Saturday, September 3, 2011

Enrich Classroom Learning with Educational Magazines

Magazines created for elementary, middle school, and high school students are a great way to enhance core curriculum studies with current, up-to-date information. Periodicals have the ability to take into account current social trends among young people while reflecting the latest advancements in educational theory.

Between the "juvenile" and the "teen and young adult" categories, WritersMarket.com lists over a hundred magazines devoted to people under the age of eighteen; many of these are designed to meet the educational needs of kids at the same time that they entertain and inform. Science, math, history, social studies, art, archeology, sports, and literature are only a few of the topics covered. Adding some of these well-written, colorful magazines to the classroom can keep young people excited about school and learning.

Emphasize the use of magazines in your classroom.

Subscribing to a number of these magazines is a great first step; but you can do more to integrate the periodicals into your classroom. Some of the publishers offer free previews of upcoming issues and curriculum guides that allow you to plan your themes around specific issues. Beyond that, it's a good idea to announce the arrival of a new issue to your class, and even to give the students an overview of the contents of each issue. Consider checking with your school library to find books with content that enhances the material in the magazines, and display the magazines and books in your reading center. You may find that students will get really excited about certain issues and actually request more information on specific subjects, which will give you additional ideas about possible themes for future study.

Depending on your budget, you may be able to actually poll your students at the beginning of the school year to discover what magazines they would like to see in their classroom, and order the most popular requests. Even fashion magazines or automotive magazines, while not a reflection of the curriculum, will get your kids reading and will let you, the teacher, discover the interests of your students, and monitor to some extent the information these young people are exposed to. If you have the money in your budget, or if you can find a benefactor for your class, you may be able to subscribe to a magazine or two and receive enough copies for every student in your class - a great motivation for kids.

Offer magazines at different reading levels.

Every classroom has students at a variety of reading and maturity levels, and your collection of magazines needs to reflect that. Some magazines, such as Appleseeds Magazine, by Cobblestone & Cricket, have content suitable for older kids who may be struggling with reading. You may also have students who are way beyond their age level in terms of reading comprehension, and magazines are a great way to provide enrichment for these advanced students.

Stay connected to your students by staying relevant.

As young people mature, they crave more independence, both in their school careers and in social areas, and can pull away from adults whom they see as uncaring or not understanding of them. High-quality magazines and books attuned to both their educational needs and their desire to connect with today's world can help keep their school studies relevant and keep them connected to the educational process so important to their futures. By providing them with reading materials that reflect their concerns, their lives, and their interests, you will manage to keep that important connection to them as they grow and learn; perhaps more importantly, as they see you working to understand their world, they will feel more comfortable turning to you when they confront problems they feel unequipped to handle. Stay up-to-date on the information they're reading, stay relevant to their world, and you stay connected.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Myotherapy Schools

While there are several options in obtaining a myotherapy education, one has various options to enroll in a myotherapy educational institution or gain self-study lesson training and education through online learning or distance education programs.

Myotherapy schools offer training in specific trigger-point treatment that facilitates a variety of diagnostics and unique bodywork technique to effectively treat musculoskeletal disorders. Standard curriculums often include, of course, hands-on myotherapy training; in addition to students learning how to assess patients based on pathological conditions affecting muscle function; how to implement treatment plans by applying a variety of myotherapy techniques; and how to monitor and manage patient progress.

Myotherapy school courses may include but are not limited to introduction to massage therapy; anatomy and physiology; stress and pain related syndromes; massage therapy professionalism; acutherapy; hydrotherapy; mind-body interrelation; trigger-point therapy; kinesiology; polarity therapy; basic business skills; and other coursework relevant to myotherapy training.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

School Based Speech and Language Therapy

Growing up I remember certain times of the day specific children would leave our classroom. It was never talked about where the children were going we all knew they would be back before lunch time. Being a child some understand that a child speaks funny/different or that it takes awhile for him/her to finish his/her school work. But how does that child feel about being know as being "different"? Leaving the classroom for speech therapy or cognitive therapy. Children's feelings are pure and we as speech therapists don't want the children that we see feel singled out in any way.

Speech therapy in schools now is so much more different from 10-30 years ago. Some of the therapy is classroom therapy. Since almost all of a class needs to be seen for specific language development. Some children are seen one on one in the classroom as an aid to help the teacher understand how to present certain subjects to the speech children. Also, arranging the classroom in special ways aid many children who have not even been diagnosed with a speech/language challenge. That is a another important aspect of speech therapists in the classroom.

There is one on one and group "pull out speech therapy". This therapy room is usually known as the "speech room". How you present this room in your school is very imporant. It will make or break a child's decision to go into it or not.

So thank you for all those families who made the great decision to have their child in "speech therapy in schools". One more child in speech therapy in schools gives another child the comfort level that he/she needs to attend "speech therapy in school."

Friday, July 22, 2011

Higher Education Opportunities for Everyone

Higher education is something that many people would like to achieve, but that not all people believe is in their reach. You may think of higher education as limited to universities and colleges with campuses scattered around the country. If you don't live near one of these institutions, or you can't just take time away from your life to go to one, what are the best options that you have for higher education? Actually you have a wide selection of options in nearly every price range and to fit every schedule. There are community colleges, college extension programs, distance learning programs and online universities, colleges, and technical schools-all offer a great opportunity for higher education.

Community colleges are a great way to get a 2 year degree that will put you right into your career of choice, or give you the higher education foundation to go on to a 4 year school. If you are not sure what you want to do, this is a good, less expensive option and the entrance requirements may not be as strict as a university.

College extension programs are higher education programs offered in outlying or rural areas by colleges and universities to individuals who would like a four year degree, but cannot get to the university central campus. These courses carry the same weight as those offered at the main campus.

Distance learning is one of the newer options for those wanting higher education. Usually it is provided through a college or university as an online program. People can take courses to update their skills or even get degrees. Again, just as with the extension courses, these are at the same level as the courses offered on campus.

One of the newer higher education offerings is online colleges, universities and technical schools. There are hundreds on the internet. Many are accredited and offer degrees that are as highly respected as those offered at a traditional university. The advantage of this type of school is that you can start and stop whenever you need to. You can do your coursework on your own schedule. You will be able to interact with your professor and students through chat rooms and message boards. You don't have to get new housing or transportation. Just make sure that the program you sign up for is recognized by the field or career that you are going into as a legitimate program. You can get anything from an associate's to a doctorate and even a degree as a web designer.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Learn These Study Skills and You Can Expect Straight A's

By following these twelve tips, you will be guaranteed to get straight AAAAA's. Read each tip carefully.

1. Find a quiet area in your house in which you are comfortable and can isolate yourself from distractions. Be sure that this space includes a chair, table or desk, and sufficient lighting. Ask others not to disturb you while you are in this special location and turn off all phones, beepers, televisions, videos, music, or anything else that your mind will wander to instead of focusing on the schoolwork.

2. Find the best time to study. Some students tend to do their best work as soon as they get home from school while they are still in the school mode. Others need a break and don't settle down to study until after practice, playtime, a nap, dinner and/or family time. Just be sure to allow yourself enough time to get everything done and still get enough sleep each night.

3. Organize your day, week, month, etc. Set aside a specific time each day to do your homework and study. Decide on a reasonable minimum amount of time that you will spend in this quiet place each day. For instance, lets say you decide on 45 minutes as a reasonable amount of time to dedicate to schoolwork each day. This means that even if homework is completed in the first 35 minutes that you will still stay in this area and study or review notes for the next 10 minutes until the 45 is up.

4. Reward yourself for sticking to your schedule and being productive. Decide on an activity to do once your study time is completed. Plan on watching a television show later in the evening. Tell yourself that you will play five minutes of a video game for every fifteen minutes that you study. Create goals and their rewards before you start studying and work hard to reach them each and every day.

5. Variety is important. Vary the topics that you are spending time studying. Get the mandatory homework out of the way first and then go back and spend the additional time reviewing material from different courses each day. If you spent extra time reviewing history yesterday, spend the additional time on science tonight. Some subject areas may require more time than others. You should get a feel for this a month or so into the school year.

6. Study the difficult subjects first and get them out of the way. You will be able to absorb material quicker and make more connections when you are mentally fresh.

7. Take regular study breaks. This can also serve as a mini-reward. For instance, tell yourself that you are going to get a drink or snack or listen to a specific song after you finish re-copying your notes for science. Make the breaks short, 3-6 minutes or so, so you won't get side-tracked or lose focus for the day.

8. Don't just re-read notes or the text. Ask questions. Create flash-cards. Redo assignments. Create time-lines. Play games. Re-write your notes. Get someone to quiz you. Find websites online that review the same material. Make up questions that you think will be on the test. Create new outlines of the material by writing some specific topics and filling in the details from memory. Studying should be an active process, not just time spent re-reading something.

9. When you need to remember a group of terms use the first letter of each to create a word (acronym) or a sentence (acrostic). For instance, an easy way to remember the five Great Lakes is the word "HOMES". By just remembering the word "homes" you can easily remember the names of the five Great Lakes . H stands for Huron, O for Ontario , M for Michigan , and so on. You can also create silly sentences to help you remember long lists of terms. For instance, remembering the sentence "Martha Visits Every Monday, Just Stays Until Noon, Period", will help you remember the planets in the order they are found. M for Mercury, V for visits, E for Earth, etc.

10. Become a teacher. Find someone who is willing to listen to you -, a classmate (this would be a great review for them), Mom or Dad, a sibling, the family dog - and explain your notes to them. Have them (except the dog) ask questions about the material that they themselves don't understand. It's amazing how much you can retain when you have to actually teach material to someone.

11. Repetition, repetition, repetition. The material should become second nature to you by the time test day arrives. If it is not, then you need to devote more time to preparing for the test.

12. Exercise often and before you sit down to study. Research shows that students retain more after being physically active. Go to soccer practice, take a jog, rough-house with your dog, break a sweat first, then settle down and focus on your school work.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Distance Education Opportunities for All Ages

Are you familiar with distance education? It is an educational program by which the teaching or the learning occurs in a different place than where the program is based. Now, what does that mean? The best way to describe distance education is to give examples of it. One example is outreach programs; another is college extension programs, some home schooling programs, and online universities, colleges, and technical schools. Below you will find a more detailed description of each of these types of distance education and a reason why it might be an option for you.

Outreach programs are often conducted by organizations to bring information and distance education to students in outlying areas. It may be a zoo, a museum, or even a university which is conducting the outreach. It may be offered as a single one time course, or there may be a series of courses. Some of these distance education courses result in certification or training that the participants can use for work or school.

College extension courses are offered by main college campuses, but at smaller campuses in rural or outlying areas, to reach those who normally would not be able to attend a regular university due to family situation, money, time or any other reason. Although course offerings in this type of distance education are more limited it is a great resource for many people to get a degree that may not otherwise be able to get one and still have the "on campus" experience.

Home schooling is becoming more popular but it may be difficult to get all of the curriculum and materials that are needed. So, you can go online and get distance education courses for grades K through 12 in many different subjects, or you can order packets which are delivered to your home.

The final and one of the best examples of distance learning is online college, university and technical schools. You can get a degree from one of hundreds of accredited institutions right in the privacy of home at your own time and speed. These schools offer everything from a short specialized training program to a two year degree to a doctorate. You can become qualified for almost anything from medical transcription to doctorate in Educational Administration.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Home Based Speech and Language Services for Children

Has your child suffered from multiple ear infections? Do you have a feeling that your child's speech is not developing as quickly as it should? Is your child's speech not clear to you? Are his/her words flip flopped?

Maybe it is time that your child not matter what his/her age is be seen by a home based speech and language therapist. Having an evaluation is such good piece of mind. Children's Hospital has a great evaluation department or you can request that your child be evaluated at home. Getting on the internet and looking up No Child Left Behind programs, Easter Seals, and Head Start programs in your area are great resources. There are private speech and language therapist's like myself that have all of the testing materials for evaluations and home based speech services.

Being at home for speech therapy is very rewarding to the therapist, child, and caregiver. The caregiver is able to see how therapy can be done in the home. The speech therapist provides great ideas for using the "home" as everyday therapy. There are so many ideas in the home that aid in therapy: siblings, parents, all of the rooms in the house even outside, all the child's toys and books. Even therapy is conducted at the park down the street from you.

So if you are thinking of home based therapy for your child no matter what his/her age from toddlers to teens. Try home based speech therapy.