Philadelphia Schools Receive Grant To Improve Literacy With Art

#1. Philadelphia Schools Receive Grant To Improve Literacy With Art

Philadelphia Schools Receive Grant To Improve Literacy With Art

The Philadelphia Schools and the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership (PAEP) established a good working history in 2006 with the successful "Artist in Residence Program." Through this initiative the Philadelphia Schools' Office of Creative and Performing Arts teamed with PAEP to place working artists in ten-day residencies in schools without art or music specialists. Artists and teachers worked together to integrate literacy and arts instruction for over 14,000 students in selected Philadelphia Schools. While the project participants claim success, a full report of the model will be available at the end of 2007.

Philadelphia Schools Receive Grant To Improve Literacy With Art

Apparently, the Department of Education has confidence in program. Philadelphia Schools will continue this successful model with a grant from the Department of Education to fund Art Bridges over the next four years. Art Bridges will provide 5 schools with onsite artists who will instruct students and collaborate with classroom teachers towards the goal of achieving state and local literacy goals.

The goal of the initiative is for Philadelphia Schools to: improve academic performance in reading; improve students' attitudes of self and school; help classroom teachers integrate arts and literacy; improve teacher capacity; and improve teacher understanding of core curriculum. Philadelphia Schools will provide on-going professional development to both the artists and teachers involved in the project. Artists will represent organizations like the Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Clay Studio. Poets, playwrights, and artists are among those involved.

The proposed bridge will work by targeting 4th, 5th and 6th graders from underachieving Philadelphia Schools over the four-year life of the grant. "Hard to reach" students will be motivated by creative activities that are tied to specific works of literature, and driven by literacy standards. Philadelphia Schools were selected for participation based on the following criteria: a neighborhood elementary housing at least two grades of 4, 5, and 6 grade classrooms; the school must employ an art and music specialists; and it must be defined as low achieving by Adequate Yearly Progress markers. Qualified Philadelphia Schools that applied were then chosen by a random lottery.

Since President Bush enforced the "No Child Left Behind Act" in 2002 large, urban, schools districts, like Philadelphia Schools, have been challenged to find ways to meet the new standards. Instituting an art-based curriculum at a time when most schools are getting math and reading intensive to ramp up state test scores is a markedly different approach. Yet it is one that most educators in Philadelphia Schools approve of.

The issue of how to reach and connect with students from the city's low socio-economic and minority base has puzzled administrators since public education began. Philadelphia Schools continue to deal with issues of truancy, high dropout rates, teacher turnover and low academic achievement. If Philadelphia Schools can show success with this approach, the impact on arts education and the education of at-risk students could be huge.

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General Requirements For Homeschooling Your Children

#1. General Requirements For Homeschooling Your Children

General Requirements For Homeschooling Your Children

I often hear, "I've thought about homeschooling my children, but"

General Requirements For Homeschooling Your Children

I'm not a teacher. I don't know how to educate children. I don't know what to teach my child. What if I miss something and my kid has a gaping hole in knowledge? I'm really good with English and History, but I can't imagine teaching Algebra. I don't know what the laws are regarding homeschooling.

While all these concerns are valid, you can easily overcome them with a little research.

Homeschooling laws

The laws regarding homeschooling differ from state to state, and you need to follow the rules of the state you are in physically. Some states have easier rules than other states. In Colorado, where I live, the rules boil down to schooling for a certain amount of hours and keeping records of that, sending a letter to your school district notifying them you are homeschooling, and having your child take a nationally recognized standardized test at the end of the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th grades and the child must pass the test at or above the 13th percentile.

Look for your state's specific laws regarding homeschooling. I like about.com's resources for this, because it has a link for each state to the full text of the law if available, a summary of the law by the Home School Legal Defense Association, and other useful links.

What should you teach your child?

As a rule of thumb, you should teach your child at least reading, writing, math, science, history, civics, art, and music. Few people are adept at all these topics, but that's okay. You can buy fully developed curricula that walk you and your child through the educational process. If you don't want to buy a curriculum, you can design your own. You can make sure you don't forget any major topic by following standards, which pretty much state everything you need to teach.

How do you teach a child?

You don't need to be a certified teacher to teach a child. What you need to be is patient, kind, and understanding. That doesn't mean you need to be perfect. You just need to be aware. Learn to deal with your frustrations yourself and not let your child experience them, because your child will have his own frustration.

Most people don't have any problems teaching the early grades. Some people start to have problems when their kids hit advanced math and science. Remember that you don't have to teach your children everything. You do need to facilitate ate their education though. So, if you need help with a topic, consider these options:

A local community college Ask for the help of someone in that field. Offer a trade. Homeschooling cooperatives Tutoring

About.com's homeschooling links - Colorado Educational Standards

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Accounting 101

#1. Accounting 101

Accounting 101

Ah accounting. The art of balancing your checkbook and budgets. For most of us, we learned basic math skills beginning in kindergarten and learned what a checkbook was somewhere around 5th or 6th grade. Just think about that for a moment. By the time you reach the age of 30, you've known the basic point of how to balance your finances for roughly 25 years. If you're not so good at this, it kind of makes you wonder why, doesn't it? Well some of us just don't have brains that wrap easily around the ins and outs of basic accounting. Never fear! There are tons of ways to get around your aversion to those pesky charts of accounts.

Accounting 101

Luckily, in this uber convenient age of technology, we have tons of options for keeping everything straight. From web based programs to desktop programs, to certified accounting professionals, there is almost no excuse for not knowing what is going on with your money. Unfortunately, few of the solutions are free, so you'll first need to make sure you have enough money to pay for a software program or service. I know, seems like a catch 22, but dedicate just a few moments of your time to figuring your operating balance, and you'll be glad you did.

Once you know how much money you have to work with, get online and do some research. You'll be shocked at how many programs, services, and professionals out there are available for your accounting needs. One of the best programs is Quickbooks. The name says it well. It is designed for those of us who can't keep it straight. Either the desktop version or the online version will work well for most businesses. The benefit to the online version is that you can have someone else do it for you from a location other than your office. How great is that?! You can pay for a service to keep your money straight, and then pay someone else to do it for you! In that example, all you really need to know is how much money you have to start with, how much the service costs, and how much the service provider costs. Surely that is easy enough to figure out.

The benefit to a software program for your accounting needs is that you don't have to deal with paper and pens anymore. And most services even will allow you to auto download your transactions from your bank, so you won't even have to enter those. Just match up the transactions with the proper account, and voila! You've effectively balanced your books. Don't panic if you aren't sure what account to post something to. The programs usually come with a list of pre-populated categories, like Food & Entertainment, Utilities, Rent, etc. Simple enough to figure out what category your charges go into, right? Then at the end of the year, you'll make a few clicks, change a few dates and you can get a snapshot of your income and expenses for the whole year. Just remember to breathe when you see how much you've spent!

Accounting doesn't have to be scary, or nerve racking, or dreaded at all. While it may hurt to see all the things you've been spending money on, it can also assist you in determining what not you spend your money on anymore. All those magazine subscriptions for your waiting room? Probably not totally necessary. We all seem to have a smart device of some sort these days. If your customers are desperate enough to see the news while waiting, they'll jump on their device and get informed; nothing like self help!

Take an afternoon, and just figure out the best method for your business to keep all the balances in check. Then when you've finished and you're effectively crushed over the amount you've spent on those magazine subscriptions, call the companies to cancel them! Take that cash and use it to pay for the accounting software.

Carmella Martinez

LowkeyMedia Marketing Team

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