Recent findings from the Kids Activity and Learning Study complement North Carolina's multidimensional approach to promoting school readiness by emphasizing the integrated nature of motor and cognitive development in early childhood. Children whose motor skills improved the most over the course of an academic year also tended to demonstrate the…

The Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program and National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development have forged a partnership with the goal of exploring the role youth sports can play in developing young people's social and emotional skills. With funding from the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE) and guidance from a strategic advisory…

Student learning communities (SLCs) are more than just a different way of doing group work. Like the professional learning communities they resemble, SLCs provide students with a structured way to solve problems, share insight, and help one another continually develop new skills and expertise. With the right planning and support, dynamic…

This article contains specific planning, partnering, and performing techniques for fully integrating dancers with special needs into a dance pedagogy program. Each aspect is discussed within the context of the domains of learning. Fundamental partnering strategies are related to each domain as part of the integration process. The authors recommend…

Approximately 100 years ago, Clark Hetherington articulated the primary aims of physical education by identifying four separate areas: (1) psychomotor, which refers to motor skills; (2) organic, the fitness factor; (3) intellectual, or the cognitive component; and (4) character which refers to the affective domain. These categories can be used to…

Many people believe that art education is important, but few can say exactly why. In this book, are the results of the first in-depth research on the "habits of mind" that are instilled by studying art--habits the authors argue that could have positive impacts on student learning across the curriculum. "Studio Thinking" provides art teachers with…

The view of musical creativity as spanning a continuum from the noises of the unschooled young child to the artistry of the trained professional fails to account for fundamental, developmental differences in the creators' perspectives. This paper seeks to distinguish two ways in which the creative functioning of the child or novice differ from…

Studies of young children's sequence of development from counting to the beginnings of formal arithmetic are reviewed. Four essential basic skills are identified: use of counting words, enumeration, the cardinality rule, and quantitative comparison. The contribution of counting to the development of arithmetical proficiency is stressed. (JDD)

In this article, the author talks about the Westwood Elementary's knitting and crochet club. The idea for this group unraveled when one of their third graders received a knitting kit as a birthday gift. The mother of the student told the author what a wonderful hobby knitting had become for her daughter and how this craft worked to help develop…

Presents descriptions of the most commonly taught thinking skills and information on how to present, model, and practice those skills in class. The guide also includes a quiz designed to help the teacher take advantage of everyday opportunities to promote thinking skills, and 10 critical thinking skills strategies. (GLR)

Cortical blindness is defined and its diagnosis is explained. Guidelines and sample activities are presented for use in a cognitive/visual/multi-sensory stimulation program to produce progress in cortically blind infants. The importance of using the eyes from birth through early development in order to form the nerve pathways responsible for…

Panoramic scanning is the capacity to perceive, interpret, and appreciate complex problems from a big-picture vantage point. Barriers to panoramic scanning (sensory bombardment, superficial polarized thought, and tunnel vision) and facilitators (broad interests and knowledge, pattern finding, and connection-making skills) are identified. Educators…

This paper discusses whether critical thinking can be taught in the college classroom. It argues that education in general provides the tools for thinking, and therefore, improves the capability for better thinking. The Alverno College faculty, as an example, has improved student critical-thinking ability because the faculty stresses explicitness,…

Selected research studies that explore the assumption that college science students operate at a formal cognitive level are presented in this information digest. Studies are reviewed that relate to the areas of: (1) formal thought (examining the relationship between measured formal thought and that required to understand formal college physical…

Written for curriculum developers and vocational education instructors, this publication provides an understanding of cognitive concepts and methods using an information processing paradigm and shows how to apply this knowledge in development of curriculum and instructional plans. Chapter 1 reviews needs and characteristics of vocational education…