Posts Tagged ‘school’

Why Parents Choose a Home School Education

An increasing number of children today are receiving a home school education. The reasons for making the choice to homeschool their kids varies from family to family but there are three main reasons why parents are removing their children from the public school system and giving them a home school education.

The first reason is that the public education system in the United States is struggling to provide a proper education for the nation’s children with out of date text books, run down school buildings and inadequate equipment. Provision of a home school education enables the parents to have control over the quality of the educational materials used by their children and the general conditions in which they are educated.

The second reason is that parents wish to assume more control over the influences their children will be exposed to. This is often on the basis of religious grounds but, very often, it is simply because a home school education will ensure the child learns the values upheld by the family and is taught from an early age what behavior is appropriate. Unfortunately, many public schools have a poor reputation for instilling good discipline in students. This often results in badly behaved children disrupting lessons and preventing their peers from getting the full benefit of classes. Discipline and the upholding of proper standards of behavior is an important part of a home school education.

The third reason many parents choose to give their children a home school education is fear for their safety. Violence is on the increase everywhere and the public school system has not escaped this trend. Violence in the public education system is getting worse and the individual acts of violence are more serious. Since the shocking events at Columbine High School there have been further tragedies involving firearms where teachers and students have been injured or killed. A home school education ensures the safety of children who would otherwise be seriously at risk of harm.

The Disadvantages of Opting For Homeschooling

Providing a home school education is not simply a matter of parental choice. In most cases the state education board of the state in which the family resides will have to approve a decision to give a child a home school education. The person taking on the responsibility of homeschooling must be certified to be a home teacher, the curriculum must follow the state curriculum, and the text books and other educational materials to be used must be approved by the state. Although this might seen like undue interference in what is a matter of personal choice, the state has a responsibility to ensure that all children receive an adequate standard of education and checks will be made to ensure that any child being kept away from public school is being properly educated.

A home school education might mean that a child is deprived of certain opportunities which would have been available within the public school system. There could be difficulties in providing facilities for athletic children to realize their potential. Musically talented children could be similarly disadvantaged. In some states there is provision for children receiving a home school education to take part in amenities such as being able to attend sports lessons and join after-school clubs. However, the level of assistance provided to homeschooling parents is not uniform and varies a lot from state to state.

The final potential disadvantage to affect children receiving a home school education is that they will not develop the social skills which will be important as they grow up. Social interaction with their peers and with adults outside the family is essential if a child is going to grow up with a properly balance personality and a reasonable level of social skills. These developmental issues can be fairly easily overcome if the child lives in a state where homeschooling parents are given support and the child receiving a home school education is accepted into classes and extra-curricular activities.

The decision to keep a child out of the public education system is not one any parent would make lightly and any weighing up of the pros and cons must take into account the level of support the state will provide. However, if the public school system continues to deteriorate, the number of children receiving a home school education is bound to increase.

In our rapidly changing global world, millions of students are currently taking college-level online (distance education) classes. Private and public universities in the United States and abroad are offering Certificate, Baccalaureate, Masters and Doctoral degree programs over the Internet to adult learners. From Ivy League to Community Colleges, an increasing number of students can log on to their classes from home, work or while commuting by bus and train. Adult learners frequently juggle a myriad of responsibilities including raising children, career, and care giving for senior parents. Formerly, a university of interest may have been out of reach geographically. Presently, an employee located in the United States can register for classes taught half way around the world. Non-traditional venues outside of the more traditional classroom offer viable opportunities for continuing one’s education.

Adult learners make up the largest demographic of post-secondary institutions in the United States. For this student group, the benefits of online academic programs are:

• To update current skill sets

• To learn new skill sets

• To earn an undergraduate or graduate level degree

• The fulfillment of academic requirements necessary for a current job or promotion

• To change careers

• The satisfaction of certification or licensure requirements

• Personal and spiritual growth and development

Not for the faint of heart, success in distance education academic programs requires high levels of stamina, discipline, and motivation. A good candidate must be computer literate, possess the ability to read massive amounts of material in short-time frames, have good writing and communication skills, hold high expectations for good grades, enjoy applying critical thinking and commit a minimum of 15 hours per week per course (be prepared to allocate more, if necessary).

The Internet and the World Wide Web provide the critical technology platform for distance education. University technological and operational infrastructures (including hardware, software and transmission) provide the additional cornerstones to the technology platform needed to execute distance education programs. The delivery of academic content may be accomplished in several formats. The more traditional venues are correspondence courses, videos, audio-cassettes, CD-ROMS, and broadcasts via television and radio. Modern formats include synchronous and/or asynchronous education content distribution channels. Synchronous delivery refers to real-time interaction between instructor and student i.e., two-way video-conferences, whiteboards, chat rooms, telephone software (ex. Skype), and mobile technology devices. Asynchronous interaction does not involve real time communication. Instead, interaction between instructor and student is accomplished through the use of e-mail, DVDs, and the traditional education delivery formats.

As a student, you will need a desktop or laptop computer, an Internet Service provider, a cell phone, software (i.e., word processor, financial spreadsheet, calendar and Power Point), a backup storage disk drive (nothing can make your heart drop faster than losing a body of work that you’ve diligently developed), a headset with microphone for virtual team discussions and the traditional school supplies. Optional technology may include memory upgrades, scanners, digital scanners, and fax machines.

Ten Tips For The Successful Online Student:

• Have a credit card or debit card ready for downloading e-books and other required course reading materials.

• Maintain a list of more than one bookstore in the event that a required textbook is sold out. It’s always a good idea to obtain a list of the required textbooks midway through the term and order in advance for the following term.

• Do not be shy about asking for help if needed. I cannot stress enough the importance of communicating openly with your professor or instructor about course material that you may not understand. Online academic programs tend to move rapidly and course content that you do not understand will most likely cause problems down the road resulting in frustration and possibly, lower grades.

• Seek out a tutor. If there are areas that you know need strengthening, even before the class begins, have a tutor on stand-by. Also, the telephone number of a computer specialist should be in your rolodex.

• Time management will be critical. Keep a planner. Read your syllabus as soon as it becomes available and plan accordingly.

• Uphold your responsibilities as a virtual team member. Your contributions will directly impact the team grade.

• Exercise. Long hours at the computer can cause strain on the neck, shoulder, arm and back muscles, not to mention the hands. Remember to periodically stretch and tone.

• Eat a healthy diet. Keep good healthy recipes handy. Hydrate. Avoid heavy snacking on calorie-laden food and instead eat lots of fruit and vegetables. Avoid white flour and choose high fiber grains.

• See your doctor. A healthy body feeds a healthy mind.

• Stay in contact with your Academic Advisor to be sure that you are satisfying the requirements needed to complete your degree.

In the Fall term of 2006, 3.5 million students representing 20% of all U.S. higher education students, took at least one online course (2007. The Sloan Consortium). It is projected that distance education will continue to grow in popularity domestically and internationally. The most commonly offered online academic programs are Business, Computer Science and Engineering, Education, Engineering, Library Science, Nursing, and Public Health. Whether you select a community college, public institution, private institution or Ivy League university, enjoy the learning experience.

© 2007-2008 Jeanna Foy-Stanley

With the increase in complexity the manual management of School Administration has become difficult. Skoolmanager is software by Stellar Data Solution Pvt. Ltd also called as school software, has been developed to reduce redundancy, inefficiency, mismanagement from any department of school. Skoolmanager, a school administration software has been automates the process of admission, attendance, fee, timetable in such a way that user with a little computer knowledge can do all this in an efficient manner. School administration software comprises 12 models that automate all the departments of educational institution. With school software, School administration can get any real time information. School administration software is an error free software that has been designed in such a way that it take cares all the necessities of the educational institutions.  School administration software comprises 12 distinct modules that automate all the departments of school. School administration software can also be used for academy management, College administration or any other educational institute management. Owing to its special and best features Skoolmanager is also called as an ERP of School. School administration software is flexible, easy to use, and cheap has been developed by an expert team of Stellar Data Solutions Pvt. Ltd. Provides a comprehensive solution to the entire problems in the way of efficient and easy management of every department of the school. School software is very much helpful for teachers because teachers can handle student attendance, grading or marks obtained by various students in a class in an efficient way. 

School administration software is also helpful in library management. Librarian can handle the library efficiently without any manual management. Librarian can keep track record of the books issued to students, remaining books in the library. With school software any addition or deletion of book in library stock is quite easy. 

School administration software is also helpful for time table management of school. It helps in allocation of subjects to teachers, number of lectures that teacher schedules to deliver. With School administration software you can mention the exams held in your school and grade or marks obtained by each student in the examination.  

Payroll management is a big burden on HR department of school. School software has been integrated with the best features that it automatically calculates the working days, salary cut or any other deductions like PF etc. The Fee Module of School administration software 2.7 is the one of the most automated fee calculation module available in the market. It automatically calculates fee, pending fee, deductions or concessions, the varying mode of fee payments.

School administration software is also helpful for inventory purpose. All the wear and tear of the school can be calculated automatically and it also presents a very clear picture of profit and loss. That’s why school software By Stellar Data Solutions is also called ERP of School or any educational institute. Yet there are other school administration software’s available in the market but Due to its special features like flexibility, cheap price, and easy to use, error-free skoolmanager has an edge over others. Our world wide customers are very happy with the use of our software. For More details Contact us at: http://skoolmanager.com/contact_us.php

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Skoolmanager is happy to announce the launch of new iso certified school administration software. While working on software’s you face certain type of errors. There are errors prone software’s that cause loss to your account and system. The first and foremost requirement for any educational institute is to have error-free, fully efficient, cheap and easy to use software that may cover each and every entity of school. Error prone software cause immense loss to your system.

With good software’s you can turn any school management problem into an enjoyable task.  Our aim is to provide the best Educational Institute Management software to Schools, colleges or any other educational institution. This software is also called as school timetable software, School management software, school administration software, school attendance software, school inventory software, school erp software, school library software Etc. All of these are available under one software. It is also called as ERP of School. Once you install our software you do not need to look for any other software to automate your record. This software has 12 distinct modules that cover each and every department of your school. Educational institute can certainly benefit from the use of our quality software. School software can make your work short. It has been developed by expert team of Stellar which is fully trained and takes a logistic view to handle any client problem. Its aim is to provide you cutting edge software that can best fit your educational institute. It has also become one stop hub software for educational institutes. The added advantage of this software is that it is very much cheap as compared to other school software’s available in the market. It is very much useful for school administration. School administration can access any real time information from any entity and can makeany decision based on it. School management does not need to have manual recordof any entity. Manual management of any software is a very daunting task and prone to errors.  It is best usable for library of school. Librarians do not need to do anything manually after the installation of our software. It can handle any addition, deletion and modification in the stock efficiently. School software is also very useful for teachers.Teachers can keep record of student’s grade, fee, attendance, test, attendance very efficiently. It is also called as timetable management software. School management can Make the timetable for school very efficiently and adjust the requirement of teachers according to need. School software by stellar has gained immense popularity worldwide.

Home school education is the process of educating children at home. The lessons given are based on the home school curriculum of a certain school to which your children are enrolled. In ancient times, home school programs were common.

The children were taught by their parents, philosophers, historian, poets and other specialists. Home school programs are designed to instruct students in academic subjects under the supervision of correspondence schools.

Today, children or students can enroll in other non-academic home school programs to satiate their thirst for knowledge in such fields. Home school is modular. The students are provided with modules as their educational resources.

They also have online classes. Home school education includes courses of study, curriculum, educational games, online tests, online tutorial and occupational training. The good thing about having online education is that students and parents have access to educational materials. They can also be with their children during their classes.

Many professionals and educators support home schooling programs because children do not exposed to the bad influence of institutional education such as bullying and prejudice. Children, who are also students, are not exposed to violence, whether verbal, psycho-emotional, and physical when they stay at home to have their academic lessons.

Although home schools offer attractive alternative to institutional education, not all are capable of providing quality education. You need to take few steps to ensure that your students at home will be educated properly.

Ascertaining the reputation of a home school is very important. A reputation is best known from other sources, and not just from a school itself. It can be found on its mission, vision and goals as an educational institute.

But it does not end there. A reputable home school takes steps to achieve those goals. It has proofs that indeed, it has a reputation of producing top-caliber students with its home school education programs.

Having a set of established rules and procedure is another indication of a good home school. With regard to education, home schools have set rules to define their standards and procedure to ensure that students at home are given education as instructed.

Evaluate the home school curriculum. It must be based on the standards of academe. In addition, the online school itself must be accredited. Accreditation is a measure of excellence in educating students. This also prepares students in facing the world after graduation.

As a measure to prevent students from being anti-social, most home schools have specialized programs for outdoor activities with students who are also enrolled in the same program. The activities can be curricular, extra-curricular and non-curricular.

The program may include camping, a visit to museums, operas, parks, libraries or out-of-town field trips. There are also clubs and organizations that students can join. Each club has its officers and calendar of activities.

The advantages of home school education are many. Students are taught lessons which are not learned inside the classrooms. This includes subjects that are often needed immediately after graduation like how to make a resume and compose a cover letter. Parents can teach their children how to dress, act and answer during job and non-career interviews.

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School Zone Publishing Company, a market leader in award-winning children’s educational products, is among the first companies to offer downloadable applications for Apple’s latest revolutionary product, the iPad tablet. The award-winning company joins a select number of software developers nationwide in meeting the tough deadline in time for the iPad’s launch on April 3, 2010.

The applications are a new twist on School Zone’s already successful flash cards and workbooks for children. Jonathan Hoffman, president and CEO of School Zone Publishing believes this software is a great way for parents to leverage technology to their advantage.

“Children are about to experience a whole new way of learning. The iPad brings our educational software to an entirely different level, giving children the ability to manipulate digital material with the touch of a finger,” Hoffman said. ”This can transform difficult concepts – such as fractions, time or money – into a delightful opportunity to explore. Children will be mesmerized, and parents will love the results.”

School Zone’s new titles for the iPad include:

On-Track Time, Money, and Fractions – $9.99

Ages: 6-7, Grades 1-2

Designed for first and second graders, this application helps build the necessary skills for understanding time, money, and fractions with fun, hands-on exercises.  Children practice adding coins, counting coins, knowing coin values, telling time, setting clocks and more. All the skills are presented in a delightful mix of exercises and enhanced with games, animations and “silly” sound effects. Each exercise has audio guidance, instant grading, positive reinforcement, and ways to track your child’s progress.

Flash Action Multiplication & Division – $9.99

Ages: 8+, Grades 3-4

Created for third and fourth graders, this application is like flash cards for children with a high-tech twist. Your child can practice problems against the clock, challenge another player to a game of fast facts, or test their own skills for speed and accuracy. Complete with instant grading, reward animations, and an interactive multiplication/division chart, this game will have your child ready for standardized school testing in a flash!

Flash Action Addition & Subtraction – $9.99

Ages: 6+, Grades: 1-2

Considered the state-of-the-art take on flash cards, this program is perfect for learning the addition and subtraction skills your child needs for school via audio responses, multi-player gaming, testing, reward animation, and more. This program is smart; it will adjust the level of difficulty based on the child’s performance. If your child has a problem that shows up repeatedly, there is a handy table they can refer to for the correct answer.

Square Off – Free

Ages: 4+, Grades: Preschool+

Specifically designed to help with cognitive development, spatial reasoning, and problem solving skills, the goal of this game is to complete the most squares. Players take turns placing a line between adjacent dots by touching the space between the dots. The game continues until all the squares are won, and the person with the most squares wins the game. An animation rewards children when they win the game.

Memory Match Game – $0.99

Ages: 4+, Grades: Preschool+

This game is fun for all ages and helps with cognitive development, spatial reasoning, memory, problem solving skills, attention/focus, and language/vocabulary. Children play against a built-in opponent by touching on two cards, which flip to show the pictures on the front side of the cards. If the two pictures match, then the player wins the pair and plays again, continuing until the last pair has been matched. There is an added feature of a mystery picture concealed behind the game board. When a match is made, a part of the picture is uncovered. When the game is finished, the whole picture is revealed.

Some children’s games are more than just fun and provide a healthy dose of learning – You can trust that all of School Zone’s apps pack a learning punch! But don’t just take our word for it, try them out yourself!

Trusted by teachers and parents, School Zone continues to lead the educational products industry by leveraging technology to your advantage. Join School Zone in the educational reawakening of our nation by simply downloading the high-tech and educational tools mentioned above from the iTunes Store. Just search the keyword “School Zone” and your children will have fun learning in no time!

School Zone Publishing Company has been a leading provider of educational products for preschoolers through sixth graders for over 30 years. Since 1979, this family-run, Midwestern-based company has sold over 315 million educational workbooks, learning card sets, and software applications. Visit www.schoolzone.com for award-winning educational products.

Homeschool through high school & beyond with easy to use resources! Transcripts Made Easy, Get A Jump Start On College, Grammar Made Easy, Excellence in Literature, and more. We are a real company with quality books and audio resources.
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This is HMHY’s Deaf School Project. The children range in hearing disabilities from partially to profoundly deaf. In Quzhou there are no special schools, so children need to learn to lip read from the ages of 4 – 8 and then start normal school. Some of these children have been at the school since we started our work in 2006 at the Deaf School. We bring clothes, educational books, outings, games and songs in both Chinese and English. Here are Rachel and I teaching Head Shoulders Knees and Toes.

This is HMHY’s Deaf School Project. The children range in hearing disabilities from partially to profoundly deaf. In Quzhou there are no special schools, so children need to learn to lip read from the ages of 4 – 8 and then start normal school. Some of these children have been at the school since we started our work in 2006 at the Deaf School. We bring clothes, educational books, outings, games and songs in both Chinese and English.

Now days everyone that has a computer with an internet connection has their own personal tutoring service available for free in their own home. Parents have a free homework helper available anytime, day or night. Gone are the days when the entire family struggled to help their child with an impossible homework question posed by the teacher. Every piece of information is at our fingertips.

Both children that attend a local school or are involved in home schooling, can benefit and enhance their education by having access to the internet. Any information you can think of seems to be available on the internet. If your child needed to research a project for homework they would have no problem finding the relevant information. You simply type what you want into a search engine like google and it will show hundreds, if not thousands of pages matching your search words. For example I have wanted to find about about pronouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.. All I had to do was type in “what is an adjective” or “definition of a verb” or “example of a pronoun”.

Children at the preschool age can also participate in activities which are not only fun, but extremely educational as well. Websites such as the Barbie web site or the Disney web site can help with your child’s mouse skills, co-ordination, listening skills and improve reading skills.

You can also download free trial software from Schoolhouse

Technologies that generates and prints maths worksheets, find a words, and more. These programs are very easy to use and the kids love them.. They will be nagging for more worksheets because most children enjoy completing them.

There are also web sites for making crafts, learning to spell, downloading educational games, writing poetry, reading music, designing web sites, and much more..Visit a website that I designed with no training other than the internet. Free Computer Education

Any child or adult can learn about absolutely anything on the world wide web. Go and give it a try!!
Notes:If your children are going to use search engines to browse the internet you will need a net nanny or filter to stop inappropriate pages from coming up in the results.

As a home schooling parent, you face special hurdles that the traditional classroom teacher does not face. Many of the traditional classroom activities that are in curriculum books and on the internet are difficult to do with one or two students. As a result, your children may not benefit from review games or math flashcard races. For competitive kids, games are a great way to learn, but playing a game with a brother or a parent is not always as much fun. One way to incorporate fun learning activities and a little bit of competition in your home school is with home school software.

The beauty of home school software and most types of educational software is that the programs are designed for students to use independently of each other. This means that you do not have to have a large group of students to use the program. Your competitive youngster can race against a computerized opponent or even his own best score using home school software games and activities.

Another benefit of home school software is that, unlike a workbook, it is not a consumable product. If you buy a first grade reading game for your oldest, your middle child and your youngest can use it later when they reach first grade. This allows you to save some of your money as you shop for home schooling supplies.

Not all home school programs are in a game format and you will find many that provide more structured learning. For example, if you would rather not go through the mess of dissection in your home, consider purchasing a simulation program that allows the student to see real graphics of a dissection being performed. You can even couple this program with a few dissections of your own that are a little less messy. As students advance in grades, science software can be used to perform virtual labs or to supplement home school labs.

Home school software is a great way to reinforce concepts you are teaching your students. For instance, when you are teaching your children how to type, you can use a typing program to give them the practice time they need. You will find many math software programs available that help kids reinforce math skills in fun, challenging ways.

When your older students are ready to prepare for the ACT or another college entrance exam, consider purchasing test prep software. This will give your students the edge that other students may not have. It will also save you the expense of enrolling your child in an expensive SAT/ACT prep course. College entrance prep software provides practice questions, practice exams and answer explanations. It is highly individualized to the user’s weaknesses and areas needing improvement. Your student can prepare for the test on her own schedule, rather than being tied to a class schedule.

One of the benefits of homeschooling is the chance you have to explore the subjects your children are the most interested in, while at the same time ensuring that the basic core concepts in all subjects are covered. For instance, if your children love to learn about the solar system, you can take the time to explore this subject to its fullest. Since software titles exist for many unique topics, home school software can be used to indulge the special learning interests of individual students. Computer programs are a fun, engaging way for children to explore their interests, and when your kids are interacting with the computer, you are freed to work on other areas of your home school, such as checking papers or working with your other children. With all of the benefits provided by home school software, you will want to set aside some of your curriculum budget to purchase some games and programs for your children to enjoy!

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According Ediger (2000), elementary school career education is important. Ediger stated that “the elementary school years are not too early to begin to achieve a vision of what one desires to do in life contributing to the world of work”. Without career education, students have unrealistic perceptions of careers due to a lack of knowledge and poor decision making. Students have limited knowledge and exposure to careers. (2,3) When students look at the different industries e.g. sports, media and entertainment, most students underestimate the skills and time required to have successful careers. (3)

The Basics for Elementary School Career Education Programs

In career awareness programs, students do not make premature career choices. Elementary school career education is not career exploration or career preparation. Elementary students remain open to new career ideas and possibilities. (7,8,13,15) Elementary students build awareness of self, personal interactions, school, and the workforce. (2,15) Elementary school counselors and teachers build self-awareness, family awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, decision making strategies, and self-worth. (2,4,11)

Career awareness programs use age appropriate materials that match the developmental levels of the students. Age appropriate activities expose students to a variety of different jobs, career information sources, and the reasons why people work. Programs also incorporate academic career pathways into classroom activities. According to CareerTec (2000), the preliminary career education skills serve as foundations for future skills. As the students progress, previous skills are reinforced, developed, and expanded. (2,4,11)

As elementary students get older, the students modify career visions and goals. After completing an elementary school career awareness program, students have higher grades, higher academic achievement, improved school involvement, as well as an increase in career awareness exploration, personal, and interpersonal skills. (1,15) In addition, the students complete more complex courses and have a higher graduation rate from high school. (9)

In summary, in career programs, students:

Learn and apply the academic material

Know and value self

Build self-esteem and confidence

Identify interests and build relationships between the school environment and the work force

Build academic, communication, problem solving, and social skills

Increase awareness of the need for future jobs skills

See the connections between learning in school, academic skills, job related skills, and careers

See career possibilities

See themselves as a future contributor to the job force

Receive empowerment

Build self-determination (2,7,9)

Examples of Elementary School Career Education Resources

Career awareness programs widely use tools are the Individual Career Plan (ICP) and the Individual Career Develop Portfolio. According to the Ohio State Department of Education (2000), Individual Career Plans (ICP) are essential for the development of self-awareness, employability skills, decision making and goal setting, community involvement, economics, and the reduction of bias. Students use the Individual Career Plans as they identify and explore initial career goals and educational plans. Elementary students use Individual Career Plan (ICP) to develop skills and to prepare to make future educational and career decisions. (12)

Another important tool is the Individual Career Develop Portfolio. Individual Career Develop Portfolios are collections of the career awareness activities and experiences that have occurred during the school year. (12) Other elementary school career awareness activities include:

Artistic displays

Career Days

Career Fairs

Career research

Career videos

Collages, murals

Community speakers

Educational games

Family group discussions

Field trips

Information interviewing

Job shadowing

Library book report

Mentors

Poetry

Phonics

Pictured dictionary

Puppets

Role playing

Scrapbook

Story reading

Student group discussions

Word search and comprehension activities (8,9,11,12,16)

Elementary school programs help students build connections between academics and real life situations. (9) Teachers and counselors use career education principles to stress the importance of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science. Language arts have many uses in the workplace: Reading, writing, and listening skills. The uses for Mathematics include: Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division skills to solve problems. In Social Studies, students gain understanding about other countries, languages, cultures, and the aspects of living in a global marketplace. Students learn the importance of Science having skills to solve problems as well as understanding how science is involved in different industries, such as food, media, agricultural, and automotive industries. (8)

Guidelines for Elementary Education Career Resources – National Career Development Guidelines

The NCDG Guidelines is a career knowledge, skills, and decision-making framework. The NCDG framework has three domains, goals, and indicators. Teachers and counselors use the domains, goals, and indicators as guidelines to design and create career resources. The three domains are: Personal Social Development (PS), Educational Achievement and Lifelong Learning (ED), and Career Management (CM). Each domain represents a developmental area in a career education program. Under each domain are goals or competencies. Under each goal, indicators highlight the knowledge and skills needed to achieve the goal. The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) is the foundation for career education products, research development, tests and tools. (14)

Summary

Elementary school career education programs build self-awareness, family awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, decision making strategies, and self-worth. Elementary school career awareness programs use age appropriate materials that match the developmental levels of the students. As a results of career education, schools reported that students had higher grades and academic achievement, improvement in school involvement and performance, as well as an increase in career awareness exploration, personal, and interpersonal skills. Career awareness activities include Individual Career Plan (ICP), Individual Career Develop Portfolio (ICDP), Career Days, Career Fairs, Field trips, information interviewing, and library book report.

References

1. American Counseling Association, Office of Public Policy and Legislation. (2007). Effectiveness of School Counseling. Alexandria, VA: Author.

2. Angel, N. Faye; Mooney, Marianne. (1996, December). Work-in-Progress: Career and Work Education for Elementary Students. (ED404516). Cincinnati, OH: Paper presented at the American Vocational Association Convention.

3. Benning, Cathleen; Bergt, Richard; Sausaman, Pamela. (2003, May). Improving Student Awareness of Careers through a Variety of Strategies. Thesis: Action Research Project. (ED481018). Chicago, Illinois: Saint Xavier University.

4. Career Tec. (2000). K-12 Career Awareness & Development Sequence [with Appendices, Executive and Implementation Guide]. (ED450219) .Springfield, Il: Author.

5. Carey, John. (2003, January). What are the Expected Benefits Associated with Implementing a Comprehensive Guidance Program. School counseling Research Brief 1.1. Amherst, MA: Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

6. Dare, Donna E.; Maddy-Bernstein, Carolyn. (1999, September). Career Guidance Resource Guide for Elementary and Middle/Junior High School Educators. (ED434216). Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

7. DuVall, Patricia. (1995).Let’s Get Serious about Career Education for Elementary Students. AACE Bonus Briefs. (ED386603). Hermosa Beach, CA: AACE Bonus Briefs.

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