the growth of their fine motor skills, helps them learn about science and math and allows them to explore ideas. For example, when children work with paints and crayons they become engaged in problem-solving.

Creativity can be used to help traumatized children access memories they have trouble verbalizing or visualizing. According to the nonprofit organization Art with a Heart, activities that involve touch and movement (creative expression) help connect areas of the brain that have been impacted by trauma. The resulting art projects serve as a healing tool for children and offer a way to document their progress.

Reading intervention is intensive or targeted instruction to accelerate the reading skills of students who are below grade level. It is typically part of Tier 2 or 3 of the RTI model.

Teachers decide who needs to participate in reading intervention based on a variety of assessment results, including standardized tests, district local assessments and classroom performance.

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear and work with the individual sounds in words. It is an essential precursor to reading and spelling. Students who don’t have well developed phonological awareness skills are at risk for poor reading development and even dyslexia.

Children who are able to recognize syllables and individual sounds are ready to move on to the next level of phonological awareness, which is blending, segmenting, and substitution. By the age of six, a child’s phonological awareness is a strong predictor of their future reading skills (Good, Simmons and Kame’enui, 2001; Torgesen, 1998).

A great way to assess a student’s phonological awareness is to have them say a word like “burrito” and hop for each syllable. This is a quick and easy small group activity that can be used in conjunction with other reading intervention strategies. For more phonological awareness activities check out my phonemic awareness intervention binder. It has tons of visuals that can be done in centers or with your students individually.

Vocabulary

Many students with language impairment (LI) have less extensive vocabulary knowledge than their typical peers. This can lead to difficulties when reading and may also exacerbate existing differences in comprehension skills. Explicit instruction in word meanings can help students to acquire and retain knowledge of words for use in a range of contexts.

To be effective, vocabulary instruction should target words that are unfamiliar to students, critical to understanding a text and likely to appear in multiple contexts. Incorporating these ‘Tier 2’ academic vocabulary words into interventions provides more contextual opportunities than teaching basic or domain-specific vocabulary words (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2004).

Research has shown that it is most effective to teach word meanings through associating them with related words. For example, using visuals to identify the common features of words like summit, crevasse and glacier can facilitate learning. It is also helpful to teach students to recognize word parts (prefixes and suffixes) in the context of a sentence, as well as to consider a variety of synonyms and antonyms of new vocabulary words.

Comprehension

Reading comprehension is the ability to understand and interpret written text. Children who comprehend can visualize a story, anticipate what will happen next, laugh at a joke, and make inferences from the text. To comprehend, children must use background knowledge and schema (information based on previous experiences) to construct meaning from the text.

Comprehension is different from word identification, which yields a fairly exact outcome (the student either read the word “automobile” or did not). Students who struggle with comprehension can identify words accurately but have difficulty suppressing irrelevant information while deriving answers to questions about the text.

Intensive reading intervention takes place in small groups and is designed to target and teach specific strategies that increase students’ comprehension abilities. These strategies are generally taught through a combination of instructional activities (e.g., a silent sustained reading activity followed by a comprehension worksheet, comprehension strategy instruction using a particular example of connected text, and interactive teacher read alouds during which the teacher models various comprehension strategies). A key component of any group reading intervention program is ongoing monitoring and progress reporting.

Fluency

Fluency is an important factor in reading comprehension. Students who lack reading fluency struggle to comprehend complex topics and may feel that reading is a difficult task, resulting in low motivation. This often leads to the student falling behind in academic environments and society.

Developing fluency is a dynamic process and requires consistent practice and immersion in the reading community. Explicit instructional strategies like echo and choral reading with a fluent adult model, phrase drill EC and using a story map for text analysis are effective ways to improve rates of familiar passages.

Many studies show that Repeated Reading (RR) is an effective intervention for improving oral reading fluency for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. RR is most effective when combined with reading aloud and comprehension instruction. Other interventions, such as paired-student RR and listening passage previews, also improved oral reading fluency rates; however, they were less effective than RR.

Children education is a critical part of the child development process. It helps kids learn how to think for themselves and become more independent. It also teaches them how to interact with others.

Early childhood development teaches kids to understand and accept differences in people’s beliefs, culture, and ethnicity. This knowledge will help them become well-rounded members of society.

Learning at a young age

Children begin learning as soon as they are born. Their early thinking is insightful and complex, laying the foundations for more sophisticated forms of learning. However, they can become discouraged from attempting challenging tasks when their self-regulatory abilities are undermined. For example, when young children receive messages that intelligence is fixed, they are less likely to persevere through difficult academic tasks (Heyman and Dweck, 1992).

In recent years, research has documented how babies and young children develop incipient theories about people, other living things, objects, and numbers. Although these implicit theories are not taught, they play a central role in their daily lives and in their education.

Understanding how these implicit theories can support learning in different subject areas is important for early care and education professionals. It is also important to understand how subject-matter knowledge is acquired, as the process of acquisition differs between subjects. This chapter focuses on learning in two core subject areas: language and literacy, and mathematics.

Learning how to think for themselves

Children learn how to think for themselves through experience and exploration. They need to have a flexible mind that can flex between different concepts and ideas, and they need to be able to plan and execute goal-directed learning activities. This requires a number of cognitive control processes, including short-term and working memory, attention control and shifting, and inhibitory control (Smiley and Dweck, 1992).

Early investigations reveal that children, starting in infancy, are not just passive observers registering the superficial appearance of things but are building explanatory systems. These implicit theories organize their observations and help them predict, explain, and reason about the world around them. This research can inform educational strategies that avoid oversimplifying children’s understanding of subject-matter content. It can also help educators recognize that a child’s lay theory may influence the way they interpret evidence.

Learning about different cultures

During early childhood, children are absorbing culture, customs and practices from their parents and community. This is a powerful way to develop a sense of identity, and it also teaches children how to interact with different cultures. They learn that everyone is different and that racial or ethnic divisions can lead to misunderstandings and even violence. Exposing children to different cultures helps them to be more aware of their own cultural biases, and it encourages them to consider where these biases originate.

It’s important to teach children how to respect and value differences from an early age. They should be able to understand that all people are different and that this difference should be celebrated. This will help them become global citizens, and it will help them to understand that the world is interconnected. They will learn to embrace diversity and will be able to create a better future.

Learning how to interact with others

While subject-matter content knowledge and skills are important for children’s classroom success, they require and support other kinds of learning competencies. Heckman (2007) describes these as “noncognitive skills.” Examples include attention control (the ability to stay focused on the task at hand), attention shifting (the process of changing a mental set, e.g., when working on a word problem), and cognitive flexibility (the ability to shift between different concepts).

In addition, many studies show that social interaction supports learning more generally than non-interactive learning does. For example, in one study, nine-month-old babies learned to discriminate Chinese Mandarin sounds when in interactive interactions with a native speaker versus exposure to recordings of the same speakers.

In addition, the development of self-regulatory skills supports learning by enabling children to remain engaged in challenging tasks and develop persistence, focused attention, and the ability to delay gratification. These capacities are important for academic learning, but they also enable children to manage their emotions and participate in classroom activities productively.