How to Plan Homeschool

Homeschooling a child can be a long and tedious road. Many parents have no idea of the amount of work that must be placed into a childs curriculum. In fact developing a curriculum takes time, thought and a plan. To develop a curriculum for your child you should know about what grade level the child is capable of completing. Does the child have any special needs or concerns that need to be addressed in the curriculum? Will the child need to complete any additional credits or need to complete Advanced Placement classes? Will foreign language be necessary? Are there credit recovery classes that have to be addressed? What learning styles does the child use? All questions that will have to be answered. Because of the internet parents now have several choices for curriculums. I recommend that parents consider a well developed curriculum for their child instead of developing one on their own. This can be accomplished through the multiple online schools that are currently on the internet. This allows the parent to assume the role of a coach instead of a teacher. Taking the burden of the parent for developing lesson plans, activities and testing and allowing them to focus on the childs education. The parent only needs to follow the plan from the school. This option gives the child a solid structure to learn in and gives the parent a well defined plan. The second issue that parents usually encounter is what to do with my child. You have to realize that this is school and that there needs to be a certain amount of structure in order to succeed. The child needs to have a well defined work space where books, pencils, pens, paper and the computer can be located. This will be school. Do not get into the habit of letting your child set on the sofa with the television going attempting to do school work. Next, define a timeline. When will school start and end? When will lunch be? Snack time and recess time? Write it down and post it on the wall in the school area. Let you child know that this is the normal schedule that will be followed each day. Your child also needs to know that the schedule may change if there are activities or field trips. You as a parent must remember that this is your school and that you can manipulate the learning environment to increase your childs educational experience. An example of this would be when I take my child to the tidal pools to explore the oceanic environment and water quality. This puts science into action allowing my child to live what she is learning in science. When we return home we alter the schedule for the day and then make sure we address the areas we missed tomorrow. Homeschool can be a long a tedious road but it is one filled with beautiful colors, sounds and textures. Just do not forget to look around.

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Simple But Effective Ways to be A Good Teacher

1) A Great Teacher Will Always Be There- If you are not in your classroom, you are not teaching. Yes, teachers must take days off occasionally, but do not make it a habit. If you are feeling a little sick, unless it is serious, show up! A sick regular teacher is ten times better for his or her students than a healthy sub is. Regular attendance is a must. Be proud to have a perfect attendance record. 2) A Great Teacher is Accessible- You need to help your students at all times. That means before school, during lunch, and after school. No, you do not have to do it all the time. Start out with something like two days a week before school, lunch, and after school. You are the best tutor your students can get. Teach them! 3) Great Teachers Know Their Students on a Personal Basis- Talk to them during lessons. What is their favorite music? TV? Movies? Talk to them in the hallways. The more you know, the more you can adapt. It is easy to converse during class time. Little comments between concepts can go a long way. If some show up early for class, you can really get personal. No class time? Pass out a questionnaire. Above all, learn their names quickly! 4) A Great Teacher Knows Many Parents- Get phone numbers. Make two calls a day to parents. If you can, make more. They do not need to be long. Just a short hello and that you are interested in their child. In just a short time, you can indeed make contact to at least one parent of each student. Parents can be your biggest ally. Students will perform and behave better if they know you are talking to their parents. 5) A Great Teacher Knows What They are Teaching- If you do not know what you are doing, how can you teach? This involves complete preparation. 6) A Great Teacher Attends school events- Make yourself seen at school sports and performances. Being seen in this setting shows students you care about them and support them. 7) A Great Teacher Lives in or Visits the Neighborhood- If you do not live in the same place as your school, make some visits on weekends. Go to a local place to eat. Shop at a local store. Many of your students may have parents who own local businesses. Patronize them. Visit a church. The more your students see you, the more they will be willing to behave in class. They will see you as someone who is willing to be on their level. 8) A Great Teacher Eats Lunch on Campus- Wander around at lunch and sit at a student table. Buy a school lunch and join them. Many students help sell food. Make a point to buy something. 9) A Great Teacher is Always Fair- Expect the best, but be flexible. Fairness does not have to mean leniency It simply means to grade your students on a balanced scale. 10) Great Teachers Never Lose Their Cool- Bite your tongue. All things will pass. Never carry a grudge. Things in your classroom will happen. This goes hand in hand with being professional. Acting like a raving lunatic is a sure way to shorten your career.

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Motivating Your Students in the Classroom

Motivating students is a tough task for teachers. Once students reach a certain age, they no longer feel the need to attend school, let alone enjoy it. It is up to teachers to motivate their students. Without at least minimal motivation, your teaching will fall flat and there will be little or no real learning in your classroom. How do you currently try and motivate students? First rule of student motivation Your classroom must be an enjoyable experience. Student motivation will be next to impossible if your classroom does not have an inviting atmosphere. What is your demeanor? Are you excited about teaching? Glad that you're there? Happy to see the students? Excited about your subject or grade? You must be warm, inviting, and enthusiastic about your job. You must show up everyday well prepared. What does your classroom look like? Sterile? Prison? Blank walls? Your classroom needs color and excitement. Put up posters. Put up students' work. You need to hook the students as soon as they set foot in your classroom. Making your classroom an enjoyable place to learn is actually half the battle. Students are motivated with rewards Students need a reward for learning. No, this is not prizes or candy. That may work to get a task completed, but not motivate for real learning. Remember, we are looking to motivate students into learning, not necessarily completing a task. The reward for learning that you strive for is a students satisfaction for learning. That's it. For example, you are teaching the Civil War. You want a student to sit back and say, "Man, that Abe Lincoln was one cool dude." Okay, a little corny, but it makes the point. If that goes on in your classroom, you are virtually there! But it's not easy. It's not easy because teachers are taught to dish out a task, test, boom, done. Not very motivating, is it? Tips for motivating students Students need a reason for doing the assignment. Give them one. Each teacher will have to come up with this on their own. No help here is given because if you can't think of a reason for teaching something, you can't motivate students. Here are some hints. How does it affect them? Does it make them a better citizen? Learner? Relate it to their life. Relate it to their future. Relate it to their ego. Relate it to current events. You cannot just say, "Because."

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Praise goes a long way. This is the reward you can give out frequently and it's free. Write notes on their papers. Say things to them as you walk around the room. Call everybody by name and encourage them. Put student work on the walls. Put a piece of work from ALL students at various times. Call home and praise your students to their parents. If your students have a reason to learn the material and get praise from you, that's really all motivation they need. It sounds simple, but remember it is hard. Over the course of the school year, you will get better. Choose your opening to the lesson in such a way that it makes the students want to know more. It may sound silly, but a story can be a very effective way. Using the Lincoln example, "Let me tell you about a guy whose mother died when he was nine. His first girlfriend got sick and she died. Eventually he became president." Once your students want to know more, you have them hooked. They are motivated! You want your students to go home every day and say, "Guess what I learned?" Recapping student motivation first is you and your classroom. Next comes a reason for learning. You then create a curiosity about what is to come. You do all those; your students can't help but be motivated in your classroom. And the best thing about this, is it make your discipline problems be few and far between.

Teachers At Their Best

Teachers or professors are most often into a lot of stress. For all the precious times they spend in teaching our children, they should really be given due recognition for all their efforts. Teachers dont only teach theories to our children; they are also sources of moral teachings. Inside and outside the campus, a teacher is seen as a model to her students. In relation to health and wellness, the teacher is expected to have and project a good state of both mental and physical health. To help teachers achieve top health status, here are some notes about nutrients that can help fight-off negative moods. Teachers, or anybody, can have negative moods as a result of lack of sleep and even skipping/missing meals (which are commonly experienced by teachers). If teachers would frequently experience lack of sleep and skipping of meals, they would be very prone to emotional instability, a thing that we wouldnt want our childrens teacher to be into. The following nutrients have been studied for their ability to help improve moods and increase ones responsiveness to stress. B-Vitamins. For a long time, this group of vitamins are known to be helpful in fighting stress. Stress tablets would usually have a combination of B-Vitamins. The B-Vitamins are known to help in the production of two neurotransmitters known to produce a calming effect.

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Some doctors would recommend having as much as 5-10 mg of each of the B-Vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B6. Foods rich in these B-Vitamins are: pork, products with wheat germ, whole grain cereals, fresh and boiled peas, liver, baked potato, hard cheese, mackerel, mushrooms, eggs, sardines, yoghurt, roast chicken , peanuts, red and green pepper and cashew nuts. L-Theanine, now commonly heard and read from television and print ads. This component of green tea, an amino acid, acts on the brains waves to help you become more relaxed but mentally alert. In just 30 minutes, and, for 8 hours, they say that you can already feel its effect. Users do not feel any drowsiness but experiences improved quality of sleep (at a dose of 200 -500 mg daily) Inositol, one of the B-complex vitamin, is important in the health of cell membranes especially in the brain, bone marrow, eyes and intestines. It helps reduce the symptoms of anxiety, panic and obsessive-compulsive behaviour. Other B-Vitamins enhance the claming effect of inositol. Food sources includes: nuts, beans, wheat and wheat bran, beef brain, raisins, cantaloupe, cabbage and oranges. Magnesium. Our body can make some vitamins but it cannot manufacture minerals. Minerals like magnesium need to be supplied in the diet. Magnesium is necessary in a lot of chemical reactions inside our body. It is needed for energy production, control of digestion, temperature regulation, and nerve and muscle firing. Very importantly, magnesium relaxes the muscles. With too much calcium and insufficient magnesium, it can affect the bronchial tract (causing asthma), muscles, and even bladder. Capsule supplements are suggested to be taken once or twice a day at 200 mg or simply take food sources that are rich in magnesium like: whole grain cereals, Brazil nuts, halibut, yellow finned tuna, spinach and tofu. Teachers are treasures in our society; let us help them be at their best so that they too can help bring out the best in our children, in their students.

Should Teachers Give Rewards to Students for Good Behavior? A Psycho-Educational Perspective
Rewarding students for good behavior is a popular classroom discipline procedure. Teachers of habitually disruptive students like using rewards because, in a well-structured reward system, they have the potential of winning students compliance fast. Advocates of using rewards to discipline students with habitually disruptive behaviors claim that rewards promote compliance and stop misbehavior. Opponents of rewards state that rewarding students, an externally oriented procedure manipulating childrens behavior that does little to change permanently the disruptive behavior. In
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(the teacher regularly administers the rewards, not the student) are a way of controlling and

other words, the short-term effect of stopping misbehavior does not translate into a long-term effect of helping children grow and develop better-adjusted ways of behaving. Alfie Kohn, the author of

Punished by Rewards states that rewards can be seen as punishment in the sense that rewards
both manipulate behavior and are a form of doing things to students rather than with students. Both advocates and opponents of rewards present strong supportive arguments and I would like to bring a psycho-educational perspective to this controversy. Assuming that the teacher has a well-structured and consistent reward system, rewarding students with habitually, and in some cases severe, disruptive behaviors can be a fast and effective way of winning compliance. My fourteen years of experience teaching emotionally disturbed/behaviorally disordered students strongly supports the conclusion that rewards are fast and effective. Nevertheless, I also understand that, if used alone and with no clear long-term goals (both for the student and for the teacher) in place, rewards are short-lived. External rewards may temporarily inhibit disruptive behaviors but they do not teach appropriate behavior and will not help children outgrow the disruptive behavior. Teachers need to be aware that rewards appeal exclusively to students extrinsic motivation (I do _____ so that I can get _____) having little or no effect in strengthening childrens intrinsic motivation (i.e. self-pride, self-confidence, self-efficacy, and a sense of accomplishment among others). Consequently, even when the teacher uses rewards consistently, a discipline system that only takes into consideration giving rewards while ignoring childrens perceptions, attitudes, and feelings may have a strong short-term effect in winning compliance, but no long-term effect in helping habitually disruptive students learn new and more productive ways of behaving. Simply put, psycho-educational teachers see rewards as one way of supporting and strengthening the more comprehensive psycho-educational program, but they never use rewards as the only and/or most important component in the behavioral management program. Primarily, teaching self-management of behavior is the long-term psycho-educational goal; rewarding behavior extrinsically while the student develops internal self-control and is able to self-manage behavior is just a supportive tool in our more comprehensive psycho-educational toolbox. This brings us to the second point that I would like to make. At all stages of the reward program, students should be part of the decision-making process. Children have a say in what is motivating to them, and they have a choice in the kinds of rewards included. Even when we are externally manipulating the behavior, we give choices to children and make children part of the decisionPage

making process, encouraging and inviting the child in formulating solutions. Learning to make

better-adjusted behavioral choices is another long-term goal that we teach children since the beginning. Children learn to make good behavioral choices by having the opportunity to choose, not by following our directions or receiving rewards. For this reason, we explain to the child that once he or she is better equipped to self-manage behavior, we will fade the extrinsic reward system, moving the student gradually from an externally supported system into an almost exclusively internally motivated support system. The childs self-management skills and self-awareness tell us when he is ready to make the transition. In addition, just knowing that they now require less external manipulation than at the earlier stages of intervention is extremely rewarding and motivating to students. Teachers can measure success when we find ourselves using considerable fewer rewards at the final stages of our intervention program than the amount of extrinsically motivated rewards required at the initial stages of our intervention. If you are thinking of implementing a reward system to manage a habitually disruptive student, or already have one, the following guidelines will be helpful in increasing the systems efficiency. With minimal variations, you can adjust these guidelines so that you can use them with a disruptive class.

Get to know the child as an individual. Find out what the child is interested about and what motivates him or her; also, find out what the child dislikes. Directly ask the child what is reinforcing to him or her. You and the child should discuss the reinforcement.

After discussing what is rewarding to the child, set goals with him, and help the child translate the goal into an action plan that clearly lists the sub-steps that he will need to follow to reach the goal. Link the reward system with the action plan, aiming at reinforcing the action plan.

To set goals and develop an action plan, engage the student in a discussion about the ways he wants to be (goal), and how he can make that happen (action plan).

Do not assume that the student knows how to listen, how to cooperate with other students, or how to solve social problems. Teachers need to teach those behaviors explicitly. Explain to the student, model, and then review the behavior that you expect from the child. Give the student examples of alternative behaviors that the child can use to replace the habitually disruptive behaviors. The extra time you spend earlier in the year teaching socially appropriate behaviors to habitually disruptive students will save you time and frustration in the future.
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Explicitly state what the student needs to do to earn the reward. For example, just saying, Be nice to each other or Pay attention to the lesson is not enough. You need to state

what the child is going to do in behavioral terms, for example, 15 minutes seated and doing your class work will earn you a token. The link between the childs behavior and the reinforcement must be apparent to the child.

Vary the reinforcement, so that the child does not get used to it, and does not feel bored by the same reward. With the student, you can develop a reinforcement menu (10-15 rewards), and to make it more appealing, include a mystery reward. When the child meets her behavior expectation, she selects one reward from the reinforcement menu.

For bigger rewards, you can use a token system, so that each day, the child earns tokens, points, or checks that she exchanges at the end of the week or month.

Emphasize social and privilege reinforcement (e.g. breakfast with the teacher or extra computer time) over material reinforcement (toy and prizes). Reinforcement that involves spending time with adults and doing tasks together are generally more rewarding to children than toys. Remember, when you spend time with the child, resist the temptation to discipline the child during that time. In other words, keep reinforcement time and discipline time clearly separated.

Always keep in mind that, particularly for students with recurrent behavior problems, for behavior to be good does not need to be perfect. Reward effort and improvement; that is, notice and appreciate that the child is trying hard and is doing a little better each time.

Teach the student self-rewards and self-reinforcement; for example, the child compliments herself for raising her hand, for waiting her turn, for using a learning strategy, or for thinking of a better approach to solve a situation. Gradually transition the student from an externally manipulated reward system to self-reward and self-reinforcement.

Acting Out in School: When Your Child is the Class Troublemaker

Every parent of an acting-out child knows that once your kid has a reputation for being a troublemaker at school, it's very difficult to undo that label. Thats because your child becomes the label; when the teacher looks at him, she often just sees a troublemaker. Sadly, it's very hard to change that image, because even when your child tries harder, the label is reinforced when he slips up. And then he's really in trouble, because not only is he still a troublemakernow he's seen as a manipulator, too.
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We all know that labels are assigned all the time and that they don't help the problem. Not only are they innately unfair, they are also subjective. In other words, one person's view of a troublemaker is

not the same as anothers. School teachers, being human, will label kids. Make no mistake, teachers talk and are well aware of who the troublemakers are before they get to their class at the beginning of the year. After all, its part of their job to anticipate the behavioral issues they will be dealing with in their classroom and try to plan for them. Part of what you have to do as a parent is try to distinguish between the label and your child's style of functioning in school. So if your child has been called a troublemaker, ask yourself what that means. How does he make trouble? Does he speak out of turn in class? Is he easily distracted and bothersome to the students sitting next to him? Or is he disruptive and rude? I always advise parents to be honest with themselves about their child's behavior. Yes, it's important to assert yourself as a parent and advocate for your child at school. But it's also vital to your child's development that you not defend him when he's in the wrong. Make no mistake: defending your child when he has behaved inappropriately will not help him develop appropriate skills and to become right as a person. So if your child is known as a school troublemaker and is disruptive and rude in class, it's very important that you acknowledge that. Parents need to have an open mind about their children so they can help the school in changing their behavior. Don't forget, for many parents of kids with behavior problems, it's easier to fight with the school than it is to change their child. And when you do this, that only succeeds in letting your child off the hook, when in reality what they really need to do is learn how to change their behavior. Whenever possible, though it's sometimes difficult, parents and teachers need to work in tandem. The New School Year: Starting Off on the Right Foot If your child is in danger of having the troublemaker label follow him from grade to grade, youre probably wondering how to start him off on the right foot this year. I think that at the beginning of any school year, you want to coach your child about the importance of first impressions. Let him know how important the first couple of weeks of school are in terms of getting along in class and doing well. Tell him that presenting himself as respectful and responsible will make a big difference for him. You can say, Remember how we talked about what you would do differently in school this year to get along better? Well, one of the things we mentioned was that you should be polite to your teachers and not talk back. When you have the urge to talk back or be rude, what could you do differently? As a side note, if parents have a problem with a teacher or the school, they should never discuss it in front of their child. Make no bones about it, if you undermine the teacher openly at home, it becomes almost impossible at some later date to get your child to behave appropriately. I understand that parents wont always agree with their childs teacher. In certain cases, I thought my sons teachers had some rules that didnt make sense. My wife and I talked about it and discussed it with the teacher, but my son never knew it. That was because we were there to uphold the image of the school as an entity that has to be respectedand one in which our son knew he had to behave respectfully. In my opinion, going to school is like having a job. You coach your child through their school career the same way you might give them advice when they start a profession. You can say, You have to learn to get along. There are going to be good people and bad people. There are going to be good times and bad times. There are going to be people who don't like you and people you don't like.

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The key is not to eliminate everything your child doesnt like in life; the key is to help him manage things even when life is difficult. After all, there's going to be injustice in school and in life, though few parents acknowledge or talk about it with their kids. I think it's good to say, "That's an injustice and you'll have to deal with it." Because in fact, some things really aren't fair in life, and part of growing up is learning to deal with that fact. When I worked with kids who didnt get along with their teachers, I would often say, Look, it's your job to get along with your teacher, not your teacher's job to get along with you. A teachers job is to be respectful of their students and to help them learn. It's not their job to humor kids when theyre in a bad mood or act out. No place does that, so when kids complained about their teachers, I would say. Whether you work at a gas station or a law firm, your boss and co-workers won't put up with that kind of behavior. You have to learn how to get along, that's part of becoming independent. In fact, some of the most important criteria for independence are How well does this person manage adversity? How well does he get along with people he doesn't like? How does he deal with supervisors who are a pain in the neck? We're all going to have that in life. So the idea is to give your child the skills to get along no matter who he or she is dealing with. Consequences: Should I Give Them to My Child When He Gets in Trouble at School? Let's face it: every parent whose child acts out in class gets sick of hearing from the schooleven if they know their child is legitimately a problem. Parents don't want to go to work and hear about their kids during the school day; they want the school to handle it. And the school thinks parents should be more involved in dealing with inappropriate behavior. So when should parents get involved? I think the answer to that is straightforward. In my opinion, it depends on whether the problem is functional or relational. A functional problem includes being late for class, chewing gum or running down the hall. I think schools should handle those problems; that is their community, and they need to manage it. I personally do not think parents should give more consequences at home for those types of things. But the whole game changes when it comes to relational problems. These are problems that have to do with inappropriate behavior towards people or property. If your child steals, if he's physically abusive, if he's threatening, if he gets into a fight, parents need to hold him accountable and give consequences at home in addition to the consequences the school assigns. Again, one of the things parents have to avoid is insulating their child from the natural consequences of their behavior. If your child destroys property or assaults someone at school and you do everything you can to protect him so he doesn't have to face legal consequences, I think you're making a mistake. I think you can support your child through those consequencesI would. But the more you insulate him from the natural consequences of his actions, the less likely those actions are going to change. Because let's face it, people don't change until there's pressure to change. And unfortunately, that pressure often comes from negative consequences, whether that's for a speeding ticket or for being physically aggressive in school. We understand that fact as adults in society: people get tickets all the time for running lights and for speeding. You may not like getting a ticket, you may not think it's fair. But the bottom line is that it makes you look at your behavior and change it.

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When a child gets in serious trouble at school, many parents become worried that it will go on their permanent record. Is that a legitimate worry for a parent? Yes. But you don't soothe those worries by sweeping the problem under the rug. Let me be clear: if your child assaults someone at school and doesn't get a record now, he's going to get one laterthat's all there is to it.

How to Handle a Functional Problem If your child tells you, I got detention because I was running in the hall, the thing to ask him is, All right, so what are you going to do differently next time? What did you learn from that? Dont give speeches. Just ask simple questions that help your child clarify the whole object lesson. I wouldnt judge him and I would be as matter of fact as possible. Just shrug and say, Well, that's life; you can't run down the halls in school. And teach your child, Look, you know what you're doing. You made the choice. Now take your consequences and learn from them.

How to Handle a Relational Problem If your child has been caught destroying property, speaking rudely or obscenely, or hurting someone at school, as a parent you need to deal with that very strongly. I think you need to find out the facts and then you need to let your child know very clearly that there are consequences at home for that kind of behavior. And the first consequence is, We're not going to fight with the school. You need to pay the price for your actions. If your child has a fight in school and he's suspended, for example, he ought to have consequences at home. I would recommend no electronics for the length of the suspension. He should not be suspended from school and then allowed to goof off at home all day. Make the suspension unpleasant for him. If it's not unpleasant, it's not going to shape his behavior. The whole theory behind consequences is that the memory of unpleasantness will shape the person's behavior next time. So dont undermine the schools consequences by making the suspension a week of playing and vacation for your child.

Talking to Your Child's Teachers: Let Them Know What Works for Your Child I recommend that you let your childs teacher know how you deal with behavior at home. I think if your child has a history of behavior problems, you want to meet with that teacher early on in the year and say, We know that Jake can be disruptive. This is how we deal with it at home. And if there's any way we can help you, please let us know. Certainly you should tell a teacher what works at home and what doesn't work at home. This doesn't mean you're limiting them; rather, youre helping them be more effective with your childs behavior in the classroom. So if you have specific techniques you use, share them. An example might be, We find Jake does his homework better when his door is open or he's sitting at the dining room table. So he might do better in school if you have him up close to your desk. Or, We find Jake does better at home when we get him started. So if you could take a minute to get him going on the assignment, it might work out better. Be sure to ask your childs teacher how you can be helpful to them. Be open to what they saythey might have some great ideas. And always ask the teacher, How can we support you at home with this?
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Parents and Teachers: Getting on the Same Team

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In this day and age, everybody is stressed and nobody's got time. Parents are working harder than ever, and teachers have larger classrooms and more responsibilities. Believe me, if everybody had time and more resources, there would be a lot less friction between parents and schools. But that's not the case, so we just have to live with that and figure out how to manage it the best we can. After all, we have the common goal of wanting our kids to behave responsibly and get an education. Schools have a legitimate interest in kids being compliant and respectful. Parents have a legitimate interest in kids getting an education and learning how to become independent. Parents and teachers should be on the same team, but sadly, often they're not. There was a time when teachers and parents worked togetherwhere if the teacher called a parent, the parent really worked on changing their childs behavior. Kids were held accountable at home. It's not often that way anymore. Now parents are often blaming of teachers and teachers are blaming of parentsand children play both ends against the middle. Kids can be highly manipulative in this area. I think parents and teachers should work hard at being on the same team. I think the parent's role is really, How can we help the teacher do their job? What can we do at home? And the teacher's stance has to be, In what areas do I need the parents support and what is my responsibility? How can we work together to get this child on track? I've heard a lot of stories about bad teachers. I've met one or two myself, but by and large, I believe most teachers are trying their best. The truth is, you have to really try to work with the teacher your child gets. If there is an issue, I recommend you go to that teacher and talk about it. And if that doesn't work, then go to an administrator and try to set up some meetings. Just realize that the more adversarial the relationship between the parents and the school, the more your child is going to sufferand the more theyre going to get away with. Don't forget, when parents and teachers fight, nobody wins. And the end result is that your child doesn't feel he has to change his behavior at all. If your child has been labeled a troublemaker and he has chronic behavior or attitude problems, its crucial that you are able to communicate with his teacher and the school. I think if you can develop a working relationship around a child who has these problems, it becomes a lot easier to support that teacher in his or her efforts. The bottom line is, that is what is best for your child. It may not feel best for your ego, but that is what's best for your child. Is this a lot of work? Yes, it is. But I think parents need to try to find the time to do it. I know that sometimes I ask a lot of parents, but the fact is that kids need a lot of parenting nowadays. Communication and compromise are a huge part of parenting and working with your childs school.

Gifted and Learning Disabled: Students Who Are Twice Exceptional

Parents may suspect that their child is gifted, yet be baffled when their smart child has difficulty learning in certain areas. Some intellectually gifted students also have special learning needs such as a learning disability. Gifted students may also have other special educational needs such as auditory processing problems, dyslexia, ADHD or emotional problems. When a highly intelligent child has a learning disability, it is difficult for parents to make sense of the learning and behavior patterns they observe. A masking phenomenon often occurs; high intellect is partly hidden by learning problems, and learning difficulties partially obscure a childs true level of

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intelligence. This can result in two problems: the childs intellectual gifts are not nurtured and developed, and the learning disabilities may not be properly remediated. Because these students are extremely intelligent, they can utilize many compensatory strategies in order to learn and appear more successful. They use abilities such as reasoning skills, strong memory, attention to detail, or other gifts to circumvent their disability. It is difficult for teachers and parents to observe the learning problems and, therefore, the childs learning disabilities frequently are not identified and the child does not receive help in the area of disability. It is often difficult for adults to be alert to the signs of intellectual giftedness in children who do not learn easily and rapidly in all areas. Therefore the childs giftedness also goes unrecognized and these students do not receive the proper encouragement and educational support to fully develop their gifts, talents and desire to achieve academically. Gifted individuals with learning disabilities exhibit both strengths and areas of need. Not every child has the same pattern of highs and lows. Therefore, adults must be vigilant in determining appropriate educational interventions. Some characteristics of twice exceptional students include the following (keep in mind that each individual will exhibit a unique profile): Above average abstract reasoning ability Strong mathematical reasoning skills Comprehensive knowledge in subjects of interest Exceptional attention to detail Advanced grasp of the big picture Keen visual memory, spatial skills Advanced vocabulary Imagination, creativity, insightfulness Extraordinary talent in areas such as music, arts, science, language First-rate problem-solving skills Wide variety of interests Sophisticated understanding of satire, humor, metaphors, analogies Command of complex relationships Socially adept, popular

Difficulty with memorization in areas such as math facts, phonics, spelling Distractibility, disorganization, poor follow-through Hypersensitivity to criticism Perfectionism, slow rate of work production Unreasonable self expectations, negative view of own performance Often, failure to complete assignments Difficulties with sequential tasks

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Appropriate Educational Services for Twice-Exceptional Students The intellectual abilities of gifted students with disabilities must be nurtured. These students must be provided with appropriate challenges. Frequently the pace of education is too slow for these students and they become disinterested. These students need challenging, stimulating, relevant instruction that emphasizes problem solving and understanding the big picture. Society owes each intellectually gifted student an education that nourishes their talents, develops strong reasoning abilities, and sparks curiosity. Students who receive a stimulating education enter the adult world as full, eager, competent participants, able to contribute their talents to society. Intelligence is a multifaceted, malleable, and vibrant faculty that can either be encouraged or hindered by experience. Our society must commit to nurturing the capacities of intellectually gifted students with disabilities. Educators must: Be alert to the signs of intellectual potential in students who learn differently or who do not learn rapidly and easily View non-conventional types of talents such as artistic, musical, visual-spatial, and social gifts as indicators of intellectual giftedness Use portfolios, projects, debates, discussions and other methods of instruction and evaluation in order to reach a students gifts Stress high-level problem-solving, abstract thinking, and creativity Have high expectations for childrens futuresnot set limits based on pre-conceived notions Emphasize self-directed learning, experimentation and active inquiry Support strong self concept as the driving force for success

Simultaneously, we must identify and remediate learning disabilities so that twice exceptional students can fully participate in academic experiences to the level of their intelligence. Students must receive the educational support they require in areas of need such as speech and language services, reading remediation, educational therapy, counseling or tutoring. The traditional school curriculum and methodology must be modified to circumvent weak areas of functioning.

5 Homework Strategies that Work for Kids

Pre-teens and teens often insist they have no homework even when they do, or tell parents that theyve completed their assignments at school when they havent. If your childs grades are acceptable and you receive positive reports from their teachers, congratulations your child is doing just fine. James Lehman advises that students who are doing well have earned the privilege of doing their homework whenever and however they see fit. But if their grades reflect missing assignments, or your childs teachers tell you that theyre falling behind, you need to institute some new homework practices in your household. For those classes in which your child is doing poorly, they lose the privilege of doing homework in an unstructured way. For the classes they are doing well in, they can continue to do that homework on their own.

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Trying to convince your child that grades are important can be a losing battle. You cant make your child take school as seriously as you do; the truth is, they dont typically think that way. Remember, as James says, its not that they arent motivated, its that theyre motivated to do what they want to do. In order to get your child to do their homework, you have to focus on their behavior, not their motivation. So instead of giving them a lecture, focus on their behavior and their homework skills. Let them know that completing homework and getting passing grades are not optional. If youre facing the rest of the school year with dread and irritation, youre not alone. By following the tips below, you can improve your childs homework skills and reduce your frustration! 5 Strategies to Get Homework Back On Track Schedule Daily Homework Time If your child often says they have no homework but their grades are poor, they may not be telling you accurate information, they may have completely tuned out their teachers instructions, or need to improve some other organizations skills, for example. The Total Transformation Program recommends that whether your child has homework or not, create a mandatory homework time each school day for those classes in which you child is doing poorly. Use the 10-Minute Rule" formulated by the National PTA and the National Education Association, which recommends that kids should be doing about 10 minutes of homework per night per grade level. In other words, 10 minutes for first-graders, 20 for second-graders and so forth. It will be most effective if you choose the same time every day. For example, you might schedule homework time for the classes that your child is doing poorly in to begin at 4:00 p.m. every school day. If your child says they have no homework in those subjects, then they can spend that time reading ahead in their textbooks, making up missed work, working on extra credit projects, or studying for tests. If they say I forgot my books at school, have them read a book related to one of their subjects. By making study time a priority, you will sidestep all those excuses and claims of no homework today. If your child has to spend a few days doing busy work during the daily homework time, you may even find that they bring home more actual assignments! Use a Public Space Its important to monitor your childs homework time. For families where both parents work, you may need to schedule it in the evening. In many instances it may be more productive to have your child do their homework in a public space. That means the living room or the kitchen, or some place equally public where you can easily check in on them. Let them know they can ask for help if they need it, but allow them to do their own work. If your child would like to do his or her homework in their room, let them know that they can earn that privilege back when they have pulled up the grades in the subjects in which they are doing poorly.

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Use Daily Incentives

to use your electronics or see your friends. Be clear with your child about the consequences for refusing to study, or for putting their work off until later. According to James Lehman, consequences should be short term, and should fit the crime. You might say, If you choose not to study during the scheduled time, you will lose your electronics for the night. Tomorrow, youll get another chance to use them. The next day, your child gets to try again observing her homework time and earning her privileges. Dont take away privileges for more than a day, as your child will have no incentive to do better the next time. Work towards Something Bigger Remember, kids dont place as much importance on schoolwork as you do. As you focus on their behavior, not their motivation, you should begin to see some improvement in their homework skills. You can use your childs motivation to your advantage if they have something theyd like to earn. For example, if your child would like to get his drivers permit, you might encourage him to earn that privilege by showing you he can complete his homework appropriately. You might say, In order to feel comfortable letting you drive, I need to see that you can follow rules, even when you dont agree with them. When you can show me that you can complete your homework appropriately, Id be happy to sit down and talk with you about getting your permit. If your child starts complaining about the homework rule, you can say, I know you want to get that drivers permit. You need to show me you can follow a simple rule before Ill even talk to you about it. Get going on that homework. By doing this, you sidestep all the arguments around both the homework and the permit. Skills + Practice = Success Tying homework compliance with your childs desires isnt about having your child jump through hoops in order to get something they want. Its not even about making them take something seriously, when they dont see it that way. Its about helping your child learn the skills they need to live life successfully. All of us need to learn how to complete things we dont want to do. We all have occasions where we have to follow a rule, even when we disagree with it. When you create mandatory, daily homework time, you help your child practice these skills. When you tie that homework time to daily, practical incentives, you encourage your child to succeed.

After Graduation: What Next? Keep your Momentum Going

Record numbers of college students will be graduating by the end of the month. With all these new job candidates entering the employment pool, what should these new graduates consider when moving into the next phase of their lives? In this economy, finding a job right out of college is challenging but there are a few things students can do to start the job search on the right foot. Now is the time to be aggressive, and go into commando mode. Dont put too much time into your resume, they are overrated. Resumes should be one page and easy to read. Are you spending days writing a cover letter? People like me almost never read them. When you get 100s of resumes daily, yours must stand out. Use new tools and technology to help with your job search. Join LinkedIn, start a Facebook page that focuses on your professional persona.

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Here are more tips you can adopt: Consider moving back in with your parents. Less stress, less financial demands and more time to look for a job. Plus a daily dose of advice might be a good source of motivation. Sorry parents..It is a sign of the times. If you cant find a job, try volunteering or an unpaid internship. This is a great opportunity to hone your skills and make connections in your field of study. Network, network, network. Don't just rely on the Internet...you must meet people in person. As the old adage goes, sometimes its more about WHO you know than WHAT you know. Practice your interview skills! join a group like Toastmasters and fine-tune your presentation skills. Research companies you are interested in. Don't just send out gobs of resumes to every Tom, Dick & Harry. Refine your search and make sure you are polished when given the opportunity to make a connection. Research the person you are meeting with. Did you go to the same school or have the same hobbies? This is a great way to start the conversation and make the interviewer like you. Rememberpeople hire people they like, and that person may not be the best person on paper. Focus on entry level jobs even if they are not in your field. You need to add business experience to your resume. You may also have to get your hands dirty.

Learning and Teaching Social Skills: A Relationship-Based Approach

For those of us committed to helping children overcome learning challenges, the quest to teach social skills is particularly important. Social learning impairments are associated with a wide variety of learning disabilities, although they are especially problematic for people with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD), noted to have underdeveloped right-hemisphere abilities, including deficits in:

reading facial expressions perceiving emotions using nonverbal communication (body language)

The constellation of social skills deficits often encountered in school age children are perhaps best described as pragmatic communication deficits, which encompass challenges understanding social conventions and applying social cognitive skills. On the next page you will find some common examples of pragmatic communication skills. This information is taken from my book, Boys of Few Words: Raising Our Sons to Communicate and Connect, 2006. Pragmatic (Practical) Communication Skills

PHYSICAL

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**All these skills should be considered in an age-appropriate context. Many of these skills are developed in adolescence. Compare your child's abilities relative to his peers.

Maintaining appropriate conversational distance Example: Other children may complain that "he's bothering me," or say "tell him to stop touching me" while playing together. Sometimes inserts himself physically into a group of children by pushing or nudging others out of the way in order to join the conversation. Eye contact Example: Doesn't look others in the eye; hides behind hair/hat/sunglasses; stares to the point of discomfort. Linking gestures with ideas and emotions Example: Body language doesn't match speech (thanks you for giving him a desired gift but slumps and stares off into space); waves too strongly or too unenthusiastically for the circumstances; forgets to reinforce emotion with body language. Using facial expression effectively Example: Facial expressions don't convey interest in other people; expression is not congruent with topic or situation; doesn't nod to show he gets the point, looks furious at small disappointment; forgets to smile. VERBAL Attending to time and place Example: Talks too fast; doesn't know when to interject a comment or let others speak, doesn't know how much information to share (goes on and on about a subject to someone's obvious irritation). Turn-taking Example: Consistently interrupts; doesn't perceive when it's someone else's turn to talk. Voice modulation Example: Has trouble with prosody (pitch, tone, volume, inflection); speaks too softly or loudly without regard for physical proximity (you're across the room but he doesn't raise his voice to answer you). Giving compliments Example: Doesn't know how to give a compliment relevant to a person and circumstances; sometimes unintentionally insults people ("you're a lot less fat than you were"). Greetings and Good-byes Example: Doesn't know how to introduce himself to individuals or groups; can't initiate social contact (avoids parties and gatherings); doesn't know how to close a conversation (just walks off when he's done talking); doesn't shake hands/share hugs with close friends or family members; forgets to say "hello." THINKING Detecting emotions in other people Example: Doesn't consider other people's emotional state before speaking (you're in the middle of an argument with someone and he asks you to make him a snack); doesn't realize when it's time to "back off"; doesn't read signs about how you feel (thinks you're mad when you're not) Perceiving and expressing humor

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Example: Takes jokes, sarcasm or irony literally; laughs at inappropriate times; doesn't engage in word play or friendly teasing with peers. Knowing how to make conversational transitions Example: Forgets to take his turn in conversations (calls you up on phone and then says nothing); discussions filled with uncomfortable "dead space"; doesn't pick up on "leads" to continue conversation (So, you like baseball? Who's your favorite team?) Anticipating other people's reactions Example: Neglects to consider the impact of his words before speaking; can't easily imagine how his words or actions will be perceived by others (says he likes one present more than another at his birthday party without anticipating that someone's feelings will be hurt). Why Are Social Skills So Hard To Learn? Most people use social skills quickly and automatically, and as a result, don't have the benefit of time to analyze which skills will be used in particular situations, or how best to apply them. When our social reflexes are well-attuned and effective, we don't need time to think - we just do and say what comes naturally. Important to emphasize is that social skills are built on a foundation of interpersonal awareness. Without an appreciation of other people's nonverbal behavior, including sensitivity to nuances of language rhythm and intonation (prosody), it is difficult to formulate appropriate and constructive verbal and behavioral responses. In addition to having a basic awareness of other people, having an empathetic orientation toward others is very helpful in bolstering one's intuition about how to relate effectively. As some readers may be aware, a disproportionate number of children and adolescents with learning disabilities are observed to have low empathy. To be in an empathic relationship with another person or group is the opposite of self-absorption. Empathy implies a departure from a state of self-centeredness, and immersion into the subjective experience of others. By definition, empathy is prosocial, because it emphasizes the value of comprehending and appreciating the thoughts and feelings of other people. We all function in various types of groups: families, schools, teams, neighborhoods, and communities, among others. Social skills make our participation in these groups easier and more satisfying. Although lack of empathy has been associated with the presence of NLD, I would argue that what is missing for many learning disabled children are overt expressions of empathy, as are often conveyed through pragmatic communication. This is very different from the absence of empathy found among antisocial children and adolescents. Many children with nonverbal learning disabilities are better understood as being asocial, meaning that they can appear indifferent to social interaction. We Can Help Teach Children to Solve Their Own Social Problems Not long ago, I was leading a social skills group for 3rd and 4th grade boys, about half of whom had been identified as having a learning disability. We were huddled in my office with kids bunched on sofas, sitting on the floor, and twirling in my desk chair. One seven year-old boy, Grant, resisted joining in our group activity, which was to design and build a big "cyborg." He stood near the door on the periphery of the group with a scowl on his face and body language that conveyed his fear and

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distrust of the group. Grant wasn't responding to cajoling and encouragement to join us. I tried all kinds of approaches, changing the tone of my voice and my facial expression, in search of the combination that would help him join in. Still, he would not budge. Several years earlier, my frustration probably would have resulted in me taking Grant outside and pleading with him to sit down and join the group. That's because I used to have the faulty impression that "leading" a group, meant "controlling" the group. Since then, I have come to appreciate the extraordinary strong will of boys to do things in ways that reflect their own logic about how problems should be solved. As the situation unfolded, it became apparent that Grant's resistance provided the boys with a good problem-solving opportunity, and so I posed a question to the group. Did anyone have any ideas about how we could get Grant to join us? Most of the kids responded with suggestions of various kinds of rewards: games, candy, or premium seating (twirling chair). One typically shy boy, Tyler, suggested we could "buddy-up" so that everyone could have a partner, including Grant. Tyler also suggested that buddies sit next to each other so they could share tools. Most of the boys agreed this was a good idea and so we began a discussion of how buddies would be chosen. Again, Tyler spoke up, suggesting that Grant could pick his buddy. Throughout this process, I was watching Grant closely, and was struck by his awareness of the group's concern about him. His facial expression changed from one of distrust to a cautious grin. He'd obviously had some significant doubt about whether the boys would accept him, and how he would fit in, figuratively and literally. Tyler's leadership in breaking through his fears paved the way for his integration in the group. As you might imagine, I felt very proud of Tyler for his sensitivity to Grant, and his ability to apply that sensitivity through active problem-solving. Although he never verbalized Grant's feelings, Tyler's suggestions were, emotionally speaking, quite sophisticated, and reflected an understanding of what Grant was feeling. Socializing is not a "Logical" Process When we think about teaching social skills to children, it is a natural step for us to begin thinking about skills as component parts of a larger system. While this may be a logical and practical way to go about the teaching of a "system," it is not necessarily the best, or only, aspect of a therapeutic process designed to facilitate the development of social skills. In addition, for individuals such as psychologists or counselors who may teach social skills, there is a tendency to systematize the teaching of such skills in limited periods of time, such as teaching one skill per session for 12 - 15 weeks. When social skills are taught to groups this approach may be inevitable, but when working with children individually, there is typically more latitude, including allowing the child to play an important role in how the learning evolves. Experience has taught me not to exclude the importance of the relationship between teacher and student, or therapist and client, in helping children integrate new skills. In this sense, professionals allow the process of learning to be as organic as would be the process of healing syndromes like depression or anxiety. An excellent working alliance is a critical foundation for learning most things, including how to relate to others. This is because gaining social competence is more than conceptually grasping "skills," it also involves relaxing enough to take risks - trying new things with uncertain outcomes.

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From Skills to Awareness Perhaps we need to remember that for the brain and mind to integrate new ideas, a fertile ground of receptivity must first be prepared. That receptivity often springs from an effective, trusting, working alliance. For many children, this means engaging in therapeutic and relational activities that are not purely didactic, because such structured activities are often associated with domains where they lack success. In other words, you can make it fun - play is the work of children. While I would never want to give up my use of behavioral charts and records, or surrender my collection of therapeutic games designed to teach things like communication pragmatics and listening skills, I have come to believe that those exercises are somewhat empty without a solid alliance between my clients and myself. The alliance gives children and teens the capacity to be receptive. Sometimes, people may not even be aware of their own resistance to learning new skills. For children with learning disabilities, these walls often come down slowly, but they do come down with tools like patience, commitment, and belief in the desire of children to connect with others. Anything that might help a child connect the development of social awareness with a positive outcome should be considered a potential tool. Still, we should remember that what we are building with these tools is a mind, and a mind is not a machine - it is the very essence of being a person. We simply can't program a mind according to standards of efficiency without regard for the individual within whom that mind lives.

ADHD: Disorder or Difference?

The word disorder conjures up images of illness, disease and serious disabilities. All parents want to see their child as the smartest, most capable and best liked boy or girl on the block. So why would they want to have a label attached to them that often coveys just the opposite--such as slow learner, under-achiever or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder? What a difference one word can make. Suppose we changed the last D in ADHD from disorder to difference. We could then say that a child with ADHD has some significant differences in his cognitive ability, emotional sensitivity and activity level when compared to other children. This difference is probably inherited. His skill set is different from 95% of the children in his class. Unfortunately, the environment in which he spends most of his time is geared toward the other 95%. However, we then could look at helping him to adapt successfully to this environment, using his own set of strengths rather than helping him to cope with this environment due to his weaknesses. We then might say that this child may need psychostimulants and/or psychological intervention to enable him to concentrate on boring tasks and control spontaneity in a highly regimented environment. The above in some ways reflects the ongoing debate about whether ADHD is a valid mental health condition that requires appropriate medical and psychological intervention OR that ADHD is a mythical disease state, manufactured by the medical community in order to make huge profits and is promoted by educational bureaucrats and abusive parents desiring to tranquilize unruly kids. I believe that, as a society, we have created a monster with ADHD. We perceive it as a diagnosis that

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will forever change or even taint the course of our childs life. And we are no longer surprised by the number of school-age children who are now diagnosed with ADHD. In fact, we have come to regard it as a norm, and it has fueled our perception that medicating our children can solve all their problemsand ours. The facts, as in most debates, point to the truth being somewhere in the middle of these perceptions. ADHD is a condition worthy of future study to provide answers to scientific questions that will result in more accurate diagnosis and more effective methods of treatment. In the meantime, ADHD left untreated leads to a higher likelihood of depression, suicide and substance abuse later in life. ADHD appropriately treated leads to a higher likelihood of success in life because it can help the child properly channel his increased sensitivity, creativity and high energy. On a more personal level, as a parent of a son who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of five, I can identify with parents who may lean toward either the denial or victim mentality. When my wife and I were concerned about our sons behavior and emotional well-being, the last thing I thought of was that he had ADHD. Sometimes, I was probably a bit on the overprotective side. But on the whole, once our whole family accepted that he was a child with an attention deficit hyperactivity difference who needed medication, along with psychological support (provided by us at home), the situation turned around completely. He responded well to the medication, and the crisis of emotional turmoil was over. Over the years, we continued to provide consistent structure (as best we could) and encouragement as well as teaching him how to relax, learn necessary social skills and how to stop and think. It all paid off. He has been off medication since middle school. He graduated with honors from a highly regarded university and is now pursuing a successful career in TV and film. He has a great sense of humor and lots of friends. I encourage parents not be afraid of the diagnosis, give it undue weight and importance or use the label as a crutch for your child. Instead, I believe we need to accept it as the first step in turning a difficult situation around to a positive direction. Helping a child with ADHD succeed requires a team approach that often needs to continue over many years. That team includes the family, health professionals, teachers and, of course, the child. Children may need medication, but treatment guidelines indicate that psychological interventions are also important. In some cases, psychological interventions may be sufficient to bring about desired results. In other cases, they address symptoms medication alone does not help and may also actually reduce the dosage of medication necessary to achieve desired results. Effective psychological interventions include parent education, behavior modification, home-school contracts, cognitive behavioral therapy, social skills training, relaxation training and mental exercises to improve cognitive functioning. Recent research indicates that many or all of these interventions may be most effective when implemented at home with the parents and the child working as a team. Not only does this approach appear to improve the short-term effectiveness of the interventions, it also results in positive parenting techniques and an open and supportive parent/child relationship that becomes a way of life that is consistent and enduring over time. So, ADHD can be perceived as a label to be dreaded, used as an excuse to avoid difficult situations or it can be perceived as the identification of the problem underlying a childs difficulties at home and at school which can be successfully addressed. On the one hand, it is a curse. On the other, it is an opportunity to make things better. The basic tenet of cognitive behavioral therapy is that how we

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think determines how we feel, which then determines how we behave. If we want to change how we feel and how we behave as the result of those feelings, we need to change how we think. ADHD: Think of it as an opportunity.

Putting Students into Groups

As group work in schools has become more prominent in education, teachers are developing their curriculum by not only incorporating more group work but also focusing on it. Group work is important; it gives students the opportunity to learn from each other, teaches them communication skills and helps them develop interpersonal relationship skills. However putting students into groups is not as easy as saying Class! Please get into groups of four. Even if this goes smoothly without anyone getting upset or arguing over which group theyre going to go in, sometimes the groups need to be more specific depending on the task. These are some different ways of forming groups and when you might like to to use each method: Student choice: This is the Class! Please get into groups of four type of forming groups. This will be easy or hard depending on your class. The main problems are that students can get left out of their friend group or get no group at all. Although this can be a lesson in resilience for students, it is important to be aware of any issues you need to solve quickly. This could mean you re-organise a group or tell a group that a certain student is going to be in their group. Its important to be aware of whats going on and intervening when necessary, making sure the students know that although they can choose which group theyre in, if you make a group change then the decision is final. Another recommendation with this is to set a time limit and when the time runs out you will make any final group forming decisions. This stops the students from having too much time to discuss groups in depth, which can lead to arguments. Student choice groups are good for fun group games they like to be with their friends for, social activities such as class partys or discussion groups and activities that involve creative ideas with a set focus. (This could be something like making a movie, where friends with similar interests are going to be more likely to enjoy and be motivated to pursue similar ideas) Ability Based Groups: This is a widely used method of putting students into groups, which involve grouping students with other students of similar abilities. Of course it depends on what the topic is, if its chance and data you group the students with an advanced knowledge together (who can workout the chance of a die landing on a 6 then a 3 then a 4, in that order) and the students who still need to understand the basic concepts together (still learning what the chance of a coin landing on heads is). Then form groups in the middle range. The difficulty with this is knowing where to put the students in between two groups. I recommend just choosing a group for them knowing that you can move them to a different group if necessary, even if you place them in a group based on who they work better with. Ability based groups are good to use when you are focusing on a specific concept where the level of understanding in your class is very wide. Mixed ability groups: This is my preferred method of putting students into groups. These are groups formed by the teacher with a specific focus on getting as wide a level of abilities in to one group as possible. The more advanced students can help the more developing students, this helps the developing students through the one on one guidance and also helps the advanced students by

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cementing their knowledge and developing their understanding of the ideas in a way necessary to explain it to other people. Mixed ability groups can be used for a range of learning activities with a specific focus, I primary use them for literacy working groups and maths based activity groups. Mixed ability groups are also a good group to use for quiz games.

Quiet Signalling: A Classroom Management Technique That Really Works

The time that students spend in the classroom actually working on academic subjects is sometimes referred to as engaged time. This engaged time is very valuable. Classroom teachers have an opportunity to observe students actively solving problems and independently working through an assignment. Through appropriate monitoring and active observation, instructors can determine what tasks students are having difficulty with and when students are being successful. During independent seatwork several of the children may have questions as they work through the assigned tasks. But the key to addressing these questions is to have previously developed a simple procedure with the class, so as not disturb the valuable learning time of the rest of the students. In Mrs. Suppes 3rd grade classroom at Marquette Elementary School, a simple quiet questioning procedure is used every day. Her method of assisting students who need help, without disrupting the learning environment, is to utilize a flag located on each of their desks. This simply designed flag (the Flagbee) can be flipped up on its swivel. If a student gets stuck on a problem and requires teacher assistance, he or she may raise the flag, but should continue working. An upright flag indicates that help is needed. This quiet signal for help minimizes distractions and disruptions. Many times Mrs. Suppes chooses to wait a few minutes before immediately addressing a raised flag. This technique allows the children additional time to attempt to problem-solve on their own. In many cases, the student may choose to lower his or her own flag without teacher intervention, because they have figured it out on their own. All students have been trained to make appropriate use of the help signal as a class wide intervention, and not to abuse the flags. After posting the help signal, the student should continue to check over the current work assignment to see if there are other problems or items that he or she can work on while waiting for the teacher. This quiet questioning practice has proven to be very effective in elementary classrooms. The flag was designed by educators, and supports the latest practice in classroom management techniques. It has encouraged students to remain on task while waiting for assistance, and has helped maintain an appropriate working environment for everyone, that is conducive to learning.

The Truth about Bullies

The public perception of bullying is that bullies are acting out to cover their own fears. They may indeed be afraid, but accepting this as a reason makes bullies sound like victims of their fears -- like we're supposed to feel sorry for them and not hold them responsible for their abusive actions.

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The issue is not whether bullies are afraid. Bullies bully other people to feel powerful around them and to feel power over them. Bullies start out feeling like zeroes, like nobodies. When they intimidate, threaten or hurt someone else, then they feel like somebody. The key is the feeling of power. We often think of the child bully as being male, but the percentage of girls who intimidate their classmates and siblings is increasing dramatically. Bullying doesn't stop at the end of the school day, either. Whether bullies are at home, at school, or theyre threatening and intimidating other kids on the Internet, they're going to act out to make themselves feel powerful. Many kids who are bullies at school are bullies at home. The most common victims are their innocent siblings. What are the consequences of bullying? You may have heard about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when it comes to sexual victimization or assault. PTSD can occur any time people feel they have no control over the way their pain is delivered. They live in fear, not knowing when they're going to be hurt. Kids who are constantly bullied and not protected will develop symptoms of PTSD -- constant anxiety, constant fear, idiosyncratic behaviors to compensate for those feelings. They'll fall behind in their development. Dealing with bullies requires holding them strictly accountable for the abusive, hurtful or disrespectful things that they do to feel powerful. They need to practice appropriate ways to feel powerful -- using social skills, articulating their feelings, communicating honestly with others and solving problems. Those skills are difficult to develop. It takes work; its like learning how to multiply or learning how to add. But it can be done. Holding bullies accountable for inappropriate behavior gives them boundaries and gives them a roadmap for doing that work. If your child is a bully If your child starts to exhibit bullying behavior, the first thing to do is realize it's something you need to address. You can't kid yourself that it will go away on its own. If adolescent bullies are not stopped, and not taught more appropriate ways to solve problems, they become abusive parents, spouses and bosses. We all feel powerless at times, but there are better ways to deal with that than to abuse other people. You as the parent have to set a standard: No excuse for abuse. There's no excuse for cursing someone out, for breaking something, for hitting anyone. The bully always has an excuse, a way to justify this behavior. This justification is so powerful that it takes the place of empathy for the other person. Thats why you have to have a no-excuse standard. A kid may curse out his sister and say foul things to her and then make up some justification about what she was doing to him -- "She went into my room again" or "She wouldn't get off the computer." Let the kid tell you the excuse, and then reiterate, "There's no excuse for abuse." Don't shut off communication, but don't validate the thinking errors that go into the justification of abusive actions. There should be consequences for abuse. Later, you can talk about appropriate ways to handle a problem.

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If your child is bullied If your child is a victim of bullying, it may be because he is the sort of child who has difficulty standing up for himself. Bullies look for easy targets, because that makes them feel powerful. If you can teach a child not to respond to bullying, to walk away, bullies are less likely to press that child. The most effective strategies for dealing with bullies are "avoid" and "escape." These are things you can teach your children: Avoid bullies when you can. Walk away from them if theyre in your vicinity. If youre being bullied and that doesnt work, you need to get help from somebody who has more power than the bully. You shouldnt have to fight because somebody else is a bully. Go to someone who has more power than the bully, like the teacher or the police. Teach your child that he has to hold that person responsible. Getting hit in school is still assault, and parents shouldnt back off if that happens. You want the other kids parents down at the police station. You want them to be as uncomfortable as you are. It hurts to be bullied, and this fact should never be minimized. Teachers, parents and school officials are sometimes inclined to say, "Well, theyre only kids. It happens." It shouldnt happen, and it's adults' responsibility to provide a healthy environment for our children. The best schools are the ones who develop a zero tolerance for violence and zero tolerance for bullying, and parents should demand that and support it. At the same time, if your child is experiencing abuse at the hands of another child, ask this question: "What would you find helpful?" Find out what your child would find helpful to improve the situation. Heres why this is important. If a child is being bullied at school and his parents just take over the situation, then he's powerless on both ends. Be encouraging, give him a chance to work it out, offer some help and ideas. But also let him know that if it's still a problem, you're going to step in and protect him.

Homework: What to Do When Students DON'T Do It

There is a form on my website where I ask people to tell me their greatest concerns/challenges regarding homework. It is probably no surprise that a significant number of teachers have responded with comments like this: "Apathy." "No motivation." "Students dont do it." If you are like me, then you probably dont have fond memories of homework yourself, but you likely did it. It was not because you liked it.

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It was not because you couldnt find anything better to do. (Yes, we had TV as kids. Some of us even had video games, too. We are not that old) You did it because you wanted to get a good grade. Or, you did it to avoid having to answer to your mom who would give you "That Look" and ground you until you were dead. Or, you did it because it just needed to be done. So, the real question is, "Why dont students seem to care about homework?" There are a variety of possible answers, but the best advice I can offer is this Ask them! You, of course, can provide additional insight. Share your experiences with homework when you were younger and then explain why you value it as an adult. The more relevance children see to the "real world" the more likely they are to value homework. Meanwhile, I would venture to guess that many of their answers will sound like these: * "Whats the point? Why do I need to do it?" * "It takes too much time!" * "Homework causes fights in our family." * "Its just a couple of assignmentswhats the big deal?" * "I lose my homework a lot." * "I dont know how to do it." Each of these responses could inspire their own book, but we will settle for a few quick comments: "WHATS THE POINT? WHY DO I NEED TO DO IT?" The child who asks this question is begging to understand a real-world purpose for homework. They need help understanding that homework is not just practice on the topic taught in class, but practice for developing responsibility. Homework may not be fun, but completing it on time is good practice for the day when they are employed and have to complete a project on time. It is practice for paying bills and keeping a roof over their head. Doing homework helps build responsibility skills in the same way that lifting weights build muscle. They literally program neuron pathways in the brain that develop responsibility. Developing "responsibility muscle" will directly impact their ability to earn more money in the future. "IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME!" Homework takes too much time because students do not know strategic learning skills for doing homework more efficiently. They are also busy "multi-tasking" by doing homework while texting, watching TV, or surfing the internet which is a major time drain. Teach your children time-management and study skills to help them cut homework time or enroll them in a study skills class.

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"HOMEWORK CAUSES FIGHTS IN OUR FAMILLY." As I have said many times, homework is the greatest lever of control that a student has over their parent(s). They may not quite realize they are striving for control, but they do know that they dont like being told what to do. "ITS JUST A COUPLE OF ASSIGNMENTS. WHATS THE BIG DEAL?" Children are often oblivious to the impact one or two "zeros" have on their overall grade. Encourage them to track their grades so they can see the math for themselves. If your school makes grades available electronically, have them log in and see how their grade changed after that big ol "0" was plopped in the homework column. In 95% of middle and high school classes, students can pass with a "C" if they simply turn in all homework and show up for tests and quizzes. Its not rocket science... but they think it is until they see the math for themselves. "I OFTEN LOSE MY HOMEWORK!" In most cases, your children do not deliberately lose homework. Imagine if we, as adults, had several different email accounts to manage each day?!? We would be completely overwhelmed and frustrated! The same is true for students who are trying to manage dozens of papers along with a couple dozen folders, notebooks, and textbooks that must be transported to-and-from school and individual classes each day. Students need a system to simplify and streamline all of their supplies. "I DONT KNOW HOW TO DO IT." Children are often afraid to ask for help. Their teacher may have offered help to the class and posted "Tutoring Lab" hours on the board, but many are afraid to step forward and admit they need help. Or, they may simply believe that the help is for "someone else" and may not realize the potential value for themselves. As you know, there is almost always a resource for students who are willing to get extra help. Some may simply need an extra nudge. The key to this discussion is to listen 85% of the time. Let them be honest about their feelings towards homework and acknowledge them. Brainstorm problem-solving ideas together and allow your child to have some ownership over some solutions.

The Quality of Philippine Education in the New Millennium

Philippine education is strongly viewed as a pillar of national development and a primary avenue for social and economic mobility. It has undergone several stages of development from the pre-Spanish time to the present. It is handled by three government organizations, namely, the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The DECS govern both public and private education in all levels, with its mission "to provide quality basic education that is equitably accessible to all by the foundation for lifelong learning and service for the common good." The Filipino people have deep concern for education because it occupies a central place in political, economical, social, and cultural life in the Philippines. The government allocates a high budget every year for Philippine education and guarantees that every Filipino has the right to quality education. However, there are some important issues that needs to be looked closely and resolved by the government. Among the issues are:

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Quality of Education - This is the first major issue that the Philippine government should resolve but somehow it is recently improving. The quality of Philippine education has declined few years ago due to poor results from standard entrance tests conducted among elementary and secondary students, as well as the tertiary levels. The results were way below the target mean score. High dropout rates, high number of repeaters, low passing grades, lack of particular language skills, failure to adequately respond and address the needs of people with special needs, overcrowded classrooms, and poor teacher performances, have greatly affected the quality of education in the Philippines. Affordability - There is a big disparity in educational achievements across social groups. Students from wealthy families have excellent educational background gained from exclusive private schools at the start of their education until they finish college. Unlike the students from the less fortunate families, wherein most of them could not even finish elementary nor secondary level because of poverty. They could barely afford to buy school shoes and pencils, not even the tiny amount of tuition fees from the public schools. Budget - The government was mandated by the Philippine Constitution to allocate the highest proportion of its budget to education. However, among the ASEAN countries, the Philippines still has one of the lowest budget allocations to education. This is due to some mainstream political issues and humungous problems that the government is facing specially corruption. Mismatch - There is a large proportion of mismatch between training and actual jobs. This issue arises at the tertiary level and causes a large group of unemployed and underemployed. This is very true nowadays because of the arising BPO industries particularly the call center companies. Hundreds of thousands of young professionals, graduates or undergraduates from college level settled at this type of company because of the attractive compensation that they are offering. Call center companies do not require a specific degree of education, what matters to them is the proficiency in the English language. There are some measures that the Philippine government has looked into for the reformation of quality education. Technology use is starting to gain momentum in the overall education of this country. This helped improve the quality of education in the Philippines and to be globally competitive in this millennium.

Deteriorating Philippine Education

Since the start of classes for the next school year is nearing, the Department of Education (DepEd) is busy preparing for the possible problems that might come up once classes begin. The efforts from the DepEd though are nothing but little in comparison to the major bottlenecks facing our education system today. I am one person who desires that education in this country must be given much bigger priority, in terms of government attention and annual budget. As I believe, and I know you would agree, education is the right of every Filipino. It is the sure key to breaking the cycle of poverty and providing every youth better opportunities and venues to lead better lives. Quality of life for the

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future Filipinos depends on the enhancement of the knowledge and skills through good education. But where is good education in a country such as ours? In my pursuit for knowledge on public governance, I cite here the strategies of the present government. The strategies on education are categorized under: 1. Early childhood education, which include expanding the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) to reach all 5-year olds and health and nutrition as part of day care, elementary, and high school. 2. Basic education, which includes closing the classroom gap by building 6,000 classrooms a year, installing distance learning in conflict areas, providing computers in every high school, and upgrading math, science and English learning. 3. Technical, vocational education and training (TVET), which includes ladderized interface of TVET to College, job-skill matching, and the establishment of community colleges. 4. Higher education, which includes the provision of scholarships and financial assistance and the upgrading of higher education curriculum. The Philippine goverment must double its efforts to redesigning our system of education so as to compete (again) with the rest of the countries in Asia. Just today, a news came out about our declining English skills attributed to falling school standards and a mass exodus of linguistically skilled professionals. Angara said that in all international achievement tests, the Philippines is rated near the bottom in all subjects. "That is a reflected in the fast deterioration of our education standards both in public and private schools." Official achievement tests given to graduating high school students in the 20042005 school year showed that only 6.59 percent could read, speak and comprehend English well enough to enter college. Some 44.25 percent had no English skills at all. In the long run , if this deterioration in English competency continues, it will eventually affects our sending of human resources abroad. There is a big warning that the employment of Filipinos overseas will soon be overtaken by China and India whose citizens are becoming well-versed of the English language, both written and oral. In a globalized economy, "English is a ticket to the future," the American and European chambers of commerce said, adding that only three out of 100 applicants meet proficiency standards of the outsourcing industry.
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"Filipinos are pretty good but they still have lapses with their tenses, verb usage, subject-verb agreement the basics," the Call Center Academy accent trainer told Agence France Presse. What might have caused the sudden decline? The Taglish language (combination of Tagalog and English) is partly to be blamed when almost all of the young generation have accepted it as a standard hybrid language. English soaps are now being dubbed into Filipino and text messaging has evolved yet another form of language. If the trend doesn't stop, we will never see the Filipinos compete elsewhere.

Fixing Philippine Education

The Philippine education system is marked by high dropout and repetition rates and low overall performance. Under a new definition of functional literacy, the rate could drop to as low as 6 percent. The author contends that the sector is afflicted with a myriad of problems, and although many government programs look promising, he points to governance as being the key. (From Manila) JUST HOW EDUCATED ARE FILIPINOS? Very highly, if official figures are to be believed: at 93.4 percent, the basic literacy rate is closer to those of developed countries than developing ones. Furthermore, Filipino workers are acclaimed as some of the most skilled globally, and there are now more than 7.8 million Filipino workers overseas, representing some 25 percent of the total workforce. The country also has a reputation of being home to many good English speakers; hence it is one of the outsourcing service industrys top investment destinations. However, this is only half of the story; Philippine education has failed to live up to its potential for overall excellence. In fact, education outcome in the Philippines is quite low in comparison to the rest of East Asia, and it ranked last among 36 countries in student performance on mathematics and science tests. In national exams, grade 6 students scored, on average, only 53.99 percent, while fourth year students scored less than half for a failing average of 44.36 percent. A LOOK INTO THE UNDERBELLY The education system is also inefficient at ensuring that those who enroll in grade 1 complete the 10-year basic schooling of six years in elementary and four years in high school. Dropout and repetition rates have increased during the last five years, thus causing precious government financial resources to be wasted. Only 68 percent of grade 1 entrants will ever finish grade school, and less than 40 percent will eventually finish high school. More than half of those who do complete the basic education will take up to 16 years to finish what was designed as a 10-year program. Fewer still (23 percent) will reach college, and only 14 percent will eventually receive a university degree. A national survey revealed that the total number of Filipinos between the ages of 6 and 24 not attending school has risen from 9.7 million in 1994 to 11.6 million in 2003. While the education system is bad enough at keeping the students in school, in terms of performance, schools in most regions are considered to be falling further behind. Despite the high official literacy rate, the absolute number of Filipinos who cant read or write is exceedingly high: 4.1

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million. Moreover, a lot of those who have graduated with degrees have not even acquired the necessary level of competence that the schooling was supposed to provide them with. Whats more, there is a controversy brewing. Education experts consider the definition of functional literacy as being able to read and write to be inadequate and oversimplified, and they contend that it does not translate to functionality in the workplace. Under a proposed new definition of the term, one must also acquire the ability to communicate effectively, think critically and be productive. If this new definition were to be implemented, it is possible that the literacy rate could drop to as low as 6 percent, according to Nap Imperial, division chief for Education and Manpower Development of the National Economic Development Authority. Over the years, the Philippine government has employed reams of strategies, introduced many changes and a countless number of reforms, and changed the structure and name of the education department from one thing to the next. Nonetheless, there is one thing that has remained constant: the outcome. AFFLICTED WITH A MYRIAD OF PROBLEMS For starters, the sector is enormous in size: Education accounts for 30 percent of the bureaucracy and over 40,000 public schools operate on 7,107 islands. Although it already has the biggest annual budget allocation, it is far from adequate, since about 85 percent of the Department of Educations (DepEd) budget goes directly to salary. And with one of the highest population growth rates in Asia, 2.36 percent, the government is hard-pressed to cope with funding the necessary social services, particularly those related to education and health. The percentage of the GDP that the government has spent on education has actually decreased during the last five years, falling from 3.5 percent in 2000 to 2.4 percent in 2005. Similarly, the education sectors percentage share of the annual budget dropped from 15.4 percent in 2000 to 12 percent in 2005. In 2000, the government spent P3,459.70 ($66.93) on every Filipino aged 5-24, which works out to P9.48 ($0.18) on each student per day. In the 2006, the government spent only P2,871.05 ($55.54) per student, or P7.87 ($0.15) per day. There is also a bit of favoritism at play when it comes to education funding. As for higher learning, the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) got the biggest chunk in 2006, with an annual budget of P325.13 ($6.29) for each enrollee. Compare this with the countrys premier state college, the University of the Philippines, which comes in a distant second with only P125.34 ($2.42) for each enrollee per year, or other state universities and colleges, which have to make do with an average budget of only P17.26 ($0.33) per enrollee. Critics of the current administration believe that President Gloria Arroyo is intentionally doing many favors for the military, ranging from giving them lucrative positions in the government and government-owned corporations to allotting them a bigger share of the PMA in exchange for their loyalty and full support. Arroyo has had to fend off numerous coups by disgruntled soldiers since assuming the presidency in 2001 by means of a bloodless revolt. POVERTY, A BIG PROBLEM

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Poverty is another big problem, as there is a strong correlation between poverty levels and literacy rates. Top performing DepEd divisions come from regions of low poverty incidence while poor performers are from regions with high poverty rates, usually from Mindanao, which is beset with a peace and order problem. About 42 out of every 100 children come from a poor family, and a lot of these children sacrifice their schooling in order to be able to work and augment the family income. Official figures put the number of working children between the ages of 5-17 at 4 million, with 70 percent of them living in rural areas. About 30 percent of them do not attend any school whatsoever, and for those who do still manage to go, work interferes with attendance and school performance, contributing to low grades, absenteeism, tardiness and eventual dropout. Moreover, mental development is affected by extreme hunger, which can be prevalent in impoverished families. In the Philippines, malnutrition continues to be a serious problem, specifically with iron, iodine and vitamin A deficiencies. This leads to lower IQs, poor school attendance and shorter attention spans. As such, the malnourished are more prone to repeat grades, drop out or achieve less in schools. Public schools are free of course, but incidental costs such as transportation and school supplies are luxuries that poor families cannot afford. Also, there is a lingering perception that public schools are inferior to private schools in terms of quality. The better performance of private schools is largely attributed to smaller class sizes, availability of better infrastructure and facilities, and capacity for higher salaries for the teachers. But due to the high poverty incidence, only 5 percent of elementary schoolchildren are enrolled in private schools. Moreover, quality varies greatly even among private schools, especially among colleges. Some are excellent while others are considered to be diploma mills with low standards. And those that do provide a good education invariably carry very hefty price tags. Other factors believed to contribute to the lack of interest in schooling are a lack of support from the parents themselves, the distance of schools, the poor quality of the available schools and the daily demands of community life. A SHOT IN THE ARM Realizing that the problem is not simply confined to the education sector, the government has instituted far-reaching poverty alleviation programs that involve other government agencies such as the Departments of Health and Social Welfare, as well as local government, private sector and civil society groups. For example, the government is trying a different tactic to improve performance and reduce the dropout rate among grade school enrollees by partially addressing the problem of malnutrition and hunger through the Food-for-School program, in which public schoolchildren are given fortified rice, noodles and milk. It has also piloted the Every Child a Reader Program to improve grade school pupils reading proficiency, and remediation programs for elementary and high school students to improve competency in three important subjects: Math, Science and English. Driven by the belief that the high dropout rate could be brought under control with proper preparation before entering grade school, DepEd has intensified its preschool program.

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Additionally, it has strengthened its alternative learning programs to cover the needs of out-ofschool youths and those in other less developed sectors. The private sector, mostly through the Adopt-A-School Program, is pitching in by constructing schools and classrooms in areas with acute shortage, while local governments are augmenting the education budget by allocating part of their tax collection to it. The DepEd has also opened up more than 16,000 teaching positions, the highest number in recent years, in order to reduce the shortage in teaching personnel. It has also budgeted for teacher training programs to improve competencies and other incentive programs such as affordable homes for teachers. With so many programs, some of which are already recognized internationally and being copied in other countries, how could the Philippines go wrong? Imperial said that it now boils down to a question of governance. Because of the frequent changes in the leadership in the Department of Education and other government agencies, programs are not being sustained. This results in incoherent programs, thus weakening the bureaucracy, he said. Right now there are street protests left and right to remove Arroyo. How can government programs be successful if not even the presidency is safe?

K12 in the Philippines: A Reform or Deform?

The Philippine educational system pursues the achievement of excellent undergraduates in the elementary and secondary level. Implementation of UbD is one of the proposals that undertook in the country recently. At present, the Department of Education pronounces the addition of two more years in the basic education of students, which according to them will benefit not only the Filipino youth but all the Filipinos in the Philippines. This proposal is part of P-noy's Educational Reform Program. The administration asserts that with the implementation of such program, the problem of unemployment in the country will be resolved. In as much as employment in the Philippines is concerned, the K12 education also responds to the fact that most countries in the world already have the same plan in their educational institutions. With this, the standards of these countries go a notch higher than what the country has, thus, creating an expansion in the global competency. What can be really said about this plan? While the reaction of the public is divided, where some are in favor and some are not, here are several issues that point out to the aggression of opposing groups especially the parents to this program. One of the main problems in the Philippines which the government needs to resolve is the lack of school and classrooms in the different parts of the country. It is important that students stay in a place that is conducive for study while they are away from home. In addition, with teachers go abroad to teach, or do another job, there is already a shortage of educators in schools that mold the minds of learners. And this deficiency has become a problem for the country in the past several years. Finally, there is a need for students to utilize the appropriate instructional materials and school equipment for them to learn and gain the necessary knowledge in school. This lack of accessibility in books and other school supplies clearly manifest the scarcity in the public schools in the country.

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There is nothing wrong in aiming the other fraction of a horizon, and that is what the government attempts to accomplish. It is in fact an indication that to aspire for something higher, one must carry out certain actions to achieve the goal. However, the administration also ought to realize and clearly understand what the educational system in the Philippines needs to develop primarily. The mentioned issues above are only a few elements that entailed to be resolved. At some point, the Philippines cannot go ahead unless the concerns are faced and the difficulties are completely solved. There are a lot to be done to improve the competency of the youth. The government does not need to gaze from afar.

The Need to Upgrade Philippine Education

Millions of young and not so young will continue or try to finish their education. For a developing country, mobility depends so much in the acquisition of knowledge. Education practically is almost a religion. Sadly however, meager resources of our country cannot assure our seekers of knowledge of adequate support. It is the duty of and older generation to hand down the knowledge of how to make most of life. However, life is fast changing. Lessons acquired in the placid past are sometimes not applicable to the turbulent present. New sciences have evolved. What may be true yesterday may not be applicable now. Information technology, genetic engineering, molecular biology and celestial physics threaten old beliefs. Cybernetics and robotics threaten to replace human in the factories and farms. The greatest asset our country has is trained manpower. Exported manpower, the Overseas Filipino Worker is one of our biggest dollar earners. The OFWs fill a niche in the Middle East semiskilled and skilled manpower needs. Our proficiency in English gives us an advantage. Our adaptability and willingness to adapt to allied job, in short our versatility, makes us a prime catch. However, only few of us make it to the specialty department. Recently, there had been a move to legislate out our valuable asset. There had been a move to add another year to the grade school but was turned down. Objections had been raised pointing out that such move would make an acquisition of a degree more expensive. The reason may be valid but it might not be considering it from another angle, which is from the angle of employability. The Philippine job market is educational degree conscious. Most employers require completion of a four year college course before considering acceptance of an applicant. In highly industrialized countries, they are more concerned with performance. Am applicant may be asked for a work experience but it may not be absolutely necessary. Then a newly accepted employee has to pass a probationary period of a month or more before being considered a regular. Should he not able to perform within that period he is laid off without chances of recall. An ephemeral term for dismissed. While we are making our education shorter, other countries are upgrading theirs. In the United States, aside from a preschool training, the grade school reach up to seven or eight years. Secondary or high school education requires four years while a Bachelors degree needs another four years. A

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Masters degree needs a year of graduate work plus a passing of general examination plus a writing of a brief thesis. Ph D needs another three more years of study plus an extended examination and writing of a dissertation based on individual research. Now U. S. pedagogues are devising lessons, which teach kindergartners rudiments of engineering through play. The course hopes to promote critical thinking and creativity at the same time teaching them not to be afraid of taking intellectual risks. Perhaps we cannot hope to match them but we have hopes on the adaptability of our children if taught well. Expatriate Filipino children had made a name for themselves as over achievers. It is high time to allocate more of our limited resources to education and to upgrade our curricula so we can keep our edge in the international job market.

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