Developing the Child's Mind Through Educational Toys

When the adjective "educational" is applied to anything, be it television shows, books, games, and especially toys, one tends to associate words like boring, tedious, dull, and so on to whatever it may be. Yet in recent years the importance of assistance like educational toys in the developing child has become not only popular but quite necessary to promote the growth of healthy brain function and skills adults use on a day to day basis. But not to worry these are not the educational toys of old, they are bright, colorful, spark imagination and are so engrossing many times the child doesn't even realize all they are learning.

The first 8 or so years of a child's life are extremely crucial to the primary development of both physical skills and mental capacities. It is said that a child's IQ can be increased by about 50 or so points in early childhood through the proper stimulation. While the idea of playing classical music to your baby in hopes of increasing intelligence is still being widely debated about effectiveness, educational toys designed specifically to encourage basic math, science, and creative concepts have been proven to work.

The critical stages of the child's primary development can be broken down into parts and they mark new beginnings and exciting changes in your baby's maturity. The period marked from birth to about age 3 include what are called, gross motor skills. These gross motor skills include: sitting, walking, lifting of the head, crawling, balancing, and some beginning hand-eye coordination. The next stage is roughly between age 3 and 5, and includes the development of fine motor skills.

The fine motor skills are the use of small muscle movements, usually associated with fingers in coordination with the eyes. Also during this important time, there are rapid changes in the child's cognitive (thought processes) and language. Now these stages are not passive procedures, even though they can develop on their own to an extent. They need to be actively stimulated and worked to ensure full development, so when the child enters into the next stage of school years they will have all the necessary prerequisite skills needed so they can be ready to learn.

Educational toys provide a great way to guarantee a child is growing throughout the stages of development. Blocks, for example, are a fantastic way to cultivate the fine motor skills because they require hand and finger coordination. But not just any blocks will do, blocks like the Magna-Tiles by the Valtech Corporation are what to utilize because they are designed specifically for childhood development. They are 3D magnetic building tiles that can either be clear or colored and come in 32 or 100 piece sets.

The Magna-Tiles help in developing a child's ability to pattern, shape recognize, understand magnetic principals, and help in 3 dimensional thinking. They are also widely used in early childhood education programs. Along the same line as Magna-Tiles, there are WEDGiTS from ImagAbility. WEDGiTS are a type of building block that can be nested, stacked, lined, and wedged together to create millions of different shapes, creatures, and designs; the only limitation is the child's imagination. The multidimensional, challenging building sets boosts the cognitive process by stimulating the creative process and providing a chance to let the child's mind wander to far-off places.

Another useful educational toy is the Oball from Rhino Toys. This amazing and uniquely designed toy comes from the Rhino Toy founder David Silvergate, who just so happens to have a degree in Physics. The Oball is a sculpted light weight ball that is formed from overlapping rings, which makes it easy to catch, throw, hold, hit, and kick. The Oball is the farthest thing from an ordinary ball and is sure to inspire a child's imagination, while developing gross and fine motor skills.

Educational toys are vital in developing a child's mind. They are fun, promote creativeness, and help in the necessary skills a child has to master for school years and life. They come in all forms, shapes, and colors so maybe the term "educational" might not be so boring after all.

Paper Crafting In Schools: Scrapbooking Concepts Used In The Educational System

Scrapbookers have a few benefits which they can experience during and after their scrapbooking and paper crafting activities. The first of these is included in artistic hobbies themselves; they give them a chance to flush through emotions and experiences which makes for better emotional health overtime. The second gift is they can perfect a certain set of skills through practice. And a third gift that scrapbooking gives can be seen as a collection: the ability to incorporate new lessons, new concepts and new and innovative thinking into other parts of their lives as a result of what took place during the scrapbooking.

For a practical example of the first concept, consider apparent scrapbooking a collection of family photos for hours at a time, dipping deep into the moments of flow where new thought enters and time suspends, and coming to some conclusion that is a "lightbulb" moment so to speak. Those insightful realizations which are likely to take place when the logical mind takes a break and the creative mind leads the wheel can be very helpful for the improvement of our lives especially in the realm of those things which we end up taking into our scrapbooking practices: family moments, individual goals and treasures and concepts which make us feel more alive.

Paper crafting in schools usually takes one of two forms. The second is similar to the first benefit above, where the creative mind leads scrapbookers to memorialize emotional events and the result brings a fulfilling feeling. Examples of this are the handmade Valentines, Mother's Day and Father's Day cards which many children are encouraged to make early on in their education.

The second way scrapbook concepts are traditionally used in schools is for learning purposes. Learning to spell through crafts is a practice used in schools by teachers who direct children to cut letters out from paper, to add them together, to make sounds and to rearrange the collection of them for words. Somewhere in the country there is teacher with several pieces of paper representing different animals and letters and a class being led to interpret these into words. Although we often see preschoolers using the scissors, the word cut outs and the collage of photos and letters to bridge new concepts with the attentiveness of creative work, the idea of crafting to solidify "left brain" concepts is not sectioned off strictly to early childhood education.

As middle-school students are urged to explore the meaning of collages through group projects which require poster board and symbolic representations of the main points of material they've been studying, and as middle and high school students are encouraged to make yearly science projects which combine a multitude of pictures, graphs and words to express thoughts, the main elements of scrapbooking in educational systems becomes more and more clear.

The reason we don't stop scrapbooking at any age is simply what many in the educational system have figured out; we don't just think in terns of sentences. We think in terms of symbols and pieces coming together. And we also find it easier to remember information when we progress through a project which allows us to play with those symbols and collect them as unifying concepts reinforcing the same idea.

Early Learning Centers - How They Can Help In The Development Of Your Child

Do you believe in letting kids be kids? Are you opposed to the rigid and conformist methods of modern teaching? Are you looking for a way to provide your child with world class education and a great environment to blossom into amazing into an amazing individual? Modern early learning centers offer such services and support so that kids can learn new things everyday while maintaining his/her individuality at the same time.

Different early learning centers focus on different teaching philosophies and formats but at their very heart, the core principle is to focus on the role of imagination in learning as well as on the development of a thought process that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. These institutions believe that every child has a unique destiny to fulfill and the education system should be aimed at helping him/ her in fulfilling that destiny. The ultimate goal of any system of teaching is to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals.

When it comes to early childhood education, these learning centers usually follow the imitation and example approach. The teachers try to create an environment that gives children time to play and encourage them to exercise their imagination and learn to conjure up ideas from within themselves. This is the time when a child learns to set his mind free, explore possibilities, discover how to relate socially with a peer group and take part in fundamental life tasks. This is considered as the most crucial time in the development of a child's brain and cognitive ability. These early education centers can play a crucial role in your child's development at this stage of his/her life.

Their methods of teaching are also quite different and more effective. Simple homely tasks and artistic activities to both do and see are balanced with storytelling, singing games and generous play times. Free, creative play is considered the best preparation for self-realizing adult life. Outdoor play periods are also included with the intention of providing children with experiences of nature, weather and the seasons of the year. All in all, your child will get a comprehensive exposure, learning and development if you enroll him/her in one of these schools.

If your child is ready to enter into playgroup, most cities have a wide range schools that you can opt for. A simple search on the internet will produce a huge list of options for you to choose from. The task will then progress onto finding the best one by making comparisons on their experience in the field, quality of education imparted, fees structure, parent feedback and overall reputation in the city. Most of this information is also accessible online through the learning center's website and third party discussion forums. All you need to do is put in some hard work and targeted efforts into the task and you will find the best learning center for your child in no time.

Preschool Education In USA - Emerging Trends And Implications For Future

Early childcare and education is now universally regarded as an important component of basic education. The World Conference on Education for All held in March 1990 at Jomtien, Thailand promoted the idea that "Learning begins at birth". According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNICEF, proper early childhood programs can produce more agile minds, better school attendance, lower repetition and dropout rates and stronger academic skills. And at a time, when most parents are increasingly finding it difficult to spend adequate time with their children in USA, playschools or preschools in USA, by providing early childhood care and education, have come to play a very significant role in the proper development of skills and ethics of the future American citizens. Therefore, it is very important to take stock of the emerging trends in the preschool education of USA and analyze the implications they bear for the future.

Preschool Education in USA:

United States of America has a federal structure and education is primarily a State and local responsibility. This is reflected well in the expenditure pattern on America's education. While the local communities, private organizations and State agencies contribute more than ninety percent of education budget; federal expenditure generally remains below ten percent. States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds are involved in establishing schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment in educational institutes of USA.

Emerging trends in Preschool education of USA:
While, by allowing private players to provide elementary education, a healthy competition is sought to be promoted among the playschools in USA, the government is also taking some measures to make preschool education available for all. In order to make early childhood education and care available for the disadvantaged section of American society, the U.S department of education sets aside the Title-I grants. Moreover, the Early Reading First program, established in the No Child Left Behind Act, provides competitive grants to school districts and pre-school programs, such as Head Start centers. The grants fund the development of model programs to support the school readiness of preschool-aged children, particularly those from low-income families. In order to make the children with disabilities succeed in their life, the Special Education Preschool Grants and State Grants program are constituted. They would provide formula grants to states to make quality preschool education in USA available for the 3- to 5-year-old children with disabilities. Thus, while several preschools in USA are making profit by taking care of the young children, some measures are also being taken to make quality early child care available to the marginalized sections of the society as the Bush administration has promoted the "Good Start, Grow Smart" policy when it comes to preschool education in USA. However, all is not hunky-dory when we look at the state of preschool education in USA and despite all the efforts to provide quality preschool education to all, preschool fees in several parts of USA have gone sky high. According to the Forbes magazine, the admission fee in some of the preschools has crossed $30,000. The admission fee in New York's Ethical Culture Fieldstone School has gone up to $ 30, 440. Another preschool in New York, bank Street charges $ 27, 450 and the Center for Early Education in Los Angels charges $ 15, 400. This rising admission cost of preschools in USA paints a picture of preschool education in USA that is in sharp contrast to the European model where most countries prefer to provide state sponsored free quality preschool education.

Conclusion:

While competition among the preschools to provide best facilities and education cannot be dubbed as bad, a check on the rising cost of preschool education in some of the preschools in USA would definitely help driving away feelings of alienation from the various sections of American population and help in producing quality human capital for the nation.

Origami Storytelling in Elementary School Education - Language and Problem Solving Benefits Reviewed

Storytelling in elementary schools improves children's language skills by providing students with a valuable opportunity to practice auditory comprehension, a vital component of early childhood education. The ability to understand spoken language involves so much more than simply hearing words and figuring out what the speaker intends the words to mean. Nonverbal cues of vocal pitch, tempo, and tonality are essential in effective communication. In face-to-face interactions, the additional nonverbal elements of body language, gestures, and facial expressions form up to 80% of expressive language. But how, in our multitasking, screen-dominant learning environments, can teachers capture and hold the attention of their distraction-prone students?

Why not try using the Japanese paper folding art of origami to help focus students' attention during language arts activities? When an unexpected curiosity like origami is added to a storytelling presentation, the educational benefits for elementary school students are increased. Origami models and other interesting objects add visual stimulation and grab attention, so that young learners are focused and motivated to pay closer attention. Another advantage to adding origami to stories is that origami is created one step at a time. As a story progresses scene by scene, an origami model can also be constructed, fold by fold. When the story ends, the origami model is also created. This specialized storytelling technique is called Storigami. Storytelling + Origami = Storigami.

Watching and listening to stories illustrated by the progressive folds of origami models enables students to imagine the visual details of the scenes and characters described by the words, but also gives students experience with analyzing the symbolic representations of the paper shapes and folds that are paired with story characters or actions. The ability to understand how the shapes relate to the story and then imagine possible outcomes are key elements of successful problem solving, one of the most important goals of elementary education.

Preschool Education - Why Should You Care About Preschool Learning?

Preschool education is a hot topic among parents and early childhood educators today. If you are the parent of a preschooler (or younger child) you need to ask yourself why you should care about preschool learning. There are three key reasons why you should not only concern yourself with your child's preschool education but become actively involved in it as well.

First, you must remember that preschool education is the foundation for your child's education. The skills and knowledge (not to mention aptitude and attitude) that your child develops in the preschool years will have a dramatic impact on your child's success when formal schooling begins as well as life success. Today we expect children to know more by the time they start kindergarten. While previous generations learned basics like color identification and the alphabet in school, today's children are expected to possess these basic skills by the time they start kindergarten.

Another reason to care about your child's preschool education is that by actively promoting and encouraging your child's preschool learning you will promote his or her self esteem as well. Help your child gain confidence by making learning fun and easy at this age and you will help make your child an eager lifelong learner.

Finally, preschool education is important because it can give your child the edge in a competitive world and education climate. While children who do not receive the fundamentals during their preschool years will be taught the alphabet, counting, shapes and colors when they begin their formal education they will be behind the children who already possess that knowledge and skill set. Do you want your child to be at the head of the class or lagging behind?

Concerning yourself with your child's preschool learning does not mean you have to enroll your child in a formal preschool program. You can work with your child at home if you prefer. The important thing is that you make sure your child is working to learning the skills they will need to prepare for kindergarten and learning to read.

You should care about your young child's preschool education because preschool learning is the foundation for formal education, it can boost your child's self esteem, and it can give your child the edge they need for lifelong success.