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Regular readers of my blog know that my main concerns are in education and in enhancing education so that children's skills blossom. But there is a range of ancillary issues that plays a big role in accomplishing this goal.
One of those issues concerns the health of children. That is where electronic smog comes in. It is the term that has been created to capture the fact that the electricity that powers our civilization gives off a range of effects that appear to be dangerous.Scientific evidence has begun to show that it may be causing cancer and miscarriages as well as making some people allergic to modern life.
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reading "Electronic Smog: What Is It? and Why Should We Be Concerned?" »
Like all of us, schools around the nation are feeling the effects of high gas prices. As but one example, Nash-Rocky Mount schools in North Carolina burned through about $729,000 in fuel in the last fiscal year — nearly twice as much as in the previous year.
In an effort to cope, schools are coming up with a range of strategies--all of which involve cutting services. In Minnesota, for instance, one district plans to eliminate classes every Monday to come up with the extra $65,000 it needs to fill its buses' tanks. The superintendent commented "I know $65,000 may not sound like a lot, but it's more than one teaching position," Continue
reading "Schools Feel the Clutches of Higher Gas Prices" »
High school graduates are not the only ones waiting for college acceptance letters. Increasingly, the older generation is in the same boat. At California State University, Sacramento, for example, the number of students between the ages of 50 and 64 grew by 76 percent from 1986 to 2006.
Across the state, the number of California college students between the ages of 50 and 64 rose 61 percent between 1986 and 2006. Among people ages 40 to 49, enrollment increased 32 percent. Overall enrollment climbed 33 percent during the same two decades.
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reading "Older Students Filling California College Campuses" »
As a four year old, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was reported to "play faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy" Behavior like that makes musical talent intriguing and mysterious.
Given that certain families produce abundant numbers of musicians, scientists have long suspected that talent in this realm music might have genetic roots. Now research indicates that they may be right. Scientists in Finland say they’ve found approximate locations in our genome where genes affecting musical talent may lie. The findings suggest not only that musical ability is partly genetic but it may share evolutionary roots with language.
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reading "Musical Genes? They May Even Tell Us Something About Dyslexia" »
We hear over and over again about the problems in American education. Unfortunately, dire warnings have become so commonplace that we often don't pay them much heed. But Bob Herbert, a columnist in the New York Times, has offered some facts and figures that should make us take notice.
For example,
An American kid drops out of high school every 26 seconds.
More than a million drop out every year.
These are among the highest dropout rates in the industrialized world. Roughly a third of all American high school students drop out. Another third graduate but are not prepared for the next stage of life — either productive work or some form of post-secondary education.
Think about it! Two-thirds of all teenagers old enough to graduate from high school are leaving, without the skills to negotiate the modern world. Continue
reading "Education in America: An Institution in Crisis" »
If you were buying a car and found one that had a 70% chance of ranging from fair to downright bad, you would almost certainly turn away. But that level of performance is being welcomed by officials when it comes to the writing skills of American students.
According to a new national study, about a third of the nation’s eighth-grade students are proficient writers. The results are even worse for high school seniors where only roughly a quarter achieve this level. The results are about the same as those in 2002, when a similar exam was last given.
A success rate of 30% may not sound like much--and indeed, it isn't. But it is the best performance by eighth-grade students in any subject tested in the national assessment in the last three years. For example, only 17 percent of eighth graders were proficient on the 2006 history exam, for example. Continue
reading "Writing with Proficiency --30% Success Is Welcomed!!!" »
You don't have to be told that the current economic situation is causing enormous difficulties. But, as often happens, there are some silver linings. For example, many state colleges and universities are reducing their out-of-state tuition for students.
One place where this is happening is California State University located near San Francisco Bay. It is trying to raise its profile to lure applicants from a variety of Western states including Washington, Oregon, and Montana. Many other state universities across the nation are following a similar path. Continue
reading "Some Benefit to the Economic Pain?" »
The high cost of education steadily draws headlines, as parents struggle to finance their children's college education and towns grapple with ever-increasing school budgets. In all the turmoil, the cost of not educating America's children goes largely ignored.
Now the Brookings Institute has come out with a new book: The Price We Pay: Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education. It highlights the enormous costs--private, fiscal, and public--of not providing an adequate education for all our children. Continue
reading "The Price of Poor Education" »
Most of the families whom I meet in the course of my work are knowledgeable about health issues and concerned about what their children are encountering in the course of daily life.
A new report from the Associated Press is an example of why their concerns are justified. It found that a vast array of pharmaceuticals — including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones — are in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.
Fortunately, the concentrations of the pharmaceuticals are tiny, and far below the levels of a medical dose.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs — and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen — in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health. Continue
reading "Drinking Water--Some Troubling News" »
If you have a child, or know of a child, who is awaiting the "verdicts" on college applications, you know the pressure and anxiety that accompanies the process. Each year, for the past several years, the tension has been increasing. But all that is likely to ease--though not in time to help out this year's contingent. Specifically, the demographics are changing.
After a 15 year period of steady growth, the annual number of high school graduates in the United States will peak at about 2.9 million. The number is then expected to decline until about 2015. Most universities expect this to translate into fewer applications and with that, less selectivity. As a result, most students are like to find it easier to get into college. Continue
reading "Hold On--The College Frenzy Is Going to Pass" »
A leading psychiatrist from Trinity College in Dublin, Michael Fitzgerald, has put forth the idea that many leading figures in the fields of science, politics and the arts achieved success because they had a form of autism known as Asperger's syndrome. Included in his list are such towering figures as Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, George Orwell, H G Wells and Ludwig van Beethoven. Continue
reading "Is There Genius in Autism?" »
As parents know only too well, America's children aren't reading very much or very well these days. Concerns about the situation keep growing as scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have shown little improvement in the past 15 years.
In an effort to turn matters around, the Library of Congress and the Children's Book Council, a trade group, announced the appointment of the USA's first "ambassador for young people's literature," a sort of poet laureate for the Harry Potter set.
As the inaugural ambassador, they named Jon Scieszka--a renowned author of 30 books. Continue
reading "An Ambassador for Children's Reading" »
At a number of schools in the poorer sections of New York City, students are being paid to do well on citywide exams in reading and math. Seventh-graders earn up to $750 and fourth-graders up to $250. This is all part of the Spark Program--part of Mayor Bloomberg's ant-poverty initiative.
As you might imagine, the idea is generating lots of discussion---and controversy. Continue
reading "Paying Students to Learn? Good Idea?" »
The many families who struggle with the nightly homework ritual might will be interested in a new Canadian study involving almost 1000 families. It reports that, at least at the elementary school level, homework offers a double whammy. It's of little value to the children while leading to burn out in the children and their parents. At the older grades, things were different with benefits shown for students in grades 7 and 8 and high school.
Significantly, the findings do not include reading. Indeed, reading with, or to, children every day has been shown to be a key factor in boosting academic success.
Continue
reading "Homework: Questions about its Value" »
One of the remarkable advances in the last several decades has been the growing understanding and acceptance of individuals with learning disabilities. As we know from major figures such as Paul Orfalea, the founder of Kinko's and Charles Schwab, the investment banker along with many others, individuals with learning disabilities can be enormously talented and make phenomenal contributions.
As part of the growing acceptance that has been taking place, The National Center for Learning Disabilities (NCLD) holds a "Portraits of LD" competition. The grand prize winner will win a trip to New York City along with other treats. In addition, two runners-up will be chosen to receive a cash prize of $200 each, while selected submissions will be showcased on the LD.org Web site and showcased at the annual benefit dinner of the society.
The competition is open to all children, teens and adults with LD. But there is not a lot of time left to enter. The deadline is February 8th. So if you, or someone you know, might be interested, go to
http://www.ncld.org/content/view/1104/456150/
for further information.
As parents know only too well, higher education in our country is expensive and becoming more expensive each year.
At the same time, modern nations know that if they are to have a productive population, they need to have a highly educated citizenry. That is why Ireland, over a decade ago, abolished tuition fees for all citizens in the European Union. This has been one of the key factors in the phenomenal economic transformation that has taken place in that country.
But back to the USA. Continue
reading "Is College in Your Child's Future?" »
We've been told a lot about the problems stemming from the American diet. But, as always, a picture is worth a thousand words. Through these beautiful images, we can see in brilliant color, how far we've come in relying on processed foods and how spectacularly attractive natural fresh food is.
Of course, none of this should affect the feasts you are going to have during the holiday season. But perhaps these images will lead you to actions that will expand food supplies to those in need--in our nation and abroad.
And once the holidays are past, perhaps you'll turn back to these photos and let them lead you to some New Year's resolutions about revamping the family fare. (The photos you will be seeing are the work of Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio. I encourage you to visit their site to check out their other great photography and photo projects -
http://www.menzelphoto.com/
Continue
reading "Some Amazing Images of Families Fare Around the World" »
A major issue in modern day life is the growing number of serious health problems besieging children and their families. Asthma, autism, attention deficit disorder are only a few of the worrisome syndromes that are on the rise.
Health professionals and environmentalists are trying to determine the reasons for the increase. One area that is increasingly in the spotlight involves industrial chemicals. They include chemicals used in clothing, cleaning products, furniture--to name just a few. These substances are so inextricably woven into our lives that we are generally not aware of them.
But, in line with a recent CNN headline, it is clear that we ought to be. The headline read Tests reveal high chemical levels in kids' bodies It showed not simply that the chemicals are accumulating in our bodies. It also showed that children often have chemical exposure levels that are massively higher than those of their parents. This news is particularly disturbing since children up to six years old are most at risk. Their vital organs and immune system are still developing and hence they are far more vulnerable to environmental dangers. Continue
reading "Knowledge Can Be Upsetting--But It Can Also Be Empowering" »
Parents today are keenly aware of how important early environment is determining a child's future development. They rightly put in lots of time and effort into providing the caring environment that children need if they are to flourish.
But, as always, there are exceptions to the rule. A few decades back, James Anthony, a child psychiatrist, focused on the exceptions when he proposed the idea of the "invulnerable child." Here he was referring to the small, but amazing group of children who are raised by mentally ill mothers. While most of their peers in comparable situations suffer greatly, these children end up as super-competent. Their resilience is remarkable and like the Cinderella story, it gives hope that we can overcome what appears to be an awful destiny.
Last week, we saw a real life version of the story in one of the men who are awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. His name is Mario Capecchi.
Continue
reading "The Invulnerable Child and the Nobel Prize--Where's the Connection?" »
Laptops are a fabulous tool. But precisely because they are so useful, students rely on them more and more. A recent report from the Guardian newspaper in England shows that this is leading to some problems. Specifically, students who regularly use laptops are being found to have persistent neck, back, shoulder and wrist pain. Continue
reading "Laptops Can Sometimes Be a Pain" »
The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) announced an art contest that is open to students nationwide from preK to grade 12. The contest theme is “Education and My Future†and the goal is to give children the opportunity to let us see education through their eyes. The deadline for entries is November 1, 2007.
You can get additional information at http://www.sedl.org/artcontest/SEDL_ArtContest.pdf. Questions about the contest may be emailed to contest@sedl.org.
The message you just read is, at the very least, disturbing. And coming, as it does, from a reliable newspaper, the Guardian in England, it's not one that can easily be dismissed.
But knowledge is power. And the article offered lots of valuable information for parents on what is happening and what they--and you--might do.
· Continue
reading "Danger to Children from Food and Drink Additives is Exposed" »
These days, it’s common to hear people voicing a sense of hopelessness about their power to influence what is happening in our nation. At the same time, the complaints are somewhat ironic since so many of our fellow citizens do not use the power they do have. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, only sixty-four percent of the eligible population voted in the 2004 presidential election.
You can see the importance of voting if you have been following the debate on the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law. NCLB was enacted in 2001 with overwhelming bipartisan support. It was designed to bring every student to proficiency by 2014. It did so by requiring states to administer standardized tests and by punishing schools where scores do not rise.
It has led to an incredible number of problems. Continue
reading "You Can Make a Difference!" »
My work with children brings me into steady contact with parents who are savvy about health issues and keen to provide the best for their families. So I have become accustomed to a scenario that often follows their answering a call on their cell phones. As they start to put the device away, they stop and ask, "By the way, do you know anything about the safety of these things? I've heard a lot of stuff but I just don't know."
If you are one of those parents, there is a new website that you will find to be an invaluable resource--for understanding not only cell phones but the many other electrical devices that pervade our lives. It is http://www.bioinitiative.org and it offers the BioInitiative Report.
Don't be put off by the title which has a lot of heavy sounding multi-syllable words ( A Rationale for a Biologically-based Public Exposure Standard for Electromagnetic Fields). It has been designed to contain a section specifically aimed at the general public. Here is some of the opening material from that section: Continue
reading "Your Cell Phone! Have You Been Wondering About How Safe It Is?" »
Those were the frightening words used by Susan Goodkin and David Gold in their Washington Post article describing the way No Child Left Behind--the new educational law of the land--is leaving gifted children behind. They document the steady bleeding of the best and the brightest students from public schools as their parents place them in private schools.
Their actions are easy to understand. The new law essentially forces teachers to focus their efforts on bringing the lowest students to minimum proficiency. Just by itself, the ensuing neglect of the brightest students represents a massive problem. But things are even worse. Continue
reading ""Disastrous Consequences of No Child Left Behind"" »
If you're from Australia, the title of this piece is likely to make you feel right at home. Otherwise, you're probably at a loss. But as you will see, like many of its kind, this metaphor succinctly captures a central theme.
It was introduced to me by colleagues with whom I was working "down under." They wanted me to understand their social dynamics and they felt that this expression would go a long way towards that goal. In a few words, it taps directly into the strong egalitarian streak in Australian society. That's where the tall poppies come in. Continue
reading "Are We Cutting Down the Tall Poppies?" »
Parents frequently try to get their children to read by telling them “how good†that activity is for them. Of course, children aren’t much influenced by the message. They see it primarily as a “sell job†to get them to do something they do not want to do.
But now a study of lead smelter workers provides evidence that what the parents have been saying actually has merit. Continue
reading "Reading Protects the Brain! It Really IS Good For You" »
When Mark Twain was writing his masterpieces, the term attention deficit disorder (ADD) did not exist. Nevertheless, his Tom Sawyer creation was an ideal candidate for this category. And the difficulties he forced his Aunt Polly to deal with are much like those that today's parents confront.
Happily, parents can now breathe a well-earned sigh of relief. For years, the focus has been on the dire outcomes that loom in these kids' future. The typical report stressed how adolescence was likely to bring delinquency, drugs, alcohol and other woes. But the results of a recently completed three year study at Columbia University show that most children treated for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder improve greatly within a few years.
Continue
reading "Nice News for Parents of the Tom Sawyers of the World" »
Many years ago, when I was a student in England, Europeans typically looked with envy at the American students. They stood out in any crowd because they were so tall and slim. Now several decades later, all that has changed and changed dramatically.
Two historians John Komlos and Benjamin Lauderdale have recently come out with a paper showing that while Americans were the "tallest in the world between colonial times and the middle of the 20th century,...we have now “become shorter (and fatter) than Western and Northern Europeans. In fact, the U.S. population is currently at the bottom end of the height distribution in advanced industrial countries."
Height is a significant barometer of the health of a population. Continue
reading "America Comes Up Short" »
Parents of children in special education know well that if their children are to get the best services possible, they have to become strong and effective advocates. If you are in that group, you may be interested in COPAA, the Conference of Parent Attorneys and Advocates, that will be presented from March 1-4, 2007, in Baltimore, Maryland. It is focused on developments in the law, advocacy training, and strategic approaches to planning that meet government regulations. You can learn more about this important topic at http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/
Hi!
Welcome to my new blog where I will be posting news about my reading program, as well as other education news and sites that I think are exciting. The vision that guides my work is that every child can be a successful reader and writer and I will do everything I can to bring parents and educators the news and information they need so that this vision can become a reality. I'll let you know what's new on the site, and also point you to advice and information that our users of the program have been providing me about ways to enhance the use of the Phonics Plus Five.
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