World Class Education (track) for Our Children
No commentsBy Beth Butler
Who knows, by the time you read this article many of you have already voted for your candidate via the early voting provisions made in many states. And if that is not the case, most of you have well made up your mind on which presidential candidate you will vote for come Election Day.
As a mom of three school age children and educator of thousands of other children I have listened intently to both candidates speak their mind on providing world class education. My heart races at the thought that one candidate even goes so far as to suggest that early childhood education will become one of his hot buttons should he be elected.
Did you know that during the first five years of life ninety percent of the human brain is developed, meaning the neural pathway connections have been formed by the age of five? I find that an amazing statistic to report to fellow parents and teachers. To realize that all of those board books you share with your infant, all of the songs you sing to your baby, and all of the stories you tell to your preschooler add up to a boost of brain power for your child.
So here we have two United States presidential candidates speaking out about our education system and how they plan to help overhaul it. It is embarrassing that in other countries their children are raised from a very young age knowing not two but sometimes three and four other languages in addition to their native language.
There is a standard joke that they tell in European and Latin American countries that goes something like this, What do you call a person who speaks three languages? A trilingual person. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? A bilingual person. What do you call someone who speaks only one language? An American.
The joke is not a reflection on us as parents nor is it a reflection on us as educators. It is a reflection on our system, an obvious slam at the way in which our country has approached education and the public education system. As the parents, as the teachers, we need to stay strong and stay proud in what we do with our children in terms of educating them and preparing them for a future.
The reality of today is that these children need to be better prepared for a global society and economy. It has been obvious that our system has shortchanged us and our children in terms of that strong foundation necessary for successful travels in world that is ever shrinking. Budget cuts have taken away many of the arts in our public schools and money for private school funding seems to be shriveling up across our great nation.
We need a leader, and we need a government under that leader that will take our youth under their wing and lift them up to the standards other countries have set before us. There are reasons why the European, Latin American and other world countries have surpassed us in education. I will not go into that here. Suffice it to say that when it comes to preparing our young children in the area of world languages, the United States of America has let its population down.
As parents and as teachers and as citizens who realize the value of knowing more than just English, it is our duty to stand behind our new leader and help pave the way for a lifetime of language learning for this next generation. Sure, we can kick ourselves in the rear end for not taking our high school Spanish class seriously or for skipping college French class one too many times.
As adults we have encountered many occasions in which we wish we knew more than just English. Be it a job promotion you were passed over for because the other candidate was bilingual or trilingual, be it a communication break down between you and the care provider of your child who spoke mainly French or be it a visit to a local store where the clerk knew mainly Spanish, and you longed to have command of just the basic vocabulary of some other language in addition to English.
World class education will come to our children in our lifetime if we take a stand and exercise our right to vote first of all. Secondly we will need to commit to pay higher taxes should it be requested of us in order to support new programs or new teachers to assist in guiding our children into this higher level of language acquisition. And lastly we will need to evaluate our own approach both personally and professionally about how we embrace other people, other cultures and other languages.
Our children read us well. They know when we genuinely respect another person. They know when we sincerely like and are on board with a new way of doing things. They read our barometers well do they not?
Allow your child to see a parent, a teacher, a grand parent or a friend who truly stands behind a country where world class education is no longer a catch phrase but a concept that is alive and well and kicking into high gear with a passion for creating a generation of lifetime language learners who will be the very best global citizens ever to walk this great planet.
Beth Butler is the founder of The Boca Beth ProgramScoop your child up onto your lap and Your Guide For Volcano Videos And Podcasts Do We Need A Parentig Plan? Natural parenting is one styles of parenting that is often supported by a parenting plan. Natural parenting is based upon the parenting plan that essentially references no concrete plan. That is to say that the plan involved with natural parenting defers parenting to its most instinctual basis and offers parenting as per the needs in the child-to-parent relationship. Natural parenting is said to be beneficial to the child in that it puts the parent in direct tune with the needs of the child and enables the child to learn to “speak for itself” in terms of what it needs. Other people use a more family-integrated parenting plan. This plan integrates extended family into the parenting mix, adding uncles and aunts and grandparents to create an entire “squad” of people that parent the child. This may also sometimes reference “crowded house syndrome” and may make the child feel overwhelmed with different vocal parents. The other aspect to consider in terms of family parenting is that it offers a solidified network of support and compassion at the outset and provides family nurturing in as direct a form as possible. Attachment parenting is a parenting plan that many mothers integrate immediately after birth. This is a type of parenting plan that invokes the notion of not leaving the physical proximity of the infant and enabling for an attachment bond to be formed. There are many medical aspects that both support this style of parenting and condemn it. The supportive aspect is that it introduces the child to parental love and companionship on a consistent basis. The negative aspect of attachment parenting can be, of course, that the attachment may be pushed too far into the child’s lifetime and the attachment may never be broken regardless of the age of the child. Choosing a parenting plan is important because it must reflect the type of child that is present in your life. There is no absolute in terms of a parenting plans; you may find that you select a variance of each type of parenting plan in order to create your own basis for a path on which to raise your family. Regardless of the course of action you choose, the best thing you can do for your family is raise them in a loving and compassionate home with ample room for growth and challenges. Without a good parenting plan, your job can become extremely complicated and can offer you little respite in terms of working with your children. There are many things in life that can be taken for granted, but parenting is certainly not one of them. People we care most about deserve our full attention. You can find out more interesting information on family and home at our site. College and Higher Education Grants for Women It’s a known fact that only the rich sections of the society can have any chance at all of getting higher education. Unfortunately, The number of such rich and the famous people in the society are very less. The price of any of the private 4-year colleges on an average is around $20000/academic year. Just try dividing this figure in to half. You would then have an average tuition with public university. Further, a formidable tuition can be obtained at the community college by paying even half of the above half. College grants are being devised with the purpose of making educational funds as minimum as possible, available to monetarily needy women students for helping in defraying the price of college education. The students going on to seek the money provide through grant might start by having searched for the grants by subject-specific and student-type grants. Grants-entirely different from student loans and scholarships Grants are discretely different from student loans as well as scholarships such that they are nothing but free gift amount. Hence, unlike the student loans which ought to be repaid- primarily requirement-based, in comparison with conventionally merit-based scholarships. Grant categories Grants might be divided in to the searchable categories including student-specific, degree level, minority, and subject-specific. Common sources Common sources in terms of grant funding include state and Federal governments, universities and colleges, private and public organizations. As majority of the recipients of grants are either monetarily impaired or disadvantaged by some or the other means, there’re several grants that are designed especially for the minorities, along with low-income students. Federal grants Federal government has been putting additional money in to hands of the college students which was never to be seen before. Most of impetus behind all this is No Child Left Behind Act. These measures help in the assurance that more and more primary as well as secondary schools have to be held accountable for ensuring that kids get education and attention that they deserve, that too, without any prejudices. In other words, much of the high-school students have been earning diplomas. There are more students standing a chance to attend college when proper social and financial resources have been made available for them, with the educators having experience and know-how of guiding them towards right choices regarding career and academics. There are certain federal grant programs offering lakhs of students the essential assistance for making college a monetary reality. These grants can be availed of by women as well. Women-specific grants Since ages, women have been disregarded on majority of college campuses. Several educators have a tendency of arguing that women aren’t as active on coeducational campus as on women-oriented campus. Private colleges for women are continuing to thrive. The credit of this survival should go to generosity on the part of innovative curricula, corps of the alumnae, and the expanded programs like athletics which round out an entire educational experience. Grant programs specifically designed for women perform the task of promoting participation of theirs in the underrepresented programs of graduation like business, mathematics, and sciences. Charles Bretz has been associated with Government Grants as an advisor and consultant. To find out more on how to receive Free Government Grants visit Government Grants USA. Click Here
Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 12:45 am and is filed under education.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Order online or call toll free 1.877.825.2622 today!
By Jeremy Ranson
Parenting can be hard enough without a solid parenting plan to help guide you through some of the potential pitfalls. Without a solid plan, your parenting skills may be put to the test more than you wish they would be and you may wind up making some awkward decisions that could greatly affect your family. With a comprehensive plan for parenting and raising your family, however, you can be a little more comfortable and a lot more prepared when it comes to raising your children.
By Charles Bretz
Today, the situation is such that only a few women students out of the whole lot are actually able to fulfill their dreams with respect to college education.
