Along with reciting the days of the week and the alphabet,
adults often practice reciting numbers with young children.
Now, new
research from the University of Missouri suggests reciting numbers is
not enough to prepare children for math success in elementary school.
The research indicates that counting, which requires assigning numerical
values to objects in chronological order, is more important for helping
preschoolers acquire math skills.
"Reciting means saying the numbers from memory in chronological
order, whereas counting involves understanding that each item in the set
is counted once and that the last number stated is the amount for the
entire set. When children are
just reciting, they're basically repeating what seems like a memorized
sentence. When they're counting, they're performing a more cognitive
activity in which they're associating a one-to-one correspondence with
the object and the number to represent a quantity."
November 8, 2012
Kids Need at Least Seven Minutes a Day of 'Vigorous' Physical Activity, but Most Aren't Getting That
Children need a minimum of seven minutes a day of vigorous
physical activity, demonstrates recently published findings by
University of Alberta medical researchers and their colleagues across
Canada.
"Our research showed children don't need a lot of intense physical activity to get the health benefits of exercise -- seven minutes or more of vigorous physical activity was all that was required. But the seven minutes had to be intense to prevent weight gain, obesity and its adverse health consequences. And most kids weren't getting that."
"Our research showed children don't need a lot of intense physical activity to get the health benefits of exercise -- seven minutes or more of vigorous physical activity was all that was required. But the seven minutes had to be intense to prevent weight gain, obesity and its adverse health consequences. And most kids weren't getting that."
Examining Transition from Student to Teacher
"It was the hardest thing I ever had to do, emotionally
and mentally." These are not the words we generally associate with a
university student who is undergoing teacher training, yet Concordia
researcher Anita Sinner has heard similar statements from many such
individuals.
Every year thousands of students make the transition from student to teacher and the stories of those who struggle are often missing from our conversations.
"Pre-service teachers who experience varying degrees of struggle have few stories against which to compare their experiences when entering the teaching profession," Sinner explains. This magnifies a sense of dislocation in the very profession they seek to dedicate their working lives."
Every year thousands of students make the transition from student to teacher and the stories of those who struggle are often missing from our conversations.
"Pre-service teachers who experience varying degrees of struggle have few stories against which to compare their experiences when entering the teaching profession," Sinner explains. This magnifies a sense of dislocation in the very profession they seek to dedicate their working lives."
November 5, 2012
FOR KIDS: New planetary neighbor
For decades, astronomers have been training telescopes all over the
sky, looking for alien worlds. In October, they reported finding an
Earth-sized planet near a small, next-door star.
The discovery naturally raises the question: When can we visit?
“A rocky planet around … our nearest neighbor — this is incredible,” planet-hunting astronomer Debra Fischer told Science News. The Yale University scientist did not work on the new study. “If you were going to send a spacecraft anywhere, or a probe anywhere, that’s where you’d go first.”
The planet’s star, Alpha Centauri B, is a little smaller and cooler than the sun. It and a larger star called Alpha Centauri A sit about 4.4 light-years away, roughly the distance of 150,000 round trips from Earth to the sun. That may seem far away, but the Alpha Centauri system is our nearest stellar neighbor.
The discovery naturally raises the question: When can we visit?
“A rocky planet around … our nearest neighbor — this is incredible,” planet-hunting astronomer Debra Fischer told Science News. The Yale University scientist did not work on the new study. “If you were going to send a spacecraft anywhere, or a probe anywhere, that’s where you’d go first.”
The planet’s star, Alpha Centauri B, is a little smaller and cooler than the sun. It and a larger star called Alpha Centauri A sit about 4.4 light-years away, roughly the distance of 150,000 round trips from Earth to the sun. That may seem far away, but the Alpha Centauri system is our nearest stellar neighbor.
Embracing Children for Who They Are
Contrary to what some parents might believe or hope for, children are
not born a blank slate. Rather, they come into the world with
predetermined abilities, proclivities and temperaments that nurturing
parents may be able to foster or modify, but can rarely reverse.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Jeanne and John Schwartz, parents of three children, the youngest of whom — Joseph — is completely different from the other two.
Perhaps no one knows this better than Jeanne and John Schwartz, parents of three children, the youngest of whom — Joseph — is completely different from the other two.
Scientists Uncover Secrets of How Intellect and Behavior Emerge During Childhood
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research
Institute (TSRI) have shown that a single protein plays an oversized
role in intellectual and behavioral development.
The scientists found that mutations in a single gene, which is known to cause intellectual disability and increase the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, severely disrupts the organization of developing brain circuits during early childhood. This study helps explain how genetic mutations can cause profound cognitive and behavioral problems.
The genetic mutations that cause developmental disorders, such as intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, commonly affect synapses, the junctions between two nerve cells that are part of the brain's complex electro-chemical signaling system. A substantial percentage of children with severe intellectual and behavioral impairments are believed to harbor single mutations in critical neurodevelopmental genes. Until this study, however, it was unclear precisely how pathogenic genetic mutations and synapse function were related to the failure to develop normal intellect.
The scientists found that mutations in a single gene, which is known to cause intellectual disability and increase the risk of developing autism spectrum disorder, severely disrupts the organization of developing brain circuits during early childhood. This study helps explain how genetic mutations can cause profound cognitive and behavioral problems.
The genetic mutations that cause developmental disorders, such as intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder, commonly affect synapses, the junctions between two nerve cells that are part of the brain's complex electro-chemical signaling system. A substantial percentage of children with severe intellectual and behavioral impairments are believed to harbor single mutations in critical neurodevelopmental genes. Until this study, however, it was unclear precisely how pathogenic genetic mutations and synapse function were related to the failure to develop normal intellect.
Common Math Standards Supported With New Study
A new study analyzing the previous math standards of each
state provides strong support for adoption of common standards, which
U.S. students desperately need to keep pace with their counterparts
around the globe.
Forty-six states are implementing the Common Core math and reading standards, which nonetheless have come under fire recently by some researchers and would-be politicians.
But William Schmidt, MSU Distinguished Professor of statistics and education, said the Common Core is a world-class set of standards.
"We can't yet prove anything about the Common Core standards because they're just now being implemented, but if we look back we find that those states that were closest to the Common Core on average did better on the 2009 NAEP test (National Assessment of Educational Progress)," Schmidt said.
Forty-six states are implementing the Common Core math and reading standards, which nonetheless have come under fire recently by some researchers and would-be politicians.
But William Schmidt, MSU Distinguished Professor of statistics and education, said the Common Core is a world-class set of standards.
"We can't yet prove anything about the Common Core standards because they're just now being implemented, but if we look back we find that those states that were closest to the Common Core on average did better on the 2009 NAEP test (National Assessment of Educational Progress)," Schmidt said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)