Back-to-School Articles - A Summary

24 of our best articles on "going back-to-school", transitions, safety, homework helpers, succeeding in school, testing and on learning math, science and more.

Early Childhood Activity Calendar

This 1997-1998 Early Childhood Activity Calendar is from the U.S Department of Education and is filled with helpful tips and special activities that promote reading and language skills for young children.

Help Your Child Learn to Write Well

By helping your child learn to write well, you will help him or her do well in school, enjoy self-expression and become more self-reliant. Parents can make a big difference by using the simple and fun strategies that are in this article.

Helping Your Child Learn Geography

This booklet is designed to help parents stir children's curiosity and steer that curiosity toward geographic questions and knowledge. It is organized around the five themes set forth by geographers and geography educators across the Nation--the physical location of a place, the character of a place, relationships between places, movement of people and things, and phenomena that cause us to group places into particular regions.

Helping Your Child Learn History

Today American educators are working to promote the study of history in the schools and at home. This booklet is a tool you can use to stimulate your children's active involvement in the history that surrounds them every day. As a result, the authors hope to encourage children to love history and to enjoy learning about it.

Helping your Child Learn Math

This is a great booklet, filled with suggestions and activities for children ages 5 to 13. These math activities not only are meaningful, they are fun. You might want to try doing some of them to help your child explore relationships, solve problems, and see math in a positive light. These activities use materials that are easy to find. They have been planned so you and your child might see that math is not just work we do at school but, rather, a part of life.

Helping Your Child Learn Science

Most parents say they do not--or cannot--help their children with science. But degrees in chemistry or physics aren't necessary to help our children. All we need is a willingness to observe and learn with them, and, above all, to make an effort and take the time to nurture their natural curiosity. This book provides examples of a few simple activities we can do with our children and it is an introduction to the wealth of material in many other books available in libraries and bookstores.

Helping Your Child Learn To Read

Another very good article with many activities for children from infancy through age 10 with many of these activities designed for parents and children to do together. You can show that learning is fun and important and can encourage a love of reading in your child.

Helping Your Child Succeed in School

This booklet focuses on specific activities for children aged 5 to 11 that parents and children can do together. The authors believe that all children have two wonderful resources for learning--imagination and curiosity and as a parent, you can awaken your children to the joy of learning by encouraging this imagination and curiosity. Teaching and learning are not mysteries that can only happen in school. They also happen when parents and children do simple things together.

Helping Your Child With Homework

Homework is an opportunity for students to learn and for parents to be involved in their children's education. A parent's interest can spark enthusiasm in a child and help teach the most important lesson of all--that learning can be fun and is well worth the effort. This book includes practical ideas for helping children complete homework assignments successfully. Even though this article is written for elementary and junior high school-aged children, some of the ideas in this book may also be helpful for high school students.

Helping Your Child with Science

This article will help parents understand what they can do to help their child learn science. It discusses myths about learning science, what parents can do, what children are learning and science. And it's filled with online resources for parents to find science standards and learning resources.

Homework Helper Calendar - Activities & Resources for Parents & Students

This calendar provides 30 days or ideas, resources and activities to help parents and students with common homework issues.

How Do I Know If My Child's Teacher Is Qualified?

If we search our memories when asked to think of a person who made a difference in our lives, the individual we remember will, most likely, be a teacher. Teachers frequently are remembered as caring and empathetic, as enthusiastic,positive individuals with a love for learning; as experts in their subject area; and as believers in the worth of all students and their ability to succeed. There are other qualities, traits, skills and knowledge that a teacher must possess. This article will help parents evaluate the qualifications of their child's teacher.

How Parents and Families Can Help Their Children Do Better in School

This is a great article with common sense approaches to helping our children do better in school. It advocates parental involvement, reading together and more. A must-read for all parents.

Internet Safety Tips - Just in Time for Summer Vacation

Let's make this summer one your child will remember forever. A mixture of fun and educational online and offline activities with parental guidance and involvement will help provide your child with a healthy, safe and, most of all, fun summer vacation. This article has six great tips for Internet safety to make this possible.

KidSource Calendar - Summer Activities - Resources for Parents

This calendar will help parents make the most of their child's summer vacation. It's filled with ideas, issues, links to great activities and other resources. Think of it as your survival guide for this summer! It links to hundreds of age-appropriate educational activities.

Learning Partners -- Let's Do Geography!

Geography is the study of Planet Earth. Help your child learn Geography with this Learning Partners article where it has suggestions and activities you can do with your child to learn more about Geography.

Learning Partners -- Let's Do Homework

Homework can help students learn and can help parents be involved in their children's education. When parents show an interest in their child's schoolwork, they teach an important lesson--that learning is fun and worth the effort. Children who do more homework, on average, do better in school. And, as children move up through the grades, homework becomes even more important to school success.

Meet Professor Tobbs - Educational Activities

Educational activities for children ages 3 to 10 for developing important mathematical and thinking skills. Over 150 activities, divided into 3 age groups.

More Read*Write*Now! Activities for Reading and Writing Fun

This booklet has been specially prepared to provide ideas for families, teachers, librarians, and other learning partners to use with all children -- including those with disabilities -- to help them read well and independently by the end of the third grade. The booklet also includes activities to help improve children's reading and writing skills through sixth grade.

Raising a Reader

Children learn to love the sound of language before they ever notice the existence of printed words on a page. As parents and caregivers, you can help lay down the foundation for a love of reading and nurture children's development. Here are some things you can do to raise a lifelong reader.

Read*Write*Now! Activities for Reading and Writing Fun

Read Write Now! Activities for Reading and Writing Fun has been developed by national reading experts for you to use with children, ages birth to Grade 6. The booklet has three sections, one for activities for infants and preschoolers, the second for children through Grade Two, and the third for older children.

Summer Home Learning Recipes for Parents and Children Grades 4-5

Provides activities and ideas for summer time activities for writing, math, reading and more.

Summer Home Learning Recipes for Parents and Children Grades 6-8

This is a series of fun filled activities, compiled by grade level,in reading, writing, math, and science for you and your child to do not only during the summer, but throughout the school year. Some parents have found these to be great "rainy-day" educational activities as well.

Summer Home Learning Recipes for Parents and Children Grades K-3

This is a series of fun filled activities, compiled by grade level,in reading, writing, math, and science for you and your child to do not only during the summer, but throughout the school year. Some parents have found these to be great "rainy-day" educational activities as well.

Ten Homework Tips

Research shows that when parents become involved in their children's schoolwork, the children do better in school. One way you can get involved is by helping your child with homework. It will benefit both your child's school work and self-esteem.

The American Heritage Children's Dictionary

The American Heritage Children's Dictionary has been completely revised to reflect the changes in the English language that are most relevant to today's kids.

Summertime Funtime Activities

A new activity for you to do with your child each day during the summer - they're fun, educational and can be done with children of all ages!

Seven Stages of Growth

A calendar for seven weeks of learning activities based on the President's "Call to Action".

Doing Mathematics With Your Child

Like reading, mathematics is a subject that is indeed necessary for functioning adequately in society. More than that, mathematics is a subject that should be more enjoyable than it sometimes is. This article presents resources that will enable parents to fulfill their responsibility for developing their children's abilities to do mathematics, while at the same time encouraging more positive attitudes toward mathematics. The resources are divided into three areas: (1) activities initiated in the home; (2) activities initiated at school; and (3) special curriculum development projects that promote parental involvement.

Doing Science with Your Children

Helping your children acquire skills for understanding the world will enhance their success in science. Being excited about your children's science interests and schoolwork can promote further growth and quests for knowledge. This article is full of ideas, activities and additional references to encourage an interest in science, or an awareness of the physical world, in your child. While most of the ideas are for young children (4 and up), some apply even to newborn infants.

Good or Bad, What Teachers Expect from Students They Generally Get!

Longitudinal studies support the SFP hypothesis that teacher expectations can predict changes in student achievement and behavior beyond effects accounted for by previous achievement and motivation (Jussim & Eccles, 1992). Teachers who effectively use the self-fulfilling prophecy can, and should, help students become their own Pygmalions.

Grammar and Its Teaching: Challenging the Myths

Grammar is often misunderstood in the language teaching field. The misconception lies in the view that grammar is a collection of arbitrary rules about static structures in the language. Instead of viewing grammar as a static system of arbitrary rules, it should be seen as a rational, dynamic system that is comprised of structures characterized by the three dimensions of form, meaning, and use.

Hard Work and High Expectations: Motivating Students to Learn

The conference on Hard Work and High Expectations brought together prominent researchers who addressed the topic of student motivation from different social, cultural, and instructional perspectives. Summaries of the critical elements of their findings and conclusions are incorporated in this booklet; summaries of selected papers are included at the end.

He Has a Summer Birthday: The Kindergarten Entrance Age Dilemma

Academic achievement is only one piece of the school entrance age puzzle. The child's physical, social, and emotional development are key pieces, as well. It would seem to be the course of wisdom to consider the whole child in all of his or her aspects when making decisions about school entrance. The answers are not simple. This article reviews the available research in this area to help parents make the best decision for their child.

Help Children Learn To Be Responsible Citizens

Young Americans clearly need to become more attuned to their responsibilities as citizens of a democratic society. Parents and teachers must act in concert to strengthen the desire and capacity of children to fulfill civic obligations.

Help Your Child Improve In Test-Taking

Tests are important, especially to school children. The ability to do well on tests can also help throughout life in such things as getting a driver's license, trying out for sports, or getting a job. Without this ability, a person can be severely handicapped. Your child can develop this ability and you can help the child do it. Just try the simple techniques developed through Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) research in this article.

Helping Students With Homework In Science And Math

This general purpose article about homework provides insight into topics such as "how much homework is reasonable" and "how can I help my child with his/her homework".

How Important Is Homework?

Research in the last decade has begun to focus on the relationship between homework and student achievement and has greatly strengthened the case for homework. Studies generally have found homework assignments to be most helpful if they are carefully planned by the teachers and have direct meaning to students. This article provides suggestions about how parents can be more involved with their children's homework and includes suggestions for how much time students should spend on homework by grade level.

Integrate Computers in the Early Childhood Curriculum

Despite revolutionary advances in the field of educational computing, technology remains simply a tool. How teachers implement computer use in their schools is critical. Only when computers are integrated into the curriculum as a vital element for instruction and are applied to real problems for a real purpose, will children gain the most valuable computer skill--the ability to use computers as natural tools for learning.

Kindergarten Readiness

Is my child ready for kindergarten? What are the readiness factors for kindergarten? Should I send my child with a late summer or fall birthday to kindergarten, or should I wait another year? These are some of the questions puzzling parents as they look ahead to elementary school.

Learning Partners -- Let's Do History!

When your children ask, "Where did I come from?" and "Was I always here?" they are asking questions about history. This article contains suggestions for activities to do with your children to help them learn history.

Learning Partners -- Let's Succeed in School!

To succeed in school, parents need to be involved in their children's learning. It's important to be involved early, and it's important to stay involved. Learning the skills for success takes place at home as well as at school. Here are some of the things that parents can do at home and at school.

Learning Partners -- Let's Use the Library!

Most public libraries offer a wide variety of children's books and magazines, with many in Spanish and other languages. In addition, there's a wealth of materials in other mediums and programs that can help a child in his/her development and education. Here are some things you can do to introduce your child to the library and to help him/her to use and enjoy all these materials found in your local library.

Talking to Your Child's Teacher About Standardized Tests

This digest highlights one tool that teachers use--standardized tests. It explains basic features of testing and suggests questions that you might ask your child's teacher. By understanding the role of testing, you can help your child succeed in school and can develop a better relationship among you, your child, and your child's school.

Teaching K-6 Science in Small Schools on a Financial Shoestring

Teaching science to young children requires creativity, good information and the right materials. However many schools lack the financial resources to develop a good science curriculum. This article has many ideas to help teachers (as well as homeschoolers) who lack resources, develop fun, challenging and interesting science modules. It also contains ideas for parents so they can contribute to their school's science programs.

The Internet and Young Children

The Internet is here to stay. But despite the potential known and unknown dangers of going online this technology can be useful to develop literacy, cognitive, and social skills. Following are some tips for families and child care professionals on how to make the Internet a safe, enjoyable, and friendly place.

The Science of Reading

Many bright children have trouble learning to read. Children who are dyslexic have the intelligence, motivation, and schooling considered to be necessary for reading and yet still have difficulty. Children who are dyslexic should be encouraged to follow their abilities and their dreams and should not be prematurely discouraged or tracked into less desirable occupations.

Tips For Easy Back-To-School Transitions

The new experiences in going back-to-school can bring on stress or cause children to resist necessary adjustments. Smooth transitions can be accomplished if the adults who care for children try to view the situation from the child's perspective. Here are some tips on what you can do to make going back to school a pleasurable experience.

Top 10 Signs of a Good Kindergarten Classroom

Kindergarten is a time for children to expand their love of learning, their general knowledge, their ability to get along with others, and their interest in reaching out to the world. While kindergarten marks an important transition from preschool to the primary grades, it is important that children still get to be childrenAt this stage, children are already eager to learn and possess an innate curiosity. Teachers with a strong background in early childhood education and child development can best provide for children what they need to grow physically, emotionally, and intellectually. Here are 10 signs of a good kindergarten classroom.

What Should Be Learned In Kindergarten?

Most American children attend kindergarten, and many participate in all-day kindergarten programs. While recent reform efforts have focused on extending the kindergarten day, research suggests that how kindergartners spend their time may be more critical than the amount of time children spend in class. In other words, longer kindergarten days in unsuitable activities yield no educational advantages over the traditional half-day kindergarten program. This article provides a good overview of the key elements for a kindergarten program.

Working with Perfectionist Students

Effective teachers take perfectionist students seriously, communicating understanding and approval of their desire to do well and sympathizing with the students' feelings of embarrassment and frustration. This article talks about how teachers can learn to support and reinforce the success-seeking aspects of achievement motivation while working to reduce unrealistic goal setting.

Back to School Time- Tips to Help Children Adjust

Back to school time often means changes for children and families: the first day of kindergarten or first grade; new preschools or child care settings; new classrooms and new teachers. Making smooth transitions between home, programs and schools can help children feel good about themselves and teach them to trust other adults and children. Helping children adapt to new situations can ease parents' minds and give them a chance to become involved in their children's education.

Creativity for Emotional Intelligence: Ideas and Activities

One key component of emotional intelligence is creativity. What is creativity and how do parents foster it in their children? In this article you'll find activities that you can do with your children to foster a creative spirit. You'll also find some thought provoking questions that your children will enjoy puzzling over.

Getting Ready for College Early

Getting a college education is an investment that will pay back for a lifetime. However, what many families don't realize is that preparing for college begins even before a student first sets foot in school, and it continues through middle school and high school. Getting ready for college means planning for the future and making some very important decisions early. This guidebook will help you and your children understand the steps you need to take during the middle and junior high school years to get ready for college.

Preparing Middle School Students For A Career

This Parent Guide from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education provides information on how middle schools, as well as parents, can help focus a students' attention toward career awareness. The publication also discusses ways that middle schools can promote the development and education of adolescents.

New Information on Youth Who Drop Out

This Parent Guide from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education discusses the reasons why students drop out, the consequences of these decisions, as well as what parents and schools can do to help students stay in school, or get an alternative education, and also met the responsibilities that caused them decide to drop-out initially.

Fostering Academic Creativity in Gifted Students

Creative learning is a natural, healthy human process that occurs when people become curious and excited. Children prefer to learn in creative ways rather than just memorizing information provided by a teacher or parents and they can learn better and sometimes faster. This digest covers creative behavior in children and outlines what parents and teachers can do to foster creativity, for all types of students, not just gifted ones.

Teaching children not to be -- or be victims of -- bullies

Parents and teachers are sometimes reluctant to intervene in conflicts between young children. They don't want to see children harm or ridicule one another, but they want to encourage children to learn how to work out problems for themselves. In such cases, adults have a responsibility to stop violence or aggression in the classroom or at home -- both for children who demonstrate harmful behavior and for all other children. We can teach children not to take part in -- or become victims of -- bullying.

What Should Parents Know About Standardized Testing In Schools?

One tool that schools use to learn about students is the standardized test. This brochure explains basic features of these tests and suggests questions you might ask your child's teacher about testing. Understanding the role of testing will help you to enable your child to succeed in school and to develop a better relationship between your family and your child's school.

Adopted Children in the Early Childhood Classroom

Adoption in the United States is on the rise--national estimates indicate that 1 million children live with adoptive parents (Stolley, 1993). As the number of adopted children in classrooms continues to rise each year, early childhood programs must begin to educate teachers about adoption issues. Adoption awareness will help teachers support young children who are trying to understand, and adjust to, their adoptive status.

An Introduction to Internet Resources for K-12 Educators

Recently, through state and regional education networks and commercial providers, the vast resources of the Internet are increasingly available to administrators, school library media specialists, and classroom teachers. This digest lists a sample of no cost Internet resources of special interest to K-12 educators.

Bankers to Participate in National Teach Children to Save Day

The ABA Education Foundation declared "National Teach Children to Save Day" as a way to show banking industry support for teaching children money management skills and encouraging them to save money for the future. In 1996, Americans saved only 4.9 percent of their disposable income, compared to 1970 when they saved 8 percent.

Discovering Interests and Talents Through Summer Experiences

The majority of summer experiences are designed to provide a pressure-free, noncompetitive environment in which young people can explore their areas of particular interest in depth. They have an opportunity to work with adult role models who are enthusiastic about their field and give individual support to each participant.

Extended School Year

The term Extended School Year encompasses a range of options in providing programs in excess of the traditional 180-day school year. The issues of regression and recoupment have been pivotal in the litigation that has advanced the concept of extended school year. Regression has been described as the lack of maintenance or loss of skills over the summer recess. Recoupment is getting back that which was lost.

Full-Day or Half-Day Kindergarten?

This Digest examines how changing family patterns have affected the full-day/half-day kindergarten issue, discusses why schools are currently considering alternative scheduling, and describes the advantages and disadvantages of each type of program.

Gender Issues in Children's Literature

Besides being an important resource for developing children's language skills, children's books play a significant part in transmitting a society's culture to children. Gender roles are an important part of this culture. How genders are portrayed in children's books thus contributes to the image children develop of their own role and that of their gender in society.

Grandparents as Parents: A Primer for Schools

Children from families headed by grandparents constitute a growing proportion of students in schools, and their numbers can be expected to continue to increase. This article discusses how schools that recognize and support these nontraditional families will be able to provide better service to their communities.

Helping Early Childhood Teacher Education Students Learn Internet

The Internet is a vast community of people and resources. By integrating Internet use into early childhood teacher education programs, early childhood teacher educators enhance the educational experiences of their students and prepare them to be active participants in the global ECE community.

Helping Middle School Students Make the Transition into High School

Young adolescents entering high school look forward to having more choices and making new and more friends; however, they also are concerned about being picked on and teased by older students, having harder work, making lower grades, and getting lost in a larger, unfamiliar school.

Helping the Underachiever in Reading

Learning to read is a complex process. Most children learn to read and continue to grow in their mastery of this process. However, there continues to be a group of children for whom learning to read is a struggle. This article explains from an educator's viewpoint what can be done to help these children.

How Can Computer Networking Be Used in the Classroom?

Computer networks change everyday classroom activities into exciting, unique projects involving the interaction of students and teachers worldwide. This brochure explores the benefits and applications of computer networks in K-12 classrooms. It presents the basics for getting started and introduces sample networks.

If an Adolescent Begins To Fail in School, What Can Parents and Teachers Do?

Understanding the factors that may put an adolescent at-risk for academic failure will help parents determine if their teen is in need of extra support. Above all, parents need to persevere. The teen years do pass, and most adolescents survive them, in spite of bumps along the way. Being aware of common problems can help parents know when it is important to reach out and ask for help before a "difficult time" develops into a more serious situation.

Internet Resources for K-8 Students

Although there are many content-rich resource sites for elementary and middle school students on the World Wide Web, finding such sites can be difficult. This Digest describes K-8 curriculum-related Web sites that will be of interest to students, teachers, parents, and librarians

On Standardized Testing

How many of us really believe that a child's intelligence, achievement, and competence can be represented adequately by standardized tests? Do we believe that any distribution curve is capable of classifying all children? These are important issues for parents and educators and are discussed in this article which presents the case for reducing standardized testing in the primary grade classrooms.

Parents Issue Report Card on Reading

In a nationwide poll by Scholastic Inc. and the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), parents are demanding a stronger, more focused and consistent emphasis on teaching children to read. This news article provides the results of this survey and outlines the concerns that many parents have about their children's reading skills, about how their children are learning to read in school, and about their own involvement in teaching their children to read.

Planning for Parent Participation in Schools for Young Children

Parents need to be actively involved in their child's education. However, it is not always easy for parents to become involved given the many demands upon them. This article outlines how teachers can plan parent participation strategies for their own classrooms to take into account the complexity of today's family life. The guidelines here will also help parents become more involved and will help parents know what to expect when working with their child's teacher.

Preventing and Resolving Parent-Teacher Differences

Parents and teachers share responsibility for creating a working relationship that fosters children's learning. This digest discusses how to improve parent-teacher relationships and it suggests some general strategies for creating a climate in which misunderstandings and disagreements between parents and teachers can be minimized through improved communication. It also discusses some general principles for parents and teachers in dealing with misunderstandings or disagreements as they arise.

Teaching Social Studies with the Internet

Social studies educators are living and working in the middle of a revolution -- the emergence of the Internet as an integral part of education. This Digest summarizes ways that classroom teachers can combine the Internet with other instructional resources and methods.

The Election Of 1800: Teaching About A Critical Moment In The History History

As America approaches its 54th presidential election in 2000, we take it for granted that the candidate who wins that election -- no matter how partisan or contested it might be -- will become the 43rd President of the United States following a peaceful transfer of power in a familiar ceremony. Not everyone today realizes that in 1800 American democracy faced one of its most serious challenges when Republican Thomas Jefferson defeated Federalist President John Adams. This article puts this into perspective for students and provides resources for further study.

The Transition to Middle School

Students make many transitions during their years of schooling: from home to school, elementary to middle school, middle to high school, and high school to college or work. These transitions are usually major events in the lives of students and parents. The stresses created by these transitions can be minimized when the new environment is responsive to each particular age group. This article presents a brief overview of some of the issues involved in the transition from elementary to middle school and provides suggestions for transition programs and activities.

Too Sick for School or Daycare? A Few Guidelines to Promote Good Health

The kids are back in class. It's 7:15 a.m. and Andy says, "I don't feel good." You ask yourself, "Can he still go to school or daycare today?" Parenting is full of judgment calls and this one is often less than clear-cut. This article provides a few good guidelines to help parents make this decision.

Using the Internet To Enrich Science Teaching and Learning

The Internet can be used in many ways to help a child learn science- from interactive areas, to reference materials to staying on top of current news. This article will help you understand the resources that are available to teachers, homeschoolers and to parents who want to supplement their child's science education.

What Can I Teach My Young Child About the Environment?

When should environmental education begin - in the third grade? first grade? kindergarten? The answer is -- even earlier. Environmental education based on life experiences should begin during the very earliest years of life. Such experiences play a critical role in shaping lifelong attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior toward natural environments.

What Should Parents Know About Full-Day Kindergarten?

Studies show that parents favor a full-day program that reduces the number of transitions kindergartners experience in a typical day. Research also suggests that many children benefit academically and socially during the primary years from participation in full-day, compared to half-day, kindergarten programs. This brochure discusses the trend in full-day kindergarten and provides an overview of full-day versus half-day programs.

Mathematics Education Resources on the World Wide Web

An annotated listing of Web resources relating to mathematics education.

Helping children learn about reading

Some parents assume that learning to read starts with memorizing the alphabet and sounding out words, but actually the fundamentals of reading begin much earlier. Adults lay the foundation for reading every day. The most important thing is that teaching children about reading becomes an activity that brings children closer to the caring adults in their lives. Here are some tips for families who want to help their children make connections between meaning and words.

Ideas for More Reading Fun

A fun article from the Hooked on Phonics Program with examples of teaching techniques for pre- and early-readers.

Mixed-Age Grouping: What Does the Research Say

This article provides some basic information about mixed-age grouping and examines research on mixed-aged grouping. Finally, a list of questions is provided--questions parents can pose to prospective mixed-age group teachers or the school’s principal--about how they will address parents’ concerns.

Motivation and Transfer in Language Learning

Transfer and motivation play important roles in learning. Transfer, the application of prior knowledge to new learning situations, is often seen as a learning goal, and thus the extent to which transfer occurs is a measure of learning success. Motivation, defined as the impetus to create and sustain intentions and goal-seeking acts, is important because it determines the extent of the learner's active involvement and attitude toward learning.

Outdoor Education for Behavior Disordered Students

Outdoor education offers special benefits to behavior disordered students. Positive behavioral changes among behavior disordered students have been reported. A review of possible programs/activities and possible benefits is a step in the direction of offering new opportunities to these students.

What Is a Quality Preschool Program?

Increased numbers of working mothers of 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds have created a need for preschools for today's young children and are concerned about the quality of these preschools. As a result, parents are searching for guidelines for selecting a good program for their children. This article contains answers to commonly asked questions.

Moving? Choosing a School? Sources of Information on Individual Schools and School Districts

It's that time of year again! It's the time of year when parents begin to think about the next school year and choosing the best school for their child. The decision is a difficult one and should depend on information about the school itself, as well as comparative standardized test scores.

Back-to-School Blues ... For Parents!

Just the thought of the first day of the new school year has a lot of first-time students terrified. But they're not the only ones. Studies indicate that the first day of school can be almost as stressful and emotionally upsetting for parents who are sending their kids off to school for the first time.

Bad Backs Bad for Back to School

Back to school time is, well, back, and it's the back that has some doctors concerned. This article provides suggestions for how students can avoid potential back problems due to incorrectly using backpacks to carry heavy loads of books and school supplies.

Cyberspace Class: Rewards and Punishments

As a teacher of public relations (PR) and newswriting theory and skills, this article's author Barbara R. Shoemake provides future practitioners with knowledge of online communication techniques. This Digest will recount how she conducts her class in cyberspace.

Grading Students' Classroom Writing: Issues and Strategies

This article for teaching professionals discusses teaching and grading issues regarding writing assignments.

Guidelines for Computer-Assisted Reading Instruction

The most common concerns of educators in regards to computer-assisted instruction have to do with the effectiveness of computer-based education, and with the appropriateness of the many possible roles computers can play in language arts instruction. This digest discusses these issues and will provide information on how teachers can integrate computers into reading/writing instruction.

Science is Fun and Games on New Pfizer Web Site

Children can create a chemical reaction, get up-close and personal with an ant and even build their own compass all by logging onto Pfizer's new interactive science web site.

Student Motivation To Learn

The focus of this digest is be on motivating the low performing adolescent in a remedial reading or subject area classroom. The premise is that students who are disengaged from their own learning processes are not likely to perform well in school. This article provides some specific actions for parents and teachers to follow.

The Shifting Kindergarten Curriculum

This digest reviews factors influencing kindergarten curriculum, and contrasts characteristics of skill-based and developmentally oriented programs. Redefinition of the kindergarten-primary curriculum from a developmental perspective is more beneficial for children than the use of retention and extra-year placement. Advocates of developmental kindergarten programs should emphasize the effectiveness of an active learning setting for advancing children's growth and development

TIMSS Report Highlights Importance of Effective Elementary Science Programs

Responding to the results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released today, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) indicates that the study confirms the need for and importance of an effective elementary science program to serve as the foundation for a sound K-12 education in science.

Tips For Better Graduation Videos

If you're planning on capturing graduation memories on videotape, Maxell's Peter N. Brinkman recommends a few simple tips that can help you get the most out your videos.

Unbiased Teaching about American Indians and Alaska Natives in Elementary Schools

This digest gives parents and teachers realistic information about this growing population. It identifies some of the common myths about American Indians and Alaska Natives that contribute to curriculum bias. The concluding discussion suggests activities and resources to help elementary students--and others--understand the realities of how Indians live today and how they lived in the past.

Urge Parents to Become Reformers of Their Own Schools

To improve their children's schools, parents must become activists at their local school and district, says former New Jersey Education Commissioner Saul Cooperman, a nationally recognized education leader. Cooperman believes that too many school policies are preserved only because "We've always done it that way." Too many school administrators use little-recognized techniques to deflect criticism, avoid responsibility and maintain the status quo, he says in his new book: "How Schools Really Work" ($17.95 in stores, or call 800-815-2280).

Why, How, and When Should My Child Learn a Second Language?

Most experts agree that the earlier a child is introduced to a second language, the greater the chances are that the child will become truly proficient in the language. In addition, children may derive other benefits from early language instruction, including improved overall school performance and superior problem-solving skills. Knowing a second language ultimately provides a competitive advantage in the work force by opening up additional job opportunities.

Working with Shy or Withdrawn Students

Among students who are (compared to their peers) inactive in the classroom, many are well adjusted academically and socially but relatively quiet and content to work independently. Some are problematically shy or withdrawn in varying degrees, and a few may be headed toward schizophrenia. This digest focuses on the middle range of such students, who are commonly described as shy (inhibited, lacking in confidence, socially anxious) or withdrawn (unresponsive, uncommunicative, or daydreaming).

Helping With Homework: A Parent's Guide

Helping with Homework: A Parent's Guide to Information Problem-Solving, is based on the Big Six Skills problem-solving approach. The Big Six Skills apply to any problem or activity that requires a solution or result based on information. An abundance of information is available from many sources, and the Big Six can help parents effectively deal with that information to guide their youngsters through school assignments.

Microsoft And NSTA Launch New Web Site To Promote Excellence In Science Education

In this news announcement, Microsoft Corporation and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) announce the free distribution of a field-tested, comprehensive curriculum for high school science as part of the Global Schoolhouse (GSH), a popular education resource area on the Internet.

Motivating Low Performing Adolescent Readers

The focus of this digest is be on motivating the low performing adolescent in a remedial reading or subject area classroom. The premise is that students who are disengaged from their own learning processes are not likely to perform well in school. This article provides some specific actions for parents and teachers to follow.

The Value of School Recess and Outdoor Play

This publication from the National Association for the Education of Young Children discusses the benefits of school recess. This publication also includes the positive effects that unstructured physical play has on a childs learning ability as well as the potential drawbacks of eliminating recess in elementary schools.

Bullying in Schools

Bullying is a serious problem that can dramatically affect the ability of students to progress academically and socially. A comprehensive intervention plan that involves all students, parents, and school staff is required to ensure that all students can learn in a safe and fear-free environment.

'HI, HO, HI, HO, It's Off to School They Go!'

In an effort to help caregivers prepare their children for this often difficult event, the MetLife Consumer Education Center, in conjunction with nationally recognized authorities, has developed a series of free brochures that includes "Your Child's First Day At School," "Your Child and Organized Sports," "Helping Your Child Understand Money."

Science Steps Outside the Classroom: Innovative Program

For too many middle school students, science can be a year-long read through a textbook punctuated only by the occasional lab experiment. But for the 800 sixth through eighth graders who participated in the Bayer/NSF Award for Community Innovation during the 1996-97 school year, science became a real-life adventure.

$5 Million In Web Site Software Donated To 25,000 U.S. Schools

The American School Directory (ASD) announced today that Innisbrook Wraps, of Greensboro, NC, has agreed to provide $5 million in free software and scanning services to 25,000 schools for Web site development. Read this article to see how your school can receive this software. ASD is a directly of all 106,000 K-12 schools (public and private) in the United States.

Connect With Kids -- Volunteer to Wire a School on NetDay

NetDay is the grassroots effort to network K-12 schools using volunteer labor and donated materials. Organizers estimate that since the first NetDay in 1996 more than 150,000 K-12 classrooms have been wired by NetDay volunteers in what's been called a "high-tech barnraising."