One of the topics we love to teach at playschool is nursery rhymes. You may remember many of these rhymes from your childhood, or then again, you may not, since for a time they were considered somewhat outdated and frivolous. However, recent research has shown just how valuable the memorization of these rhymes can be […]
Learning Experiences
Parents often want to know what they can do to best help their child learn. The most meaningful learning activities are not flash cards or planned lessons, but experiences the parent and child can share and enjoy doing together. Most parents know this intuitively, but life has a way of getting so busy that we […]
Why Playschool?
As the end of January approaches, bringing with it the start of registration for the next school year, I have the opportunity to speak with lots of parents as they are making decisions about a preschool for their child. It is always an exciting and fascinating time for me, one of the perks of my […]
Race to Nowhere
Many of you may have heard of a film that is gaining national recognition called, “Race to Nowhere”. We are fortunate that it will be shown locally, at The Elon School, this Tuesday, April 26th at 7 pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Visit www.racetonowhere.com to order advance tickets and […]
Does Education Reform Need Reforming?
Changing the Way Children are Taught
You may be familiar with a group in our community called Alamance Citizens for Education (ACE). They are a citizen’s group that looks at the issue of community involvement in our public schools. They spearhead many programs and projects, including the Classroom Closet which provides supplies for classroom teachers. I am on their email list […]
Becky Bailey and Conscious Discipline
We closed our playschool last Friday so that our staff could attend the North Carolina Association of Educators of Young Children conference in Raleigh, and what an awesome experience it was. We don’t go to this conference every year, because of the cost, but when I heard that the keynote speaker was Dr. Becky Bailey, […]
What Are Our True Priorities in Educating Children?
I want to share with you a letter to the editor that I recently submitted to my hometown paper. In a short editorial, written on the first day public schools opened in Alamance County, the editor gave a laundry list of things he hoped the schools would accomplish during the school year. I felt that […]
EOG Testing… Do You Have a Horror Story?
Everywhere I go I hear people talking about how awful the EOGs were this year, particularly in the elementary grades: How the material they covered was actually way beyond the grade level of the students taking the tests How stressful they are for students and teachers How much time was spent cramming for the tests […]