Archive for November, 2011
Ed. group picks “Success Story Schools”
November 27th, 2011
A Connecticut education advocacy group is honoring 24 public schools whose students have made significant academic progress despite poverty and other challenges.
New Haven-based Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now, or ConnCAN , says the schools all have a combined minority and low-income population of at least 75 percent.
It picked them as its 2011 “Success Story Schools” after analyzing data from standardized tests and finding noteworthy improvement overall and in scores of minority and poor students.
ConnCAN made its announcement this week.
The schools being honored are in:
- Bridgeport
- New Haven
- West Haven
- Hamden
- Norwalk
- Ansonia
- Stratford
- Hartford
- Torrington
- Stamford
- New Britain
The group’s 2010 list included schools in many of those communities along with others in Waterbury and New London.
Tags: Schools, Story Schools
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A child’s development depends on proper outdoor toys
November 25th, 2011
There are many toys that are not actually designed for educational purposes, but will definitely help increase child’s coordination or motor skills in some way and to create an opportunity for their creative thinking to work overtime.
Outdoor toys like balls, trampolines and jump ropes, provide not only the opportunity for healthy exercise, but can be used in any number of imaginative games. Bouncing a trampoline helps develop motor skills, rhythm, and timing, as the child grows. In addition, this is a good option for parents with replacement trampoline nets that can be bought easily. Balls can be kicked, thrown and bounced in different ways, and even just learning how to hold a small ball entrances a kid who can just crawl.
Many outdoor toys such as sand pits, swimming pools or tables with sections designed for the game of water can improve your child’s play time as well as motor skills and teach them things about the seriousness they do not even realize they are learning.
Musical toys are usually indoor toys but children can play them in the backyard. They can be considered educational in that they help a kid to develop in many ways. First, they must learn what it takes to play the music of toys. This could be as simple as pushing or pulling buttons or levers on a musical table is designed for toddlers. The reward for learning what to do, it’s the music that is often accompanied by flashing lights or sounds other than music.
But it’s not just the pleasure of learning what to do to hear the noise that is educational, but these songs or simple sounds teach them something too. For example, they can learn colors and numbers as well as their ABC of musical toys. Hearing rhymes and songs again also helps them memorize words.
When you need to choose outdoor toys consider how many children will play them. Sometimes 10ft trampoline enclosure only is suitable for birthday parties. Kids gain communication skills when they play together.
Tags: outdoor toys
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The Flu and You: Tips for Staying Healthy
November 25th, 2011
Fever. Stuffy head. Sneezing. Runny nose. Sore throat. Does any of this sound familiar? Oh yes, it’s that time of year again! Flu season is just around the corner, and that means the best time to prepare and prevent illness is now!
The flu (influenza) is one of the most commonly spread infectious diseases in the United States. It is responsible for an average of 5 missed work days a year. Flu can impact children and adults alike. And because the severity of illness from the flu depends on each person’s level of immunity, you may be one of the 200,000 Americans who are hospitalized each year from flu related complications.
But there’s good news! The flu is preventable. The number one means of preventing a flu infection is through vaccination. Each year the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) utilizes data collected on the most prominent flu viruses from the previous year and includes them in the flu vaccine. This is why it is recommended that each eligible child and adult receive a flu vaccine annually – because the vaccine changes annually. Flu vaccine can be found at your doctor’s office, your local pharmacy, and even in some schools and workplaces.
In addition to vaccination, good hygiene will go a long way! The most important form of good hygiene is frequent hand washing. This does not mean throwing some soap on your hands and rinsing it off. Rather, the most effective method of hand washing is with soap and warm water, ensuring that the hands are scrubbed for at least 30 seconds (or one round of the ABC’s) before rinsing.
Next always be sure to cover a cough or a sneeze with either a tissue or a sleeve. If you use a tissue, be certain to throw it away in a trash receptacle immediately! Don’t use your hands – ever! But if you insist, then wash your hands with the hand washing method mentioned above.
If you follow all of this advice and still get the flu this season please stay home until you are fully recovered. You are still contagious until you have been fever free for 24 hours.
For further information on the flu and methods of prevention, please visit: . And, as always, NEA HIN will maintain up-to-date information on our website: .
Tags: Flu, Flu Tips
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best pupils ‘losing out’
November 21st, 2011
Some admissions chiefs like to get a range of abilities and skills on their courses and so make a range of offers.
Academically strong pupils with higher predicted grades may therefore have to get higher grades to secure a place, while those predicted lower grades may get lower offers if they can persuade admissions staff they have other qualities.
The problem is that the admissions systems vary considerably and are complicated, according to the report in the Times Educational Supplement.
A pupil predicted three top grades at A-level may be made an offer of AAA, whereas a candidate expected to achieve As and Bs may be offered AAB or ABB for the same course.
Roberta Georghiou, the head of Bury Grammar School for Girls in Greater Manchester and co-chairman of the Independent Schools’ Universities Committee, said: “The danger is that universities admit candidates who are unable to capitalise on the opportunity they have been offered, while others who meet the criteria are excluded.”
Pia Pollock, the admissions policy adviser at Manchester University, said: “Some of our academic schools use what we call a range of offers to ensure that they recruit and select the best students.” Lower offers were made to candidates unlikely to achieve the highest grades if they could convince staff that they had the potential to succeed, she added.
Details of the variation in admission systems were laid bare in a Freedom of Information Act request.
“Students and their teachers are being put in a difficult position by the complexity of the university admissions system and the lack of predictable patterns, with each university setting its own rules,” said Dr William Richardson, the general secretary of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference.
Tags: Pupils, Pupils Losing
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7 Common Habits That Secretly Make You Anxious
November 19th, 2011
Do you know why so many people have trouble dealing with anxiety? Simply put, it boils down to a lack of perspective. Most of us think of anxiety as something that’s irrevocably… out there; as though it were an ominous and invisible threat plotting against our well-being.
All too frequently, people conceive of anxiety as an external factor they cannot possibly control. Does that describe how you feel? Truth be told, this kind of reasoning is nothing but an excuse to remain a victim of anxiety. Even though there are a plethora of known anxiety causes that you can’t control directly, it’s often possible to alleviate the problem by tackling specific habits and attitudes which usually go hand in hand with anxiety.
You may not be aware of it, but there are common habits of the mind and body that you constantly indulge, which secretly add up to your anxiety. Tackling these causes of anxiety will by no means eradicate your problem, but it will help make it manageable. It will also help you realize that you’re not a victim of your inner turmoil, as much as you’re a co-creator of it.
Coffee: Often regarded as a harmless beverage, coffee is actually a highly additive anxiety-inducing drug; it makes people more alert, but it also makes them jittery and nervous. Anyone who suffers from anxiety disorder or any kind of pathological anxiety issues should absolutely avoid coffee. Substitute with herbal teas and you’ll soon feel much more in control.
Refined Sugars: Likewise with coffee, refined sugars are also quite widespread and very much additive. If you don’t believe it, try spending a week without ingesting any foods that contain refined sugars. Avoiding sugar is a real challenge; not only because it’s omnipresent, but also because you have grown used to having a daily fix…. which makes you feel better on the short term, but soon after induces irritability and anxiety. Just like any other drug.
Sedentary lifestyle: One of most common patterns among anxiety sufferers is leading a highly sedentary living with little to no physical activity. No surprises there! When you fail to provide an outlet for all the energy and tension coursing through your body, that energy will invariably fuel your feelings of anxiety. You need to get in the habit of tiring your body on a regular basis, because that will directly contribute to soothing and relaxing your mind.
Negative thinking: Most people who are adepts of negative thinking fail to realize so. This is unfortunate, because the on-going stream of negative thoughts is constantly fueling your feelings of anxiety and inadequacy. How could you possibly not suffer from anxiety, if your mind is constantly racing in negative loops? Try to become aware of your negative thinking, and make a commitment to dismiss those woeful clouds constantly surrounding you.
Sleep Deprivation: It’s amazing how people underestimate the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, even though they constantly experience the negative effects of sleep deprivation. You must realize that sleep plays a vital role in regulating your physical and emotional states; anything less than 7 hours per night is just not healthy and it will invariably bring you closer to the mental edge every day.
Stress: In this day and age, people should be taught how to deal with stress from an early age. Because left unmanaged, stress is a negative force that can cause real damage in your life. If you constantly feel as though you’re unable to cope with your responsibilities and if you have a really hard time keeping up with your routine… that could become one of the major sources of anxiety in your life. Find ways to improve your ability to deal with stress, and your peace of mind will soon be reinforced.
Victim Mindset: It’s very hard not to get caught up in the victim mindset when you have chronic anxiety problems. But when it happens, it will make you feel as though you are just irrevocably stuck with your anxiety issues. Please don’t buy such silly ideas! You are only a victim while you refuse dealing with your problems. And as you may have realized from reading this article, managing anxiety can be done in rather subtle and seemingly indirect ways.
Remember, anxiety is not your enemy. It’s not an invisible enemy waiting to get you. Anxiety is more of a consequence of your dissatisfaction, rather than a cause. Understand what’s sourcing this problem and do your best to deal with it; as you do so, you’ll be effectively undermining the power anxiety has over you, and it will gradually become easier to cope.
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