Early Years Reception and Foundation Stage Teaching Using Dinosaurs

Using Dinosaurs and Fossils to help Educate Nursery to Foundation Stage

Within the United Kingdom, a series of strategic learning goals have been established for all school children from nursery stage through to reception/foundation and beyond to key stages one, two, three and four. These learning goals are incorporated within the National Curriculum and provide assistance and guidelines for teachers and teaching assistants to ensure educational standards are met across the country. Key learning goals are built around concepts such as developing knowledge and understanding of the world, building communication skills, language and listening skills. The use of dinosaurs, dinosaur information, prehistoric animal drawing materials and real fossils of prehistoric animals can make an excellent contribution to the teaching curriculum. In addition, such activities lend themselves to extension and topic work.

The Early Learning Goals - The Link with Dinosaurs

Early Years Reception and Foundation Stage Teaching Using Dinosaurs

The Early Learning Goals are a fundamental element of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework. These establish the expectations and standards of children ages 3-5 years of age in readiness for the move from nursery to the formal reception/foundation stage of Primary education. Some children will exceed the standards that they are expected to attain, other children depending on their own particular learning needs and learning style will be working towards the standards. However, the key aim of these criteria is to establish a broad teaching framework the enables young learners to progress from nursery through to more formal education.

The use of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals can make a contribution to the learning goals and permit teachers and teaching assistants to develop extension activities that permit young children to learn through imaginative and creative play.

For the early years and foundation stage, the key learning outcomes are divided into six specific sections:

Personal, Social and Emotional Development Problem Solving, Reasoning and Numeracy Physical Development Creative Development Communication, Language and Literacy Knowledge and Understanding of the World

Teachers can utilise dinosaurs and prehistoric animals in a variety of ways to ensure that these key learning outcomes are attained. For example, when considering the development of young children's knowledge and understanding of the world, fossils can be used to introduce concepts such as finding out about living and extinct animals and observing similarities and differences between them. Most children have knowledge of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals from children's books, films and television. Dinosaurs have a high media profile and since a new species is named and described every four weeks or so, dinosaurs are frequently featured in newspapers and magazines.

When our qualified teaching staff visit a nursery or reception we work to a formal lesson plan and build our teaching programmes around the key learning objectives. The main benefit of such outreach is that it can kick off a range of extension topics and related activities to help reinforce learning. It is important to maintain the interest of all the class, this can be difficult due to the attention span of children this age. As a result, teaching sessions are limited to around 45 minutes and aim to accommodate a range of learning styles.

Palaeontologists Visiting a Nursery/Reception Class

When a qualified teacher/ palaeontologist visits a class it is important to engage all the children. Working around key themes related to the learning objectives different materials can be used to help young children learn about the similarities and differences of objects, for example between cast fossils, models and real fossils. Children can handle and feel objects and establish that they are warm, cold, soft, hard, heavy, light and such like. This encourages them to use describing words and communicate with others. Crucially, such sessions should be limited to around forty-five minutes to allow effective engagement, but dinosaurs and fossils lend themselves to a range of extension activities such as model making, painting and drawing, drama, story telling, creative play and expression.

Each session would be normally broken down into ten minute teaching blocks, for instance, the first part of the teaching session would involve introductions, overview and explanations. Some of the materials used by palaeontologists such as knee-pads, hard hats can be passed round allowing the children to handle the objects. It is best if the children can form a circle so that the palaeontologist/teacher can stand in the middle of the ring and bring in objects so that all the children can feel that they are part of the lesson.

The second part of the session involves the first handling and passing around of fossils and models. It is best to have some dinosaur toys so that the children can make the link between the model and the fossil of the actual animal. The teacher and teaching assistant can be brought in to help describe and handle objects and supervise object handling. Teeth and casts of meat-eating dinosaurs work effectively and there is normally one child per class that will prove to be very knowledgeable. The lesson can be then be concluded by summarising what objects the children have handled and what they have learned. It is helpful to ask the children what their favourite part of the session was. A quick word with the teaching assistant and staff to discuss extension ideas following the session is always welcome.

Dinosaurs and prehistoric animals do lend themselves to helping engage young learners and provide excellent motivation to help children at the nursery and reception stage gain knowledge and understanding of the world around them. Prehistoric animals and fossils can help with young children's communication and learning skills as well as helping them to use creative and imaginative play to engage with others and develop a knowledge of animals alive and extinct.

Early Years Reception and Foundation Stage Teaching Using Dinosaurs
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Everything Dinosaur is a company run by parents, teachers and real dinosaur experts. It specialises in developing educational dinosaur toys, models, clothing and games and strives to help young people learn more about science through their fascination with prehistoric animals. Many of the items featured on the Everything Dinosaur website http://everythingdinosaur.com/ have been designed and tested by the teachers and real dinosaur experts in the company.

To learn more about the products and services we offer at Everything Dinosaur click on our website links.

Our aim is to help young people learn more about Earth sciences through their fascination with dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. Team members are happy to provide advice and support supplying free quizzes, drawing materials, puzzles, games even recipes for dinosaur themed biscuits and birthday cakes. With something like 600 products on line including dinosaur party supplies, Everything Dinosaur http://everythingdinosaur.com/ has built up a strong reputation assisting parents, guardians and fellow teachers, helping young people to learn more about science through creative play.

Teach Your Child the List of Prepositions the Fun and Easy Way!

Teaching your child the complete list of prepositions is one of the best ways to help your child excel in grammar. Learning these prepositions is important. Once your child has learned to identify prepositions and prepositional phrases, it's much easier for them to identify the rest of the parts of the sentence structure. Have your child learn the complete list of prepositions and the rest of grammar will begin to fall neatly in place.

Because there are 49 prepositions, many home school moms don't even attempt teaching them to their children. When you first see the list it seems even more impossible, but don't worry. It is easy for your children to learn them if you go about it the right way.

One of the best ways to teach the prepositions is with games. Games are always fun, they give everybody a break from regular homeschool work, and the kids have such a good time they soon forget they are even doing schoolwork. This is the way learning should be. By fitting in fun educational games, you can sneak in all sorts of learning.

Teach Your Child the List of Prepositions the Fun and Easy Way!

So what games can you play? How about Memory Match, Hangman, Charades, writing silly prepositions stories, and drawing? All of these games and activities are adaptable from one to several children - however many you want.

These games also cover all the different learning styles, so if your child doesn't learn the prepositions right away or doesn't think the game is fun, just try another one. If you have a child who balks at doing traditional school and worksheets, play memory match or hangman with him.

For the creative child, have her write or tell silly preposition stories using as many prepositions as possible -- the more the sillier. Your creative child may also enjoy drawing pictures illustrating different prepositions.

Teach Your Child the List of Prepositions the Fun and Easy Way!
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For a free list of prepositions and complete instructions to play these and more free educational games, visit http://www.Home-Schooling-Haven.com/list-of-prepositions.html

The Great Home Schooling Debate

Home schooling has been around for quite some time now. The debate about it's overall effectiveness has been going on for just as long. Recently however, home schooling has been gaining more and more advocates in support of it.

For the longest time, home schooling has been viewed with a somewhat contemptuous attitude by many. They're under the misguided notion that home schooling is for weirdoes and social misfits.

People these days are much more open minded about the idea of home schooling. Lots more parents are choosing to put their kids in some kind of home schooling program.

The Great Home Schooling Debate

So what are the possible reasons for parents to home school their kids? What are the advantages and disadvantages of home schooling? Is it right for your child and what must be taken into consideration when choosing to home school your child?

Home schooling has traditionally been for those children who suffer from some kind of condition or whose current circumstances don't allow them to attend regular school. However, more and more parents are choosing to home school their children because they believe it to be a more beneficial alternative to traditional schools.

There are a lot of advantages to be taken from home schooling.

Home schooling allows a child be taught in a more individualized way. The child will not have to compete with several other students for the time and attention of the teacher. Their parent is their teacher and the one-on-one teaching that the child receives will increase the quality of learning.

The nature of home schooling allows for an incredible amount of flexibility and freedom in regards to learning. The lessons and curriculum to be undertaken can be custom made to suit the particular educational needs of the child.

The child can also learn at their own pace, seeing as there's no set schedule that must be followed. A child can take as much time as they need to learn something without being pressured, or they can go as quickly as they can, learning things that would normally take a much longer time to cover in a classroom.

In many cases home schooling will enforce an inherent love of learning and will strengthen the child abilities to learn on their own. These skill will become a valuable asset throughout their lives.

Many parents home school their kids in order to instill moral values that can't be sufficiently achieved in traditional schools. This is especially true if they feel that the child is easily influenced and the schools in the area are a particularly bad influence.

Home schooling helps to cultivate family ties. The time that the family spend together teaching and learning helps to strengthen family bonds.

Thanks to more advanced technology and in particular the internet, home schooling has become even more effective. The internet is a vast source of knowledge and you can find a plethora of home schooling resources like sample curriculums, lesson plans, and all sorts of guides.

The greatest criticism aimed at home schooling is that it might hamper the child's social growth. Home schooled kids tend to be more isolated and many feel that this is harmful.

This isn't necessarily the case though, as studies have shown that many home schooled adults have excellent social skills and are living happy, meaningful lives.

These studies also show that home schooled individuals tend to do better academically than traditionally schooled individuals.

Despite the seemingly many benefits of home schooling, it isn't for everyone. Parents should take in mind several considerations before taking the plunge.

Home schooling takes a tremendous amount of time and effort on the part of the parents.

Teaching will take up most of the teaching parent's day, so this means that the they will most likely not have the time to work. The family must be able to cope with this situation. This is especially difficult for single parents.

Also, the parent must be sure that they will be able teach their child properly and handle all the possible problems and responsibilities that come with the home schooling their child.

Home schooling, when done right can have very positive results. However, getting it wrong can result in absolute disaster. Ultimately, it's up to the parents to assess their child and decide if home schooling is the right choice for them.

The Great Home Schooling Debate
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Lee Dobbins writes for [http://homeschooling.biz-review.com] where you can learn more about home schooling [http://homeschooling.biz-review.com].

Free Homeschooling Curriculum

Most people think homeschooling is expensive and is only for the well off. Homeschooling need not be expensive, for example free homeschooling curriculum materials can be obtained quite easily if you know where to look.

Free homeschooling curriculum does not just means a set of books but more than that, it should be part of your homeschooling plan.

Here are some points to take note when choosing a homeschooling curriculum.

Free Homeschooling Curriculum

1) Your child's homeschooling needs change as they grow older. Also their interests, weakness and strengths may change over time.

2) One of the things that happens when you get free homeschooling curriculum is that you may realize it may not fit your child's homeschooling curriculum exactly. Since each child is different, you may need to change some subjects or incorporate other homeschooling materials to fit the needs of your child.

3) One of the easiest ways to get hold of free homeschooling curriculum is to use the internet. There are many homeschooling websites online that offers free homeschooling curriculum for download. As always, you might want to take a look at it first to see if it is suitable for your child

4) Another way is to join a homeschooling support group in your area. Most homeschooling support groups pool their resources and often help out parents that are not that well off. You can get free homeschooling curriculum notes, books, worksheets easily.

Some schools may sometimes also provides homeschooling materials such as books and notebooks to homeschooling support groups. So it's good to see if you can join one in your neighbourhood.

You might also visit the library to get more materials.

As you can see, all the above ways are free and you can get free homeschooling curriculum if you try the methods I show you as above.

Free Homeschooling Curriculum
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Ricky is the online editor of a homeschool college [http://www.homeschooling-guide.info/articles/Homeschool-College.html] site. Visit his site today for more info on home schooling maths [http://www.homeschooling-guide.info/articles/Home-Schooling-Maths.html] and internet homeschooling [http://www.homeschooling-guide.info/articles/Internet-Home-Schooling.html].

Free Home school Science Curriculum Experiment - How Pulleys and Levers Work

I never fail to add simple machines as a home school curriculum topic, as simple machines are interesting as well as intriguing. Levers and pulleys are two types of simple machines that help to multiply force. They enable you to do more work with less force.

To understand what a lever is imagine a see-saw in the park. The plank that tilts from side to side is a lever, and the support in the center of the plank on which the plank pivots is the fulcrum. To understand what a pulley is imagine the wheel fixed over a well with a rope over it that helps to draw water from the well. A pulley is nothing but a wheel with a groove that rotates on an axle.

Levers and pulleys help lift or pull heavy objects. The trick with levers and pulleys is that the farther you are from the fulcrum or the axle as compared to the heavy objects, the lesser the force you will require to lift or pull the object. I have tons of exciting experiments based on simple machines that could make your home school curriculum fun and easy.

Free Home school Science Curriculum Experiment - How Pulleys and Levers Work

With a lever you can lift a person three times your weight; only you will have to move three times away from the fulcrum as compared to the person's distance from the fulcrum. For example, if you weigh 100 pounds, you can lift a 300 pound person who is standing 1 meter away from the fulcrum. You just have to stand 3 meters away from the fulcrum. Similarly, you can single-handily lift 5 people who are standing 10 feet away from the pulley by standing 50 feet away. Aren't you amazed at the power of levers and pulleys?

Before we move on to our exciting experiment you must understand what the term 'mechanical advantage' or 'leverage' means. Mechanical advantage is the maximum load you can lift with the same effort on your part. After the first experiment you will learn that the more the levers the more load you can lift with the same effort.

Now here's my favorite home school curriculum experiment!

The Dowel Pulley Experiment: You will need two of your friends, two strong 18 inch dowels and a slippery nylon rope for this experiment. Have your friends stand facing each other with each friend grasping a dowel with both their hands at chest level. The dowels must be held horizontally, at the same height from the floor and parallel to each other. Let the two dowels be at least 2 feet apart.

Now tie one end of the nylon rope firmly to the dowel between the hands of one friend, seeing to it that you tie it as close to one hand as possible. Now pass the rope over the other dowel and pull it from under, bringing it over the first dowel. Wind the rope around both dowels in such a way that two complete loops are formed crisscrossing in the form of an 'M.' Now hold the free end of the nylon rope tightly and ask both your friends to pull the dowels apart while you prevent them from doing it. Can they do it?

Now tug at the rope and ask your friends to resist your pull. Are the two of them strong enough to resist your tug at the rope?

Next, Wind the rope around both dowels in such a way that four complete loops are formed. Now repeat the tug of war. You will see that more the loops the easier it becomes for you to defeat your friends. What does this tell you about pulleys?

Note that the dowels act as pulleys. The more loops mean more pulleys. The more pulleys mean less effort you have to put in.

If you enjoyed this experiment, there are many more that you could ask your teacher to add to your home school curriculum. Fore more great science experiments and activities visit the free "Home school Parent's Guide to Teaching Science" at the link below.

Free Home school Science Curriculum Experiment - How Pulleys and Levers Work
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If you are looking for some great free science experiments and activities, one of my personal favorites is the Homeschool Science Experiment Guide.

Happy Experimenting!

About the Author Aurora Lipper has been teaching science to kids for over 10 years. She is also a mechanical engineer, university instructor, pilot, astronomer, a real live rocket scientist (You should see the lab in her basement!) and a mom. She has inspired thousands of kids with the fun and magic of science.

School Improvement - Instructional Practices and Strategies For Student Success

The following strategies and instructional practices are designed for every classroom and school. Implement 8 key recommendations and improve the quality of instruction at your school.

#1: Meaningful lesson plans

Issue: Administrators often focus on the type of plan and if a teacher has handled in their lessons. Countless hours are spent trying to collect lesson plans. Administrators usually do not have the time to critique them. It tends to be a pointless activity.

School Improvement - Instructional Practices and Strategies For Student Success

Solution: Rather than struggle over the type of lesson plan a teacher uses, create a template to highlight critical components of a lesson plan. Decide components that must be included in the plan such as preview and review, vocabulary building, assessment tools, unpacking standards.

#2: Realistic instructional and pacing guides

Issue: Teachers feel they are unable to spend more time on certain standards because of deadlines to complete units. We are driven by the calendar and learning can take a back seat. However, at the same time, we need a structure that will guide us.

Solution: Departments should meet to determine pacing guides for the semester and year, based on the school calendar and key essential standards. It is better to learn fewer concepts with a deeper level of understanding than to introduce many strands with little or no comprehension of the content.

#3: High leverage strategies

Issue: Ask yourself a few guiding questions. What instructional strategies are necessary for mastery of a content skill? What strategies are high level strategies? Do not assume that staff will know what strategies are best to build a particular skill.

Solution: Have department and grade level teachers collaboratively determine a list of high leverage strategies to use with certain standards and skills. Create a user friendly template that can be adapted and easily interpreted.

#4: Check for student understanding

Issue: It is difficult to find ways to continuously monitor student understanding. When dealing with diverse students with varying learning styles and levels, it is critical for teachers to check for understanding and adjust lesson plans.

Solution: Use daily assessments to review student progress and to monitor mastery of skill content. Create a series of questioning strategies to check for student understanding in a group setting.

#5: Department wide focus on common standard

Issue: Standards overlap and share common elements. Different grade level and/or subject teams may find it challenging to select common standards to implement as a department.

Solution: Have department or grade level teachers' select one standard, discuss the instructional strategies that support the standard, and how the strategy is used in the classroom. Share student work at meeting.

#6: School wide focus on one common practice

Issue: The best professional development for teachers is to learn from each other and to have learning take place during the work day. However, it is difficult to find and model activities that are common to all.

Solution: Go through an inquiry process to determine what standard to focus on. Departments can decide the activities. For example, you can select literacy (writing samples, reading comprehension strategies) and integrate common standards and curriculum in content areas. Develop a forum for teachers to share best practices.

#7: Support for different learning styles and levels

Issue: It is difficult to include student opportunities that accommodate the diversity of all students (the struggling and the advanced student.)

Solution: Establish extended activities in and out of the classroom. Technology is a great avenue for students who need and want to work independently, at their own pace, and in an interactive setting.

#8: Collaborative classroom walkthroughs

Issue: Observations can be obtrusive and intimidating. The task is to provide feedback that is helpful and meaningful. Determine what is the reason for the visit. The teacher and administrator should be able to easily communicate the intent of the visit beforehand.

Solution: Walkthroughs are not observations. Focused and collaborative classroom visits can be a productive activity. Ask teachers for input . It is best to decide a department or school wide focus for the walkthroughs. When the process is fair, it will not be met with skepticism.

School Improvement - Instructional Practices and Strategies For Student Success
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Dr. Patricia Fioriello is an education consultant specializing in secondary school solutions. Visit http://www.drpfconsults.com for services, publications, newsletter, and blog.

Lessons For Sunday School - 3 Interesting Teachings to Offer Your Students

The goal of Sunday school is to educate the congregation's children about the religion and the Bible. However, after coming up with lessons for Sunday school day in and day out, it can become difficult coming up with new Bible lessons for kids.

Here, you will be supplied with three interesting Sunday school ideas that are sure to pique your students' interests.

Mustard Seed Sunday School Lesson

Lessons For Sunday School - 3 Interesting Teachings to Offer Your Students

The members of your children's church have undoubtedly heard about the important of the mustard seed to Christian faith. But do they understand the story behind the importance? This lesson will teach a valuable Bible study lesson to your kids.

First, read either Matthew 17:19-20 or Luke 17:5-6 to your children. Then explain the story of the mustard seed, and how Jesus once said that if we have faith the size of a tiny mustard seed, we can accomplish anything.

Open the discussion up to your child's Bible study class. Ask them-will God do anything and everything we ask him to? No, probably not. Explain that this is because God knows what's best for us, and He wants what is best for us. Ask your class to name something they believe God can do (or has done) for them. Then go around the class and share how you show your faith in God.

Cain and Abel Bible Lesson

The story of Cain and Abel is one of the most widespread parts of Sunday school curriculum. It is a lesson about anger and how to take responsibility for our sins, as they can't be hidden from God.

First, paraphrase the story of Cain and Abel for your children's liturgy. Then turn the discussion to them. Tell him how sometimes, when things don't turn out the way we want them to, we look for someone else to blame. Emphasize that we should really be looking to ourselves in situations such as these.

Sermon on the Mount Lesson for Sunday School

This lesson focuses on the idea that it's more important for us to worry about our own actions instead of others'. First, read Matthew 7:1-5 and Luke 6:37-42 to the children's church.

Next, reiterate the idea that we should be concerned about our own actions instead of others' by making a mirror out of cardboard and foil. Have the children glue a picture of the Bible on the foil to remind them that the Bible is, ultimately, their mirror.

These are just three of many valuable lessons for Sunday school that can help your children's liturgy better understand faith and the Bible.

Lessons For Sunday School - 3 Interesting Teachings to Offer Your Students
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Mary-Kate Warner is the publisher of Christianity Cove, the web's #1 resource for lessons for Sunday School and ideas for teachers.

Visit her website today for a free Sunday School teaching video:

http://www.christianitycove.com/vid/

Exploring America - History Curriculum For High School Homeschoolers

Finding a good history curriculum for high school was one of the greatest challenges I faced when I was being homeschooled. It seemed like most of the good history books stop at the Civil War or World War II. What about modern history? It's hard to find a history book from a Christian perspective about modern history. Have you run into this problem, too? This difficulty has been overcome with a high school history curriculum from Notgrass Company. Exploring America by Ray Notgrass is an amazing curriculum that is exciting as well as educational. It begins with Christopher Columbus and ends at the present time. Each day is broken up into short concise lessons.

Sometimes history books seem to make the exciting events sound like nothing more than boring facts, Mr. Notgrass has an engaging writing style that makes the events come to life. There are also daily assignments that encourage the students to dig deeper. Sometimes they will read a document, speech, or hymn from American Voices, which is a 400+ page companion book that comes with the curriculum. Other times they will look up relevant Bible verses and also memorize verses. Writing assignments (including writing a research paper) are also part of the assignments. Students who finish the course will have three credits, one in history, one in English, and one in Bible. How's that for hitting 3 birds with one stone?

This book is essential for every high school student and will give them the tools to take an in-depth look at American history from a Biblical perspective. If you are looking for a really good American history high school curriculum look no further. Exploring America has filled a big gap in the history curriculum for homeschoolers. Exploring America is the best high school curriculum for American history I have ever seen! I wish it had been around when I was in high school.

Exploring America - History Curriculum For High School Homeschoolers

Exploring America by Ray Notgrass

Reviewed by Amy Puetz

Exploring America - History Curriculum For High School Homeschoolers
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Do you want really exciting history with accurate facts presented in an interesting way? Uncover Exciting History: Revealing America's Christian Heritage in Short, Easy-to-Read Nuggets by Amy Puetz offers a snapshot view of America's history from Columbus to World War II. Each chapter is short and easy to read. Find out more at http://www.AmyPuetz.com

Amy Puetz is a homeschool graduate, a self-taught historian, and a servant of Jesus Christ. History has been a passion for her since childhood. Years of in-depth study (both in modern and old sources) have equipped her to write historical books. She especially loves to dig for little-known stories that show God's providential hand.

Importance of Religious Education in School Curriculum

Where to place religious education in the academic curriculum, is one of the renewed discussions currently highlighted throughout the US. This debate has been motivated by developments planned to minimize provisions by providing a framework for religious education that can advance good practice in teaching and learning and alleviate some of the issues of training teachers and providing high quality resources when each local area may have a different syllabus for the subject.

It has been recognized that the production of high-quality resources for religious education is challenging when publishers cannot be as confident as they are in other curriculum areas that all pupils in a particular key stage will be studying the same topics. Seeking agreement on what might constitute a national framework for religious education has been a protracted and carefully negotiated process requiring decisions to be made regarding what should be recommended and with what degree of prescription. Determining the curriculum for any subject is bound to be fraught with difficulty, as choices have to be made concerning what to include and so inevitably what to exclude. In religious education the process has always been regarded as particularly sensitive, given the potential for controversy when there is a need to take account of more than one major religious tradition and limited curriculum time available. The emerging consensus as to the desirability of a national framework has been challenged by moves to go beyond the establishing of a set of guidelines to advocating a national syllabus for religious education that would more closely mirror the provision for other subjects in the English National Curriculum.

At the same time as this issue has preoccupied religious educators, other advancements in the syllabus have challenged the addition of religious education as a compulsory subject. The strengthening of personal, social and health studies in the National Curriculum and the introduction of citizenship as an additional compulsory subject has led people to question the worth of religious studies to the education. Religious studies provide a heavy set of arguments that demand serious attention of religious educators, not only in the US but also across other international communities.

Importance of Religious Education in School Curriculum

Few years ago, there were only four departments of religious studies in British Universities. The recent decision by a university in the UK that was a pioneer in establishing the academic study of religion, as opposed to theology or divinity, to close its department of religious studies and offer staff a merger with a department of theology in a neighboring institution indicates that the claim of the discipline to have a unique contribution to make is still not generally understood and may not be sufficiently convincing to secure its status in the modern university. Nevertheless, religious studies have been regarded as a significant influence on the teaching of religious education in schools. The impact has perhaps been overstated and was in any case largely confined to one aspect of religious studies; the phenomenological approach. Much remains to be done to develop understanding of the relationships between religious studies, theology and religious education.

Importance of Religious Education in School Curriculum
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Mathew Simond is a journalist and an SEO-based copywriter. He is also a webmaster of many websites including http://www.psychologycolleges.net and http://www.religiousstudiesonline.org He aims to provide healthy information and advice on academic degrees.

Some Qualities of Effective School Leadership

Schools today are constantly asked to perform at a high level to improve the achievement level of their students. The school's teachers are on the front line and considered responsible for the majority of reasons why students perform well in school. However, we should not forget the importance of effective leadership when it comes to student achievement and effective teachers. When we look at the big picture, the principal is the person most likely to be responsible for the over-all performance of the school. That's why it's so important to understand the qualities an effective principal should have.

One of the most important steps an effective principal should make, is to surround himself or herself with a quality staff. That staff must include teachers, administrators, and support staff. Principals should realize that they are only as good as their staff. A principal should live by the philosophy that says "two heads are better than one", and no single individual can know everything about everything..

The next step to being an effective principal is to make sure that students perform at a high level. This goal can be accomplished by making sure the climate of the building is always conducive to successful learning. Some of the steps that can be utilized to accomplish this goal include: making sure there are very few distractions throughout the school day, having a clear discipline plan that everyone is aware of, making sure the entire staff is aware of the school mission, developing a strong school improvement plan, maintaining a bright and clean building, displaying student work or/and accomplishments, keeping students informed about the mission of the school, making students responsible for their education and the educational environment in the building, providing effective tutoring services, being a visible principal, and having a positive and courteous staff willing to assist everyone.

Some Qualities of Effective School Leadership

Another important step is to make sure the entire staff is involved in the decision-making for the building, and include students whenever possible in that process. Every staff member must believe he or she is important, even vital, to the over- all success of the school and its students. Try and get the entire staff to be a part of ongoing activities in the building, and encourage them to take on leadership roles in different programs and activities. It is the task of an effective principal to empower the staff to make decisions and become leaders throughout the building,

It is also important to have the school and its students be part of the ongoing evaluation process. This will help identify strengths and weaknesses in the school and curriculum. Diagnostic testing, as well as other evaluative procedures should be a part of this process. All data collected from these evaluative procedures should be given to the school improvement team, this will help the team to be better prepared to develop an effective school- wide improvement plan to govern the school. Whatever plan is decided upon should have input from the entire staff. This will give the staff clear ownership of the plan and ensure its success. Effective leadership should utilize the strengths of the entire staff by always including them in the process ( as individuals and cooperatively as a team).

An effective principal works constantly to improve the school each day. This can be accomplished by having some kind of assessment of students and the staff throughout the school year. Utilizing different assessment tools are helpful with evaluating the overall picture of what is happening in the school. Standardized testing of the students is one form of assessment, and teacher grades, school projects, special activities, and programs developed specifically for everyone school are others. In addition to evaluating students, the staff should be evaluated throughout the school year. The principal can use classroom observation and walk-throughs as tools. Another powerful tool is to have the staff conduct self- evaluations of themselves and the school. This is a good way to encourage the staff to be honest about themselves and their school and what they expect the actual educational outcomes should be. The data collected from these varied evaluation procedures can be utilized to develop professional development opportunities for the staff and to develop the full school improvement plan for the school.

The effective principal must be organized and have a clear mission for the school. They must be clear about what he or she wants to accomplish each school year. The principal must prioritize what he/she believes are the most important attributes of a high achieving school. He should always try to educate students at the highest levels, as well as providing a clean and orderly school. The atmosphere must be positive and conducive to learning. Principals who incorporate the qualities discussed in this article will have made a major start toward being successful. This can lead to having a successful school and having students who are learning at a high level.

Some Qualities of Effective School Leadership
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Ronnie Phillips, a very experienced educator and parent.