Removing Coffee Stains From Your Carpets

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There are few things harder to shift from your carpet than coffee stains (red wine being one of them). And often times, not knowing how to clean this kind of stain correctly can actually make it worse. People tend to panic, and start to swipe away the liquid, which only serves to spread the stain and push it deeper in. However, as long as the stain is fresh, there are some things you can do to get rid of these stains.

Blot, Don’t Swipe!

If you are lucky enough to catch a stain early, grab some towels, and blot away as much liquid as you can. Gentle patting at the stain won’t spread the stain out further, and won’t push it deeper in. As soon as you have done this, it’s time for a little home chemistry! You’ll just need a few items.

Prepare Your Solution:

Having spoken to the experts at livermore carpet cleaners most trusted cleaning firm, 580 Carpet Cleaning, it is confirmed that those harsh cleaning chemicals you find in stores often does more damage to your carpets than good. Instead, try this out. All you need is a quarter cup of vinegar, 3 quarters of a cup of water, and some dish soap, only just a few drops. Mix these well, and soak a cloth in this solution. Wring out the cloth so it is still wet, but not absolutely saturated. Then, simply lay on the stain, and grab your next item.

Career Day Activities for Pre-schoolers

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Career Days are instrumental in exploring what options are available to students when they leave school, but the necessity to undergo these explorations are needed to help our children understand the world around them and how it works.

photo of school children

At pre-school age, it is a fun and upbeat opportunity to think about those unlimited ambitions that children have and instil in them the idea that they can achieve anything that they really want to. It keeps the adult of being a grown-up magical and special and allows children to look up to people, no matter who they are or what they do. It can be just as exciting for a pre-schooler to work in the NYPD, be a carpet cleaner in Livermore, a Chicago Firefighter, or even an astronaut. The possibilities are endless, and they should be.

Student

The Benefits Of Small Class Sizes

In today’s day and age, it’s not uncommon for class sizes to reach numbers that top 20 students. This can be beneficial.

However, it can also be problematic and lack benefits, depending on the students in the class and individual personalities.

So, what are the benefits of smaller class sizes, then? Here are a few.

Classrooms become a community

It’s easier for students to connect with their classmates and teachers when there are fewer people to make connections and form bonds with.

Smaller class sizes allow the classroom to become a community, making it easier to make friends, focus on work, learn, and build social skills.

One on one time

With fewer students in the classroom, teachers’ time is spread less thinly among them. This means that each student can benefit from one-on-one time with teachers – more so than he or she would in a large, busy classroom.

Every student is noticed

Often, in larger classes, there are a handful of students who seemingly “slip between the cracks”. That is, who don’t get noticed and who don’t speak up/share their opinions.

In smaller classes, students are encouraged to participate in discussions.

Fewer disruptions

When a classroom has 20 plus students in it, it’s hard for teachers to keep control of the class. Even the most organized, loved teachers have hard days that seem to be more discipline than learning.

Having a smaller class size can cut down on the amount of disruptions that a classroom has each day, leaving more room for learning.

Even better yet, a smaller class size means fewer distinct personalities and personality clashes, which, quite frankly, are bound to occur regularly.

Coursework adaptations are easier

In large classes, it’s harder to alter the way materials are taught. Not only is there too many students to truly sit and get to know, but there’s also a wider variety of learning styles to adhere to.

In a smaller class, teachers can get to know students more quickly and work to find a set of coursework presentation styles that work for the majority of the students.

In addition, the coursework itself can be altered. For example, if a group of students is already great at adding? The teacher can quickly go over it, do a bit of refreshing, and then move on to another subject. 

Personalized feedback

When there are fewer students work to mark, teachers have more time to go over the work with the students.

This means that the student gets more thorough, personalized feedback that helps them moving forward.

A happy teacher

Generally, smaller class sizes mean less stress on the teacher. Less stress means that the teacher in question is likely to be in a better mood, less stressed out, and enjoy his or her job more than he/she would otherwise.

This benefits the students because a happy teacher and an overall happy atmosphere within the classroom is conducive to efficient learning, problem solving, and relationship building.

Group activities for preschoolers

You can make preschool activities as easy and as fun as you like; from singing songs, helping to remember nursery rhymes, reading books, to telling funny stories. Preschool can be fun but also children learn so much to get them ready for big school. You can teach children nursery rhymes, number counting, the alphabet etc. This can be done through song and play. Also you can do art with them, put on a play at Christmas, Easter etc and invite all their family along.

Here are some fun activities to do step by step:

Circle time

Get all the children to sit around in a circle.

Ask the children their news of the day and let each one tell their news or story they have.

They will be interacting and socializing with the rest of their friends and also the teacher.

Follow the leader

Get the children to line up and chose a leader.

Whatever the leader does; the children follow.

Let the children take turns being the leader.

Quack like a duck

Chose one of the children to be the leader and let the rest pretend to be ducks.

When the leader says ‘duck’ tell all the rest to duck down.

When the leader starts quacking, the rest get up.

Silly statues

Explain to the children what a statue is.

The children then turn into a statue and try and stay that way for 10 seconds.

Choose a different leader and so on.

Down by the banks

Get the children to stand in a circle.

Get them to sing the song ‘down by the banks’. While the children are singing, get them to pass a soft ball around to each other.

When they sing the last word of the song which is ‘kerplop’; the child that is holding the ball has to bounce it.

Whatever child catches the ball starts again.

Ring a ring a Rosie

Ask the children to hold hands and stand around in a circle.

While singing the song ‘ring a ring a rosie’ get them to move around in the circle.

When it comes to the end of the song, ‘we all fall down’, the children drop to the floor.

Simon says

Ask one child to be Simon and they stand in front of the rest.

The Simon asks the children to do whatever he or she wants.

The children only do it when he or she says ‘Simon says’ before the action.

A career working with young children

Deciding to make a career in early childhood education is a choice for many people. Firstly and most importantly, the first question you should ask yourself is this: “Would I like to work with children?”

If the answer to this is yes, then a career in childhood education is for you. This type of career requires a lot of patience, sensitivity and appreciating different personalities and abilities that you will come across. With children’s energy so high a lot of the time, keeping up with them can be taxing on the body and mind but if you are up to it, the challenge can be very rewarding.

 kids hands prints in paint

The difference between young children and adolescents

You need to be conscious of young people’s needs, as they are unique. It’s so important in understanding that you are quite possibly the first adult that the young child interacts with beyond their own family home. In the beginning, the separation from the child’s parents is often difficult to overcome. Teachers should help children through the transition. Because of this, children may become attached to you as you are substituting either or both parents. On the other hand, a child may shy away from you completely.

The great teachers among us, easily adapt to their students reactions. In addition, when your students interact with each other, it can often be the first of many interactions with people of a similar age. With this in mind, the teacher takes on the role of a mediator between children who may present problems in learning how to get along, for example in sharing their crayons with others.

Beyond the foundations

Beyond the basic foundations above, teachers should be adaptive and creative to their students individually and as a group. They must learn to see the world through children’s eyes. This empathy is required so the teacher can walk in the shoes of their students in order to deal with situations better.

For example, early on in your childhood education career, learning the motivations of very young children are cruelly important. Or another example would be in knowing how to hold a child’s attention and interest. Making learning fun is part of what helps children in the early years and it also helps teachers through those tough days!

These are some of the things to think about before delving into a career in early childhood education.

Classrooms

Classroom lessons can be very hands-on indeed. With storytelling, arts & crafts, physical education, fun learning games and technology, you should be quick on your feet in adapting to new ways in helping children through their journey of learning.

The next step?

The Early Childhood Education Bachelor’s Degree is a good starting point. After graduating, you should research your county or state’s teaching qualifications and standards as these may vary from place to place. This is essential in earning your official reputable teaching credentials.

There are a number of different areas of further study in early childhood education. In America, The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education provides a national certification. In order to teach in a Montessori school, there is a specific Montessori teacher education program necessary to complete. Upon certification, the next and most important step is to start building your career in the trenches – through real classroom experience.

It is common for a lot of preschool and Montessori teachers to start their careers as teaching assistants in order to get the practical experience in classrooms, prior to going on to do teacher training. Of course with competition high and with the attractive qualities of this career, having a Masters in Eduction and/or additional qualifications relevant to the type of teaching position you are applying for will certainly help you stand out from the crowd.

Technology and learning in the early years

Technology is all around us today and even in our youngest children’s lives. In recent times, many discussions and debates have made their way around the world around the challenge that parents face when they inevitably have to introduce and manage technology with their own children at home.

tech and learning

Did you know?

As high as 40% of families with children under eight years old own some kind of tablet or device!

This insight gives rise to the following question

What role does technology play in early childhood environments?          

As we move forward as a technology steeped society, on the positive side many teachers believe that technology does have a place in early childhood environments. While many educators have never received the necessary training for using technology in a structured effective way or feel confident in their abilities with technology, the trend suggests that there’s a big opportunity for teachers to up-skill and the need for a framework to equip educators with the basics and competencies to carry out effective education, in a fun, new age way.

However, although teachers believe in the value and benefits of technology in learning, there tends to be a lack of technology on the curriculum. So I believe that, technology as a subject and also as a tool that children can use in their formative years should be part of their learning in order to best equip them for today’s world. Besides that, many secondary schools and all universities and colleges use the latest in computer hardware and software so there’s no better time to give children a head start equipping them academically with a skill to take with them later in school and indeed in life.

The caveats

  • Screen viewing time that children have with devices and what this means for them in early childhood environments
  • Potential adverse effects of technology on the reading habits of children
  • The correlation between obesity in children and using technology
  • The relationship between technology and playing

Conclusion

From what I can see, one thing is for sure – that technology is here for the long haul and teachers’ challenge lies in better understanding how it can be embraced in supporting children’s development and learning. Teachers are open to technology assisted learning but more emphasis should be placed on supporting it financially and on the training of teachers in how to use technology for teaching.

3 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers

As teachers, we are always striving to find more effective ways to plan our lessons, complete our marking and spend less time behind our desks. There are so many guides out there that present all the different things you can do to become an ace teacher, but really it boils down to 3 main things

teacher and students

  1. Put the students at the centre of their practice

Every teacher is taught that they should plan from specifications and then create objectives, what is it that you want the student to learn?

2 Ways Teachers Can Connect More with their Colleagues

Let’s face it, teachers are creatures of habit. They like the way they do things because they are their way.

teachers and students

They like to work within departments because it is their department. Most schools will find that English, Science, Maths etc. will stay within their departments for meetings, breaks, lunchtimes because then they can discuss classroom antics with their colleagues that understand what they are talking about.

Drama and Music Departments

You normally find the smaller departments such as Drama and Music and the teaching assistants in the staff room as otherwise they would be alone. But this doesn’t really help to foster a collaborative feeling in a school or communicate to the students or visitors that the school works as one.

Top Proven Classroom Management Techniques

The best way to manage a classroom is to ensure that the students don’t have any reason to be off task.

That’s what everyone says isn’t it? Well, that’s because it is true.
classroom management

The teachers who have impeccable classroom management skills are the teachers who have a plan for every inevitability; whether that be an advanced student finishing a task early, a lower ability student needing constant support or that one chatty student who can manage to relate any topic to what they did at the weekend.

3 Things Every Teacher Should Know About Dyslexia

1. It is not an excuse

“I can’t do it because I’m dyslexic”, how often have you heard this in a classroom? And how many times after you have heard it have you thought or even said “That’s no excuse for not trying”?

jizsaw

Dyslexia is not a flippant excuse that many students throw around because they can’t be bothered. It is a condition that makes this very difficult for students and it as well as the student needs to be treated with dignity and respect. Imagine, if you will, you are in a foreign country and someone who you care about is with you and is very ill.

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