-->

Sunday 18 December 2011

How to Make Homework Less Work?

Create a Homework Plan
Luckily, you can do a few things to make homework less work.

First, be sure you understand the assignment. Write it down in your notebook or day planner if you need to, and don't be afraid to ask questions about what's expected. It's much easier to take a minute to ask the teacher during or after class than to struggle to remember later that night! If you want, you can also ask how long the particular homework assignment should take to complete so you can budget your time.

Second, use any extra time you have in school to work on your homework. Many schools have study halls that are specifically designed to allow students to study or get homework done. It's tempting to hang out with friends during study periods or unstructured time, but the more work you can get done in school, the less you'll have to do that night.

Third, pace yourself. If you don't finish your homework during school, think about how much you have left and what else is going on that day, and then budget your time. Most high-school students have between 1 and 3 hours of homework a night. If it's a heavy homework day and it seems like you've got an assignment in every subject but gym and lunch, you'll need to devote more time to homework. It's a good idea to come up with some kind of homework schedule, especially if you are involved in sports or activities or have an after-school job.

Watch Where You Work


When you settle down to do homework or to study, where do you do it? Parked in front of the TV? In the kitchen, with the sound of dishes being cleared and your brothers and sisters fighting?

These places may have worked when you were younger and your assignments didn't require as much skill and concentration. But now that you're older, a bedroom, study, or any other room where you can get away from noise and distractions is the best place to get homework done. But don't study on your comfy bed — opt for a desk or table that you can set your computer on and is comfortable to work at. It doesn't need to be large, just big enough to spread out your stuff.


Get to Work
When you start your homework, tackle the hardest assignments first. It's tempting to start with the easy stuff to get it out of the way, but you'll have the most energy and focus when you begin, so it's best to use this mental power on the subjects that are most challenging. Later, when you're more tired, you can focus on the simpler things.

If you get stuck on a problem, try to figure it out as best you can — but don't obsess and spend too much time on it because this can mess up your homework schedule for the rest of the night. If you need to, ask an adult or older sibling for help or call or email a classmate for advice. But don't pick someone you'll be up all night chatting with or you'll never get it done!



Take a Break

Most people's attention spans aren't very long, so take some breaks while doing your homework. Sitting for too long without stretching or relaxing will make you less productive than if you stop every so often. Taking a 15-minute break every hour is a good idea for most people. (But if you're really concentrating, wait until it's a good time to stop.)

Once your homework is done, you can check over it if you have extra time. Be sure to put it safely away in your backpack — there's nothing worse than having a completed assignment that you can't find the next morning or that gets ruined by a careless brother or sister. (And no teacher still believes that "chewed by the dog" line — even when it's true!) Now you're free to hang out.


Get Help When You Need It


Sometimes even though you're paying attention in class, studying for tests, and doing your homework, certain classes seem too hard. Although you may hope that things will get easier or that the explanation to the geometry theorems will magically appear in your dreams, most of the time this doesn't happen.

What does happen for many people is that they work harder and harder as they fall further and further behind. Naturally, this makes them hate a class and everything to do with it. If you need extra help, the most important thing to know is that there's nothing weird or embarrassing about it. No one is expected to understand everything, and people have very different learning styles.

The first place to turn for help is your teacher. He or she may be able to work with you before or after school and explain things more clearly. But what if you don't feel comfortable with your teacher? If you're in a big enough school, there may be other teachers who teach the same subject. Speak to a guidance counselor or to the other teacher directly and you may be in luck. Sometimes it just helps to have someone new explain something in a different way.

You might also be able to get some help from another student. If there's someone you like who's a good student, think about asking that person if you can study together. This might help because you'll be hearing the information from the perspective of one of your peers. However, keep in mind that this might not get you the results you need. Lots of people understand something perfectly without being able to explain it.

Another option for extra help is a tutor, either after school, on weekends, or in the evening. You'll need to talk to an adult about this because it costs money to hire a tutor. Tutors sometimes come to your home, but there are also tutoring centers across the country. A tutor may have broad knowledge of many things or may be trained in just one subject. Tutors work with you one on one, helping review and further explain things taught in the classroom. The advantage of having a tutor is that it gives you the opportunity to ask questions directly and work at your own pace.

If you're interested in a tutor, check the internet or the yellow pages of your phone book, or get a referral from a teacher, a friend, or classmate who has a tutor. And if you live in or near a town with a college or university, you may find tutors there. Often college students will tutor high school students in their areas of study to help cover the costs of school.


Reference : http://teenshealth.org

Is vegetarian good for health or non-vegetarian?

Is vegetarian good for health or non-vegetarian? which is better for health? In what way these items differ.

Vegetarianism is considered a healthy, viable diet. The American Dietetic Association and the Dietitians of Canada have found a properly planned vegetarian diet to satisfy the nutritional needs for all stages of life, and large-scale studies have shown that "Mortality from ischemic heart disease was 24% lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians". Necessary nutrients, proteins, and amino acids for the body's sustenance can be found in vegetables, grains, nuts, soymilk, eggs and dairy.

Vegetarian diets can aid in keeping body weight under control and substantially reduce risks of heart disease and osteoporosis. Non-lean red meat, in particular, has been found to be directly associated with dramatically increased risk of cancers of the esophagus, liver, colon, and the lungs. Other studies, in contrast, have shown no significant differences between vegetarians and nonvegetarians in mortality from cerebrovascular disease, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, or prostate cancer, although the sample of vegetarians was small and included ex-smokers who had switched their diet within the last five years.

 The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada have stated: "Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals."Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal disease, osteoporosis, dementias such as Alzheimer’s Disease and other disorders.


In addition to the above, the following are the other benefits of a vegetarian diet -

1) Longevity - Several studies have concluded that vegetarians or non-vegetarians, who eat less amount of meat have lower mortality ratio than regular meat eaters...the bottom line is that vegetarians live longer...

2) Nutrition - Vegetarian foods completely cater to the nutritional requirements of an individual with the added advantage of not having to kill any animal.

3) Food Safety - Vegetarianism prevents fatal diseases like E-coli infection, salmonella, bird flu, bovine immunodeficiency virus, etc which occur in animals & birds and could be transmitted to humans when they are eaten...

4) Physiology - Humans are more anatomically similar to herbivores, with long intestinal tracts and blunt teeth, unlike omnivores and carnivores.

5) Environmental concerns - Environmental vegetarianism is based on the concern that the production of meat and animal products for mass consumption, especially through factory farming, is environmentally unsustainable.
According to a 2006 United Nations initiative, the livestock industry is one of the largest contributors to environmental degradation worldwide, and modern practices of raising animals for food contributes on a "massive scale" to air and water pollution, land degradation, climate change, and loss of biodiversity.
In addition, animal agriculture is a large source of greenhouse gases and is responsible for 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas.
According to the theory of trophic dynamics, it requires 10 times as many crops to feed animals being bred for meat production as it would to feed the same number of people on a vegetarian diet. Currently, 70 percent of all the wheat, corn, and other grain produced is fed to farmed animals.[170] This has led many proponents of vegetarianism to believe that it is ecologically irresponsible to consume meat.

6) Psychological - The "Appeal to nature" logical fallacy invites one to believe that something is good or right because it is natural.
A metaphor has been presented by Douglas Dunn: that if one gives a young child an apple and a live chicken, the child would instinctively play with the chicken and eat the apple, whereas if a cat were presented with the same choices, its natural impulse would be the opposite.

In addition to the above points, you need to understand that when you eat an animal, you are in reality eating the "fear" of the animal...A cow or a goat which is being led to the slaughter realises that it will be killed shortly and the sheer terror of the experience leads to the generation of certain toxins & hormones, which are ingested by humans along with the meat...

This results in various ailments in people who frequently consume meat such as hormone disorders, heart diseases etc...

So now it is for you to decide whether vegetarianism is more beneficial for health...




Thursday 8 December 2011

Preschool teacher

Preschool teacher | Teachers | Teachers in Preschool


A preschool teacher is a type of early childhood educator who instructs children from infancy to age 5, which stands as the youngest stretch of early childhood education. Early Childhood Education teachers need to span the continuum of children from birth to age 8.

Preschool teachers are encouraged to hold credentials in Early Childhood Education in the form of a Child Development Accreditation (CDA) or formal college education in Early Childhood or a related subject.

The term "preschool" refers to instruction in non-public arenas such as licensed preschools, childcare centers, family day care centers, home day care centers, center-based programs, federal programs like Head Start, and full or part-day private child centers or day care centers sponsored by religious bodies. The term "pre-kindergarten" refers to those lead teachers who offer instruction in a program for four-year olds funded as part of the state public school system.

Preschool teachers must be able to work well and interact with young children, sometimes as young as 2 years 9 months. Preschool children have a short attention span and their worries are usually fairly simple. Most preschoolers are loving, affectionate, and playful, and like to play games, be read to, or play with toys.

Preschool education

Preschool education

 Preschool education (or infant education) is the provision of learning to children before the commencement of statutory and obligatory education, usually between the ages of zero and three or five, depending on the jurisdiction.

 In the United Kingdom nursery school (or 'playgroup') is the form of preschool education. In the United States the terms 'preschool' and 'Pre-K' are used, while "nursery school" is an older term.

Preschool work is organized within a framework that professional educators create. The framework includes structural (administration, class size, student–teacher ratio, services, etc.), process (quality of classroom environments, teacher-child interactions, etc.), and alignment (standards, curriculum, assessments) components that are associated with each individual unique child that has both social and academic outcomes. At each age band, an appropriate curriculum should be followed. For example, it would be normal to teach a child how to count to 10 after the age of four. Arguably the first pre-school institution was opened in 1816 by Robert Owen in New Lanark, Scotland. The Hungarian countess Theresa Brunszvik followed in 1828. In 1837, Friedrich Fröbel opened one in Germany, coining the term "kindergarten".

 Developmental areas


The areas of development which preschool education covers varies from country to country. However, the following main themes are represented in the majority of systems.
  •   Personal, social, economical, and emotional development
  •  Communication, including sign language, talking and listening
  •  Knowledge and understanding of the world
  •  Creative and aesthetic development
  •  Educational software
  •  Mathematical awareness and development
  •  Physical development
  •  Physical health
  •  Playing
  •  Teamwork
  •  Self-help skills
  •  Social skills
  •  Scientific thinking
  •  Creative arts
  •  Literacy
  •  peaking ability is started too
 Age and importance

It is well established that the most important years of learning are begun at birth. A child's brain at this age is making connections that will last the rest of their life.[citation needed] During these early years, a human being is capable of absorbing more information at a time than they will ever be able to again. The environment of the young child influences the development of cognitive skills and emotional skills due to the rapid brain growth that occurs in the early years. Studies have shown that high quality/ or any high rated preschools have a long term effect in improving the outcomes of a child, especially a disadvantaged child.

However, some more recent studies dispute the accuracy of the earlier results which cited benefits to preschool education, and actually point at preschool being detrimental to a child's cognitive and social development.A study by UC Berkeley and Stanford University on 14,000 Kindergarteners revealed that while there is a temporary cognitive boost in pre-reading and math, preschool holds detrimental effects on social development and cooperation.

The Universal Preschool movement is an international effort to make access to preschool available to families in a similar way to compulsory primary education. Various jurisdictions and advocates have differing priorities for access, availability and funding sources. See kindergarten for details of pre-school education in various countries. There has been a shift from preschools that operated primarily as controlled play groups to educational settings in which children learn specific, if basic, skills. It examines several different perspectives on teaching in kindergarten, including those of the developmentally appropriate practice, the academic approach, the child-centered approach, and the Montessori approach to the curriculum.




Preschool Curriculum

Preschool Curriculum | Project Based Approach

 According to UNESCO a preschool curriculum is one that delivers educational content through daily activities, tuition and furthers a child's physical, cognitive and social development. Generally, preschool curricula are only recognized by governments if it is based on academic research and reviewed by peers

 Curricula that follow the Project Based approach work through a curriculum of themes set by the teacher or proposed by the children. The model encourages children to query topics and seeks to generate an investigative approach toward learning. [2]
[edit] International Preschool Curricula

International models such as the International Preschool Curriculum (IPC), International Baccalaureate and the International Primary Curriculum Early Years Program focus on themes that promote cultural diversity while preparing children for elementary education in their home or host country.