What did Plato have in mind when he wrote about Atlantis? Certainly, we can't ask him. He died nearly twenty-four centuries ago. Many scholars and skeptics would like to think he made up the story, despite the fact that he tells us more than once that the story was a true one.
According to Plato, Atlantis was a large island empire in the Atlantic Ocean, just outside of the Strait of Gibraltar. In one day and a night, the island disappeared beneath the sea. Could such a story be true? Many of the arguments against the validity of the tale are falling to new evidence in support of our Atlantis Quest.
There are 7 scientific disciplines involved in the Atlantis Quest:
Geology
Oceanography
Paleo-Climatology
Archaeology
Linguistics
Cultural Anthropology
Genetics
The Geology of Atlantis
We need to know if the forces of geology could have created and then destroyed a large island as Plato described. In the Northeast Atlantic, we find a tectonic plate boundary. And guess where most mountains are formed? In fact, the Azores and Madeira Islands may be the scant remains of a once mighty empire. There are telltale clues of plate boundary damage, if you know what to look for. We have found the clues that tell us how Atlantis could have been formed and the forces which could have destroyed it.
The World's Oceans
When you step out of a bathtub, what happens? For our concern, the most important thing is that the water level goes down. The same would happen if a large island were to collapse. From Plato's writings, we have a rough idea of the size of Atlantis. From this we can calculate a likely magnitude of sea level drop. And one scientific article gives us just such a drop.
Atlantis and Climate
Another effect from getting out of a bathtub is that of sloshing water. In the case of the overnight collapse of a Texas-size island, we would likely have had one nightmarish mega-tsunami. And, from science, we have one clue that may be indirect proof of such a wave. This is the abrupt change in worldwide climate that happened 9620 BCE -- a veritable match for Plato's date for Atlantis.
Atlantis and Archaeology
How can Atlantis have been real if we have no evidence that any civilization existed that far back? That is a reasonable question, but the implication is a logical fallacy. It is an argument to ignorance. A lack of evidence does not disprove the idea that civilization did exist that far back. The recent discovery of ruins at Gobekli Tepe, Turkey, which date to about 9,500 BCE, make that point abundantly clear. Who knows what discoveries will be made tomorrow?
Future efforts might need to go under water. In order to find the colonies of Atlantis, or even the capital city of the island empire itself, diving equipment will be required. Sea level was about sixty meters lower when Atlantis supposedly sank, so those colonies may be closer to the old, submerged coastline. And the capital city is likely under three kilometers of ocean water.
Atlantis and Language
Can language tell us anything to help our Atlantis Quest? It can offer certain clues that are seductively suggestive, but nothing of conclusive proof. Taken with other evidence, though, we see a pattern emerge that more strongly points to Atlantis. These clues link some of the Native North American tribes with the Basques, the Suomi (Finland), Etruscans, the Amazigh (Berbers), Sumerians, Dravidians, Georgians and Mon-Khmer. And one of the most interesting clues involves a swap between mothers and fathers.
The Children of Atlantis
Before history began, the activities of humanity were shrouded in myth. Some of those myths have been found to be based on real, factual events and people:
Troy and the Trojan War
Mycenaean Greece
Minoan Crete
Amazon warriors
The real island of Ithaca, home of Ulysses
Will the same thing happen with Atlantis? There are clues from myth that suggest Atlantis may have been matriarchal. And some of the very cultures that may have been children of Atlantis bear this out.
Atlantis and Genetics
We have clues from biology that link the Basques with some Native American tribes. The genetic link, though, shows a separation of at least twelve thousand years, and this is just right for our Atlantis Quest. The minimum date of genetic separation is that of Plato's date for the destruction of that long, lost island empire.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Dissertation Methodology Chapter!
The Dissertation Methodology chapter is used to justify the choice of methods employed during the research project. It refers to the choice and use of particular strategies and tools for data gathering and analysis and giving you an answer of how to write a dissertation methodology. A section on methodology is a key element in a dissertation project. You need to demonstrate that you understand that there are various options for conducting research. For this reason you will need to refer back to the notes you took in any research methods classes that you have attended, as well as text books and/or articles on research methods for masters dissertation.
Methodology refers to the choice and use of particular strategies and tools for data gathering and analysis. Some methodologies embrace both data gathering and analysis, such as content analysis, ethnography and semiotic analysis. Others apply either to gathering or analyzing data (though the distinction is often not clear-cut):
data-gathering methodologies include interviews, questionnaires and observation;
data analysis methodologies include content analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic analysis and statistical analysis.
There are many varieties of each methodology and the specific methodological tools you are adopting must be made open in your master dissertations. Interviews, for instance, are often categorized as 'structured', 'semi-structured' or 'open-ended'. You should mention which other related studies cited in your literature review have employed the same methodology.
The section on methodology should include a justification for the choice of methodology for data gathering and for data analysis for your master dissertation. In the justification you should consider what alternative methodological tools might have been employed (particularly those which related studies have employed), together with their advantages and limitations for the present purpose. For instance;… Why did you choose to undertake interviews? Why open-ended interviews? Why did you opt for audio-recording (for instance)? Refer to a relevant study which approached interviews in a similar way. Cite a reputable study which selected participants on a similar basis. On what basis did you choose your participants (that they were friends of yours with time on their hands is not an adequate justification!). If there are any obvious segments of the population which are not represented within your sample why is this? Where class, age, gender and/or ethnicity is likely to be involved in the phenomenon you are studying then make sure that your sample is demographically appropriate. What limitations of your sample should your readers be alerted to?
Your choice of methodologies should be related to the theoretical framework outlined earlier.
Methodology refers to the choice and use of particular strategies and tools for data gathering and analysis. Some methodologies embrace both data gathering and analysis, such as content analysis, ethnography and semiotic analysis. Others apply either to gathering or analyzing data (though the distinction is often not clear-cut):
data-gathering methodologies include interviews, questionnaires and observation;
data analysis methodologies include content analysis, discourse analysis, semiotic analysis and statistical analysis.
There are many varieties of each methodology and the specific methodological tools you are adopting must be made open in your master dissertations. Interviews, for instance, are often categorized as 'structured', 'semi-structured' or 'open-ended'. You should mention which other related studies cited in your literature review have employed the same methodology.
The section on methodology should include a justification for the choice of methodology for data gathering and for data analysis for your master dissertation. In the justification you should consider what alternative methodological tools might have been employed (particularly those which related studies have employed), together with their advantages and limitations for the present purpose. For instance;… Why did you choose to undertake interviews? Why open-ended interviews? Why did you opt for audio-recording (for instance)? Refer to a relevant study which approached interviews in a similar way. Cite a reputable study which selected participants on a similar basis. On what basis did you choose your participants (that they were friends of yours with time on their hands is not an adequate justification!). If there are any obvious segments of the population which are not represented within your sample why is this? Where class, age, gender and/or ethnicity is likely to be involved in the phenomenon you are studying then make sure that your sample is demographically appropriate. What limitations of your sample should your readers be alerted to?
Your choice of methodologies should be related to the theoretical framework outlined earlier.
Who Invented Fireworks?
Fireworks have existed for several thousand years. Many historians believe that the Chinese are credited with the invented of fireworks over 2000 to 2500 years back. The early fireworks were discovered by accident by these ancient people when bamboo sticks exploded in their camp fires.
These people were so much frightened by the sounds of explosion that they thought the gods were angry with them. However it was soon discovered that that the green bamboo always exploded. The priests of that time had quickly guessed that if people were afraid of the noise then the evil spirits would also be who came out from their hiding places at night.
Chinese alchemists were stumbled on chemicals that could be burnt quickly releasing great amount of light and smoke, they would sometimes explode with tremendous force. This led to the invention of fireworks as they are known today. In addition, gunpowder was also invented which the Chinese artillery used to damage the enemy forces and their defensive walls.
Invention of fireworks similar to what is known today really happened after Marco Polo returned to Europe from Kublai Khan's court. The Europe, the military scientists were mainly interested in fireworks and wanted to develop cannons. Chinese fireworks having fins that fired into the air were considered not useful but playful, although they were the forerunners of the rockets of today.
Italians in the renaissance period for the first time had properly developed the fireworks of different colors when they exploded in the air. These were colors of compounds. However the Italians successfully invented fireworks of gold and silver.
The very first written record of fireworks for solely recreation use still in demand today by firework makers was credited to French named Amedee-Francois Frezier in 1706. The early Chinese historians and poets wrote regarding the use of fireworks in social events and Chinese festivals.
Recent displays of fireworks for public and different fireworks such as Willows, Peonies, Spiders, Rings, Cakes, Roman and Candles can be claimed to be an invention of any particular person since most of the firework makers compete with each other for the biggest and brightest explosions and they all borrow ideas of each other.
These people were so much frightened by the sounds of explosion that they thought the gods were angry with them. However it was soon discovered that that the green bamboo always exploded. The priests of that time had quickly guessed that if people were afraid of the noise then the evil spirits would also be who came out from their hiding places at night.
Chinese alchemists were stumbled on chemicals that could be burnt quickly releasing great amount of light and smoke, they would sometimes explode with tremendous force. This led to the invention of fireworks as they are known today. In addition, gunpowder was also invented which the Chinese artillery used to damage the enemy forces and their defensive walls.
Invention of fireworks similar to what is known today really happened after Marco Polo returned to Europe from Kublai Khan's court. The Europe, the military scientists were mainly interested in fireworks and wanted to develop cannons. Chinese fireworks having fins that fired into the air were considered not useful but playful, although they were the forerunners of the rockets of today.
Italians in the renaissance period for the first time had properly developed the fireworks of different colors when they exploded in the air. These were colors of compounds. However the Italians successfully invented fireworks of gold and silver.
The very first written record of fireworks for solely recreation use still in demand today by firework makers was credited to French named Amedee-Francois Frezier in 1706. The early Chinese historians and poets wrote regarding the use of fireworks in social events and Chinese festivals.
Recent displays of fireworks for public and different fireworks such as Willows, Peonies, Spiders, Rings, Cakes, Roman and Candles can be claimed to be an invention of any particular person since most of the firework makers compete with each other for the biggest and brightest explosions and they all borrow ideas of each other.
Intensive Tuition Packages
EHL offers three types of courses viz Intensive English Package, Intensive English Course with fun or sports activities and Professional Business English. Also, offer visits (optional) to famous Cultural, Historical & Art centres to choose from the list.
Key Course Objectives
By the end of your chosen course the student will be able to use English more effectively in specific situations, day to day conversations and talk about extra leisure or sporting interests with growing confidence.
The Benefits
With English Home stays you not only develop your English language skills living in the home of your teacher, you experience the breathtaking beauty of the England.
* Pick up & drop off at the airport or railway station (extra charges will apply-see price list).
* Accommodation at home with TV & Internet (optional)
* Full board - Breakfast, lunch and dinner with your teacher
* Intensive English language course tailored to your personal requirements and objectives
* A full and comprehensive assessment at the commencement of your course
* All materials and learning resources provided for the length of the course
* Report and certificate presented at the end of the course
* At the end of course tutorial specifically addressing future learning strategies to enable you to continue to progress.
Intensive English Course plus Activities
Combining English Home Language Intensive English lessons with learning activities will allow you the opportunity to practise English in the real world. English Home Language organise various activities covering, Hobbies, Culture, Lifestyle, Sport and Art. The chosen activities shall be organised on arrival and a schedule of intensive classroom learning and activities will be designed to suit your goals. This is the best way to extend your learning English while having fun through extra sports or sight seeing activities.
Key Course Objectives
By the end of your chosen course the student will be able to use English more effectively in specific situations, day to day conversations and talk about extra leisure or sporting interests with growing confidence.
The Benefits
With English Home stays you not only develop your English language skills living in the home of your teacher, you experience the breathtaking beauty of the England.
* Pick up & drop off at the airport or railway station (extra charges will apply-see price list).
* Accommodation at home with TV & Internet (optional)
* Full board - Breakfast, lunch and dinner with your teacher
* Intensive English language course tailored to your personal requirements and objectives
* A full and comprehensive assessment at the commencement of your course
* All materials and learning resources provided for the length of the course
* Report and certificate presented at the end of the course
* At the end of course tutorial specifically addressing future learning strategies to enable you to continue to progress.
Intensive English Course plus Activities
Combining English Home Language Intensive English lessons with learning activities will allow you the opportunity to practise English in the real world. English Home Language organise various activities covering, Hobbies, Culture, Lifestyle, Sport and Art. The chosen activities shall be organised on arrival and a schedule of intensive classroom learning and activities will be designed to suit your goals. This is the best way to extend your learning English while having fun through extra sports or sight seeing activities.
How to Teach Geography
Whether you are a school teacher or a parent, you will find it far easier to teach kids geography if you make it fun. Here are 5 ways to achieve that:
1. Play Board and Card Games
There are many great board and card games available which relate to Geography. Card games like the Borderline series are ideal to teach students the relative locations of places. Mindware has brought out two Brainbox games on geography - one on world geography and one on US geography. Both get the players to study pictorial clues about a country or state and then to answer questions based on what they can remember. This game can be played with many children at the same time and my geography class loved it!
2. Play CD Rom and Online Games
Children love computer games - so this an ideal way to slip in some teaching without them even realizing it. The Carmen Sandiego "Where in the World" and "Where in the USA" games were great favorites with my own kids when they were younger. They learned about places all over the world without even noticing they were learning.
And of course you can find a plethora of online games to challenge players of all different levels of geography knowledge. My family loves the ones on the Sporcle website, but if those are too hard, there are plenty of others to choose from.
3. Watch Movies
There is an excellent DVD series made especially for children called "Families of the World". In each DVD two families in a country are visited - one in the city and one in the country. The narration is done from the point of view of one of the children in the family, so children can easily relate to what they are watching.
You can also show children feature movies set in other countries. My young daughter and I watched Children of Heaven about a young boy and girl in Iran who have to share a pair of shoes - and it gave her an excellent insight into another culture.
4. Devise your own Geography Games
I have made up many games to fit what I am trying to teach. Draw a large world map on a piece of paper, stick it on a wall and play 'Pin the Plane on the Continent'. Or make up Geography Taboo, Geography Pictionary, Geography Jeopardy or Geography Charades. You can tailor-make your questions to fit the lesson you are teaching.
5. Communicate with children in other countries
Far off places will become more real to kids if they get to know someone living there. Find pen pals and they can communicate by letter, email, Skype or even Facebook if they are older. Another option is to sign up for the Postcrossings program which organizes a postcard swap between people all over the world. Once you receive a postcard, you could put a tack in a wall map to show where it has come from.
1. Play Board and Card Games
There are many great board and card games available which relate to Geography. Card games like the Borderline series are ideal to teach students the relative locations of places. Mindware has brought out two Brainbox games on geography - one on world geography and one on US geography. Both get the players to study pictorial clues about a country or state and then to answer questions based on what they can remember. This game can be played with many children at the same time and my geography class loved it!
2. Play CD Rom and Online Games
Children love computer games - so this an ideal way to slip in some teaching without them even realizing it. The Carmen Sandiego "Where in the World" and "Where in the USA" games were great favorites with my own kids when they were younger. They learned about places all over the world without even noticing they were learning.
And of course you can find a plethora of online games to challenge players of all different levels of geography knowledge. My family loves the ones on the Sporcle website, but if those are too hard, there are plenty of others to choose from.
3. Watch Movies
There is an excellent DVD series made especially for children called "Families of the World". In each DVD two families in a country are visited - one in the city and one in the country. The narration is done from the point of view of one of the children in the family, so children can easily relate to what they are watching.
You can also show children feature movies set in other countries. My young daughter and I watched Children of Heaven about a young boy and girl in Iran who have to share a pair of shoes - and it gave her an excellent insight into another culture.
4. Devise your own Geography Games
I have made up many games to fit what I am trying to teach. Draw a large world map on a piece of paper, stick it on a wall and play 'Pin the Plane on the Continent'. Or make up Geography Taboo, Geography Pictionary, Geography Jeopardy or Geography Charades. You can tailor-make your questions to fit the lesson you are teaching.
5. Communicate with children in other countries
Far off places will become more real to kids if they get to know someone living there. Find pen pals and they can communicate by letter, email, Skype or even Facebook if they are older. Another option is to sign up for the Postcrossings program which organizes a postcard swap between people all over the world. Once you receive a postcard, you could put a tack in a wall map to show where it has come from.
Dealing With Cheating
Catching a student cheating is traumatic for a teacher. They feel betrayed and the trust between teacher and student is damaged.
When the cheating is not limited to one student, but instead is spread across an entire class because of a cheating conspiracy, the feelings of betrayal and upset are far worse. Some teachers even find that the majority of their students were involved in the cheating scandal.
If you are a teacher and you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, here are tips how to proceed:
Where there is one, there are probably more. If you found a student cheating, don't figure that there's only one bad egg. Often when there is one cheater on a test or assignment there are others.
Check for students who don't pay attention in class or do their homework regularly but who scored very well on the exam. If the exam requires that the student show his or her work, check the work to see if you can in fact follow how they came to their answer.
Do not become emotional. You are certain to feel hurt and betrayed when you find students of yours cheating. It will be distressing, and disappointing. Of course you don't want to express these feelings directly during class, but you need to guard against letting them fester into lingering resentment.
You also don't want to overreact and become enraged or personal or visibly upset when you catch a cheater. Keep it official-like and formal.
While cheating has an element of betrayal to it, it isn't a personal act. It is an infraction, and they will be punished. Don't be swayed by appeals for mercy. You have to hold fast, and make sure that the consequences discourage students from considering cheating in your class in the future.
If you follow the tips above, this will be the most sure way for you to deal with cheaters in a professional manner.
When the cheating is not limited to one student, but instead is spread across an entire class because of a cheating conspiracy, the feelings of betrayal and upset are far worse. Some teachers even find that the majority of their students were involved in the cheating scandal.
If you are a teacher and you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, here are tips how to proceed:
Where there is one, there are probably more. If you found a student cheating, don't figure that there's only one bad egg. Often when there is one cheater on a test or assignment there are others.
Check for students who don't pay attention in class or do their homework regularly but who scored very well on the exam. If the exam requires that the student show his or her work, check the work to see if you can in fact follow how they came to their answer.
Do not become emotional. You are certain to feel hurt and betrayed when you find students of yours cheating. It will be distressing, and disappointing. Of course you don't want to express these feelings directly during class, but you need to guard against letting them fester into lingering resentment.
You also don't want to overreact and become enraged or personal or visibly upset when you catch a cheater. Keep it official-like and formal.
While cheating has an element of betrayal to it, it isn't a personal act. It is an infraction, and they will be punished. Don't be swayed by appeals for mercy. You have to hold fast, and make sure that the consequences discourage students from considering cheating in your class in the future.
If you follow the tips above, this will be the most sure way for you to deal with cheaters in a professional manner.
High IQ Children
By age 5, most children in America will have been given some kind of intelligence test, whether it is for private school admissions, gifted and talented qualification, or public school placement in slow, average, and accelerated learning groups. These tests cover the 7-abilities educators believe children must have in order to thrive in the classroom. While teachers understand why these abilities are so important for testing and school success, parents are surprisingly in the dark about them. Here is a quick tutorial on the 7-abilities and tips on how you can build them at home.
1. Language - Receptive language is your child's capacity to tune into and understand the language she hears (and later reads) all day. Expressive language is her ability to use words orally (and later in writing) to express ideas and feelings in a clear, organized manner.
Why it matters in school? Language pervades any class a student takes in school. She must be able to listen, pay attention, and comprehend lessons being taught. She needs to answer the teacher's questions and follow her instructions.
Tips to build language at home. Read picture books to your child as often as you can, asking her questions or expanding upon things that capture her interest. It's also important to converse with her about everything and everything all the time. Children raised in high-language households have IQ scores that are 38-points higher than kids brought up in low language homes.
2. Knowledge/comprehension is your child's understanding of information, social standards of behavior, and common sense that children his age usually understand. To flourish in kindergarten, a child should know colors, shapes, seasons, fruit, farm animals - all the basic kinds of information kids are exposed to through picture books, preschool, and life itself. He should understand manners and how to get along in the world as a 5-year-old. It takes time and a parent's involvement to acquire this.
Why it matters in school? Your child's kindergarten teacher will assume he has acquired this basic information by the time he starts school. In order to get along socially with his classmates, he will need to behave with the same level of maturity as other kids his age.
Tips to build knowledge/comprehension at home. Nothing beats real experiences like going to the beach, baking cookies, visiting the doctor or taking trips to the grocery store for acquiring basic knowledge. Concepts books such as Richard Scaary's "Best First Book Ever" cover all the essential information kids are expected to know by kindergarten.
3. Memory is your child's ability to retrieve information learned recently or in the past.
Why it matters in school? More memory is needed for school success than is required for any other career. In school, kids must remember spelling, vocabulary, rules of grammar, multiplication tables, history, and procedures for solving math problems. They must remember relevant facts and lessons learned in the past for new assignments and tests.
Tips to build memory at home. To remember things better, kids must be able to take something long they hear or read and shrink it to a manageable size. After you read a book to your child, ask her to tell you the story back in her own words. Make patterns using Fruit Loops or colored beads, cover them up, and see if your child can recreate them.
4. Mathematics is your child's ability to work with simple computational skills and to do the thinking needed for higher order math work (patterning, sequencing, ordering, classifying, and comparing).
Why it matters in school? From the time your child starts school, math operations will be one of his most important subjects. Higher order math work is the foundation for the critical thinking and problem solving challenges your child will face as he advances in school.
Tips to build mathematic skills at home. Always build math into conversations you have with your child. "Dinner will be ready in 5-minutes." "Do you want a whole cookie or half a cookie?" Make a habit of counting everything - from your child's toes to the number of days until your vacation. Let your child help you sort dark and light clothes when you do laundry. Post a chart of your child's schedule so he can see the sequences of his own life. Put his stuffed animals in order of size from smallest to largest. Compare cheese pizza to pepperoni pizza or Sponge Bob to Arthur.
5. Visual-Spatial Skills is your child's ability to reason and solve problems using pictures, images, diagrams, shapes - anything but words.
Why it matters in school? When your child starts school, she'll need to draw and recognize shapes in order to write and recognize letters and numbers. She needs to be able to work within page margins, start writing from left to right, and space letters appropriately. When she learns long division, she'll have to be able to line up numbers to solve the problem.
Tips to build visual-spatial skills at home. Working with puzzles and blocks is a great way to strengthen visual-spatial skills. Look for visual challenges in "Highlights Magazine," which always features hidden pictures inside other pictures, or read a "Where's Waldo" book and let your child find Waldo.
6. Cognitive Skills are all the brain functions that make it possible for kids to think, reason, and solve problems.
Why it matters in school? As your child advances in school, he'll need to compare and contrast objects and ideas, make predictions based on patterns he has seen before, and think conceptually when writing reports. He'll constantly be faced with new problems to solve and experiments to complete.
Tips to build mathematic skills at home. You can help your child become a thinker and problem solver at home. When the ball rolls behind the sofa, ask him to come up with ways to retrieve it. When he can't get dressed in time for school, ask him to think of ideas for getting ready faster. Pose thought-provoking questions like, "What do you think would happen if a child were President?" Give him a voice in making choices so he'll become comfortable with decision making. Finally, one of the best ways to build cognitive skills is to let your child play.
7. Fine-Motor Skills are your child's ability to control his hands and fingers. He needs these for activities like cutting and folding papers, tying shoelaces, typing on the computer, writing and coloring.
Why it matters in school? Studies have shown that 60-70% of children's schoolwork requires fine-motor skills.
Tips to build fine-motor skills at home. Working with Play-doh, drawing with crayons, and cutting shapes are wonderful ways to build fine-motor skills. Line up an assortment of coins, all heads-up. See how many your child can turn over in 30-seconds. With more than one child, make it a race.
1. Language - Receptive language is your child's capacity to tune into and understand the language she hears (and later reads) all day. Expressive language is her ability to use words orally (and later in writing) to express ideas and feelings in a clear, organized manner.
Why it matters in school? Language pervades any class a student takes in school. She must be able to listen, pay attention, and comprehend lessons being taught. She needs to answer the teacher's questions and follow her instructions.
Tips to build language at home. Read picture books to your child as often as you can, asking her questions or expanding upon things that capture her interest. It's also important to converse with her about everything and everything all the time. Children raised in high-language households have IQ scores that are 38-points higher than kids brought up in low language homes.
2. Knowledge/comprehension is your child's understanding of information, social standards of behavior, and common sense that children his age usually understand. To flourish in kindergarten, a child should know colors, shapes, seasons, fruit, farm animals - all the basic kinds of information kids are exposed to through picture books, preschool, and life itself. He should understand manners and how to get along in the world as a 5-year-old. It takes time and a parent's involvement to acquire this.
Why it matters in school? Your child's kindergarten teacher will assume he has acquired this basic information by the time he starts school. In order to get along socially with his classmates, he will need to behave with the same level of maturity as other kids his age.
Tips to build knowledge/comprehension at home. Nothing beats real experiences like going to the beach, baking cookies, visiting the doctor or taking trips to the grocery store for acquiring basic knowledge. Concepts books such as Richard Scaary's "Best First Book Ever" cover all the essential information kids are expected to know by kindergarten.
3. Memory is your child's ability to retrieve information learned recently or in the past.
Why it matters in school? More memory is needed for school success than is required for any other career. In school, kids must remember spelling, vocabulary, rules of grammar, multiplication tables, history, and procedures for solving math problems. They must remember relevant facts and lessons learned in the past for new assignments and tests.
Tips to build memory at home. To remember things better, kids must be able to take something long they hear or read and shrink it to a manageable size. After you read a book to your child, ask her to tell you the story back in her own words. Make patterns using Fruit Loops or colored beads, cover them up, and see if your child can recreate them.
4. Mathematics is your child's ability to work with simple computational skills and to do the thinking needed for higher order math work (patterning, sequencing, ordering, classifying, and comparing).
Why it matters in school? From the time your child starts school, math operations will be one of his most important subjects. Higher order math work is the foundation for the critical thinking and problem solving challenges your child will face as he advances in school.
Tips to build mathematic skills at home. Always build math into conversations you have with your child. "Dinner will be ready in 5-minutes." "Do you want a whole cookie or half a cookie?" Make a habit of counting everything - from your child's toes to the number of days until your vacation. Let your child help you sort dark and light clothes when you do laundry. Post a chart of your child's schedule so he can see the sequences of his own life. Put his stuffed animals in order of size from smallest to largest. Compare cheese pizza to pepperoni pizza or Sponge Bob to Arthur.
5. Visual-Spatial Skills is your child's ability to reason and solve problems using pictures, images, diagrams, shapes - anything but words.
Why it matters in school? When your child starts school, she'll need to draw and recognize shapes in order to write and recognize letters and numbers. She needs to be able to work within page margins, start writing from left to right, and space letters appropriately. When she learns long division, she'll have to be able to line up numbers to solve the problem.
Tips to build visual-spatial skills at home. Working with puzzles and blocks is a great way to strengthen visual-spatial skills. Look for visual challenges in "Highlights Magazine," which always features hidden pictures inside other pictures, or read a "Where's Waldo" book and let your child find Waldo.
6. Cognitive Skills are all the brain functions that make it possible for kids to think, reason, and solve problems.
Why it matters in school? As your child advances in school, he'll need to compare and contrast objects and ideas, make predictions based on patterns he has seen before, and think conceptually when writing reports. He'll constantly be faced with new problems to solve and experiments to complete.
Tips to build mathematic skills at home. You can help your child become a thinker and problem solver at home. When the ball rolls behind the sofa, ask him to come up with ways to retrieve it. When he can't get dressed in time for school, ask him to think of ideas for getting ready faster. Pose thought-provoking questions like, "What do you think would happen if a child were President?" Give him a voice in making choices so he'll become comfortable with decision making. Finally, one of the best ways to build cognitive skills is to let your child play.
7. Fine-Motor Skills are your child's ability to control his hands and fingers. He needs these for activities like cutting and folding papers, tying shoelaces, typing on the computer, writing and coloring.
Why it matters in school? Studies have shown that 60-70% of children's schoolwork requires fine-motor skills.
Tips to build fine-motor skills at home. Working with Play-doh, drawing with crayons, and cutting shapes are wonderful ways to build fine-motor skills. Line up an assortment of coins, all heads-up. See how many your child can turn over in 30-seconds. With more than one child, make it a race.
University Course Finder
Continuing education is practiced in most countries and areas of study. It helps to professionally kept informed about developments, new trends and techniques, research and discoveries. For various reasons, people may decide to take a break in their education. This leads to a person lose confidence and even forgetting about the content of study material. For these people, continuing education helps to form the foundation of education can be continued and used in their professions.
Continuing education courses are available for various disciplines. Continuing education courses may be held in colleges, online or in a mixture of these two methods. Studying online is very attractive and offers opportunities to communicate with a member of faculty and students. Continuing education courses are available online, does not necessarily mean studying at home. There are conferences and seminars that provide a platform for people to interact. You can find a course of your choice easily from university course finder.
Continuing education courses may also be undertaken on a regular college. The courses can not be directly from the college and the division or school of continuing education. These schools are sometimes recognized as a university extension or addition to school. There are also many community colleges that offer these courses. They are designed for adults and experienced research team. These courses are generally a continuation of what has been learned. The courses do not contain introductions to any subject, as it is assumed that the student has reason to the level of knowledge about the subject. This course, depending on the subject and flexible to suit working professionals. For example, if you decide to attend part of the course, and then examine the period will be longer. At a time when the chosen regular course or training program will be completed sooner.
Continuing education provides an opportunity for many people to realize their dreams and fulfill their aspirations. In addition, it helps professionals to remain updated in their field of specialization, and not outdated in their knowledge.
Continuing education courses are available for various disciplines. Continuing education courses may be held in colleges, online or in a mixture of these two methods. Studying online is very attractive and offers opportunities to communicate with a member of faculty and students. Continuing education courses are available online, does not necessarily mean studying at home. There are conferences and seminars that provide a platform for people to interact. You can find a course of your choice easily from university course finder.
Continuing education courses may also be undertaken on a regular college. The courses can not be directly from the college and the division or school of continuing education. These schools are sometimes recognized as a university extension or addition to school. There are also many community colleges that offer these courses. They are designed for adults and experienced research team. These courses are generally a continuation of what has been learned. The courses do not contain introductions to any subject, as it is assumed that the student has reason to the level of knowledge about the subject. This course, depending on the subject and flexible to suit working professionals. For example, if you decide to attend part of the course, and then examine the period will be longer. At a time when the chosen regular course or training program will be completed sooner.
Continuing education provides an opportunity for many people to realize their dreams and fulfill their aspirations. In addition, it helps professionals to remain updated in their field of specialization, and not outdated in their knowledge.
Google is My Friend
Rather than telling you specifically where to go or what specifically to do, I usually say to use Google to find things or look up information. I do this because that is what I do. Whenever I have a question of any kind that some person may know, I do a search. You can use Google, Ask, Bing, Yahoo, or any number of other search engines, type in your question, and up comes a list of possible answers. Some will be better than others but you look through them and hopefully get the answer you need. Learning to search and research to find the answers you need will be important as you grow and build your business.
Need a tax question answered? Search the question. Need to incorporate? Find somebody who will help you. Want to understand business concepts? Search the concept. Search is not perfect but it can be a great start.
You do need to understand that some information is better than others. Sometimes turning to a professional for help will be in order. But a search may give you basic information to know whether you need more help or not.
When you are building and promoting a web site, search can help you determine what is possible and how you can accomplish it. Do you want a feed on your blog site? There is a way to do it and information abounds for how to. Make sure to look at multiple sources though because some people will want to charge you for what you can get for free elsewhere.
I could do all the research for you and list specifically where to go and what to do, but most of that information does exist on the internet and there will be questions I don't answer for you. So do what I do and Google it.
Need a tax question answered? Search the question. Need to incorporate? Find somebody who will help you. Want to understand business concepts? Search the concept. Search is not perfect but it can be a great start.
You do need to understand that some information is better than others. Sometimes turning to a professional for help will be in order. But a search may give you basic information to know whether you need more help or not.
When you are building and promoting a web site, search can help you determine what is possible and how you can accomplish it. Do you want a feed on your blog site? There is a way to do it and information abounds for how to. Make sure to look at multiple sources though because some people will want to charge you for what you can get for free elsewhere.
I could do all the research for you and list specifically where to go and what to do, but most of that information does exist on the internet and there will be questions I don't answer for you. So do what I do and Google it.
Brilliant breaks at school
Especially at Junior School, being at school is not just about what you learn academically. A child’s playtime and lunchtime experiences are an important part of their social development and it is here that they begin to develop skills that will see them through a lifetime of interacting with others. It is too easy to dismiss these important times in the child’s day as being merely a time to eat and a time to play; they are actually vital.
For some children social interaction with their peers is second nature. There will always be children that are more gifted in this area than others. For some children, on the other hand, these are the times of the school day that can be the most fraught. Knowing how to act and how to respond to others does not come easy for them.
Here at Brainwaves we have a whole selection of stickers specifically designed for use at lunchtimes and playtimes. Using stickers as a means of reward is one method of encouraging and praising youngsters. Having a tangible reward for eating well or playing nicely is an affirmation of the positive behaviour and thus makes it more likely that the child will repeat whatever it is they have been rewarded for in the future.
Having a school sticker is also something that can go home with them and encourages the child and the parents to talk about ‘today’s school day’ in an informed manner. Being praised at home for good behaviour at school can be a solid foundation for good behaviour tomorrow.
For some children social interaction with their peers is second nature. There will always be children that are more gifted in this area than others. For some children, on the other hand, these are the times of the school day that can be the most fraught. Knowing how to act and how to respond to others does not come easy for them.
Here at Brainwaves we have a whole selection of stickers specifically designed for use at lunchtimes and playtimes. Using stickers as a means of reward is one method of encouraging and praising youngsters. Having a tangible reward for eating well or playing nicely is an affirmation of the positive behaviour and thus makes it more likely that the child will repeat whatever it is they have been rewarded for in the future.
Having a school sticker is also something that can go home with them and encourages the child and the parents to talk about ‘today’s school day’ in an informed manner. Being praised at home for good behaviour at school can be a solid foundation for good behaviour tomorrow.
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