Child Learning Styles
Many homeschool parents ultimately end up designing their own homeschool curriculum for their child. Tailoring the learning process to match the child's learning style. For those who have worked through this process somewhere along the way came to the realization that when it comes to homeschooling one size definitely does not fit all. But that's ok! After all in the end, probably the greatest single benefit to homeschooling is the fact that you can tailor the homeschool education to fit the motivational profile of your child. The key concept in the last sentence is the motivational profile. What motivates your child to learn? What is the child's learning style? This is a key concept that you must come to understand in order to insure maximum homeschooling results.

An important aspect to understand about learning styles of the children is that ultimately the learning style of your child is probably more of an eclectic mix ofdifferent styles rather than one that you could classify neatly and put in a box. Learning is greatly influenced by motivation. And what motivates can be directly influenced as the mood for the day, and the fatigue level or lack thereof.

There are several identifiable types of child learning styles as identified educational scholars. It is out of the scope of this article to go into each of these categories. However, it is important that you have at least a high level understanding of these different types of learning styles. Knowing of these and having a decent understanding of them will aid greatly in your curriculum decisions as you first begin to understand what type of learner your child is.

A bit of research on the internet will bring you back much information on the different types of child learning styles and how to recognize and tailor a program that best fits the style. The idea is to work to determine how you child learns then fine tune your curriculum to make use of that learning style. Accomplishing this will create an motivation filled environment. And motivation to learn set sails in the right direction.

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Learning Spanish Part Ten : Even More Horsing Around
There are two additional courses that I recommend. In fact, they are so effective that these, along with The Learnables, I credit with helping on my road to a high degree of spoken fluency. These courses are Pimsleur Spanish and Learning Spanish Like Crazy. Without this trio of courses I would not be where I am today linguistically living in Mexico for going on five years.

These are two of the most popular home study courses that, if you believe the press put out by the folks at Learning Spanish Like Crazy, are in competition with one another. I don't think that the case, however, you will hear all manner of references to Pimsleur as "out-dated" or "teaches vocabulary that is no longer used." Neither is true.

While the methodology the courses use is virtually the same, Pimsleur definitely and unashamedly teaches a vocabulary that is used in formal settings in Spanish speaking countries. I have found what I learned very useful in Mexico, where I live, in situations in which I am with more educated Mexicans. But, when I hit the streets, the stores, the parks, Pimsleur fails me. That's where Learning Spanish Like Crazy comes in. Its approach or "slant" is in attacking the more vernacular or common street Spanish, and I might add, does a very good job. I was floundering until I graduated from Pimsleur to Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

Pimsleur, I think, is the best one to begin with then graduate onto Learning Spanish Like Crazy.

You should do these two courses. You should do them after The Learnables and before entering into a formal class setting whether in your home country or going to a country for a study abroad stint.

Here's the science behind the courses:

Principle of Anticipation - This memory technique will lead you through the listening and repeating of the native speakers on the CD's in such a way that you will know the answer when the narrator asks you how to say something you worked on two or three minutes previously.

Graduated Interval Recall - This step is to build a "Speech Center" in your brain. You don't know you are doing it but soon you don't think about it, you just know what the Spanish word is.

Core Vocabulary - In both courses you develop the vocabulary you need to begin like a first grade native speaker.

Organic Learning - You will be learning the grammar and vocabulary much in the same way as you did as a child learning your native language. There will be no mechanical memorizing of anything and soon you will have the language ingrained into your being.

What needs to be pointed out here is that you should go through each of these courses, The Learnables, Pimsleur Spanish, and Learning Spanish Like Crazy multiple times. This will imitate the same thing which happened in the mastering of your native language-repetition- and will become True Immersion in the language.

Remember that True Immersion is: " Older learners who have been exposed to a translation system rather than an immersion system are suspicious of an immersion system because it is not widely used. Furthermore, they seek translation that keeps them in the English way of thinking, preventing the second language from developing independently from the first language. Immersion systems have as their goal the elimination of internal translation.

Furthermore, immersion systems provide the individual with authentic second language, enabling the person to achieve native-like fluency in the second language. For example, when we say the alarm clock went off (rather than on) we do not challenge the phrase as native speakers. When we say the house is on the river (rather than next to the river) we accept the phrase because we know its meaning. " (Harris Winitz, Ph.D. Language Development, K.C., Mo.)

NEXT: Taking Classes in Spanish

3
Children Learning To Play Golf
Children are learning golf in school. Most schools recognize golf as a sport and have golf teams. They teach the kids the art of golfing with instructional videos and professional lessons. Parents sometimes send their children to golf schools if they express an interest in playing golf. Golf is a family sport if you want it to be. Besides learning school and at private lessons, some parents start their children off on the driving range and teach them what they know. More and more children are participating in golf and becoming leaders in the field. Look at Tiger Woods. He started early and is a young golf pro.

If you start golfing early enough in life and continue to improve your game, you can become the next Tiger Woods. It takes dedication and practice to become a pro and anyone can do it with the right teacher and determination to become the best. Golfing does take skill. You have to have distance, which comes from you stance and swing. You need to be able to judge the distance to the green while avoiding any bunkers and water holes. Trees are another obstacle to avoid. Even the bet golfers can slice a ball and send it flying off course.

Many golf courses have children's golf leagues during the golfing season with tournaments and competitions. This helps kids improve and learn different techniques to improve their game. While playing as a child they are essentially grooming themselves for future golf tournaments and competitions. The game of golf has become a sport that kids who do not like football or basketball can play and receive credit for in school. If you belong to a school team, this counted as a credit for your gymnastics class in some states.

You can buy accessories and golf clubs for children. As a child grows, they need to find clubs that fit them better. You always need to have the right size clubs for playing golf or you could hurt yourself as well as not play a good game. To buy golf clubs, you need to visit a pro shop or even a sporting store and try the club on for size. Just because you think the club is the right size, it may not feel comfortable when you swing. The shaft flex and the grip are important factors when buying a new club. The younger you are, you can probably use a shaft with less flex than what someone older would use.

When you are learning to play golf as a child, you will spend a great deal of time learning the basics. Scoring, swinging, stance and terminology before you actually start a game. Once you have the basics, you start learning to improve your swing, how to improve your distance and the precision needed when hitting the golf ball. A child learning to golf is nothing new, it is just becoming more popular today because of other young pro's that encourage kids to take up the game.

4
Child Globes - The Gift Of Learning
Give your child the chance to hold the world in their hands when you give them a child globe for their room. Globes encourage learning, exploration and travel to the far reaches of our planet. It has never been easier to spark a child's imagination than with the wonder of the world.

Sure you could go to the local discount store and find a globe, but if you shop online you'll have the chance to browse the largest selection of what the world of child globes has to offer. And you'll be able to find the best prices and save.

Choose from globes that light up, globes that show elevation and globes of the night sky. There are globes that display more than 100 different drawings of animals, produce, monuments and special features of individual countries and regions. And there are globes that clearly distinguish political boundaries making it easy to follow political events.

Child globes also vary in color from various shades of blue to creams and even chrome, so finding one that your child young or old will admire has never been easier. You can even choose ones that are clear acrylic or crystal. Some you can plant herbs in to create a living globe or use as a unique candy jar.

No matter what type of globe you are looking for you'll find it online. With a globe in their room or on their desk you'll encourage your children to learn and explore the world around them. Show them where political events are unfolding from Darfur to Iraq. You can unlock the mystery of where things are taking place, how far they are away with a globe.

Is your child learning French or Spanish? If so you can give them a globe with everything labeled in either of these languages so they can learn two subjects at once; foreign language and geography. They say teach your children well and that has never been easier than with a child's globe.

From oceans and continents to countries and cities, mountains and valleys to poles and equators you can see it all on a globe. And your child will realize what a small world it is after all.

Now you know that child globes encourage children to learn more about the world around them. As they grow they mark off places they wish to visit or places they have already been. When they here talk of events in other countries they'll know where they are and what their capital city is too.

During our lifetimes we never stop learning. Every day we discover things that we didn't know the day before. From the main export of Argentina to the location of the Pyrenees and the place where Columbus stepped ashore and where Magellan passed through on his way around the world, you can see it all on a globe. So give your child a gift they will cherish their whole life through. Child globes open the door to knowledge and discovery.

5
The Truth About Living Your Purpose For Small Business Owners
In the popular press these days, a dominant theme is about living your purpose. The articles usually ask "Are you passionate about what you're doing earning an income?" One thing about living your purpose or your passion for that matter is that living your purpose can really get ugly at times.

When you live a life on purpose you might appear selfish to the people around you. That's because purpose is about unleashing the quiet giant inside of you. That giant wants to give to the world something that tends to be larger than life. The famous comic book writer Stan Lee said "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"

You have to have an immense amount of love inside yourself to let your purpose come to life. When you peek at your purpose, you know that it must happen. It's a glimmer that sparks all great businesses, big and small. You are passing through you, the gift that was lovingly implanted in you at conception from the glorious universe. But you live in the everyday mundane world of hard cold realities.

All around you, you'll find well meaning people who say they absolutely support you living your purpose. (As long as they aren't inconvenienced by it.) Nobody tells you a purpose has a lifecycle to it. Only other people living their purpose know this cycle. But they even have a hard time articulating it. They will share the glory side of it and that there is no better way to live. But they won't share the phases.

Here is the hard reality I have uncovered. There is a germination phase, the assimilation phase, the achievement phase and maturity. Here's the real kicker, until you reach the third phase, you can face a lot of emotional and economic hardship. You may find that no one who knows you, will really understand you. So let me ask again "do you want to live a life of purpose?"

I don't want to scare you out of living a life of purpose. Quite the opposite, once you enter the world of living on purpose it is a Pandora's Box that can't be closed. You are a child learning to walk with everyone around you saying with a big smile (yeah right) "you can do it" while they sit on your shoulders or kick your feet out from under you any chance they can.

If you decide to create a small business from your passion you might hear a cacophony of remarks; "It can't be done", "just get a real job already" or "you can do it in your spare time". These torments only make you more determined to stand up, waddle and run. Because walking your purpose becomes the only thing controlling your existence!

So ask yourself, if you had no income coming in, would you still be doing the kind of work you are doing right now? Would you be able to endure everyone around you saying you are crazy doing what you're doing because at this moment they may see no income? Would you spend all you emotional energy and risk all your financial resources to live your purpose not knowing for certain a positive outcome? When you're on purpose there is no other choice and that's why others may not understand you. Talk to any successful business owner they'll tell you "Welcome to the world of small business."

Most people are working in a job that provides a suitable income and false safety. Yes, that's right suitable income. I specifically did not say sustainable. As soon as a JOB disappears the income stops. Suitable income is such that you have enough to pay the bills that you can't really afford. A sustainable income occurs even when you're sleeping.

What anyone who is living a life of purpose will tell you is that they can't imagine doing anything else. The amount of energy they put into their purpose creates a passion that creates even more energy. There is no working on purpose; it is only living on purpose. You get so much more than you give. "Purpose livers" will also tell you that the money takes care of itself. It does, once you abandon yourself to a "knowing" that everything will be OK and you dedicate yourself to accepting all your purpose has to offer. During the assimilation phase is when you begin to realize how to communicate your passion to others so they finally understand how your passion is about helping the world at large not a selfish lust for something.

When you reach the achievement phase of purpose, you may discover a sense of silliness and peaceful knowing that life has so much that's wonderful. A clarity falls into place and the tragedies of life are shaping tools that make life more humane. For those on the path, there is a cycle. All too often, the mature phase can introduce disharmony. But that too is part of the cycle to enter an even higher purpose with greater impact. The highest purpose is after all found when our life's activities outlive our life. And that all the lives we touched through our purpose are greatly enriched because we took a brief moment in history to love the sleeping giant within enough to teach it to walk, run and fly.

6
Paddles, Portages And Pings On Leadership
After 3 long days of a very intensive workshop in Toronto, a group of us decided to go canoeing for a day, up in Barre, Ontario (an hour north of Toronto) on the Nottawasaga River. It was a warm day, the water was warm, and no one else was on this pristine flat-water river winding through a protected swamp.

We had idyllic moments out of time, we had mishaps and laughs, and we had the slogs of carrying canoes and gear (called a portage) around logjams in the river more than a few times, as well the insufferable companionship of mosquitoes.

Why am I sharing this with you? I want to share some of the pings of the day, and the pings were all about leadership and the dynamics of leadership. It was reassuring and inspiring to see leadership arise from a number of different people in the group adding strength and depth all around.

Great leaders are always working on themselves. In this case, the leaders never stopped paddling. They led by example. In spite of the mosquitoes, they stayed focused on the objective of the day, 19 km through utter wilderness.

Exemplary leaders don't push or manage a lot. They problem solve, then inspire and motivate the team. You can be a strong leader without being impolite. When a canoe capsized, a leader didn't wait for the organizer to suggest it, a leader just handed people life jackets and said "Put it on", because it was the right thing to do. Another leader figured out how to recover, right and empty the canoe.

Leadership means learning to be bold without being a bully. To build your influence, you've got to walk the talk in front of your group, team, or clients. You've got to tackle the first problem, seize the moment and make quick decisions. In our case, it was a leader choosing the portages.

Leadership also means learning to develop humor - but without folly. It's OK to be witty but not silly, to have fun and be funny without being foolish. A leader's response to the first person getting dunked in the river was to put a positive spin on the slight mishap -- just like we all do for a baby learning to walk or a child learning to ride a bicycle. This leadership skill was brought out in many of our leaders later on the trip when we kept sinking into the mud, or shoes got stuck in the mud. One leader unabashedly sang old songs on the portages as a distraction from mosquitoes feasting on us.

Leaders are good at dealing with reality. They accept life as it is. This is not fatalism or the opposite of optimism. It's practicality. It's a constructive approach to the truth. On the river, when the mosquitoes and logjams got to us all late in the day, there was a dramatic switch in group dynamics. Leaders recognized what had to be done, picked up the pace and just did it without discussion, negotiation or complaining.

In the end, I think we had more fun and the adventure was more memorable because of the challenges that brought out the strengths in each of us. As leaders, we want to inspire the people around us to bring out their strengths too. So what adventure will you organize to inspire the people around you?

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Teach Your Kids French
Teaching your kid a new language can be extremely beneficial to them in the future. Just think of the opportunities it will open up in later life. They'll have a head start over other kids and it'll be an excellent addition to their college applications. We all know that kids pick new thing up much faster than adults, so now is the perfect time to help them learn French. Here are some suggestion that you may find helpful...

Is it hard to get you kids attention? Are they forever playing on their computers or listening to their ipods? Well, you can now find modern French tuition that's available as interactive Cdrom games that can played on their computers, and as MP3s for their Ipods. There's no point trying to get your kid to read text books that focus on difficult French grammar, they'll never stay focused long enough to take it all in. You have to move with the times and let your kid learn French using modern technology.

A great way to get you kid interested in learning a new language is to introduce them to French culture and customs. Don't worry, you don't even have to travel to France. A great alternative is to take them for their first French meal, or try cooking it yourself if you're up for a challenge. You could even take them to the movies to watch a French film. Why not get hold of some French music (on-line French radio or from your local library). The French are famous for their Hip Hop - I but your kids will love it!

There are many excellent French tuition courses around at the moment, some offer courses tailored to young children. This could be the prefect way to get your child learning French. Not only will they save you a lot of time and effort, but I'm sure you'll also learn or thing or two. These courses are extremely well structure and will move your child from the beginner to the intermediate stage in a few weeks.

Remember learning is fun. Try and make it as different to school as possible. Don't apply too much pressure, expect instant results or be afraid to give your child rewards for their learning effects. And above all don't forget, they also have pressures and homework from their school life. If your kids has an important exam coming up, then ease off on the French. It's not a race - your kid has the rest of his/hers life to learn French, so don't rush.

You see, learning doesn't have to be boring and all hard work - it can be fun if you know how. I hope my suggests help your kid learn French.

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Why Online Education Is More Important Than Food Or Drink
Focusing on the importance of online education is why I ask you to step back in time to when your children were babies. Remember when you taught them to talk/walk. Remember hearing babys first word like dada/mama one of the most pleasurable experiences in your life. Remember that special moment when baby took his/her first steps where you waited in anticipation to welcome them with open arms of which baby fell into after the third step.

Remember the time when your back was turned for a split second and baby had scaled the height of the staircase causing panic and hysteria. You would beg baby to stay put while you challenged those stairs at a pace beyond belief to secure babys safety.

Remember the nights you paced the floor trying to ease babys pains.

Can you remember what your child found important in their early years of growing up? Well let me remind you, it was their age. Numbers played an important role and meant so much to the children e.g. if you asked your child their age you got the exact figures like 5 years and 19 days old. Sense of power was given to the oldest of the street gang because the leader was 5 days older than contester.

If your child had a scuffle with another kid and come of the worst those words from mum/dad like well go hit them back were useless because you had the famous words thrown back into your face, I cant they are ten days older than me. So you see how important numbers meant to your child when growing up. Why change things now when they are even more essential than you could imagine.

Online education besides eating and drinking is the next best thing to survival.

Why is education more important than food and drink. Without it no decent meal on the table.

Caring for your teen the right way is to encourage them to further their education. Without doubt this will prove to be the best parental move you could ever make. If baby is still a toddler then nurture them with more knowledge. Remember as vital education is, children need to grow up in the way nature intended and that is to play and enjoy their childhood. There is no need to push more than necessary to force is not the answer. If your child is pushed then expect a rebellious unhappy child. Online education is this answer for this, depending on the age of the child learning programmes on the internet are carefully devised so baby gets to learn as well as enjoy.

Education has to be number one priority for all parents who want their child to succeed or at least have a chance in leading a comfortable life. It is sad to say without an education under your belt you get to stay at the bottom of any list for advancing forward. There are people who disagree with the system and how it works meaning no knowledge no hope. I also feel the same but hey think about it, it is not a bad thing to know a little more.

Just a reminder, we queue outside our home towns travelling hundreds of miles to keep a dental appointment. Patient lists as long as your arm is still on the increase for hospital treatment. And I am afraid the education system will be next when a time limit is imposed on when we can or can not further our education. Unless you do something fast expect to stand in that forever growing queue as long as the china wall to collect your social security

9
Self Help And Anger Management
People that get angered easily may need some effective means to control themselves and may thus need to look for a proper anger management technique that will answer to their needs to control them in situations that often gets well out of hand. With people having serious instances of anger management requirements the good news is that a number of different techniques with regard to self help anger management are available to fight off this condition.

Counseling From Therapists - Among the many self help anger management techniques available is the one that requires taking counseling from therapists, and there are also very many books written on the subject to enable a person to utilize the knowledge gained by reading such literature on the subject and create their own self help anger management techniques that will work well for them.

There is also anger management courses which is a means very often used by people that wish to get more in-depth help from experts regarding controlling their anger, and it also affords those suffering from anger to interact with fellow sufferers and thus can gain valuable insights as to how self help will make them overcome such problems and so should incorporate such techniques in order to bring their anger under control. Self help also means the sufferer is able to avail of support as well as understanding from others, and in this regard family members are the persons the sufferer must need to turn to when requiring the necessary understanding and support and once given, also helps ensure that the situation is not further aggravated.

Also, anger management problems are not just confined to adults; but, can affect children as well and it is not uncommon for children that behave well to also be affected by anger that was not evident earlier. It is up to the parents to provide the child with proper guidance and should expend their energies to help in contributing to the child learning self help anger management techniques and so, overcome the behavioral problems.

It is also common for sufferers to find self help from other resources besides their parents, and taking to performing yoga as well as meditation is just one instance of how a self help anger management technique can help overcome the problem. Other methods for self help include reading up books as well as listening to audio books on the subject, and with a few more available alternatives, it is possible for the sufferer to find an ideal method of self help to help get rid of the problem of anger.

10
How Preschool Songs Help Your Child Learn
We have all had the experience of listening to the radio when a song comes on that you haven't heard in 10, 15, or 20 years. But right away you start to sing along like you heard it yesterday, you don't miss a single word. Amazing right. Well not really. You probably heard it a hundred times in it's hay day. Repetition.

Kids are no different. Those songs like Wheels on the Bus and The Itsy Bitsy Spider help your child learn simple concepts through repetition. Singing along to these simple songs helps them to become familiar with new words and concepts. The Old McDonald song helps young children learn the sounds that animals make and there are songs that help with numbers and colors.

Singing also helps young children feel confident and less shy around the other children. And when you add fun hand motions and wiggles to the song the kids really come to life. And if you really want to add some spice, give children some simple musical instruments. Tamboreens, bells and bongos and kazoos are very easy for children to use and they absolutely love to play them. Exposing them to music at an early age is will encourage their love for music as they grow.

Music is a magical gift that should nourished and cultivated at an early age, especially now that scientific evidence proves that

children who have been exposed to music at an early age make better math and science students later on. Medical and health-care research has also shown evidence that there is a link between music and singing and good health and healing. Children that sing are less likely to be overly stressed and have a more positive emotional profile.

The evidence is compelling that music and singing have a positive impact on all aspects of child learning and development.

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Is there really such a thing as hypnosis?
Most people that come to see me for the first time think they are going to meet someone who is a bit weird. They wonder who this person is that does this magical and mystical thing called hypnosis.

The fact is, there are no special powers to Hypnotherapy. Hypnosis is no more than deep relaxation, a very natural therapy. Due to this misconception and the fact that hypnosis can be very affective in helping people make changes in their lives, they expect something strange and magical to happen.

Unfortunately, the belief that hypnosis is magical and mystical frightens a lot of people away from hypnotherapy, which is a shame as it means they do not get the chance to see if it might help them.

It is very understandable that people may be a little concerned about hypnotherapy. The thought that they will lose consciousness, not know what is going to happen and that the hypnotist will be able to control their mind, making them do things against their will, is indeed a frightening thought.

So what is hypnosis? Hypnosis is just very deep relaxation. When hypnotised you are fully conscious at all times. You are aware of things going on around you and you cannot be made to do anything against your will.

In a normal state of mind something stops you from being able to do things you want to do, however, Hypnotherapy can help you to do the things you usually find difficult in your everyday life. This could include stopping unwanted habits or even fear of certain things.

Many people wonder what it "feels" like to by hypnotised. Well, there is no such thing as a hypnotised "feeling". All you feel is extremely relaxed. When hypnotised you will enter a trance like state. Trance states are not magical or mystical. We all go into trance states many times in a day, either when we are reading, watching television, day dreaming, or even when we are driving.

Yes, we often go into a state of trance when driving. Anybody who has been driving for sometime will have had occasions when they can't remember driving past that roundabout or have had no recollection of taking a corner or going through a village or town. They have been in a trance state, but they must have been fully conscious, fully awake and aware to have driven safely. It is that type of trance that you enter when hypnotized. Fully conscious but very relaxed.

So, if hypnosis is not spiritual or magical how can it help so many different people with so many different problems?

A lot of the problems people have come from a feeling from within. Therefore, the feelings that will change that problem will also have to come from within.

Whilst in that relaxed state called hypnosis we can learn how to see things in a different way. We can learn how to change negative feelings to positive ones.

All we need to overcome a problem is the belief we can overcome it. If we think of a child learning to ride a bike, all the time he believes dad is holding the saddle he can ride the bike, even if dad has let go, but as soon as he realises no one is supporting him he becomes unstable.

The role of hypnosis is to enable you to have the belief that you can overcome a specific problem through what is known as auto-suggestion.

So there we have it. There is nothing magical or mystical in hypnosis, it's all in the mind.

12
Memphis Schools Challenged To Bridge Language Gap
Educators in Memphis Schools have strong opinions about the 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act that will soon be up for renewal. So do most Americans. A recent Scripps Howard poll reported that two thirds of Americans want to have the act either rewritten or revoked completely. The poll found that those most familiar with the law were the most likely to be opposed to it.

The reasons for this are echoed in the halls of Memphis Schools. With the goal of setting higher standards of accountability for public schools NCLB issued a number of unfounded mandates that have challenged Memphis Schools. The most pressing is the requirement that all children will test at proficient levels on state exams by 2014.

This standard is especially difficult for Memphis Schools because of the large numbers of English Language Learners (ELL) that the district educates. Tennessee ELL students generally test between 40-50 percentage points behind white students in reading, and 20-30 point behind in math. While its not surprising that a child learning a new language will have more difficulties than a native speaker, the fact that these children are expected to take exams in English to be allowed to pass is very distressing to many of Memphis School's educators. Language experts claim that it takes 5-7 years to gain proficiency in a new language. But for the ELL students in Memphis Schools who take these exams starting in 3rd grade, they don't get that much time.

According to the 2006 Tennessee Report Card Memphis Schools were able to move a majority of ELL students to a proficient rating in both math and reading. While this is welcome news, it doesn't remove concerns that ELL students still experience an achievement gap that outpaces that of other minorities in both the Memphis Schools and the nation. The Pew Hispanic Center of the Pew Charitable Trusts cites 3 reasons for the learning gap in both Memphis Schools and the nation. It claims that ELL students are likely to: attend low achieving inner-city schools, come from minority or disadvantaged families, and have experienced a "traumatizing migration."

One reason that Memphis Schools have such a large ELL population is that the Catholic Resettlement Program brings many into the city each year. Tennessee's urban districts, like Memphis Schools, currently have about 6,700 ELL students, and gain 500 more each year.

What can Memphis Schools do to bridge the gap and prepare students for the high stakes testing to come? Like the rest of the country Memphis Schools are implementing a number of initiatives to address class size, teacher shortages, lack of funding, and the achievement gap. Memphis Schools currently offer an English as a Second Language (ESL) Summer Intervention Program. Some Memphis Schools educators would like to see exemptions written into the NCLB law for ELL students and children with individual educational plans. But there are also those in the Memphis Schools who feel that the only way to truly raise standards is to set a bar that is desirable, but difficult. Essentially, it will be a decision made at the national level that will continue to have a dramatic impact on the Memphis Schools.

13
Learning About Child Learning
Being an effective teacher one's child begins first with knowing how you child learns. Getting a grasp on your child's learning characteristics is essential to homeschooling success. What is your child's learning ability levels? Motivation is also an important aspect. What motivates your child to learn? Knowing the pieces of your child's learning style come together to make up the learning environment. A child's learning activity is as diverse as each one's personality. As you can see, a one size fits all approach isn't going to be conducive to a dynamic learning environment.

In the beginning the best way to learn about how your child learns is to observe everything they do in their daily activities. Take notes, written or mental on how the child learns and approaches new learning situations. For instance, do they appear to learn more by touching and feeling, do they seem to learn more by drawing or expression? Do they learn by watching or doing? Today there are many child development tools, books, and software available on various types of learning styles to you to get you going in the right direction. Do some online searchesregarding child learning, learning activities, children's learning tools, child learning websites.... That type of criteria. You'll find much information on all types of learning.

An often little thought of aspect to children's learning is what time of day does the child learn best. When is their peak learning times? This is particularly more in play with younger children.

Again all of this discussion and now research that you have done is circling back to creating an optimal learning environment for you and your child. Knowing how they learn. What motivates children to learn? When do they learn best? All of these come under the heading of learning style. It's important to know how to break the areas down into specific knowledge for yourself to insure that you create that highly effective learning environment so the learning experience for both you and your child is a wonderful road filled with much joy and discovery!

14
Best Home Based Business For Career Women
Career women have what other women do not have: a deep knowledge of their profession. This they can convert into information by publishing it on the web, then convert that content into targeted traffic and income.

The following information will assist career women to start a "customized" internet based home business. The best of the best home based business.

(1) Start From Your Career/Work Experience: Don't look outside, look inward. Your career information is your product. Your work experience has already equipped your to be a net consultant. All you need is the know-how and the right tools. You don't even need much money to start.

(2) Brainstorm Your Career-related Profitable Topics: Search for keywords and key phrases, which are often searched upon but are rarely targeted by websites. Your career itself may not be a profitable topic.

For example: If you are a teacher, surfers may not search for teachers or teaching, but they may look for related topics like career counseling, best school program for kids, improving child learning ability, building right attitude to learning, etc These are information that a teacher can easily provide. Once you locate a profitable topic make it your site theme or concept.

(3) Build A Website For Your Profitable Topic/Site Theme: For you to have a successful internet based home business you need a professional-looking website.

You don't need to have a prior knowledge of this(no html, or programming knowledge), with a multi-purpose business building tools like SiteBuildIt you can do site building, site hosting, site marketing, etc at one-single-minimum price.

(4) Get Free Targeted traffic With Good Content: When you follow the steps above, and with the right tool. You don't need to do any advertisement, people will look for you because you are providing the information they want.

The secrets?, don't write sales letters, provide good, quality, hard-to-ignore info on your well-known subject.

Develop trust and confidence by writing with your visitors best interest in mind. Identify their problems and identify why your solutions is the right solution.

You will build the best of home based businesses by this act of "preselling." You can get the book "Make Your Content To Presell" by Ken Envoy to help you in this area.

Most surfers look for information from search engines, so write to make your contents search engines friendly so that it is included in the top 10-20 results. the right business-building tool can do this for you.

(5) Turn Your Traffic Into Revenue: Smoothly introduce your site visitors to your revenue offers, these are products, services that help your site visitors to get the solutions that they seek, and to also generate multiple streams of income for you. They must include:

(a) Google Adsense:Visitors click on your Google Ads, generating money for you.

(b) Affiliate Programs of merchants who sell related goods or services to your theme.

(c) Referrer/finder Arrangements: Special offers for offline business.

(d)Other models for your long term goals(ex., e-goods, etc).

With these steps and the right tools you concentrate on doing what you love, generate multiple streams of income and build the best of home based businesses.

15
The Joy Of Piano Improvisation
If you have never experienced the fun and joy of improvising on the piano, then you are missing out on a great experience. Imagine an artist who does not know how to draw or paint without tracing or copying another's work.

That is unheard of. Yet, many piano players lack the ability to improvise on the piano! This is caused by years of rigid piano lesson/structure and a lack of proper guidance.

Many piano players rely on sheet music to be able to play, which would be like an artist only copying another's art work and never creating something unique. Improvisation is a fun process. It enables the pianist to bring out the latent potential of creativity and expression inside them.

One thing that will help any piano player to improve on the art of improvisation is to allow unstructured creative time during one's piano practice hours.

Time to just sit down and make up music on the piano is crucial. No agenda, no structure, no goals to accomplish. This process is extremely important in the world of piano playing.

In order to allow the inner expression to come out, one needs to let it reveal itself. A good example of this is in how young children play piano. If you can observe a child learning the piano do so. Very often, young children are able to reach a creative and fun play "scheme" without any guidance at all. Similarly, any piano player should allow 15-30 minutes of "free play" without worrying about hitting the wrong notes.

Traditional piano lessons emphasize the ability to read notes. Reading ability is no doubt one of the most important skills any piano player can possess. This emphasis, however, has created some "lopsided" players who can only play piano by reading. Eventually this type of player will lose their interest and passion for music.

Many young children drop out of piano lessons as a result of struggling with music reading. Children who are younger than 5 or 6 are discouraged from traditional piano lessons due to the fact that they cannot yet read musical notes properly.

Music is commonly referred to as a "language." There are many ways of learning language. Young children master the language skill by frequently talking and interacting with their peers and care-takers as well as imitating other people. The ability to read comes a little later in their life. A similar approach needs to be taken to foster the love of piano music among young children. Sometimes by just allowing young children to make up music on the piano without placing emphasis on playing the correct notes can be just as important.

16
Raising Bilingual Children: What Are The Drawbacks?
I speak Swedish and my husband's native language is English. When we had our two children, we had no doubt that we wanted to raise them with equal access to both languages. Now, years later, when I've made promoting multilingual child-raising not just my avocation, but my vocation as well, people ask me for the straight story, warts and all. "What is the difference, raising bilingual children?" "What do you wish you knew before you got started?"

It's clear to most of us that speaking multiple languages is a good thing, and learning multiple languages in the early years is a nearly effortless means to fluency. Your multilingual child will have a head start in schools during a time when more and more of them are requiring a foreign language. And once your kid knows two languages, the move to three, or four is much easier.

Counter-intuitively, the effects of growing up bilingually include superior reading and writing skills in both languages, as well as better analytical, social, and academic skills. Parents who are themselves involved in high level careers are already well aware that professional prospects abound for those with fluency in multiple languages. So, that all sounds well and good, but what are the real drawbacks?

1 Delay. Multilingual children tend to speak a little later than their peers. Although there is no solid scientific evidence to suggest a delay in speech, anecdotally there is a real sense among parents that multilinguals start talking three to six month later than monolingual children. If you think about it, it makes sense that a child learning two or more language systems might take more time, since they are actually learning twice as many words. But rest assured, even if your child did not walk at nine months, eventually he ended up walking just as well as those precocious ones. The same thing holds true for language, even when you are talking about more than one. Guaranteed!

2 Mixing. Children learning two languages often slip back and forth between them, mixing up their words. This can disturb the parents, but can be even more alarming to the uninitiated. No worries. This tendency will pass once the child has built a large enough vocabulary -- around the age of four or five. Remember monolingual three year olds often struggle to find the right word, and for that matter, adults don't always find it easy to express themselves effectively. In some ways, the multilingual kid has an advantage -- if he can't think of the correct word in Vietnamese, for example, then he can say it in English. While the rest of us are speechless.

3 Effort. Perhaps the most easily overlooked drawback to taking the multilingual path is that it requires more effort on the part of the parents. Raising a multilingual child is a commitment. Much like piano lessons, you can't expect your little one to be a virtuoso overnight. Language learning is a long-term investment in your child and will require that you are able to provide enough language exposure. At times, you'll probably need to boost the second language and offer some extra encouragement. You'll need the persistence required to keep your family language rules as consistent as possible. But, if you can keep faith for the first four or five years while a solid language foundation is put in place, things get easier. Incidentally, the multilingual second child is a breeze, if your first child was raised that way. Your first will end up doing a lot of the work for you by simply being a natural chatterbox.

There's no doubt that multilingual children have more advantages, but it can feel a bit overwhelming to someone already struggling with diapers and feeding schedules; however, I have yet to meet a single parent who regretted the decision. But, the appreciation from your child, as usual, is probably another 20 years out.

17
Linking Music To The Heart Of A Child
Music is powerful and persuasive. It touches one's emotion, motivation, creativity and relaxation. It has the soothing effect that can calm our mental nerves. It inspires you to do something new and productive. It gives you ideas. It lulls you to sleep. The list is definitely endless.

Music is many things. It makes us happy, annoyed, melancholic, afraid and mad. Music is also for every one. It invades almost anything and everything. Different milieus have their own music to recollect. Various races and continents also enjoy distinctive music. Young and old alike take pleasure in it.

In every stages of life there will always be music for it is perpetual. In fact, there are unique types of music that caters to specific group of individuals. Rock and metal music cater to hyperactive music enthusiasts. Love, acoustic and pop songs blend well with lovers and emotional persons. For kids there is the children's music.

Children's music can give kids a magical experience. They can play roles with it. For a moment, they can be a pretty princess with a castle or a dashing knight in shining armor. They can simultaneously play musical instruments. They can dance and sing.

Music is entertaining most especially to children. Thus, even at the very young age they must be exposed to music. By doing so, kids develop their sense of adventure and discovery.

Aside from that, they can be knowledgeable about children's music lyrics. They can also develop the basic languages.

Children's music can also be treated as therapy. Application of children's music can treat some physiological and psychosocial elements of illness. Treatment is aimed for the acquisition of non-musical behavior by virtue of systematic musical methods.

Studies have proven that children with developmental delays and learning disabilities like Down's syndrome respond to music. Thus, exposure to music can boost response and expression. As a result, individual expressions and talents like singing and dancing can be discovered.

Children's music treats developmental delays and learning disabilities by drawing out movements. The latter develops self-awareness which can easily be manifested. Examples of these movements are gripping the beater, tapping a triangle, playing cymbals and drums and the likes.

The relationship between children's music and movement cannot be overemphasized. The rhythm of music creates the ideal stimulus that results to coordinated movements. These movements lead to repetition which is a mode of child learning.

Aside from entertainment and therapy, children's music is also a special kind of education. It develops the cognitive skills of children. Exposure to music stimulates learning about colors, numbers, shapes and parts of the body. As a consequence, though may not be the primary goal, it increases the child's intelligence.

Stimulation of cognitive abilities leads to multi-sensory development. The latter contributes to the ability of a child to retail information and be attentive to detail. As a result, the child becomes confident and clever.

Children's music can also develop the child's social skills. Usually, musical experiences are done in groups. Participants can sing in unison or one after the other. With this process, every one is encouraged to participate thus participants eventually become closer.

Children's music can be so powerful that it can develop both the intrapersonal and interpersonal aspects of a child. It simultaneously augments functional abilities at the same time the expressive and creative capacities of a child.

18
Starting Out The Technology Tutorials For Toddlers
An essential part in helping out the infants of today is providing the basic educational needs to help them in understanding various genres. The hardest people to teach today is perhaps the younger generation, since the start of their educational journey needs good roots to be able to connect the other parts of attaining and enriching their current knowledge. With the help of technology and advanced means of providing the necessary tools and objects in the form of toys and games, children have a better overview of understanding the basics of life and its possibilities.

It is never an easy task to educate children, and pushing them to lean towards technology enhanced software like child learning software will still need good tutorials and foundations usually on the part of adults and peers. A child cannot immediately be expected to adapt to the first hand exposure towards such available learning software. While they may find such interfaces as amusing, the immediate intent of the modules in them cannot be understood until they have started with the basic terminologies which gradually increase as they go along. The same approach is what usual learning software caters to. Starting from simple to advanced so that they degree of learning is met at the right levels.

Gaining the immediate interest of children is not an easy task. The usual attraction that most children would want would be through graphical images and familiar tunes that keep their attention focused on a particular object. Children cannot be expected to approach and understand programmed child learning modules today. This is why the proper attention towards varying parts of enhancing software learning has become one of the hardest approaches for infants. Identification of proper reaction and acceptance of children will be of utmost importance for such software programs to enhance and adopt the new manner of carrying out the learning process for kids.

Children would respond to interesting and known figures and graphics. With their attention locked on the objects that would usually capture their attention, putting such figures like cartoon characters and objects to work by acting as guides and symbols in most child learning programs is a good way of carrying out the itinerary of these developed software. With technology in tow, a lot of these have opened the doors to widen the effective ways of carrying out such educational standards towards young ages.

Preparing children for the expected enhancements towards educational attainment ahead lies heavily on the proper upbringing through the basics of learning at young ages. The transition phase that such younger generation of people contains is important since failure to do so would make them sophisticated as they grow older. Each level of learning carries certain points for understanding and this is what child learning software program modules adapt to. Moving on from one stage to another is critical since failure to digest them would mean a more complicated understanding of the higher levels of learning in actual learning and programming level standards of such offered software today.

19
Tutoring franchises & Educational Franchise opportunities
Are you a businessperson that is a natural with children? If so, learn more about having a tutor franchise or other child learning franchise. There is not much you can do that makes you feel better than doing work with children and their parents to make both their lives better. As the proud owner of a child franchise you do more than just make a good living. You also change lives. Instruction based franchises come in many different styles. For the person that wants a home based business, a tutoring franchise is probably a good business idea. For somebody that wants a more substantial business, and more money, then an education Franchise may fit better. No matter what you need, there exists a tutor or educational business for your personality.

One type of business income opportunity that is popular and that ususally does well is an in home tutor franchise. This type of education Franchise can be run as a simple one entrepreneur operation or can be controlled on a bigger scale with lots of teachers and educational professionals all working below the leadership of one franchise. This gives more options for the owner operator and gives the owner a larger range to provide tutoring services to. Instead of having only clients locally, a franchise owner can expand anywhere there is a tutor to choose from. One other benefit of Tutoring franchises is that they are usually cheaper than a bigger education franchise opportunity.

The other major type of educational business is the learning center tutor or education franchise. The emphasis on academic success has never had so much priority and the parents of these kids understand this and want their kids to do well. These training franchises are dedicated to helping kids do great in school and to assisting people that are trying hard but need some guidance. These kinds of franchises are an opportunity that helps the community, but also have a high profit potential. Parents trust these training and instruction franchise businesses because they have many years of outstanding results.

If owning a business helping little kids is what you want then look at a child development franchise opportunity. There are many to choose from with each specializing in a different area of child development. The Little Gym franchise works with young children to build motor skills by playing games and doing fun physical exercise. The Little Gym franchise is way more than a child care place and if you see one in person you'll see the kids are having fun.

If you really want to keep the business focused on education, but still would like to own an educational business, you can explore franchise investments like Kidzart. The kidz art franchise puts the emphasis on art in education. Kids like to express themselves through artistic modes, but due to cutbacks in art and music programs many children are not getting the chance. When you own and art franchise you are the one that brings out the art in the kids around you.

There are other tutoring and educational opportunities in franching that you can own. There are those that specialize in health and Fitness, others science, some math, and others in unique areas you have not thought of. Don't forget your skill set and what makes you happy. If you love art then one of the art education businesses may be a good selection for you. If you are good with numbers then a math tutoring business is probably a good choice. Whether you are interested in a home business opportunity or a larger business you can acquire it with an education franchise opportunity. When you as an investor buy a franchise you most likely want to possess it for a while, so ensure you decide upon a tutor or education franchise that is the very best for your personality type.

being around youngsters most often makes many people happy with their life. For someone that loves children but still would like to invest in a business then a child tutoring franchise or teaching business might be perfect. As the owner of a child franchise opportunity you will know that you are making the world better for kids while making your dream of owning a business a reality. You will notice the kids that you've worked with do better and better in school and make it in life and all of this happens while also investing in your future from your work. Recently more children have been born than at any other time and the need for good child education resources has never been better. Profit from these statistics and own your own educational or tutor franchise.