Education

Learning how to Study

By: admin
Published March 9th 2011, in Education, Primary School

At some point in our children’s school careers, they will have to pick up their books and study. After having gone through our own schooling, we might have forgotten that studying is an acquired skill that does not come naturally to children. Children need to be taught how to absorb and recall scholastic material effectively.

Teach your child to find a place where he will not be distracted by the TV. If he studies at a desk with a computer – the computer should be switched off. No telephone calls are to take place during the time allocated for studying. Help him to organize himself before even starting to study – get all the necessary books and stationery ready. A healthy snack before study time is always a good idea. Concentration span changes according to age – young children struggle to concentrate for more than 30 minutes, therefore it is necessary to take regular breaks. Most important of all teach your child to be interested in the material he has to master. A positive attitude is half the battle won!

Not every one learns in the same way. We get visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. Visual learners learn more effectively with the aid of charts, maps, brainstorming and the use of colour. Auditory learners must hear the information, therefore it is good for them to read the material out loud to themselves. Kinesthetic learners have to experience the work in order to understand and remember it.

How do you know what kind of learner your child is?

Visual Learners are often

  • Good at spelling
  • Need quiet study time
  • They need time to think about the material before they understand it
  • They like colours and fashion
  • They dream in color
  • Like and understand charts.

Auditory Learners

  • Like to read out loud to themselves
  • Not afraid to speak in class
  • Like oral reports
  • They are good at explaining things to others
  • They remember names
  • Often notice sound effects in movies
  • Enjoy music
  • They are good at grammar and other languages
  • They read slowly
  • They follow spoken instructions well
  • They struggle to keep quiet for long periods of time
  • They enjoy acting.

Kinesthetic Learners

  • They are often good at sport
  • They also struggle to sit still for long periods of time
  • They are not good at spelling
  • They do not have the best handwriting
  • They love role playing
  • Like loud music
  • Like science labs and experiments
  • They are fidgety
  • They like to build models.

If you recognize your child in any of these descriptions, it would be good to teach him to learn accordingly – using the senses that resonates with him.

There are different memorizing techniques that you can try with your child:

* Repetition – going over the material again and again until they remember.
* Associations – associate an image or experience with a fact.
* Summarize the work – try to condense the work in such a way that a phrase will unlock a series of facts.
* Acronyms – they work good for lists.
* Rhythm and music – using the body and hearing simultaneously.

Once your child has prepared for a test it is up to you as a parent to help him to feel confident about his ability to recall what he has learned. A confident child is less likely to make careless mistakes due to nervousness.

Preparing your Child for Big School

Key tips to helping kids adjust

By: lee
Published October 27th 2010, in Education, Primary School

Having to make the change from preschool or nursery school to primary school can be a pretty scary prospect to a six year old.  Many six year olds become very anxious at the thought of now having to conform to the rules and expectations set by the school. My daughter expressed her fear of not being able to sit still for long enough and also not having time to play with her friends.  How can we as parents help our child to make this transitions as smooth as possible?

I believe the most important way to prepare a youngster for school is to take the unknown out of the equation.

  • Meeting the teacher before hand as well as seeing the classroom will make it more familiar on the first day of school.
  • A primary school is very big to a six year old, explain that it takes time to get to know the school and that her teacher will help them in the beginning until they know their way around the school.
  • Explain to her what they will do during a normal school day, it might be useful to get an older sibling to help explain to her what to expect.
  • Explain that there will be  two breaks in the day when they can play outside.
  • Tell her when assembly takes place, where it takes place, who will be there and what they will be doing during this time.
  • Tell her that they will sometimes go to other classes like the computer centre, the music centre and the library.
  • Assure her that you (or someone she knows well) will be there to pick her up at the end of the school day.

Give your child the opportunity to ask questions and take time to answer them in full.

Give your child the chance to participate in the build up to the first day of school.  Let her be there when you buy the school uniform, stationery and other essentials.  Allow her to choose her lunch box and bottle.

First day of school only comes once in a life time and we should emphasize that everything they do at school will be enjoyable!

A School Readiness Checklist

By: lee
Published September 21st 2010, in Education, Primary School

In South Africa, children can start “big” school when they are 5 years old, provided that they turn 6 before the end of June the same year.  Most children start Grade 1 the year they turn 7.  Unfortunately we cannot only judge if my child is school ready by age, my child’s development should be on par with the development of other children of the same age. When we talk about development we have to look at the different aspects thereof: emotional, social, physical, intellectual and language development should be considered before deciding that she is ready to get into a uniform and attend school.

We expect the following skills from a child that should be able to cope in a public school classroom:

Language Development:

  • She should know some nursery rhymes
  • Can use expressive and receptive language
  • Can follow instructions
  • Able to produce the different sounds of a language, in other words have command of a language
  • Can put sentences together to make herself understood
  • Able to take turns in a conversation.

Pre-reading Skills:

  • Can name basic colours
  • Know the letters of the alphabet
  • Know the names and sounds of letters
  • Be able to recognize their written name
  • Have print awareness (She knows how to hold a book and that we read from left to right)
  • Have an interest in books and reading.

Cognitive Skills:

  • Understand the concept of size – bigger and smaller
  • Know opposites
  • Can build jigsaw puzzles
  • Can master sequencing cards
  • Can pay attention and plan the execution of an activity
  • Know different shapes
  • Can copy patterns
  • Know position in space – above, below, in front, behind, etc.
  • Can persist in challenging task
  • Able to categorize objects
  • Have a degree of intellectual curiosity.

Numeracy:

  • Can count up to at least 10
  • Understand the concepts of counting, sorting and grouping
  • Know the different times of day – morning, afternoon and night

Social Skills:

  • Knows how to ask for something
  • Can share
  • Can take turns
  • Able to listen quietly
  • Can relate appropriately to adults and peers.

Physical Skills:

  • Can use the bathroom on her own
  • Can blow her nose
  • Can wash her hands
  • Able to catch and throw a ball
  • Can balance on 1 foot for a certain time
  • Able to walk up and down stairs
  • Able to use scissors, pencils and crayons
  • Able to stack blocks
  • Can hop
  • Can use a knife and fork to eat
  • Able to cross her midline.

Emotional Skills:

  • Can ask for help
  • Realize that she cannot always get her own way
  • Able to manage anger and frustration
  • Can work independently
  • Can cope with criticism and failure
  • Able to separate from a caregiver
  • Able to effectively express her feelings and needs
  • Hold her own in a group activity
  • Able to postpone the need for immediate gratification.

This checklist should give you an indication if your child is school ready.

A child’s first year in school is extremely important, because it is the first building block for the following 11 years. I believe that it is important that it should be a positive experience, where the child is adequately equipped to manage in the classroom, with many success experiences. When they are able to do something, it becomes enjoyable to do it.

Good luck for Grade 1!

The Education our Children Receive

By: lee
Published March 11th 2010, in Education, Nursery Schools

I was privileged today to be able to spend part of a morning in one of the classes at the school that my 5 year old daughter attends. I call it a privilege, because it opened my eyes as to the wonderful people who are called to teach, the wonderful lessons they give and also the hard work our little ones do at school.

Parents drop children off at school, pick them up after school and then expect our child to be a little bit brighter than earlier the morning. We want to know what number did they learn today and what letter did they learn to write. We ask with who did you play today and what did you draw.

It does not occur to us the way the number and the concept were explained to our child in such a way that she is not bored and can understand it. We do not consider the social skills that they practiced during the course of the morning, like responsibility, sharing and respect. Our children are taught that there are certain rules that we have to listen to and that actions have consequences.

Teachers do not walk into the room in the morning and decide today I will just read a story and then the kids will draw something. It takes immense preparation to have a lesson plan that incorporates the concepts that the children need to learn in a visual, auditory and experiential manner. Our children are not expected to sit still for the whole day absorbing information, they get time for free play and interaction with children from other classes. They are exposed to different authority figures – monkeynastics, kindermusic and computer teachers enrich their lives while they are learning important skills. Above all these children are having fun learning!

Our teachers walk into a class of 22 children in the morning – some who had a good nights rest, some irritable from a lack of sleep, some not ready for mommy to go to work and some that are still hyperactive from last nights pudding. They approach our children with respect and love and do not get irritated (or hide it extremely well) when your child interrupts her for the 99th time. I experienced teachers who enjoy teaching and seeing the light bulb flash for the first time. They are involved in our children’s lives and show keen interest in every new discovery and story that gets told.

As a parent, do stop and consider how easily we get upset with our children in the house when they interrupt, fight or do not listen to us. This happens at school as well, but with many more children to handle at once.

I think teachers are special people filled with love and passion, that humble themselves everyday to teach little people who will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Making the Decision to Home School Your Child

By: lee
Published March 5th 2010, in Education, Home Schooling

It is becoming more and more prevalent that parents make the decision to home school their child or children.  Most’s decision is based upon philosophical and economic reasons.  People find public schooling unstable due to the amount of and unpredictability of teachers’ strikes, leaving their children without formal education for that period of time.  Others complain about public school class sizes – their children do not receive enough one on one attention from the teacher.  Funding cuts mean that the proper equipment and best teachers become unaffordable to the school.  Many people have moral and religious issues with the content of the public school curriculum.  Other parents want to protect their children from bad influences and exposure to illegal substances which are rampant in many public schools.  For many of these parents, it is not an option to send their child to a private school, which meets their expectations, because of being extremely expensive.

Even though the thought of taking charge of your child’s education can be idealized, it is important to take the following factors into consideration:

  • It requires time . Giving your child an education that meets the requirements of your local government, involves spending a lot of time preparing and teaching. There are experiments and projects that need to be done, you have to grade papers, organize and go on outings, give music lessons, etc.
  • Personal sacrifice . You have to realize that home schooling your child will mean that you spend more time with him/her, and have less time to yourself. It is very important to keep a good balance and ensure that you have support structures in place in order to make personal time.
  • Financial sacrifice . It is quite improbable that the parent taking charge of teaching, will be able to hold down a full time job. If you are used to be a two income family – certain adjustments will have to be made in the household.
  • Socialization . Many people are concerned that when you home school your child, he/she loses out on contact with peers. It is a valid concern, which will require you to organize socialization time with other children in the form of outings, sport or other activities and also play time.
  • Household organization . If you are used to having your house spic and span by 9am, you may be in for a shock. As mentioned earlier, home schooling involves you spending alot of time with your child, meaning that the washing and ironing might have to wait while you are teaching your child to build a volcano. It is important that chores get divided and time reallocated to tasks, everyone will have to make sacrifices in order to have the household running optimally.
  • Agreement . Both parents have to agree on the decision to home school their child. They have to be in agreement over how it will affect the household and how to deal with it. It is also important that if only one parent is taking charge of the education, that the other parent acknowledge the need for social and emotional support.
  • Willingness . Lastly it is extremely important that your child is willing and enthusiastic about being schooled at home.

Fortunately, home based education does not mean that you as the parent are left to your own devices to formulate a curriculum and try to copy what you learnt at school.  There are many structured programs available which ranges from online programs to virtual schools.  Groups have been formed to give support and advice to other parents.  Cooperative home schooling involves families getting together for a couple of hours a week, where the parents can share their expertise with the children as a group in a certain subject.  Sometimes experts are brought in to teach more involved subject matter.

Steve Moitozo is an avid supporter of home schooling and feels the advantages of home schooling can be summarized into four main points:
1.   Religious and Philosophical convictions . People with strong convictions can build these convictions and beliefs into every aspect of their curriculum and therefore take charge of  topics and subject matter.  This is one of the biggest advantages – the ability to teach your child according to your belief structure.
2.   Socialization . With home schooling socialization becomes community based and not classroom based.  Children learn to interact with not only the children in their class, who are the same age, but also older and younger children.  Being schooled at home, expose them to real world problem solving.  They see their parents dealing with household and social problems and learn from that.  The children do not sit isolated in a class room being mostly exposed to theoretical problems.
3.    Academic excellence . Home schooling gives the parent the opportunity to focus academically on the child’s own level of mastery, versus a class room where he might be held back by his peers or left behind.  It gives the child the chance to work at his own pace – it is not a bell that indicates the time allocated to a certain subject.  The parent can work with the child’s own learning style in opposition to children at school who only get exposed to the teacher’s teaching style.
4.   Time as a family . The family get to spend more time together, without their child sitting in  a school environment for six hours a day from the age of 5 or 6.  The family get to be the influencing party, without the child being exposed only peers most of the time.

Home schooling can be a wonderful experience for both the parents and the children, but it is important to take it one year at a time.  The decision to send your child to school again can be just as difficult to make than the original decision to home school.  It is important at all times that the best interest of the child (socially, emotionally and cognitively) be kept in mind.

How to Choose the Right Nursery School for your Child

By: lee
Published February 24th 2010, in Education, Nursery Schools

It takes time and dedication to match your child with the right nursery school which will meet both your child’s needs and your needs.  Researching this decision includes speaking to other parents, looking at the children in the school environment and interviewing the teachers.  You have the right to insist to drop by at any time and observe how things are done at the school.  This will give you an idea of what the atmosphere at the school is – whether most children are playing and laughing or whether they are scared, intimidated and crying.

In interviewing the teachers from the schools, ask about the following issues:

  • Discipline strategy . This is very important to optimize your child’s adjustment and development, seeing that discipline consistency between home and school gives structure to your child’s learning. This does not mean that if you believe in spanking, that the teacher has the right to punish your child in the same way. I have found that nursery schools that focus on reward rather than punishment have better results with the little ones.

  • Routine. Having your child at home with you or a significant caregiver probably ensured that up to now your child had plenty of stimulation and attention during the day. It is important when sending him to a nursery school that he does not now become bored. Therefore, ask about how how they incorporate stimulation that is developmentally appropriate. Remember there is a big difference in level of maturity between a 3 year old born in January and a 3 year old born in December of the same year.
  • Child -Caregiver Ratio . How many children are in the care of one person. Being a parent you will know how unfeasible it is for one person to give proper care and attention to 20 two-year-old’s. The older the children the bigger the ratio may become.
  • Qualifications of Caregivers . You are entitled to give your child the best education possible. Education does begin in nursery school, it is therefore not too much to ask for someone with more than just practical experience. Even though your grandmother raised 5 children and 10 grandchildren does not guarantee that she is up to date with research and what is developmentally expected of children today. It is wonderful if you can find someone with both recent qualifications and practical experience. Remember that it is not important that the caregiver has to be a parent in order to take care of your child – most courses make room for enough practical experience as part of the grading process.
  • References . Ask the school to give you the names of other parents to contact. Often when interviewing a school a much rosier picture will be painted. By talking to parents you will get a true feeling of the school.
  • Philosophy . Schools may follow the teachings of Maria Montesori, Jean Piaget, Rudolf Steiner or a combination of these. It is important that you are in agreement with the fundamentals of this philosophy.
  • Staff and student turn-over . This will be a true reflection of parents and teachers feelings toward the school environment.

In constructing your shortlist of possible schools for your toddler, it is important to take the following  into consideration:

  • Cost
  • Distance from your home or work
  • Do they provide aftercare
  • Do they provide nutritional meals or do you have to pack lunches and snacks.
  • How do teachers effectively communicate with the parents
  • Are any extracurricular activities available.

The final step is to take into account all of this information that you gathered and make an informed decision.  Do not ignore your intuition – even though one school have the highest quality of educational material, it might be lacking the warmth and care you experienced from other schools’ teachers.

How to Deal with Primary School Bullies

By: lee
Published February 23rd 2010, in Education, Primary School

After taking the time to decide on the right school for our child and seeing the little one sitting behind a big desk with only pigtails sticking out – we go home with a tear in our eye and a warm heart.  You have put in the effort, paid the money, interviewed the teacher, prepared your child; now she will be safe and it is a matter of learning and doing homework for the next decade.

Your perfect dream comes to an end when your first grader comes home during the first week in tears, telling you about the horrible child in her class.  He makes jokes about her hair, he calls her dumb, he teases her for wearing glasses and takes her lunch treats from her bag when the teacher is not watching.  Not once did you up to this moment consider the possibility of school yard BULLIES….

Every child – bully and victim have a right to be at school.  The rights of the children do vary though in the sense that all children have a right to be educated and play in a safe environment.  They have a right to experience a sense of community within the school, feel a sense of social value and feel that they are being listened to.  The bully makes his victim feel small, weak, alone and useless. They do not treat their victims with dignity and respect that they deserve, therefore stripping them completely of their rights.

The bully’s attack can be verbal or physical or both.  He/she tends to like the students who are timid , shy and struggle to stand up for themselves.  Ironically they like scaring others, because they are scared.  They exert power over others in order to feel less powerless.  These bullies have a fear of being dislikes and abused and therefore rather put themselves in the abusive role than make themselves vulnerable.  Quite often they have been abused by classmates or adults.  They have an intense fear that others would make fun of them – so they will pick on weaker children to look cool.  Their behaviour becomes so entrenched that they need someone to help them break the pattern.

If parents suspects that their child might be bullied look out for the following signs:

  • Minor ailments in the morning before school, for example headache or stomach ache.
  • A constant theme of not wanting to go to school in the mornings.
  • Requests to be driven to school instead of taking the bus or walking to school.
  • A refusal to take part in school activities.
  • Noticeable cuts and bruises, a loss of money and property or damages to his school clothes or property.
  • If your child becomes withdrawn, develops a lack of confidence, struggles sleeping and experiences nightmares.
  • If he suddenly starts wetting his bed.
  • Starts requesting money on a more regular basis or even talking money without your consent.
  • If your previously responsive child do not want to discuss what is wrong in his life currently.
  • A sudden increase in aggressive and irrational behavior
  • When he is obviously hiding the truth behind unlikely excuses.

Some practical advice for children dealing with bullies:

1.    You have to be courageous to confront a bully.
2.    You have to put your foot down and say: “That is enough!”  If you cannot say it, ask a friend or an adult to say it for you.
3.    Bullies like to get to you when you are alone.  Try and make sure you always have a friend or two close by.
4.    Ask for help.  If you are too shy, write down the bully’s name and what he does that you do not like and put it on your teacher’s desk.  Someone needs to know.  If he is bullying you, he might be doing it to others as well.
5.    Do not try to fight with a bully.  Violence is not the answer. You are beter than him!
6.    Talk to yourself – tell yourself that you can stand up to him.  Say it over and over and over again.  Soon you will believe it!
7.    Always stick to the facts and avoid your feelings when you talk to the bully.  You do not want to give him more ammunition.
8.    Lela Davidson said it is OK to BAIL, when BAIL stands for

  • B – Be direct: “I do not like that! Please stop.”
  • A – Avoid bully
  • I – Ignore bully
  • L – Laugh at bully. Make a joke along with bully to disarm him.

It is important that parents keep the following in mind when dealing with a bullied child:  The child needs to feel valued.  The bully strips him of his worth, makes him small and weak.  Parents need to reinforce that the child is needed in the household, he has a purpose, his life is meaningful and most of all he is loved unconditionally for the person he is.  Do not try to overcompensate by buying gifts or codding your child – he needs unconditional acceptance.  It is important to focus on the child’s happiness and comfort at home and at school.  Lastly it is very important that in addition to the school community that the child belongs to, the alternative safe communities (eg. Church, scouts, art clubs,etc.) are found where the child will feel accepted and learn other coping mechanisms.

Unfortunately the victim’s parents live with worry over their child and the bully’s parents usually with a combination of worry and embarassment.

Online Education

By: lee
Published February 23rd 2010, in Education, Online Education

Presently, the choice of studying after school are not only limited to what field of study you want to enter, the following choices have to be considered:

•    Which tertiary institution do I want to do my studies through?
•    Can I afford and do I have the inclination to study full time?
•    Would I do better as a part time student?
•    Do I to the personal interaction with other students and lecturers on campus?
•    Do I want to study via snail mail?
•    Do I want to study online?

There are certain advantages built into online education, over and above the obvious environmental advantage in saving paper.  The first advantage that comes to mind, is the fact that the study material will be available to the student 24/7 electronically.  No classes will be missed due to tardiness, illness or lack of interest.  Therefore no excuses will be tolerated. The convenience factor makes it easier for students to meet their due dates for projects as they can plan their class and study time according to their own schedules.

Online education gives the student the flexibility to spend time with his friends, family and at work that full time studies might not have allowed him.  It brings the educator into his home, which makes him accessible at all times of the day and night.  For a shy student, e-mailing a instructor might be a lot easier than waiting after class to ask a question about the work.  He might also have a better social life through meeting people via discussion boards, chat rooms and mailing lists.

Exposure to online education promotes lifelong learning behaviour in people.  It will equip people with the necessary skills to know how and where to find answers using the internet effectively.  Through modelling behaviour they will teach their children to be independent in their learning and studies.  In essence it will connect more people to the global network.

On the flip side of the coin – the disadvantages of online education include that not all online courses are acknowledged in the marketplace.  It is therefore extremely important in your researcher to find an accredited tertiary institution.  Many course providers have been proven in the past to be fraudulent and costs many people lots of money, time and wasted effort.

The online industries also get criticism for not encouraging people to improve their oral communication.  Everyone seem to be very fluent behind a computer screen, but do not dare put him behind a microphone….  We tend to depersonalize our society to the point of silence.

Charity Weber reminds every one considering a online course that it will take a lot of self discipline to complete the course successfully.  She mentions that you need:
1.    Self-motivation.  You need that WANT TO to succeed.
2.    You have to write down your assignment, chats, discussion postings, readings due, etc. on a calendar.  She suggests that you break the big chunks up into manageable units.
3.    You have to organize your workspace so that there is no room for distraction.  Make sure your family and friends are informed of your study times.  Ask them to respect your dream.

In order to succeed, motivate and reward yourself on a regular basis.

Pros and Cons of Part and Full Time Studies

By: lee
Published February 23rd 2010, in Education, Tertiary Education

Whether you are just coming out of school or returning to studies after a break, you have to make the decision if you are going to undertake it as a full time or part time endeavor.  For most students coming from school, still set in the discipline of studying and being dependent on their parents it is an almost natural process to evolve into full time tertiary education.  For those students whose parents cannot afford it, or students who take a break after school to work or travel, or your more mature adults returning to studies the economic reality forces them to become part time students.  Very few companies will support an employee to study full time even if it is to the benefit of the company.

As with a lot of other things in life maturity does bring along many benefits when you are a student – a mature student will not fall around with courses and party until the wee hours of the night.  Mature students have identified the reason they want to study whether it is to obtain the elusive qualification, update their skills, changing the direction their career is currently taking them or furthering their interest.  Whatever the case might be, they are highly motivated to achieve this goal, and enjoy studying in contrast to the younger students who might interpret it as a task that has to be completed.

Some of the difficulties experienced by part time mature students are that they struggle to mix with the young ones – sometimes the age of their own children.  Because they are so highly motivated they tend to put too much pressure on themselves to achieve which can lead to burnout, when you combine it with their hectic family lives and full time occupations.  In contrast your full time students tend to be more interactive with the faculty members, their peers and the subject matter.

It is important that the mature students investigate the on-campus services available to them.  There might be childcare facilities that might lessen their load of traveling to further destination to drop off children in the mornings or afternoons.  Most campusses have financial services available to students in need, it can be beneficial to discuss financial matters with them.  Campusses nowadays have most shops and service providers on their doorstep – so it would be beneficial and time saving to do errands if off period rather than having a caffeine boost.  If you they have been out of the study loop for a while a short course in the latest technology used in the university setting might empower them and make them more effective students , as well as a library tour.  Talking to their lecturers as soon as they experience problems and joining a student mentoring program will help getting them comfortable with the study material.  It is of utmost importance to use time effectively and be organized.

Building a campus network involves attending at least some orientation activities, especially those ones involving their specific subject matter.  These activities will probably come naturally to the full time students and will be thoroughly pursued as social events by them.  This will be an opportunity to the part time students to meet other older students, who should be seeked out actively.  Most universities have certain services, for examples lounges, for mature students.  Mature students should attempt to form a support network and each find a “study buddy”.

Dealing with the family might be another story.  It is important for the part time student to communicate effectively to his family why these studies are so important to him and how it might benefit all of them in the future.  The family members should be allowed to voice all the concerns and talk them out.  The student should ask for respect for his at home study time – during this time the family are not allowed to bother him unless in the case of a real emergency.  It would be good if the study timetable could be available for everybody to see – for example on a door or the fridge,   then everyone knows when the student will be available and the feeling of disconnectedness are diminished.  There should be a  restructuring of tasks in the house in a effort  to show support to the student and also be able to spend more time with him..  The student must realize that at times he will have to say no, not to hurt anyone’s feelings, but to do what is right for him.

If you are a part time student, you have to take care of your self in the following manner:  You have to expect that there will be an adjustment phase.  Adjustment takes time and is uncomfortable.  It is very easy to give up during this phase.  You have to be patient with yourself – you have not studies for a while, therefore you might be rusty.  It will take time to get into the routine again.  Only foster realistic academic expectations for yourself.  If you never achieved an A at school do not expect an A+ now.  You will be stressed, that is normal, do not let stress make you question your commitment to your studies.  Most import reward yourself every step of the way.  You are braver than many employees out there and on the road to self actualization.

Full time students will probably be living on campus or have moved out of the house they shared with their parents in order to obtain more independence.  They will therefore have less family matters to dwell upon, but also a high adjustments curve in terms of fending for themselves and running their own household and motivate themselves to study.

In conclusion, the advantages of part time studies are that the employee maintains a salary and his employment rights, and he keeps in touch with the market place.  The biggest draw backs are the time it takes to complete your studies, the additional stress it adds to the individuals life and the fact that funding for part time studies are minimal.  The full time student will finish his studies hopefully faster, stand a bigger chance to obtain a bursary, but will have no job experience when entering the market for the first time.

Public Schools in the United States

By: lee
Published February 23rd 2010, in Education, Public Schools

In the USA children generally start their school career at the age of five or six, depending on when their birthday falls.  They start in Grade 1 and continue their schooling until they reach Grade 12.
The school system breaks the twelve years up into:

  • Preschool: Children younger than five attend preschool.  It introduces children to some necessary concepts and prepare them for formal schooling.
  • Elementary School (Grade School):  The elementary school usually consists out of  a pre-kindergarten section for the 4 – 5 year olds, the kindergarten for the 5-6 year olds and then progresses from grade 1 to grade 5 for six to 11 year olds.
  • Middle School: Middle school caters for the 11 to 14 year olds, from grade 6 to grade 8.
  • High School: In high school you will find your freshmans in 9th grade, your sophomores in grade 10, the juniors in grade 11 and the seniors in grade 12.  Children spend time in high school from the age of 14 to 18.

Schooling is compulsary in the United States and the classes consist of 20 -30 pupils per class.  Public schooling is free and about 85% of children attend public schools.  The remaining 15% of the children are enrolled in private schools.  Individual school districts determine the curriculum for their schools but the government instituted the policy of “No Child Left Behind” in all public schools for the whole of the USA.

In addition to general public schools there are also magnet schools and charter schools, which  fall somewhere in between public and private school.

Magnet schools: Magnet schools were introduced to compensate for the differences in the school quality based on the area in which a child resides.  They provide space for students who do not live in a certain area, but these schools have to serve all residents in their area as well.  Admission to magnet schools is based on applications and therefore can be very competitive.

Charter schools: Although charter schools are publicly funded, they are allowed to alter some rules and regulations that are specified for public schools. These rules and regulations do not apply to religion, because public schools in the USA promote non-religious affiliated schooling.  At the end of the day their existence hinges on the accountability for producing certain results. In these schools parents and teachers can tailor the curriculum to produce academic excellence.  Admission to charter schools are based on random selection.  If more children apply to a charter school than can be accommodated, selection will take place on a lottery basis.  Charter schools are however allowed to set minimum qualifications for admission.


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