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A new study found that speech difficulties are linked with difficulties in learning to read when children first start school, but these effects are no longer apparent at 8 years of age. Researchers confirmed that early language impairment that co-occurs with speech difficulties predicts poor literacy skills at both 5½ and 8 years of age. Having a family history of dyslexia had a small but significant effect on literacy at both ages, above and beyond the effects of speech and language...

"A new report, published today by King's College London, shows the findings of four projects that for the first time in the UK placed Nursery, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children in their local museum for extended residencies. The groups undertook many of their daily lessons and activities at their local museums for a period of between two weeks and up to a full term."

Displays can take up vast areas of wall space and many hours of adults' time, therefore teachers and leaders must be sure of the impact that they are having on learning so that what is on display is justified and not simply a waste of time and space.  Put simply, before a display goes up, we must ask: What will this display do to improve outcomes for children?  For this to be answered with any sort of reliability, the question must be framed within a sound knowledge of how children learn and what learning is - a change in long-term memory...

She spoke about love, beauty, and respect for children (of all ages) and their learning process. She showed some photos and videos of children learning together and how teachers have the opportunity to make small decisions in this process. To watch or intervene; to ask a question or remain quiet; to suggest an expansion of the complexity of the children's investigation or to help them simplify their ideas.

This is a good downloadable programme which provides a good environment to teach children how to code. It feels very similar to MS Logo, but much more suited to children. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

History teachers will like these resources for showing what it was like for children to live in the second world war. There are 12 lesson plans and quite a few resources that go with it.

Since I've been exploring the @TESConnect site as part of the work I'm doing highlighting the best resources of TES that apply to US teachers, I've been drawn to some of the World War 2 footage from the site. This video is Children in World War 2 and I think it is especially helpful to pull video footage from other countries when talking about wars, etc. to gain multiple perspectives. What about drilling down to look at other wars as well?

An amazing digital storytelling project. Watch videos of children telling original stories. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/English

Remember one thing as you look at these scores - not all students are tested in many countries and in many countries only the brightest go to school. In my opinion, these tests have some serious flaws. For example, I don't play cricket - my scores would be low -- I don't know that I'm so upset about that. While math, science, and reading are important -- standards vary greatly between countries -- so unless we're going to prep for PISA scores. Also on another note -- comparing "Shanghai to nations makes me wonder - I'm sure there are certain cities in the US that would do very well on such a test. Anyway, I want to look deeper, but I think before we rattle cages and get too upset, the report should be looked at deeply but not only the report - but the test. I remember getting upset that my kindergartener scored in the 60th percentile on "environment" only to see that he missed that a judge was supposed to be a guy in a grey wig (who does that) and couldn't identify a subway turnstile (we live in a town of 5,000). Since that time, I always want to see the test. Lots of people will be talking about this so look at it and be prepared to answer questions. This is the post from Aljazeera so you can see what other countries are saying about the report. "Asian countries have topped the rnakings in a global education report which evaluates the knowledge and skills of 15 and 16-year-olds around the world. The report by Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), published on Tuesday, shows that children from Asian nations continue to outshine their western counterparts in maths, science and reading. The city of Shanghai topped the table in the three-yearly reported which tested more than 510,000 students in 65 countries. Children in Shanghai were, on average, the equivalent of nearly three years of schooling ahead of the majority of nations tested."

Op Ed Piece in LA times on change.

Op Ed Piece in LA times is representative of the call for innovation in schools. As with all change - you can be part of it or it can be imparted to you. Which would you rather have? The imperative to innovate is here -- and those who don't act will ultimately be the ones who lose. Unfortunately, kids aren't getting any younger -- older people will just hurt their career in a life that is already one of educational excellence -- children will never reach their potential. It is important - we cannot waste time where children are at stake. We don't waste time when it comes to our own and the travesty is that many don't see anything wrong with wasting the time of another parent's child.

Phun is a free game like 2D physics sandbox where you can play with physics like never before.

Phun is a free game like 2D physics sandbox where you can play with physics like never before. The playful synergy of science and art is novel, and makes Phun as educational as it is entertaining. Great for kids Phun is a fantastic toy for children, where they can learn and appreciate physics, science and simulations in an open ended gameplay with rich creative and artistic freedom, including colorful freehand drawing. and everyone else... But watch out, Phun is also totally addictive to the rest of us! Experienced users create fabulous machines and elaborate mechanism using Phun, as well as games, comics and contemporary art. See more of Phun in the media section, or go download it! ...and for free! We want to keep Phun freely available for non-commercial use, since we think and hope that Phun can make a difference in promoting science and art to the masses, in particular children and young people, through a constructionists learning paradigm. Contact us for sponsorship agreements, or for commercial licenses of Phun. We are also open to R&D collaboration, including pedagogic use of Phun.

It has taken ten years of advocacy by colleagues throughout Massachusetts to achieve this reform package. I am proud of the role MASCD has played in shaping the agenda. Working together with hundreds of educators, business leaders, parents and politicians, we have come to a new day for children. The power to transform is with us; let us use it wisely. "It's about all the kids!"

This is just a flier introducing report requested by UK PM and authored by child psychologist. The report itself is quite long -- I dare say I will blog again when I have read it.

Just blogged this: a new UK perspective on child safety online more objective than most -- a sudden outbreak of common sense even -- let us hope it prevails

The Kindersite has 1,000s of links to the best games, songs and stories for young children.

David Pogue write in The New York Times, "As my own children approach middle school, my own fears align with the documentary's findings in another way: that cyber-bullying is a far more realistic threat. "

A Note to Teachers and Parents These sites provide actvities that practice reading skills. Almost all these have a sound component so that the children can hear the stories. Some sites provide reading comprehension practice. When children use these sites, ask them to reflect on what they learned from them.

"Swimming pools can be dangerous for children. To protect them, one can install locks, put up fences, and deploy pool alarms. All of these measures are helpful, but by far the most important thing that one can do for one's children is to teach them to swim." - Youth Pornography and the Internet

Children and their parents have for years enjoyed attending storytimes, checking out books and participating in a number of other educational, entertaining and participatory programs at the various locations of The Public Library of Charlotte Mecklenburg County. StoryPlace, an interactive web site, came about to provide children with the virtual experience of going to the library and participating in the same types of activities the library offers.

Whyzz is a website designed for the parents of three to eight year old children that are going through the "why" phase. Whyzz gives clear simple answers to the "why"questions like "why is the sky blue?" that children ask frequently. Parents can access the information on the site in two ways. The most direct way to find something on Whyzz is to type a "why" question in the "tell me" search bar at the top of every page. You can also browse the through topics in ten different categories. Click on a topic and you'll find a list of commonly asked "why" questions and their answers.