Using art to communicate is an ancient, international, and powerful practice. Visual art experiences offer opportunities for students who are learning English to express their knowledge in symbolic ways, which builds their personal and academic confidence and their ability to make connections between concepts, images, and texts. For example, if a teacher who is leading a unit on the life … Read More
Bilingual Books: The Secret Recipe for Family Literacy with Hispanics
Literacy begins in the home. Parents who begin to read to their children from a very young age make great strides in the child’s educational and social evolution later on. Reading to a child promotes successful outcomes for literacy even before they start their first day of kindergarten. This is true for families of all languages, backgrounds and cultures. For … Read More
Why Teaching in Two Languages Makes Sense for Programs with Hispanic Parents
Teaching in two languages can provide Hispanic parents with the peace of mind that they need to successfully engage in the education of their children. Family literacy programs that include parents in the curricula help to stymie the fears and lack of confidence that Hispanic parents often feel when it comes to reading to their children. They may not feel comfortable reading … Read More
ELL Support and Programs in North Carolina
With an approximate ELL enrollment of 6.2% among grades K-12, North Carolina has 102,311 English Language Learners in the state public school system as of years 2012-2013. 83.6% of ELL students in North Carolina speak Spanish, with Arabic, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Hmong rounding out the five most common languages spoken throughout the state. North Carolina is among the member states … Read More
How Bully Prevention Programs Can Impact Schools
Current statistics point to a dramatic increase in the number of students who are affected by bullying each day at schools all across America. One in every three children have either been the victim or the aggressor in a bullying incident, and over 150,000 students a day avoid come to school for fear of being victimized. Bringing awareness to this … Read More
How Oral Stories Foster Reading Development
Oral storytelling is a type of narrative dialogue that enables children to experience interpersonal sharing and relating while they improve their understanding of word choice, sentence structure, and fluent speech. Children who hear and tell stories gain critical practice in using and adopting a language that carries over into their ability to read and write in that language. In an … Read More
English Learner Resources and Support in Georgia
With an approximate ELL enrollment of 5.5% among grades K-12, Georgia has 94,034 English Language Learners in the state public school system as of years 2012-2013. 78.2% of ELL students in Georgia speak Spanish, followed by Vietnamese, Korean, and Chinese representing the most common languages spoken by the families of these students. The following is a list of useful resources … Read More
The Power of Story
We all like to tell stories. We learn how to do it from a very young age, and this ability is unlocked by hearing others do it first. It’s a skill that is best acquired through literacy. Reading inspires our imagination, transporting us to worlds old and new, far and near. It enables us to visit any time period and … Read More
Parental Involvement and the Impact on School Success
There is a little debate that a parent’s engagement in a child’s learning is highly beneficial. A number of studies have shown the extent of the positive impacts that healthy parental involvement can provide with marked improvements in attendance, behavioral patterns, and social skills, as well as better grades and test scores, resulting in higher graduation rates. But distinguishing the … Read More
The Link Between a Child’s Learning and a Mother’s Voice
We talk a lot about parental engagement in the development of a child’s education and how the success of progress in school can be attributed, at least in part, to having the parent actively engaged. A mother reading to her child can be an enriching and rewarding experience that has the potential for a positive impact on that child’s learning … Read More