Establishing the Importance of Education

Education is just one of the priceless possessions one can have. However, as the world age and the technologies advance, this value slowly depreciates. Today, people say that education is no longer important so long as you have the skills, you know how to use it, and you know how to improve it. The importance of education is redefined and disregarded. People should think again before deciding to go with the flow of this spoiled modernization.

That is a challenge to those who have totally shut their understanding to the importance of education. Now, let us discuss and re-establish the importance of education.

Education is a National Treasure. The future of a country, its growth and development, and its successful relationship with other countries, relies on the minds of its future.

• Now, imagine an uneducated leader ruling one, or the people of its administration. How can they carry on a country's heritage, or even govern the country? Can we say then, as long as you have the skill to govern and know how to use and improve it, you can effectively become a president? You don't learn the ethics, principles, governance, politics, etc., by just reading resources from the internet; education is the only way to realize a potential leader.

• What about the Nation's economy? Can you simply count 1 to 10 and boost it? You will need to learn problem solving to make a progress.

• How can you turn unemployment into more job opportunities for people? You will need to develop businessmen, economists, industry leaders, and innovators to overcome unemployment, and much more, poverty.

• How can a Nation realize peace, justice, and equality? If there is no rule, no law, no ordinance, then imagine complete chaos and total disaster. You can't just impose a rule or a law on someone and make him follow.

• How can a Nation protect its resources and environment? Imagine a derelict jungle, that's a nation without leaders to protect its resources and environment. Survival of the fittest does not work in real human life, everything and everyone needs to be regulated.

• How about discovering a cure for cancer? Can we say that it flows naturally from within and you can simply create one in the kitchen? Or to discover a disease and its cure can be easily diagnosed by just looking at a person who's been affected? Again, you don't learn that aside from being educated.

Education is an investment. This is a regularly unrecognized fact about the importance of education.

• You build and secure your own future through education.

• A person who gets the privilege of an education is free to choose his career and professional path. Where do uneducated ones go? They scavenge job listings, compete with a more suitable applicant, go find other jobs, compete again, so on and so forth. They do not have much option but accept whatever is available.

• A stable job. A person who invests in education will be secured to land a stable job. Companies and firms prefer people who are knowledgeable rather than those who just completely rely in instincts.

• Financial security. Stable job means stable income, opportunities of pay raise, and retirement pay.

With those importance of education discussed and stated above, who will dare to say skills are just enough?

Jana Reese is a blogger and educator for 10 years and have written hundreds of both on and offline articles based on her experience. She has dedicated a lot of time and effort to promote the importance of education. She highly recommends Education Acceleration to people who wish to learn more tips and tricks on how to get a degree easier and faster.

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Special Education Language - 10 Acronyms You Should Know

The Special Education system in Ontario has a language of its own. If you are the parent of a child who has been recently identified as exceptional by the school board, you can get lost in the language during your first school meetings. There are many acronyms that are used by school administrators and school staff and most often they don't think about the fact that parents may not understand their "language". So it's up to the parents to become knowledgeable about the language of special education. In this article, I am going to explain the meanings of ten of the most important acronyms in special education.

IEP - Individual Education Plan.

The IEP is a document that lists the strengths and needs, and the programs, services, accommodations and supports that are required by a particular student. It lists the annual goals in each alternative or modified subject area, as well as the learning expectations for each term, which are determined by the student's strengths and needs. A student does not have to be formally identified as an exceptional student to receive an IEP. But if the student is formally identified by an IPRC, it is a requirement of the Regulation 181/98 of the Education Act that they receive an IEP.

IPRC - Identification, Placement and Review Committee.

The IPRC is composed of at least three persons, one of whom must be a principal or supervisory officer of the school board. At annual meetings, where the parents are invited to attend, the committee decides whether or not the student should be identified as exceptional and if so, which category of exceptionality. They also decide on an appropriate placement for the student. The parents can either agree to the decisions, or appeal the decisions.

OEN - Ontario Education Number

Parents will notice the OEN on school documents such as the report card. A unique OEN is assigned to every student across the province by the Ministry of Education. The same number will follow the student through his or her elementary and secondary education and will be indicated on all of his or her school records.

OSR - Ontario Student Record

The OSR is a record of a student's educational progress through school. The contents are to be used by school staff for the purpose of "improvement of instruction" of the student, according to the Education Act. Parents are to be told about the purpose of the OSR and its contents. They must be allowed to have access to all of the information contained in the OSR.

EQAO - Education Quality and Accountability Office

EQAO is an arm's-length agency that provides information about student achievement in Ontario, based on periodic assessments. This is basically to see how the teachers, the school boards, and the educational system in general are performing. When students are in grade 3 and again in grade 6 they are required to take reading, writing, and math tests administered by the EQAO. They are also required to take a math test in grade 9. However, the principal is authorized to exempt students from taking any or all of the tests if they are unable to participate for reasons such as a developmental disability.

SERT- Special Education Resource Teacher

There is usually one in every school. As the name implies this teacher is a resource for regular classroom teachers. He or she consults with classroom teachers regarding students who have IEPs and are placed in the regular class. In fact the SERT is usually the lead person in charge of developing the IEP for these students. Sometimes small groups of students are withdrawn from the regular class to a resource room for more intensive instruction in math and language. This class is run by the SERT.

EA - Educational Assistant

EAs are assigned to classrooms, either regular class or small placement, to support students as part of a multidisciplinary team. They also help teachers with non-instructional tasks. In some school boards, EAs may have the same duties as described below for SNAs.

SNA - Special Needs Assistant

The SNA supports students with special educational needs, usually in a special education classroom, under the supervision of a special education teacher. In addition to helping with their learning needs, duties may include assisting with the students' safety and physical needs, including hygiene and feeding, as well as assisting with therapy sessions.

ABA - Applied Behaviour Analysis

ABA methods are best known for treating people with autism and other developmental disabilities.ABA methods are based on scientific principles of learning and behaviour to build useful repertoires of behaviour and reduce problematic ones. The undesired behaviour(s) are clearly defined and recorded, and the antecedents and reinforcers of the undesired behaviour(s) are analysed. Individualized programs are developed based on this information. The teacher must collect and analyze the data on an ongoing basis in order to measure the student's progress in each of the program areas. The program must be altered as necessary to maintain or increase a student's success.

TEACCH - Treatment and Education of Autistic and Communication related handicapped Children.

Intervention strategies include clear and explicit expectations, physical and visual structure, schedules, work systems and task organization. The goal is to allow children with autism to develop skills so that they can be independent of direct adult prompting.

These ten acronyms are just the tip of the iceberg. Take some time to learn some of the "language" of Special Education and you will be a better advocate for your son or daughter with special needs.

Karen Robinson at AFASE at school http://www.afase.com/ provides special education advocacy training and consulting services to parents and guardians whose children are challenged by autism and other developmental disabilities.

I develop my clients into informed, proactive advocates for their children's educational needs. They are empowered by current, customized information that enables them to articulate their children's needs to school staff and school board administrators in a way that is both assertive and collaborative.

Browse through my website to learn more and sign up to receive free advocacy tips and news. http://www.afase.com/

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Special Needs Education

Special needs is a blanket term used to describe an overwhelming number of diseases and disorders. These disorders are diverse, and can describe mild learning disabilities, severe mental retardation, psychiatric problems, mobility problems, anxiety disorders and any number of other difficulties that must be overcome. What is common to all of these children, though, is that parents and educators should pay extra attention and be sensitive to these needs in order to promote healthy childhood development into adults that are as functional as possible. Often the self-teaching, play-to-learn approach presented by educational toys are a-n ideal means of helping children to overcome the common difficulties incurred by learning and other disorders. Some characteristics are common to many disorders, and many kinds of educational toys can help children overcome these problems.

Frustration

Special needs children often feel a great deal of frustration with the world around them, as they are met with more difficulty than their peers in mastering basic tasks, and because they often struggle to understand their environment. Educational toys provide children with a sense of satisfaction and self-achievement. This positive, rewarding experience can help to soothe the frustration that is understandably experienced by these children.

Anxiety

Children suffering from learning, developmental or psychiatric disorders are often very insecure and unsure of their environment, which causes an extraordinary amount of anxiety. The play-and-learn approach encourages children to become immersed in their work and to develop a positive, more satiated demeanor that helps to offset feelings of insecurity or anxiousness.

Self-esteem

Many times special education children feel insufficient and inferior to their peers, which can cause extremely low confidence and self-esteem. Because children teach themselves and learn independently with educational toys, achievements gained self-sufficiently help these children to build a sense of confidence and self-assurance. This increased self-esteem then allows children to interact more comfortably with their environment, and gives them the confidence needed to approach learning.

Communication

Due to speech impediments, hearing problems, social anxiety or other communication problems, educators often struggle to communicate with special education children. Educational toys allow children to teach themselves through the enjoyable and engaging play-to-learn approach. With this strategy, children are able to learn independently, and their development is no longer hindered by communication problems. Additionally, the visual perception, concentration and self-esteem skills nurtured by educational and self-teaching toys allow for children to be more accepting of their environment. This receptiveness can open the lines of communication, allowing special needs children to learn and to grow.

Special needs children have a very widespread range of difficulty, and the needs of each child are unique. Educational toys' engaging nature helps to keep these children motivated, and the self-teaching approach allows for them to move at their own pace. Ultimately, they are an outstanding means to help children master visual perception, linguistic, critical thinking, reasoning, object recognition, logical thinking, concentration and other vital developmental skills. This helps to provide a framework for special needs children to grow and to move on to live functional, fulfilling lives.

The best educational toys for parents, teachers and children. Speical Luk

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