Archive for the ‘Reading & Literacy’ Category

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Pre-K Curriculum Enhancements

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

The Goddard School of Cedar Park will be incorporating several enhancements in our Pre-K and Junior Pre-K program for 2010.  These will be included in our FLEX curriculum described in more detail below.  The enhancements include:

  • SMART Board to engage all of a child’s learning styles and promote technology education
  • Zoo Phonics to facilitate literacy development
  • Computerized academic assessments (CPAA) to individualize each child’s lesson plan and provide valuable feedback to parents and teachers

The Goddard School FLEX Learning Program, based on the latest research in how children learn, provides the optimal environment for a young child’s development. The program’s foundation is the learning continuum that encompasses developmental guidelines with formative assessments, child-focused lesson plans, a creative and fun environment and a personalized child-centered approach that meets each child’s needs.

FLEX Learning is delivered by professional, trained teachers who use assessment results to select the materials and activities that create a fun, challenging and safe learning experience. The result is a confident learner who is ready for school!

The key elements of FLEX Learning are:
1. Developmental guidelines, state standards and formative assessments;
2. Child-focused lesson plans from the Goddard Curriculum Guide;
3. Creative and fun learning environment; and
4. Child-centered learning and teachable moments for a personalized approach

FLEX Learning incorporates seven core, academically accepted learning domains. These are the standard learning domains that are included in most state guidelines for quality early childhood education and are part of the curriculum requirements for most accreditations. The domains are:
1. personal and social development;
2. language and literacy;
3. mathematical thinking;
4. scientific thinking (including technology);
5. social studies;
6. creative expression; and
7. physical development.

Find out what we’re doing that’s educational and fun each month with the Goddard School monthly events newsletter SUBSCRIBE HERE

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TV and Reading

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

To followup on my last post about TV and literacy,  here is some information related to this topic.  Selective TV programming can be beneficial, as noted below.

The American Academy of Pediatrics urges parents to avoid television and other electronic media for children two years of age and under; yet two thirds of infants and toddlers watch a ‘screen’ for an average of two hours per day.

Ever Watchful
Image by BGLewandowski via Flickr

Older children have a similar average; however children ages eight to eighteen have an average of four hours per day. This amount of time spent in front of a computer, television, video game or the like can interfere with school work, physical activity, curious exploration, social interaction and playing. Many children also get in the (bad) habit of eating snacks while watching TV or playing computer games which can turn into a habit of eating when not hungry and contribute to childhood obesity.

Extended exposure to television poses serious risks.

  • Children who watch violent shows or play violent (video) games may become desensitized to violence at a higher rate.
  • These violent (video) games re-enforce stereotypical gender roles which are often demeaning to women.
  • Children who view what is considered “risky behavior” such as smoking, drinking, doing drugs, selling drugs or having sex are at a greater risk.
  • It has been suggested that the more television a child watches, the higher their risk of developing an attention deficit disorder. For every hour a day a child watches a screen, their chances go up 10%. (If a child watches four hours of television every day, they are 40% more likely to develop an attention deficit disorder.)
  • Children are bombarded with commercials. They are conditioned to think they need the advertised products to make them happier.
  1. If your three-year-old watches television every day and regularly sees a happy child playing with a toy, she will begin to believe that she will only be happy when she has that toy.
  2. Commercials may encourage unhealthy eating habits which can lead to an unhealthy eating habit called “snacking habit.” This snacking is generally a component of a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle.

Watching TV, however, may provide benefits – Sesame Street has long been credited with helping youngsters learn the alphabet and its’ shows also depict racial and social diversity.  Subscribe to The Goddard School newsletter HERE

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TV and Literacy

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

The topic of TV time comes up with parents and many are not aware of its negative effect upon children, including literacy.  The following article provides some interesting insights:

Are you surprised that the American Academy of Pediatrics says no television before age two?  This standard alerts parents of infants, toddlers and preschoolers that their children are strongly affected by the talking tube and that they need to consider the way their children are exposed to its powerful influences.

  • If you chose to allow your children to view television, consider limiting the amount of “watching time” in their first three years to 30-90 minutes per day. This is more than enough for their young brains and eyes.  Children prefer, and benefit from, interacting with people far more.
  • The programming you chose should be specifically directed at the age of your child. Most good parenting magazines regularly publish guidelines that tend to be more objective and reliable than an advertiser’s suggestions.
  • Commercial-free is far better for eyes, ears, and minds.  Fewer interruptions and a generally higher level of intellectual and emotional content are the benefits.
  • A child’s room does not need a television. Television may inhibit a child’s desire to read and play imaginatively for years.
  • When your children watch television, watch with them.  They may need your help to decipher the barrage of messages, and only you know when they have had enough.  Occasional babysitting by means of television so you can get something done is understandable, but may be a waste of your child’s time and mind.

These guidelines should be discussed regularly by all adults in your household. The evening news may matter to the grown-ups, but it is frequently incomprehensible and somewhat frightening to your little ones. Media-literate parents are great blessings to their children.

Suggested resource: Coalition for Quality Children’s Media www.cqcm.org

Kyle D. Pruett, M.D. is an advisor for The Goddard School®.  Dr. Pruett is an authority on child development who has been practicing child and family psychiatry for over twenty-five years.  He is a clinical professor of child psychiatry at Yale University’s Child Study Center.  Subscribe to The Goddard School monthly newsletter by CLICKING HERE

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Reading and Literacy articles

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Along with my recent blogs on reading and literacy, here is a category link on earlier articles on this topic.  Enjoy!

http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/Cedar-Park-TX/category/general/reading-literacy/

Subscribe to The Goddard School monthly newsletter by CLICKING HERE.

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Read to Me!

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

Some reading tips from The Goddard School.  It is generally agreed among educators that one of the best things adults can do for their children is to read to them.

Parent Tips:

  • During early infancy, reading helps babies build neural pathways that will eventually provide language development and acquisition.
  • Reading aloud to children encourages association with happiness, love and enjoyment. All of this can lead to children’s greater interest in reading and can result in larger vocabularies and better literary skills.
  • Choose a childcare environment that encourages storytime as an important aspect of the school’s routine.
  • Reading aloud to children also helps them with pronunciation and phonetics. Some children are able to recognize letters and numbers before they can speak, but if they are left to this without guidance their weaknesses can lie in pronunciation and sounding out words.
  • When children speak incorrectly they should be gently corrected so that they are encouraged to use proper grammar and pronunciation. Reading books can help children learn the proper format of sentences which they often mistake in late toddlerhood.
  • Children who are read to regularly, are more likely to continue reading throughout their lives.
  • Children who read are more likely to have better writing skills and be placed in higher level classes.
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Literacy and How to Build a Prison

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

Ever wonder how to build a prison?  I don’t know the details behind the brick and mortar process but it’s pretty easy to predict where one will be needed.  Like many states do, look at the literacy rate per capita geographically.  The population reading at or below a third grade level is a very reliable predictor of where crime will flourish.  This is tied to the dismal illiteracy rate in the prison population – a whopping 70%!
Illiteracy also creates a “prison of the mind.”  Lets imagine that you find yourself enrolled in an advanced graduate course on quantum mechanics.  Problem is, you’ve never had a single course in this subject matter prior!  You’d find yourself on the first day dealing with terms and ideas such as “black body radiation” that have no meaning to you.  Unfortunately this is what some of our young elementary students experience their first day in class.  They have had no exposure to the most basic concepts of reading.  Without aggressive intervention, they will never catch up.

A child reading in Brookline Booksmith, an ind...
Image via Wikipedia

How does this happen?  One reason is the lack of books in the child’s home during preschool years.  The average middle income family will have 13 child appropriate books per child.  A lower income family has none – there will be 1 book per 300 children in these communities!

Besides the cost of crime, illiteracy has other social implications.  How about this sad statistic?  Illiteracy will cost the country $225 billion per year when you consider job training, health and other problems it creates.  This equates to a third the cost of the current financial bailout!

For the next several weeks, I’ll be exploring in more depth the impact illiteracy has to our community.  I’ll also have some suggestions and ideas on what we can do to address it.  As Joseph Addison once said, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”  I hope that together we’ll get more of our children “fit” for reading!

Butch Aggen is owner of The Goddard School of Cedar Park and volunteers for Leander Educational Excellence Foundation’s efforts to promote early childhood literacy.   Questions or comments are welcome.

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Goddard School is Writing a Book!

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

National Geographic Society has selected Goddard Systems, Inc. for development of an intriguing new book for families. The Goddard School — its teachers, children and parents — will play an integral role in developing the look, feel and content of a new book from NGS and award-winning author Susan Magsamen. Filled with magical science and nature adventures, the book will offer unique and memorable multi-sensory experiences for children to enjoy in the classroom and at home.

To participate in this national event, please visit our Goddard Facebook Page. As part of our participation in this activity, I’ll be blogging the next several articles on child reading and literacy.  Let me know your questions on this topic and your comments are always appreciated!

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Sign Language and Literacy

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

At the Goddard School of Cedar Park, we begin sign language with babies in our infant suite.  We do this because it accelerates speech development and promotes early childhood literacy.  Today’s article is by guest contributor, Tara Kendrick, mom-entrepreneur and owner of My Smart Hands Austin, which teaches sign language to hearing babies, toddlers and their families.

baby_sign language_infant_goddard

I think one of my favorite things to do with my boys is to read and sign books. As babies my boys started out enjoying turning pages, pointing out pictures and lifting flaps. Then it was reading a story and them memorizing the words as a read the book for the hundredth time. Now that my oldest is 3 year old, he wants me to use his finger to follow the words as I read to him. It is so amazing to see their love of language at such a young age.
I have also seen huge jumps in language development with my 3-year-old and my 17-month-old because I taught them sign language as babies. Communicating with ASL has allowed us to understand each other more quickly, and has given them confidence in their surroundings. The boys love to learn and are excited when you are able to understand what their needs are.

Now, put reading books and signing together, and you have a double dose of language development! Not only can we empower our children by giving them the opportunities to share what’s on their minds, but also we can help develop their imagination, verbal and language skills.

In a study conducted by Marilyn Daniels, she showed that signing with books increases reading readiness, develops literacy skills, and enhances comprehension. When we sign while reading, we teach children to read and scan the most important words in a sentence.

When I teach parents how to sign a book to their child, I tell them to pick the important words on the page. The words that the child will best understand, such as the noun or action word. For example if you read “ The truck stopped at the house where the big dog sat.” You would sign truck, house and dog because these are the words the brain is focusing on.

The more the child can understand, the more he will be excited about reading with you and learn to love reading on his own!

SIGNING WITH BOOKS
Start with simple board books or touch-and-feel books that have simple, bright, and “touchable” pictures. I always like ones that have one picture and word per page.
When reading a story, remember you do not have to sign every word. Just pick out key objects or pictures that are important to you and your baby. You will be amazed at how meaningful and enriching reading combined with signing can be.  This is a great way to practice signing using repetition because babies love to hear the same book over and over.

The other benefits of signing with books include:

  • Increased imagination of the child.
  • Adds rich meaning to reading, making it a fun and inviting experience.
  • Associates reading with positive experiences and opportunities for a shared experience for mom, dad and siblings.
  • Encourages the child to be an ACTIVE participant: the child is involved in the PROCESS of reading while you point out words and they SIGN along with the book.

Visit our website @ http://www.goddardschool.com//Schools/Cedar-Park-TX/Schools.gspx & follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/GoddardSchoolCP

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Child Development and Learning

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

The Goddard School FLEX Learning Program, based on the latest research in how children learn, provides the optimal environment for a young child’s development. The program’s foundation is the learning continuum that encompasses developmental guidelines with formative assessments, child-focused lesson plans, a creative and fun environment and a personalized child-centered approach that meets each child’s needs.

FLEX Learning is delivered by professional, trained teachers who use assessment results to select the materials and activities that create a fun, challenging and safe learning experience. The result is a confident learner who is ready for school!

The key elements of FLEX Learning are:
1. Developmental guidelines, state standards and formative assessments;
2. Child-focused lesson plans from the Goddard Curriculum Guide;
3. Creative and fun learning environment; and
4. Child-centered learning and teachable moments for a personalized approach

FLEX Learning incorporates seven core, academically accepted learning domains. These are the standard learning domains that are included in most state guidelines for quality early childhood education and are part of the curriculum requirements for most accreditations. The domains are:
1. personal and social development;
2. language and literacy;
3. mathematical thinking;
4. scientific thinking (including technology);
5. social studies;
6. creative expression; and
7. physical development.

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The Mathematical Thinking Domain

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

The Goddard School’s FLEX Learning Program covers all the major areas of a child’s educational growth and development in the form of specific Learning Domains: Personal and Social Development, Language and Literacy, Mathematical Thinking, Social Studies, and Physical Development. Let’s take a moment to examine how the Mathematical Thinking Domain helps shape your child’s growth and development from infanthood all the way through kindergarten.

For Goddard School infants and toddlers, cognitive development paves the way for future mathematical skills. Babies learn to recognize and name objects, put together simple puzzles, listen to and understand stories, and comprehend position and perspective. These early steps go hand-in-hand with the self-help and life skills they’re also learning, such as dressing themselves, seeing themselves in pictures, and participating in group activities. By the time they complete the “Get Set” level, the children already know about circles and squares and can match primary colors, follow two-part directions, and much more.

Mathematics as a specific skill set begins for Goddard students at the Pre-kindergarten level. Children at this level begin to work with the calendar and the clock to understand how time works, while gaining new understanding of logical patterns, sequential order, and concepts of “more” and “less.” Introducing the computer as a fun learning tool opens up a whole new resource for fun, absorbing learning. By the time our students reach the Kindergarten level, they are solving math problems, working with fractions, recognizing numbers up to 30, and using their new cognitive powers to reason their way toward solutions.

As impressive as this structured learning process is, rest assured that it’s also a lot of fun. Assembling puzzles, building block towers, listening to stories — these activities make learning a joy for your child, and a child who loves school will become an adult who loves to learn. It all adds up in our Mathematical Thinking Domain!

Our next blog will explore the importance of art in your child’s development.  By the way, a wonderful art enrichment program is Abrakadoodle – check out their website!

To find out more about The Goddard School of Cedar Park, visit our website or email us at cedarparktx@goddardschools.com

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