Posted by Chip on June 30, 2010
My granddaughter, Lily, loves to swim. Watching her in the water in the summertime is one of the most joyful experiences of this grandfather’s days. In her element, she challenges herself at the leading edge of learning and adventure. She now floats on her back long distances, swims underwater, treads water, and is beginning to [...]
Categories: Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Importance of Play, Time to Learn |
Tags: Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, developmental teaching, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, importance of play, kindergarten, observing children, Time to Learn | 
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Posted by Chip on June 16, 2010
Grandson Isaiah’s tenth year was filled with collections of boyhood in the year in which children are typically drawn to collecting and classifying. His album of baseball cards expanded as did his knowledge of amazing facts from nature and the Guinness Book of World Records (undoubtedly in the top ten of favorite fifth grade books). [...]
Categories: Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum |
Tags: birthdays, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, eleven-year-olds, Sandra Cisneros, ten-year-olds, Woman Hollering Creek | 2 Comments »
Posted by Chip on March 23, 2010
You have until April 2nd to comment on the Common Core Standards in Reading and Math.
April 1st might be an appropriate day. According to Ed Week, over 2,000 people have already taken the time to go to www.corestandards.org and navigate the comment section to record comments. Your voice matters, even if changes to the K-3 level at [...]
Categories: Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Education Reform |
Tags: Alliance for Childhood, Common Core standards, Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, early childhood education, Education Reform, kiderg, social-emotional development, U.S. education policy | Post a Comment »
Posted by Chip on March 4, 2010
National “Common Core,” grade by grade, K–12 educational standards are being rapidly finalized across the political landscape as they pass through the doors of governor’s offices and state houses even before the miniscule window of opportunity for public comment closes. Kentucky has already become the first state to endorse such standards publicly in a special [...]
Categories: Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Education Reform |
Tags: Alliance for Childhood, Common Core standards, Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, early childhood education, Education Reform, kindergarten, social-emotional development, U.S. education policy | 1 Comment »
Posted by Chip on October 13, 2009
I want to recommend an eye- and heart-opening visit to an amazing teacher’s classroom.
You can visit Toshiro Kanamori’s fourth grade class in a primary school in Kanazawa, Japan, northwest of Tokyo, by watching a DVD called “Children-Full-of-Life.” For a taste, go to YouTube to watch any of the five filmed segments. Or order the DVD [...]
Categories: Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Diversity |
Tags: Children-Full-of-Life, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Diversity, DVDs about children, Toshiro Kanamori | Post a Comment »
Posted by Chip on September 28, 2009
Another provocative, idea-challenging, and idea-changing book I’ve just pored over is NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children (Twelve/Hachette Book Group, 2009).
Written by two award-winning journalists, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, this exciting book is a collection of individual explorations of research and programs in child development and learning that turn conventional thinking, including some of my [...]
Categories: Books, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum |
Tags: Books, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Nurtureshock, Paula Denton, The Power of Our Words | 1 Comment »
Posted by Chip on September 11, 2009
Heard this term? I observed a striking example of this definition of our young people in action as I sat at the back of a group of nearly 100 fifth graders watching and listening to the President’s “First day of School” address September 8th (see previous blog entry).
The group was attentive and respectful, but when [...]
Categories: Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum |
Tags: children and technology, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Lois Lowry, the distractible generation, The Giver, Thomas Merton, Time to Learn | 3 Comments »
Posted by Chip on September 1, 2009
By now you may have heard that President Obama will be addressing our students nationwide on September 8th at 1 p.m. EST. It should be exciting and inspiring!
Here’s the letter sent out to principals by his Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan:
Dear Principal:
In a recent interview with student reporter Damon Weaver, President Obama announced that [...]
Categories: Schoolwide Initiatives, The School Year |
Tags: Arne Duncan, Arnold Gesell, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Michael Gurian, President Obama, Race to the Top, Schoolwide Initiatives, The Mind of Boys, The School Year, Time to Learn | Post a Comment »
Posted by Chip on April 3, 2009
Good things come in small packages.
A small, new, groundbreaking book called simply Crisis in the Kindergarten—Why Children Need to Play in School is currently available in bookstores and on the web from Alliance for Childhood in College Park, Maryland. Every teacher, parent, and educational policy maker should read and forward a comment about it to [...]
Categories: Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, Time to Learn |
Tags: Arne Duncan, Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, education refrom, Time to Learn | Post a Comment »
Posted by Chip on January 22, 2009
Teachers: As the second half of the school year gets underway, it’s a good time to take a look at that “developmental cluster” age of your class you may have explored in the fall. Those who read this blog regularly or have read my book Yardsticks will be familiar with developmental clusters. If not, you [...]
Categories: Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, The School Year |
Tags: birthday cluster, developmental changes, Developmental Education, Developmental Needs, Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum, observing children | 4 Comments »
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