Kindergarten-Full Day Versus Half Day Essay

The sky is the limit for children. The benefits of children attending full day kindergarten are far greater than those children that attend half day. Some parents and educators disagree; they say that children should not be forced into their educational career so young. Whether for or against full-day kindergarten, the common goal for all parents is the well being for each individual child. Every child has different needs and capabilities. Parents have to make an informed decision on full day or half day kindergarten. That decision can be a difficult one. Ultimately that decision is the starting point for the next twelve or more years of education for these young children. Connecticut does not have a law mandating all towns have full day kindergarten. The budget process has to make full day kindergarten a priority. The curriculum for kindergarten is limited during half day sessions for children. Because of the time limitations during half day, these children are getting significant amounts of homework to bring home. Before and aftercare is needed due to the short school day for the half day kindergartners, causing parents to pay for childcare. The most important point is that children’s cognitive learning is so crucial at age five. They can absorb so much information at a kindergarten level. Taking advantage of that will give them the best opportunities for the educational career and give them a head start. Kindergarten was originated in 1837 (Burkam 3). Children develop their mental, social, and emotional faculties through play, music, movement, interaction with the outdoors, and opportunities to engage in independent and creative pursuits (Burkam 3). The goal of kindergarten is to prepare children for first grade academics (Burkam 5). Children show great resilience so can therefore adapt to any formal routine, especially education. We must constructively use this critical stage in their lives to have them absorb all the information they can. Most towns in eastern Connecticut have full day kindergarten except Montville. There is no set standard in Connecticut law for all towns to have at least one full-day kindergarten. East Lyme, Niantic, Norwich, Waterford, Ledyard, and Groton have already established a full day program for kindergarten. Montville being the only town in the surrounding area that does not have a full day option available makes it very difficult to those parents in that town to make arrangements for care of their children. Planning a town budget for full day kindergarten is not as complicated as it may seem. Child care is financed primarily by families, who are estimated to be paying between $40 and $50 billion annually (Mitchell 8). Only a small percentage of those funds being spent could be used for funding all schools with full day kindergarten programs. Demonstrating better ways to increase and combine local, state, public and private sources to finance all types of programs so that they can meet higher standards and that all families can afford kindergarten and preschool education (Mitchell 12). Some educators say the biggest obstacle is hiring teachers. They would need twice the amount already staffed. Splitting up the groups of half day classes and teachers could be a solution to that issue. There would not need to be any additional teachers hired in that case. There is so much for children to learn at the age of five. A full day of learning, social interaction, and play is so beneficial. Research comparing half-day and full-day kindergarten shows those children benefit from a developmentally appropriate, full-day program, most notably in terms of early academic achievement—a foundation for school and life success (Villegas 1). Full-day kindergarten can afford children the academic learning time needed to prepare for mastery of primary-grade reading and math skills (Villegas 1) In particular, the weight of evidence shows that full-day kindergarten benefits children in these ways: contributes to increased school readiness, children that are adapted to full day kindergarten are already prepared for the transition into regular grade level schooling, most importantly, they understand rules and behavior, which leads to a higher academic achievement. Standardized tests and classroom grades find that full day students achieve higher and improve student attendance. There is better attendance in full-day kindergarten due to the parents understanding that there is so much more information and teaching provided during a longer day and does not want their child to miss, supporting a childs literacy and language development has long lasting effects that are greater in children that attend full day kindergarten (Villegas 2). One study showed higher reading achievement persisting through third grade and in some cases even seventh grade (Villegas 1). Enrolling a child in full-day kindergarten benefits them socially and emotionally. Full day gives children a balance of structured play and self play. Being with classmates for more hours in a classroom forces them to build positive relationships. Those relationships last sometimes all the way through twelfth grade. Decreases costs by reducing retention and remediation rates (Villegas 1, 2). One study, which found full day students to be more than twice as likely to remain on grade through third grade, showed that this academic benefit helped to offset 19 percent of the first year’s cost of extending the kindergarten day (Villegas 2). For those children in half-day kindergarten, they need to have before and after care in some families, especially when both parents work full time. If there were full day kindergarten, it would eliminate some of that cost of after care. Due to these children needing to go to multiple places throughout the day for care and schooling becomes the issue of transportation. During a parents work day, that child could be bused to as much as three different locations just for child care. Parents prefer longer kindergarten programs because children have to make fewer transitions within a day and they believe their children will be better prepared for first grade (Mitchell 5). Day care programs are valuable, but do not have the curriculum and equal age structure that kindergarten does. Proponents of full-day kindergarten believe that children, as a result of their various childcare and preschool experiences, are ready for more demanding and cognitively oriented educational programs (Burkam 6). Having group play with children ages 0-5 is not beneficial educationally. Children at age five are at an important learning stage in their lives. The more education they can receive in kindergarten the better prepared for school they will be. Full-day advocates suggest several advantages for the longer kindergarten day: it allows teachers more opportunity to assess children’s educational needs and individualize instruction, it makes small-group learning experiences more feasible, it engages children in a broader range of learning experiences, it provides opportunities for in-depth exploration of curriculum, it provides opportunities for closer teacher-parent relationships, it benefits working parents who may need a longer school day (Burkam 6). Reading, math, science are subjects that are the beginning fundamentals in learning Researchers found that children who attended full-day kindergarten scored higher on reading comprehension and mathematics concepts and applications (Burkam 9). Having more hours in a school day allows teachers to take a more one on one approach for the children to really delve deep into counting, the alphabet, writing, speaking, and so forth. The foundation of learning stems from kindergarten. Cognitive development is the most important issue with having children in a full-day kindergarten program. Kindergarten is more than play and social interaction with peers, this time must be used to take full advantage of a child’s potential in learning. Education should be the first priority and focus in a child’s life. The bigger picture is laying the groundwork for children’s educational experience. The younger the child the more prepared they will be for the future and the most successful in life.

Nummi Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nummi - Essay Example However, even after sending 16 top managers to learn on the best ways to induce change in the organization in order to produce high quality cars, the managers were unable to bring changes. Majority of them opted to quit. This is because General Motors had a change resistant culture. For instance, workers liked things the way they were. This is because they were highly paid despite having not to work very hard for their compensation. Therefore, they did not see any need for change. The managers who were sent to NUMMI wanted to maintain a status quo. The compensation in General Motors was linked to hierarchy. As a result, the subordinates had to wait for years before they are promoted to management levels. Therefore, the managers did not want any change that would reduce their powers. This is because more people were reporting to them, an aspect that meant that they had more power. The Toyota approach would highly affect the hierarchical structure in General Motors. This would mean that power would be distributed to many managers in order to improve the levels of supervision. This created resistance from the above. There was an internal culture that branded teamwork as telling on each other rather than working with each other. This culture acted as a major barrier because the employees could not work as a single unit. The conflicts that remained unsolved made it hard for them to relate with each other. Therefore, even after the attempts to introduce Toyota’s culture in the organization, the level of resistance was very high because the subordinates could not put their differences aside and work together towards a common objective. General Motors was departmentalized. Therefore, there was lack of internal connection between the departments. This culture created an interdepartmental competition, an aspect that made it hard for the organization to work as a unit. When plants tried to implement the methods that were used by Toyota, they ended up failing because

The Use of Music in Sports Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Use of Music in Sports - Article Example Lately, however, music has found its way into sports, and things haven’t been the same. The concepts of fitness and diet gained a lot of followers in the last decade. What was previously regarded as just a fad has become a way of life for the majority. Consequently, more people have become aware of the importance of engaging in physical activities, and thus, the interest in sports – in general – has correspondingly increased. In this light, music has made otherwise tedious activities like aerobics, jogging, ballroom dancing a lot more enjoyable, fun and exciting. Thus far, the topic has been more on music and sports for the beginners. On the more professional level of sports, however, studies show that music can positively affect an athlete’s performance in his respective activity. In one study, music has been found to ‘be a facilitator to athletic performance’ and ‘allows athletes to disassociate from feelings of fatigue and perceived exertion rates’ (Sorenson et.al.). In this manner, the athletes are pushed to go beyond their normal performance capacity and are always in their peak form as they go about playing their game. Music may not entirely guarantee that the athlete will do well but studies have shown that music does enhance the athlete’s achievement. Music is also widely used these days in psyching up sports figures before, during and after the competition: that is, slow music to relax and reduce anxiety before and after, and fast ones shortly before the actual games. Most athletes utilize upbeat music – usually hip hop, rap or rock -- before a competition because it gets them pumped up, aggressive and energetic on the field (Sorenson et.al.), hence, the increasing demand for these types of music in the sports arena. Who wouldn’t remember the songs â€Å"We will Rock You† or â€Å"We are the Champions† by the rock band Queen? Or Sirius by the Alan Parsons Project? Eye of the Tiger by Survivor?

Contemporary issues in development finance Essay - 1

Contemporary issues in development finance - Essay Example Income inequality is described as the uneven distribution of individual or household income/earnings across the several participants in the economy. It is the sign of how the material resources are generally distributed across the society. High degree of earnings/income inequality is considered as undesirable. Measures of the earnings inequality relies on the data of disposable income of the household. The key indicator of earnings distribution is employed in ‘Gini coefficient’. The values of Gini coefficient scope between 0 (in perfect equality case) and 1 (in perfect inequality case). Poorer countries generally have elevated level of income inequality (Oecd, 2011). The main purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the connection between the financial growth and the income inequality by taking the example of Vietnam from the period 2000-2008. In the previous two decades, country like Vietnam has applied various economic and social reforms in order to encourage economic growth. The entrance of Vietnam into ‘World Trade Organisation’ in the year 2006 has concerned large inflows of foreign capital under the projects of foreign direct investment. Free trade and market-oriented financial system helped in releasing the capabilities and potentials of enterprises and individuals. Due to this, the economy achieved efficiency, higher productivity, and economic growth (C.M. Hoi and L.Q. Hoi, 2012). The connection between financial progress and the income inequality is a searched topic lately. Till now, two strings of notion, of which one pursue linear hypothesis and other follows non-linear hypothesis, are under exploration for the empirical evidence. Linear hypothesis: An overlapping model has been offered by Galor and Zeira (1993), who concentrated on the significance of the investment of human capital. They believe that there exist two sectors in

Italian and German Fascism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Italian and German Fascism - Essay Example This essay declares that the fascist movements in both Germany and Italy initially gained power through being invited by conservative parties into government to ensure that leftist parties were countered. Leftist parties, especially socialist parties, had taken a significant share of the opposition of these countries and their influence was steadily increasing. The rise of communism in Russia during and immediately after World War One had made conservative parties in power to become wary of leftist opposition parties and collaboration with fascist parties in both Germany and Italy made possible the removal of their threat. However, the Fascist party in Italy wanted more than a small share of government and although it had won only a small number of seats in parliament, it managed to seize power and maintain it through an alliance with right leaning parties. The same occurred in Germany where the Nazis took advantage of their being in government to lash out against the socialist parti es and strengthen their position, eventually taking over some of the most important institutions within the state. This paper makes a conclusion that the fascist movement within these two countries ended up developing in different ways with Nazi Germany becoming more radicalized while fascist Italy becoming more authoritarian. The Nazi party, once it gained power, aimed at implementing its policies at all costs and among these was the restoration of Germany’s glorious past through military action.

The world trade organization - is it a positive influence on the world Term Paper

The world trade organization - is it a positive influence on the world economy - Term Paper Example Decisions in the WTO are normally made through negotiation among all of its members and they are approved by the member countries’ legislatures.1 Trade conflict is handled through the dispute settlement system of the WTO where the emphasis is on making sure that trade policies of member countries comply with agreements. This paper argues that the WTO is a positive influence on the world economy. By loosening trade restrictions, the WTO also eliminates other boundaries between countries and peoples. At the core of the WTO—called the multilateral trading system-- are the treatises, discussed and approved by most of the world’s trading countries, and signed in their legislative bodies. These treatises are the legal protocols for global trade.2 Basically, they are agreements, granting member countries major trade privileges. They also oblige these countries to conform to agreed trade rules to the benefit of everyone. The recent years have been very unstable and turbu lent. Stock prices have plummeted, the financial sector has crashed, important commodities like oil have dropped severely and inflationary demands have become deflationary problems. The prospects since 2009 appear bleak, as the global economy is declining, the population of unemployed is growing, trade levels are dropping, and nobody is sure when the financial havoc will end.3 Global production is dwindling as rapidly as demand is declining and foreign direct investment keeps on dropping. In spite of some common declarations from world leaders about the threats of protectionism, it is actually rising in several nations, while public approval for trade liberalization is negligible among others.4 In such an environment, the issue should be raised whether trade liberalization remains vital. The financial crisis clearly appears to be the more urgent concern, and trade has gradually recovered since the system of loosening trade barriers started with the establishment of the General Agree ment on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) after the Second World War.5 Since its establishment, the WTO has carried on with the process of trade liberalization, and broadened the directive of the earlier GATT administration to include other trade-based issues, like intellectual property. Abolishing the WTO would be unreasonable. Trade policy is still essential, and it can serve a vital function in boosting the recovery of the world economy. The formation of the WTO reformed many of the original weaknesses of the GATT and created a strong institutional foundation from which the system of international trade could develop. The WTO had several accomplishments, such as China’s accession in 2001, and it is still one of the most important international agencies.6 The Economic Advantages of the WTO Distributive principles and efficiency concerns are generally shown as being in disagreement. Yet, they should not be. Making sure that every party gains from the liberalization of trade is ration al from the point of view of economics. Enhanced trade heightens general wealth. Hence enhancing the production and consumption capacity of the poorest nations will result in greater boosts in general wealth. If distributing the wealth will strengthen trade liberalization, this is to the benefit of the nations that are already the frontrunners.7 Moreover, to the point the gains of trade are distributed, nations that would not have gained will have assets to use in the markets of other member countries and to improve the capacity of

Classroom Behavior Management Plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Classroom Behavior Management Plan - Assignment Example In addition, it helps to make the school experience more productive and enjoyable for students from all backgrounds (Hue & Li, 2008). This paper will discuss a classroom behavior management plan that will consider the social and economic status of the students to develop it. In addition, the plan will consider the ethnic background of the students matters because it influences their needs. Mark Twain Elementary is a school that enrolls students in kindergarten to fifth grade. It is surrounded by facilities such as Helen’s Park, Weekley Family YMCA, McGovern Public Library and Helen’s McGovern Public Library. The community around the school comprises of middle class individuals from all over the world who have settled there for work and study. (Houston Independent School District, n.d). The Fifth Grade classroom is made up of eighteen students from different ethnicity backgrounds. The class has 8 white students, 4 African American , 2 Hispanic, and 4 American Indian. The proportion of boys to girls in the class is 8:10. Majority of the students have learning difficulties because of their bilingual nature. The students are from lower and middle-class social level. Most of the students are enrolled on reduced-price or free lunch. These students desire social and emotional needs that affect their academic performance. The behavioral characteristics are displ ayed in degrading language, bullying, and violence. Some students may keep silent when they are hurt but if it gets to extreme levels opt to fight (Wessler, 2008). This classroom behavior management plan will address the behavior problems by highlighting rules and structures to be used in class. The plan will promote academic performance by involving the students in the process of making rules that make them easy to adopt. I believe that setting big goals for my students at the beginning of the year will have a significant effect on them academically