Newsletter March 2009
March 6, 2009
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We strive to bring you the most helpful and up to date information every month, and the February 2009 newsletter is no exception.
You can scroll down through the articles below, or you can click on a headline you like to go directly to that article.

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This Month's Headlines:

Helping Young Readers

The Importance of Play

Stimulus Plan Gives Boost to Education

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Helping Young Readers
Learning to read is an exciting time for both parents and children. Watching your child discover letters and learn to pronounce words can fill a parent with pride. It also can leave a parent confused as to where and when to help and when to let the child learn on their own. Here are some tips for parents from Linda Bausch, Assistant Professor at Dowling College, NY, on offering the right amount of help and encouragement.

Independence
The urge to jump in as soon as your child struggles with a word or sentence can be a strong one. However, supplying them with the answer or pronunciation does not help them in the long run. An important part of reading is the ability to reason your own way through struggles and uncertainties. Instead of helping immediately, Bausch suggests asking your child questions that help them rely on their own logic: Does it sound right? Does it look right? Does it make sense? What do you think would make sense there? What do you think it sounds like?

These questions teach the child to construct meaning on their own and make connections when reading. By looking at the illustrations and considering the plot of the story, they can learn to figure out difficult words and sentences.

The Logic of Children
Sometimes parents don’t realize that the tangents kids go off on are really their own way of relating things in their mind. While it may seem illogical to us, side comments are the sign that the child is “translating” the text. Instead of getting frustrated with these seeming distractions, approach them with patience and recognize them for what they are—your child responding to and understanding the meaning of the text.

Age-Appropriate Reading
There may be a difference between what your child wants to read and what their actual reading level is. Sometimes struggling isn’t a reflection of the child’s inability to understand, but rather just that the material is too sophisticated for their reading level. It is okay to put something aside that is giving them difficulties and turning to something less demanding. Librarians and teachers can help you choose age-appropriate selections that are still within your child’s range of interests.

Make Reading Easy for Them
It’s okay to still read aloud to your child as they advance through the grades. Sometimes hearing someone read aloud helps students get a new perspective of the tone and style of what they are reading. Having them also read aloud to you brings another level of understanding, particularly as the reading materials gets more involved and sophisticated.

Another way you can help children read is by providing materials like newspapers and magazines. Integrate reading into other activities, like trips to the library, following recipes or reading signs on road trips. And, of course, set the example you would like your child to follow. If you are preaching the benefits and importance of reading but you never pick up a newspaper or book, it’s difficult to expect your child to be motivated to do the same.

Sometimes Extra Support is Necessary
If you feel your child is truly struggling with reading, rather than just experiencing the normal roadblocks on the way to literacy, make sure you get them the proper help they need. Reading can be difficult, and it’s okay to ask your child’s teacher or tutor to give some extra attention to developing these skills at an early stage.

Source: Hering, Beth. “Expert Advice for Emerging Readers.” education.com.

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The Importance of Play
Recent research points to play and down time as an important factor in a child’s academic success. In addition to science, reading and math, experts believe that exercise, recess, and time spent in nature can help children concentrate more and perform better in school.

The Numbers are In
Pediatrics journal published a study this month linking recess and classroom behavior. Of 11,000 children aged 8-9, those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day had better in-class behavior than those who had less or none. This was consistent across public or private schools, class size and gender. In the same study, researchers found that 30% of the children were enrolled in schools where they had little or no recess.

Physically and Mentally Fit
Other reports have found similar results. Harvard researchers, in a study of 1,800 middle school students, found a correlation between the number of physical fitness tests children passed and their performance on academic tests. Another study of children with attention deficit disorder (ADD) found that walking outdoors could improve scores on concentration and attention tests.

The Power of Nature
Andrea Faber Taylor, a child environment and behavior researcher at the Landscape and Human Health Laboratory at the University of Illinois, points to other research suggesting that all children can benefit from exposure to nature during the school day. One of the reasons may be due to the two forms of attention the brain uses.

Focusing the Brain
Directed attention allows for concentration on work, tests and reading. Involuntary attention is when we’re distracted by things in our surroundings, such as a beautiful sunset or outside noise. Directed attention is not unlimited; long hours studying or working can leave us feeling tired. Natural settings seem to increase involuntary attention, allowing the brain’s directed attention to rest.

Faber Taylor believes all people experience fatigue when it comes to attention levels, not just those with recognized difficulties such as attention deficit disorder. Attention needs to be periodically restored, and a growing number of studies point to nature as an effective way to accomplish this.

Recess for Social Development
Students are often punished in school by having their recess time cut down or out completely. But research suggests that this is more harmful than helpful in improving behavior. In laboratory studies, young rats that were denied playtime failed to understand important social clues and relations; some were even unable to mate.

Dr. Stuart Brown, author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, and a psychiatrist in Carmel Valley, CA, thinks there is a similar correlation in children. Stuart Brown claims play allows us to “handle life in a much more resilient and vital way.” He views playtime as a public health issue, and through his National Institute for Play, he promotes the important role of playtime in school to legislators and educators.

Working Downtime Into Your Child’s Schedule
Rest and rejuvenation for the brain doesn’t only have to come from recess time. As parents, you can help make sure your child gets the chance to take breaks and rest, or even better, spend some extended time in nature. Going for walks, traveling to the local park, bike rides and hikes are all excellent ways to help your child get refocused.

Find the Time
Sometimes it can be hard to find time for this on top of all the other responsibilities. Making sure students have a schedule or structure for homework can be helpful in freeing up some time for children to play. If homework seems to be taking up too much of their time, consider how tutoring can help students complete and understand their schoolwork efficiently and in a reasonable amount of time. This leaves valuable space for playtime, and can create a positive cycle where children are able to concentrate and focus better—leading to improved skills and performance in school.

Source: Parker-Pope, Tara. “The 3 R’s? A Fourth is Crucial, Too: Recess,” nytimes.com.

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Stimulus Plan Gives Boost to Education
The stimulus package underwent quite a few modifications on its way to being passed. In its final stage, the plan will amount to $787 billion. Unfortunately, in its travels through the House, the funds allotted toward education were cut from $177 billion to $130 billion. A large part of this cut was made to money reserved for school construction, as some Republican members of the Senate felt that the job of maintaining buildings should be the responsibility of states and districts. They argued that setting the precedent now for the federal government to fund school construction could cause difficulties later down the line, especially given a government with such a large debt.

Still, some funds were reserved for school buildings. The new bill allows states to use money in the state stabilization fund for construction needs, although it is limited to modernization of existing buildings rather than new construction. Also, some tax break money was put towards school bonds. Since the bond market has been frozen due of the financial crisis, schools have had a tough time selling their bonds.

John Laughner, legislative manager for the Committee for Education Funding, felt that the Senators did a good job of supporting education in their revisions to the bill. While the amount dipped down at one point to $97 billion, analysts say the final amount of $130 billion toward education is a good start.

The money from the stimulus package will be spent over the next two years. Here are a few places where the money will go:

Teacher Quality
$200 million was awarded in incentive money for teachers and administrators in high-need schools who raise student achievement.

Education Technology
$650 million will help to create science and computer labs, and offer technology training for teachers. This portion was largely reduced from the original $1 billion in the House bill.

Head Start
$2.1 billion will give an additional 110,000 students access to the Head Start program, based on need.

Title I Program for Disadvantaged Children and Special Education Students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Act
$24 billion in funding will help the government increase their support of this Act. In the past 8 years, the government has funded only 17 percent of the 40 percent it previously promised to disabled students.

Child Care Development Block Grant
$2 billion will provide child care services to an additional 300,000 children from low-income families.

Pell Grant Spending
$15.6 billion will increase the maximum Pell Grant by $500, bringing the amount up to $5,350. After being cut in the Senate, Democrats worked hard to keep this funding in the bill.

Statewide Data Systems
Negotiations returned $250 million in money to improve systems in order to create more accountability.

State Stabilization Fund
$54 billion in funds were set aside to fix immediate problems in the budget. Of this amount, K-12 and higher education will receive $40 billion; $5 billion will go toward State Education Performance Grants (grants chosen based on a school’s success in distributing teachers, creating data systems and improving assessments for special education and English-language learners.)

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said the goal is to get half the stimulus money to states within 40 days, and the remainder within 6 months. The DOE is developing a timeline for distribution, as timing is a high priority issue for many states with tight budgets. The sooner the money is distributed, the more possibility it will be able to help in financial crunches for the current year. This may come as a huge relief to those schools that are fending off potential lay-offs.

According to Mike Griffith, senior finance analyst for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Education Commission of the States, an average of 65% of school budgets go to teacher salaries, 15% to support remaining staff, and the remainder has to cover everything else. Griffith points out that most schools will start with that 20% when tightening the budget, cutting out textbook and technology purchases that, while unfortunate, still allow the school to keep on functioning. After these purchases, extra curricular activities like trips and sports are cut, all in an effort to keep from affecting the teachers.

Not surprisingly, states are anxious to know when they can expect the money, hoping to know by July the amount they will receive so they can proceed with hiring and changes to the budgets. Looking at the long-term picture, these schools are also worried about what will happen when this money is cut off in another two years. Traditionally the government supplied roughly 9% of education spending; the stimulus will increase this figure to 14.8 to 15.5 percent. Some analysts worry that the government is setting an education spending precedent that it can’t sustain, and that this stimulus is more of a band aid than a real, effective solution. Still, with schools facing such tight budgetary concerns, the money is certainly welcome.

Source: Weinstein, Anna and Johanna Sorrentino. “Final Stimulus Package Gives $130 Billion to Education.” education.com.