Wednesday, 20 February 2013

Toronto Montessori Schools Served As The Root Of Montessori In North America

Toronto Montessori Schools Served as the Root of Montessori in North America Toronto Montessori Schools Served as the Root of Montessori in North America by Jim Huinink

File this under "did you know:" Toronto Montessori Schools served as the de facto root of Montessori's spread throughout North America. There are now more than 4000 Montessori schools spread across the continent but they all owe something to the Toronto Montessori Schools begun by a woman named Helma Trass.

Trass was a student of Maria Montessori in the Netherlands where Ms. Montessori began her institute for training educators in her philosophy and methods. Like many others, Trass emigrated from the Netherlands to Canada in response to Canada's key role in the liberation of Holland during World War II. Trass was actually surprised to find that the Montessori philosophy had not taken any hold in North America but she took the opportunity to found the Toronto Montessori Schools. The name was pluralized because there were eventually two campuses, one in the suburbs and one near downtown Toronto.
Trass began the school in 1961, working out of a rented basement in the Toronto suburb of Don Mills. Her first class was 12 students. In 1964, she opened a campus in Richmond Hill (a Toronto suburb). Today the school she began has an enrollment of over 700 students including pre-school to grade 12. But on top of that there are over dozens of Montessori schools in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA); Montessori schools are found in every province and state on the continent.

While Montessori schools can be found in every major city throughout North America, it's also important to remember that not all Montessori schools are the same. Since the term is not copyrighted, anyone can appropriate the word and call their new school a Montessori school, no matter how far its curricula and methods might wander from Maria Montessori's original principles and teaching. That being said, there are many schools that pride themselves on close adherence to Maria's ideals.

Parents looking for an "orthodox" Montessori school need to check if the school they are considering is accredited by any of a number of accrediting bodies that arbitrate Montessori education. Accrediting bodies include the North American Montessori Teachers' Association (NAMTA), The Association Montessori Internationale (AMI), The American Montessori Society (AMS) and The Canadian Council of Montessori Administrators (CCMA), among others.

Montessori's influence reaches far across the continent today, seen not only within schools bearing the Montessori name but in almost every classroom where teachers have had some education in Ms. Montessori's philosophy and methods. The spread of Montessori in North America would not likely be the same if it were not for Helma Trass, the initiative she took and her ability to see far beyond the walls of her rented basement "schoolhouse" and her small first class at Toronto Montessori Schools.

Jim Huinink is Director of Web Strategy for ourkids.net, a Canadian website offering information about and listings of private schools, including Toronto Montessori schools, Montessori schools in Mississauga and Montessori schools in Newmarket & Markham.

Article Source: Toronto Montessori Schools Served as the Root of Montessori in North America

Sunday, 17 February 2013

Sell Your Teacher Made Resources Online

Sell Your Teacher Made Resources Online Sell Your Teacher Made Resources Online by Termetrice Gibbons

Have you created classroom and teacher resources that make the preschool experience better, or the educator’s job easier? An excellent tool for sharing those resources is to sell them online. Years of experience “teach” teachers many techniques for reaching a child’s mind and imagination, something that is not always taught to young teachers during their education and training.

When young people use resources provided from the experiences of their elders, everyone benefits. You may not realize that your simple methods for doing things can be sold to a young teacher. Well, they certainly can. It may be a better way to create a bulletin board in the classroom, a fun puzzle for teaching math facts, a game for learning the Presidents of the US, a song to learn the states and capitals, or particular process for science projects.

Methods for Selling Online

1. Websites. If you have a great deal of teacher resources, ideas, books, and projects that can be easily and professionally packaged and presented, a personal website might be the best direction for you. You can advertise your website on education sites, teacher resource sites, and educational exchange sites. However, an individual website is usually more costly and time consuming than other options.

2. Auctions. There are several websites where auctions take place 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 52-weeks a year. You can buy or sell almost anything. Because of that your things might get lost amid the vast array of other products available. While that is certainly still a viable source, an auction site that specializes in educational resources and child care businesses is probably a better choice. You simply pay a percentage of what you received for the sell as a fee.

3. Stores on Auction Websites. A possibility that falls between the above two methods are individual stores that are located on auction websites. Your items appear as auction items when a buyer searches a particular product. However, the buyer is then given the opportunity to search yourstore for other products. It’s generally less expensive than websites, and easier to manage than individual auctions if you have a lot of items. Educational auction sites are generally preferable due to the enormous amount of products on general auction websites.

The route you choose for selling your teacher made materials depends on the volume of materials available and time you can invest in managing the sales.

ExcelAssist.com is a premiere online educational auction and education freelance network that allows educational professionals to buy and sell new or used equipment and supplies, as well as hire freelance providers for various projects from consulting to grant writing.

Article Source: Sell Your Teacher Made Resources Online

Train A Child Care Worker From Your Home

Train a Child Care Worker from Your Home Train a Child Care Worker from Your Home by Termetrice Gibbons

Child care workers care for and teach children not yet ready for kindergarten and in some cases supervise school aged children before and after school. There are generally three recognized categories of child care works: private workers who care for children at the child’s home; family child care workers who care for children in their home; and child care workers who work at child care facilities.

If you are retired from educational training, child care work, or have extra time, you can provide your services and participate in the professional development of child care workers. Persons with special training in First Aid and CPR can also provide their services to child care facilities by training and certifying child care workers of all kinds.

Or, maybe you are a worker who desires to be coached and be trained in child care development and work. Finding a person able to train and willing to work with you may be difficult in your location. It is possible to find that person to help you on the Internet. It’s just a matter of two people finding each other.

Considerations for becoming a Child Care Worker:

1. State law requirements. States have different requirements for those who own or work in child care centers. Some require no education, while others require special certifications or college degrees. People essentially babysitting are generally not required to have special degrees.

2. License. Licenses for child care are required by most states when the number of children reaches a certain level. The number of children necessary varies from state to state. Works may be required to have minimum training, certain immunizations, and usually have to pass a background check.

3. Certification. Obtaining certification in First Aid and CPR is often necessary for child care center workers. There are several sources for finding a trainer to provide this certification, including the Internet.

4. On-site Training. Many employers will provide specialized training for the specific tasks you will be asked to complete. Safety and health topics are an ongoing experience. Finding someone to provide this is possible by looking on the Internet.

5. Degree. If you have the time, earning a degree in early childhood education or development will provide more opportunities for work as well as the potential of extra income training other workers.

Child care working is a very noble job that requires at least some training which you can provide or find by searching the Internet.

ExcelAssist.com is a premiere online educational auction and education freelance network that allows educational professionals to buy and sell new or used equipment and supplies, as well as hire freelance providers for various projects from consulting to grant writing.

Article Source: Train a Child Care Worker from Your Home

Advantages Of Private School

Advantages of Private School Advantages of Private School by Clara McCleen

How to educate your child? Which one is the better option, public or private schools? It’s a question which almost every parent faces when making one of the earliest yet a very pertinent decision of their child’s life.

Whereas public education is free, private education demands shelling out thousands of dollars every year. Its cost may range anywhere between twelve thousand to thirty thousand dollars. Are the advantages of private education worth that kind of money?

One of the virtues of private schools is that they offer a safe, small community atmosphere. Private school classrooms are smaller in comparison with public schools and they tend to have a better student to teacher ratio. This allows teachers to give more individual attentions to every child and develop a good and caring personal relationship. It’s been observed that when classes are small children tend to integrate better with their peers and develop more intimate bonds with their friends.

The capacity of raising a tuition fee as well as a lesser degree of political interference and an independent administration allows private schools to provide more facilities and hire better staff. Where many parents fear the lack of strict rules and requirements for hiring teachers in privet schools would lower their standard of education. The truth is that a higher budget allows private schools to hire teachers with advanced degrees and greater experience over teachers with a plain simple education degree.

Private schools usually offer more extracurricular activates and programs. They furnish a more balanced education emphasizing equally on art and sports as well as the required basic course of every grade. From on-stage plays to musicals and better sport facilities, private schools better support students in exploring their talents and enriching their personality.

Compared to public schools the smaller community atmosphere and greater personal attention to each child reduces the chances of any incidents of campus violence and discourage other negative activities such as cutting classes and indulgence in drugs and alcohol.

Parent union and pressure groups have a much more leeway in private schools when compared with their public counterparts. As private schools are independent institution themselves and not subjected to public funding; they enjoy much greater administrative freedom. Unlike public schools, they are not bogged down by bureaucratic policies and are better capable of adapting with changing times. In fact, the primary source of funding for private schools is the parents and hence they are more likely to give value to their opinion and suggestions.

It’s the duty of public schools to provide education to each and every child and seeking education is every child’s right. This idea however noble it may seem, restricts public school from taking the extreme disciplinary action of expulsion for errant students. The same is not true when it comes to private schools; which act as a blessing in disguise. Though expulsion is quite rare even in private schools, the mere threat of one deters kids from indulging in unsociable activities.

The choice, in the end is yours to make but bear in mind that the school your child goes to plays a great role in shaping the man/woman they grow up to be.

Clara McCleen is an expert on child education and related academic initiatives. She shares her expertise with several Orange County private schools, particularly private elementary schools . Currently she is associated with The Carden Academy in Mission Viejo where she is involved in preparing a congenial ambience for the children so that they can nurture their natural talents along with achieving academic excellence.

Article Source: Advantages of Private School

Distance Education Course – Popularity And Importance

Distance education course – Popularity and importance Distance education course – Popularity and importance by rkjain

Distance education is preferred by many students and adults nowadays. The main reason behind this is that many working professionals and students who live in remote areas are unable to attend regular classes. There are students who do not have enough money to spend on obtaining degree by attending regular classes. There are many universities today that offer distance education courses for almost every field of education. These courses are of high quality and the valuation of the degrees and diplomas are also equally acceptable.

Huge number of professional courses is also available today through distance learning universities. These distance learning universities have center all over the country and you get registered with the nearest center you choose. You can opt for courses in any field of education of your choice like computer, agriculture, job oriented, designing, management and many more. These courses are just to name the few. If you are interested to complete your education or improve or update your qualification, you just need to find the right distance learning institute or university.

When selecting the university, you should not get carried away by the advertising of that university. It is better you visit the website and go through the details of the learning programs and read reviews of that university as many as you get. Analyze the fact and if possible compare the facts with other universities also. This will help you have the confidence that you are choosing the right and genuine university. Do not forget to make certain that the university offers you complete flexibility so that you can spend time and effort according to your convenience.

The distance education courses that you choose must be very important for you. Also, you should have the confidence and dedication to complete the course within the time limit provided by the university. These courses are specially designed to help students upgrade their education and qualification even if they do not have sufficient time to attend regular classes. These courses are extremely beneficial for the older age group of people who have the desire to accomplish degree but cannot attend college for the same.

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Article Source: Distance education course – Popularity and importance