Learning and Education

Using Educational Learning Books for Homeschooling Education of Children

2011-11-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

Educational and learning books or also known as educational learning books are an important part of the curriculum materials for kindergarten and primary school level age children who are educated through the homeschooling or home-based learning approach. Homeschooling or also known as home education is the education of children at the home and they are either taught by the parents or private tutors. In recent years, home education has been adapted by many parents in educating their children because they believe that the formal public or state school system has many disadvantages especially for primary school age children.

Education learning books that serve the purposes of educating the children and letting them in learning at the same time have become an essential part of the curriculum materials used by the parents or tutors who teach home schooled children. In a home schooling setting, an educational and learning book is usually described as a book that is used by the parent for teaching his child in a person to person approach.

When the parent is finished in teaching his lesson based on the book, he would usually give the book to his child because there are chapters or sections in the book that would enable the child to learn by himself or engage in self-study. Therefore, an educational learning book for the home schooling setting could be summarised as a two-in-one book, which could be used by the parent for teaching a lesson to his child and then, the child could use the book in self-study or learning by himself.

Benefits of Using Educational Learning Toys For Children

2011-11-25T05:26:00.000-08:00

Educational learning toys are toys or playing objects that have been purposely designed and built for helping in teaching children about a particular subject or in learning about a new skill. The primary categories of learning toys include building toys, construction toys, electronic toys, models of real objects, musical instruments, robot kits, and science kits. Those toys could also be specified for certain age groups such as toddlers, preschool children, kindergarten and specific age groups in the primary school level.

The effects and impact of educational learning toys on children have become very significant so that playing with those toys are now incorporated in the official classroom activities. In addition, many educational experts have stated that parents are encouraged to provide their children with learning toys and make them a part of their playing activities at home. The primary reason that learning toys have been included in classroom activities, and parents are encouraged to provide their children with learning toys would be the benefits for the children.

The benefits of using educational learning toys for children in the classroom and at home would involve the enhancement of skills such as cognitive skills, fine motor skills, creativity and innovation, language, and social skills. The learning toys such as puzzles, and numbers, shapes and patterns would develop a child's cognitive skills because he uses his mind to solve problems and bring out his ability for reasoning. Toys such as puzzles, blocks and clay modes would develop and improve fine motor skills because the child is repeatedly using hands and fingers to manipulate grasp, pick up and manipulate objects.

Educational Learning for People Skills

2011-11-22T00:44:00.000-08:00

Educational learning is not only applied in academics and in professional life; it is also applied in practical and daily living. When talking about practical application of learning from educational materials and environment, we talk about daily personal and social life.

In daily living, educational learning serves as a basis for personal beliefs and convictions. It also helps in guiding you in dealing with different situations and different people. For example, you can be a very nice person to your housemates or neighbours if you have the lovable characteristics of being emotionally stable and emotionally intelligent. You can learn about and develop these traits by reading different materials like published books and internet articles. Doing so is one form of educational or academic learning.

To further illustrate this educational learning, we can consider a person who wanted to be a salesman. Towards this goal, he read lots of books about marketing and sales. One particular book taught that to be able to get the sales you have to get the heart of your prospective buyer. One best way to do this is by being interested in your buyer's big and small stories and accomplishments. Along the way, the aspiring salesman was not able to become one but was able to learn how to get the sympathy of other people which is by being interested in their stories and accomplishments. He was able to apply this in his daily life and became one of the most admired persons in his neighbourhood and wherever he goes.

Determining the Learning Style of My Child

2010-12-08T02:53:00.000-08:00

As a mother to a five year old son who would enter kindergarten school by next year, I was curious how my son would learn in a formal school setting after I educated him in his preschool age through the homeschooling method. In all the time that I used the homeschooling method for him, I would observe if he displayed any particular learning style and I wondered if he would use the learning styles he displayed in his preschool age and use any of them when he enters the kindergarten level.

It was a good thing I had a good memory, took notes and made video recordings during the time I was homeschooling my son. I researched the Internet about different learning styles of children and compared those styles to any particular learning style that my son showed during his homeschooling years. From the Internet, I learned that there are three basic types of learning styles displayed by children, which are the auditory, kinesthetic, and visual styles.

The auditory style is displayed by a child who prefers to listen to his lessons rather than reading them. The child with a kinesthetic style learns by doing and touching, and acting out the lessons he learned. The visual style is preferred by a child who learns by reading, looking at visual aids, and observes demonstrations.

In studying the three basic learning types of children, I found out that my son has the auditory learning style because during the time I was homeschooling him, he preferred in carefully listening to the lessons I gave him and I noticed that he would usually sit down and only occasionally moved in his chair.

How I Prepared My Child for Kindergarten Class

2010-12-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

The kindergarten is the educational level when the formal schooling of a child starts and for my six year old son, it was also a time of anxieties and worries for him. As a mother to a six year child, I could understand his worries because I used the home education approach in educating him during his preschool years. Now that it is only a few months before he starts in kindergarten, I decided to do some research in preparing him for his kindergarten education and on how I could make him ready.

So I am sharing about the tips or guides I learned from my research and I hope other parents with children entering kindergarten would also use the same guides or tips that I learned. The guides are:

Instructions for using the bathroom – Many kindergarten classrooms are set up with their own bathrooms so you could just tell your child that he could politely ask his teacher on where the bathroom is located. You should also reassure him that his teacher would explain to the class on when and how to use the bathroom. If the classroom does not have its own bathroom, tell him that the teacher would explain to the class on where the nearest bathroom is located.

Social skills – Since I home educated my child during his preschool years and his contact with other children was mostly with the neighborhood children, I was initially worried if he had the right social skills for interacting with children from different backgrounds. However, I told him that kindergarten is an enjoyable place and it would give him a chance to meet, learn and play with new friends.

The Best Toys of Educational Learnings

2010-12-05T23:56:00.001-08:00

When my son turned one year old a few months ago, he was already walking on his own and he was more active than before because he was able to walk and move around much better. Since anything he could observe, touch and feel could contribute in the start of his learning process, I decided that it was time for him to have educational and learning toys or toys of educational learnings that are appropriate for his age.

So I researched the Internet about the educational or learning toys that are appropriate for the age range of my 11 month old son. I found out that there were several types of toys that are applicable for his age and those toys were readily available in all the major toy stores or in the toy sections of many department stores. After comparing several of the toys I found in the Internet, I compared all of them and took notes for the types of toys that I should first buy for my son.

Based on the notes that I took, I decided to first focus on buying three types of educational learning toys that were appropriate for my 11 month old son. The three types of toys that I bought are wooden blocks, sorting toys, and bouncing balls. I learned that ten to 11 month old babies could already stack from four to five wooden blocks, which could help in developing their skills for hand coordination and manipulation. The sorting toys come in various shapes and sizes and develop the skills for comparing and decision making.

My Learning Tips in Studying For High School Final Exams

2010-12-03T01:26:00.001-08:00

The most unforgettable part of my senior year in high school is studying for final exams. I was lucky that several weeks before the final exams, my mother gave me some learning tips on studying for high school final exams and she told me to get more tips from the Internet.

So I researched the Internet about learning tips on studying for high school final exams and I found many websites that offered many tips on how to learn and study for high school final exams. Now that I am about to enter my freshman year in college, I decided to share the tips that I learned from the Internet and from my mother so that senior high school students who are preparing for their final exams would know how to overcome their difficulties in studying for finals.

The learning tips on studying for high school final exams include:

Time management – Having an effective study schedule is important because you would have to set certain times of each week that is solely devoted to studying. Make a plan or mark in a calendar the specific time and duration of your studies. Before you begin your studies, you should already have all the handouts, books, notes and other study materials you need.

Join a study group – Joining a study group consisting of your close classmates or just one study partner would help you in sharing ideas, notes and materials for studying. The study group should have a specific time of once or twice a week, and you and other members of the study group should remain focused on studying and not be distracted.

How I Developed a Creative Curriculum For My Kindergarten Class

2010-12-02T05:42:00.000-08:00

I have only been a public kindergarten school teacher for two years when I noticed that my class in my second year of teaching did not have the same enthusiasm and motivation to learn as my previous class. I also became disturbed that after the first year of my teaching experience as a kindergarten class teacher, I was beginning to lose some of the enthusiasm and motivation that I had when I was a new teacher.

I did some thinking and carefully reviewed my teaching methodologies, the curriculum, lesson plans and worksheets I was using for my class, and the other teaching and educational materials I was using. Then, I remembered that I was a creative and innovative university student when I was taking up my education degree and that I came up with different teaching or learning methods in my projects and assignments when I was in college. So I decided that I should use the traits of creativity and innovative that I had during college and use them in my kindergarten class.

I talked to the school administrator and got her permission to create a new and creative curriculum for the classes I handled. So I research materials from various educational resources and I started planning and developing my creative curriculum.

I learned that using a theme is one approach for developing a creative curriculum. For example, using nature and the outdoors as themes for a curriculum would be create enthusiasm and interest for students about their natural surroundings and the outdoors. I could incorporate the subjects of arts, music, reading and writing, science, and physical education and how they would be related to the many things they observe, feel and touch in nature and the outdoors.

Taking The Preparation for Higher Education Course

2010-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

At the age of 17 years old, I had finished the year 11 at my secondary school in Birmingham and passed my General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) academic qualifications in the English Language and English Literature, Mathematics, and one GCSE in Science. It was a good thing that I got a grade B in the English Language and English Literature, a grade C in Mathematics, and a grade B in Science. All those marks were equivalent to a GCE O level and are regarded as passing marks by universities.

Hence, I decided in not going through the Year 12 and 13 or the Sixth form levels and start applying for a university in the city. I thought that all the coursework, laboratory experiments and examinations that I had to undergo to pass GCSE qualifications were difficult enough for me. However, my parents said that I was not yet prepared for the university level and they decided to enroll me in a Preparation for Higher Education (PHE) course at a university in Birmingham.

My parents said that the PHE course would make me better prepared for university level education and my GCSE marks would qualify me to take the course. Moreover, they said that they would not finance my plans to take up an education degree at the university unless I took the PHE course. So I had no choice and took the PHE course, which has a duration of one year. I am now in the last three months of my PHE course and I have to admit that my parents were right when they said that course would prepare me for taking up a university degree.

The Most Important Step in Education: How to Choose a College Course

2010-10-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Maybe you have not yet completely decided on what course to take in college. Do not haphazardly go to college and take any course. Your learning and education will be your foundation for a future career. You might be convinced you will be able to handle the course your high school teachers want for you, or you can be possibly swayed by peers to jump on the popular course bandwagon.

Before you proceed with the next and crucial phase of learning and education -- your whole life actually, your college life, go through these points in considering what course to take up.

What Interests You

It is priority that the college course you choose is in a field of your interest. You will have a very high chance of succeeding and even excelling in your course if you have a genuine interest in it. You are even in a direction in the future of landing a job you will like and never work a single day of your career.

Your Talents and Skills

Having a talent or skill in a certain field shows your interest and translates into an advantage in taking up a course that is highly related to them. If you have a talent in playing musical instruments, you will not have a great difficulty in studying music and becoming a music teacher.

What Work Do I Want

Evaluate the jobs and careers that interest you and identify those that you truly believe you will last and develop a long-term career. Your analysis on the jobs’ details like work load and working hours are crucial. You would not want to finish a course which leads you to jobs that you will not want doing.

Your learning and education is your key to your future, do not waste it on a wrong college course.

Becoming An Online Distance Learning Teacher

2010-09-22T19:49:00.000-07:00

I was in my late 20s and already had a few years experience as an instructor in accounting and finance for a state college in Seattle when I decided to become an online distance learning teacher. I read the specific details for becoming an online distance learning teacher from online articles and from the websites of the professional distance learning associations and organizations. Based on the materials I read, I found out that my teaching skills and qualifications made me well-suited for an online teaching job.

One of the essential skills for becoming a distance learning teacher is to have the computer knowledge for creating one or several forms of online distance learning classes. It was a good thing that when I was in college, I took extra subjects in computer software applications and computer graphics and design. I also had a master's degree and had complete professional teacher certification, and I continued to use the IT skills I learned in college in my present job as a college instructor.

The final step was enrolling in a distance learning certification program from an accredited college or university. I searched the Internet for colleges or universities that offered distance learning certification programs, and I chose a university that offered a certification program and I made sure it was accredited by a regional accreditation organization that was recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. I am now currently taking two distance learning certification courses in accounting and finance and since the courses are online with a flexible schedule, I did not have to give my full-time job as a college instructor.

Recent Post: Continuing My Early Childhood Education Course
Educational Learning

Continuing My Early Childhood Education Course

2010-09-16T20:49:00.000-07:00

It is just a few more weeks before I will finish my early childhood education course in October this year and I am already thinking about the review studies I will do for the state certification exam that I will take after finishing the course. But besides reviewing for the certification, I will also plan to inquire from the university if they have any on the job training programs that could place me in an actual working environment such as a daycare center or preschool facility in or around the Portland area. I have learned that gaining actual skills and hands-on training in applying the principles that I have learned from my course could contribute in making me a well-rounded early childhood educator.

Since October of 2009, the things I learned about the physical and emotional development in early childhood that have made an impact on my plans to be a professional early childhood teacher. So far, I have learned that the development of the motor skills and brain are crucial in the early years of a child's life. With the first three years, a child's brain is shaping into the specialized areas for the development of the organization, memory and function.

Even as an infant, the development of the motor skills are starting with the baby learning to roll over, grasp and let go of objects, and to sit up on his own. The emotional development begins to develop when the child forms an attachment or bond to the parent or other individuals who are close to him. I have learned that when a child starts forming attachments, he is ready to begin the early learning process.

Recent Post: Educational Learning Strategies For My Kindergarten Class
Educational Learning

Educational Learning Strategies For My Kindergarten Class

2010-09-12T20:08:00.000-07:00

It was September 2009 when I started with my job as a preschool education teacher for a kindergarten class consisting of children ranging in age from five to six year old. It was my first teaching job after graduating from my college course in 2008 and passing the state license exam in the same year. Although I already had a major in Early Childhood Education, I decided to learn more by doing research about different educational learning strategies or methods for preschool children.

In my research, I learned about several educational learning strategies, but there are two strategies that are recommended by preschool educators and experts for use in a preschool classroom.

It is fact that preschool children have a short attention span and within a span of a few hours, they could forget or not remember the things taught to them. Under the Repetition learning method, I would have to make some learning goals for the academic year and repeat them as often as I can. This method teaches that I have to explain repeatedly some things because they could be complicated or the children are unfamiliar with those things.

Fine motor skills are the coordination of small muscle movements, especially the fingers, in coordination with the eyes. The Fine Motor Skills method says that preschool children are still developing their fine motor skills so that it is the teacher's duty to guide a child in developing his motor skills. I can do that by creating activities that encourage the children to use their eyes, hands, lips, toes, and tongue.

In my research, I also learned that an effective preschool teacher should not just rely on the educational learning strategies or methods that he learned in college and from the curriculum prescribed by the school where he is teaching. An effective teacher should continue to educate himself by learning about other learning strategies that could be applicable and relevant to use in his classroom.

Recent Post: Identifying Educational Activities
Educational Learning

Identifying Educational Activities

2010-09-08T23:40:00.000-07:00

Educational activities are not limited to school related exercises or degree earning requirements. Using various aspects of education, a person can identify an educational activity.

Basic education refers to the set up of students learning several subjects from teachers in educational institutions. Students instructed by professors on a specific subject in institutions of higher learning comprise the term schooling. However through the years, various alternative means of acquiring education has emerged including outside world or real-life education. Education can be earned through the Internet or in libraries or museums as well. This means that educational activities are not limited to activities within the classroom or activities outside the classroom which are supervised by a teacher.

Any human experience or action that causes human thinking, values or faculties to develop or change is part of education. That is philosophically putting things into perspective. Therefore, educational activities include day to day activities in which a person derives learning.

Education comes from the Latin words “educare,” “educere,” and “ducere.” These words mean “bring up,” “bring out,” “bring forth what is within,” “bring out potential,” and “lead.” Deriving from this, we can safely conclude that any human activity which brings up an issue, bring out a secret, bring forth a sentiment or lead to something is an educational activity. A simple Internet messaging that brings out personal information from a friend is an educational activity.

Education is the activity by which a community systematically passes on collected moral values, skills and knowledge throughout generations. Attending festivities in a town anniversary allows a person to learn something new to one like the customs and traditions of the visited locality. The new knowledge form part of the person’s education and thus he has engaged in an educational activity.

Recent Post: Taking Online Learning For My College Degree
Educational Learning

Taking Online Learning For My College Degree

2010-09-05T19:38:00.000-07:00

Since I was busy working as a full-time office receptionist at an advertising agency, I decided that the only way to fulfil my goal of getting a four-year college degree in Business Management was to take an electronic or online learning course. I only took a two-year associate degree course in office management after graduating from high school and I have been in my receptionist job for two years, but I had figured that I had more prospects for career growth if I had a bachelor degree course.

I also said to myself that since I was working in an advertising company, I should also major in advertising or marketing for my online degree. I decided that online learning is the learning method that is most suited for me because I had a full-time job and I had little time to attend traditional classroom classes in a college campus. I had a computer at my apartment with a fast and reliable Internet connection. I also believed that an online degree was also much cheaper and cost-effective compared to going a classes with all the commuting that I have to do from work, classes and home.

So I searched and researched the Internet for the best schools offering online degrees and I found a university based in Phoenix that offered online learning courses in business and marketing. The university was well suited for my situation because it credited the subjects from my associate degree so that I only have two years to finish my online degree. I am now in the last year of my online course and I feel I have more career opportunities by the time I graduate.

Recent Post: The Forms of Online Learning Communication Technologies
Educational Learning

The Forms of Online Learning Communication Technologies

2010-09-01T19:51:00.000-07:00

If you have decided to continue or pursue a higher education course through electronic or online learning, your next step is to choose the appropriate and relevant electronic learning method or form of the communication technologies you would use. The communication technologies used in electronic learning are categorised as asynchronous, synchronous and blended methods.

The synchronous communication of online learning is an activity occurring in real time when the communications between the students and the online instructor or faculty are instantaneous, interactive and happening at the same time. The exchange of ideas, knowledge, skills and other information is happening at the same period of time. The examples of synchronous communication includes an online chat session and virtual classroom.

The asynchronous communication is an activity in which the communications between the instructor and students are not occurring instantaneous and in real time. The interaction of the instructor and students in the exchange of ideas, knowledge, skills and other information can happen without all the participants necessarily present within the actual and same time period. The examples of asynchronous communication includes video/audio conferencing, online blogs, discussion forums or message boards, and wikis.

The blended or hybrid learning is a mixture of using online learning technologies together with traditional campus-based educational learning methods. In the blended learning, the students would take several lecture sessions in a classroom located in the campus of an educational institution and they would also participate in campus-based activities such as laboratory experiments and workshops. The students would also take online learning classes such e-mails, online forums and take their exams online.

Recent Post: Teaching Strategies In An Online Learning Environment
Educational Learning

Teaching Strategies In An Online Learning Environment

2010-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Online learning is primarily in a distance education environment where the teacher and students are not physically present in a traditional classroom setting and the skills and knowledge are delivered to the student via the Internet with the use of an online web browser from a computer or Internet-connected mobile device.

In online learning, the student is present in his home or in other locations where he is not physically in front of his instructor or teacher.

Communications between the student and teacher are primarily through a combination of e-mail messages, text-based instant messaging, interactive software, chat rooms, and video conferencing. Files, documents and other educational materials sent by the instructor is primarily delivered through e-mail and online interactive software.

Since the instructor and his students are not physically in contact with one another, the students should effectively understand, comprehend and absorb all the skills and knowledge they are getting from their computers or mobile devices. Therefore, it is important that the instructor should be using effective teaching strategies for his students.

Even if the teacher is not inside a classroom, he should still be practicing teaching or instructional strategies that will effectively convey his online learning lectures to his students. An effective teaching strategy is for the teacher and his student to establish a regular learning schedule, especially when they have to interact with one another on a real time basis through text chat, audio communications, and video conferencing. The teacher and student should agree on the schedule that is best for both of them. Another teaching strategy is encouraging the student to express his comments, opinions and suggestions on how to further improve the lecture of the teacher.

Related Post: The Forms of Online Learning Communication Technologies
Educational Learning