Waldorf, Montessori, or Reggio Emilia?
Three of the most popular alternative approaches to education are compared in this article from Australia. Although each is known for its independent schools, some public and teacher-led charters employ these techniques. For example, a cluster of three ETWC-certified schools in Baltimore called City Neighbors, employs Reggio Emilia very successfully.
LinkDoes mindfulness have a place at your school?
Innovative programs in Scotland teach children at both elementary and secondary level how to take command of their feelings through mindfulness. Program originator Michael Bready says this can be much more than a way to "fix" kids with behavior problems. It can work at the level of transforming our deep cultural stories, and it helps students experience what it means to be wise and in control, both individually and collectively.
LinkEVERY WALL A TEACHING SURFACE
In 1602 Tommasso Campanella published a utopian plan for a community in a book called The City of the Sun. He imagined concentric walls for the city--all covered with instructive murals. Anyone passing by could picture the city’s history, see stories depicted, or be inspired by the pictorial equivalent of Wikipedia. An important component of education consisted of guides taking students around the city’s wall to help them learn from pictures about the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms, even about the stars.
Read MoreSchools That Kids Love
Is it possible to have a school kids love to attend? That question has been answered at Manzo Elementary in Tucson, where a garden- and eco Thisystem-themed program engages head, heart, and hands. This link takes you to an article in the most recent Progressive Education Network (PEN) publication.
LinkWHAT PLAY CAN TEACH
We have all heard the expression “Kindergarten in the new first grade.” The pressure to start preparing children for a complex world by forcing reading, math skills, and more intellectual tasks down to lower grades is pushing play more and more to the margins, especially for the pre-school and early grades.
Read More2023 STUDENT ART AWARDS
Educate the Whole Child actively encourages all forms of creativity and the arts. They bring fire and enthusiasm to learning, especially when integrated into the mainstream curriculum. To encourage the arts in schools within our network, we offer Arts Awards each year.
Read MoreA NEW THEORY ABOUT THE TEEN MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
Parents, teachers, and medical professionals are wringing their hands over the alarming, decades-long rise in teenage mental health issues, including depression, feelings of “persistent hopelessness,” and drug addiction. The root causes remain elusive—cell phones and social media are prime suspects—but a sprawling 2023 study offers another explanation that’s gaining traction: After scouring surveys, data sets, […]
Read MoreWhat Does It Feel Like to be a Student with Disabilities?
With this classic training video you get a chance to walk for a mile in the shoes of children with different disabilities, experiencing just what it is like to feel the frustration, anxiety, and tension such a child has to deal with every day.
Read MorePlace-Based Education–In Cities Too
When first conceived, PBE focused on getting kids outside into nature, but now urban programs are succeeding in places at diverse as Oakland, Louisville, Boston, Portland and New York. In Detroit the Boggs School uses PBE to engage elementary students in local heritage, cultures, landscapes, opportunities and experiences. These community activities supply the material for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects.
Read MoreBring Nature Into Class; Bring the Class Into Nature
Get ideas for making this happen by going to the Children and Nature Network site. It was set up by Richard Louv, the man who coined the term ‘nature deficit disorder.” In his ground-breaking book, The Last Child in the Woods, Louv affirms for parents and teachers the importance of time in nature for the growing child. You can find talks and other books he has written on his site.
LinkCan Dogs Help?
The Project School in Bloomington, Indiana, has found that for children undergoing stress or having trouble settling into school work, the presence of one or two dogs in the building can have remarkable impact. The school’s two even-tempered rescue dogs move freely within the building and seem to have a knack for finding the child who needs a friendly presence at any given time.
Read MoreAmazing Mentorship Program for Special Needs
This video shows a program in New York that uses high school and college students to mentor to younger ones with learning challenges. With a lot of hands-on activities and an emphasis on arts, it has gotten remarkable results. Eye to Eye is national program dedicated to "unlocking the greatness in the 1 in 5 who learn differently."
LinkIs “Academic Rigor” Appropriate for Early Childhood?
Early education was very successfully based in play and community development for decades, and the very best pre-K classrooms set the stage helping children try on roles, practice sharing, respect, empathy, kindness, personal responsibility, and civility in the classroom community. What will happen if with universal preschool we get a junior version of No Child Left Behind?
LinkGetting the Most from Project-Learning
We offer the following recommendations from Adria Steinberg for making project-based learning an effective strategy. However, we do this without endorsing the standards movement, which has taken much of the joy and flexibility out of teaching and learning.
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