There is a growing interest across Canada in outdoor education that is formally integrated into school. This trend has increased since COVID-19, particularly because open-air environments significantly reduced the risks of disease transmission. Outdoor education is an umbrella term that includes many approaches and settings. Practitioners of outdoor education may be involved in what they see […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
Outdoor education has psychological, cognitive and physical health benefits for children
Who are the protagonists of the story we teach?
In 2009, the newspaper El Norte de Castilla published an interview with the recently deceased Fernando García de Cortázar , in which he presented his book Little history of the world , aimed at children. In it, the historian affirmed: “The disinterest in history exists because it has been told badly.” The Bilbao historian was right: history is told (and taught) badly because, traditionally, […] … learn more→
Is it easier to be multilingual than bilingual?
You may have heard that our brains are powerful computers . Although we are capable of processing a lot of information simultaneously, that power would be insufficient in the constant overload of stimuli and information in which we live if it were not for the fact that our minds also do other things very well: predict, adapt, reuse ; do more […] … learn more→
From shopping lists to jokes on the fridge – 6 ways parents can help their primary kids learn to write well
Learning how to be a confident and communicative writer is one of the most important skills students learn at school. But NAPLAN results show a significant decline in Australian students’ writing performance. Research for the period to 2018, shows year nine students performed nearly 1.5 years behind the average student in 2011. International studies have also raised concerns about […] … learn more→
Gifted-student screenings often miss poor students who should qualify
High-achieving students from low-income backgrounds are half as likely to be placed in a gifted program as their more affluent peers, according to our new study. Arkansas, like all the other states, has a unique process for identifying gifted kids. We wondered whether academically advanced students – the top 5% of scorers in math and literacy, who are […] … learn more→
Richer schools’ students run faster: how the inequality in sport flows through to health
Cross-town sporting rivalry between the kids from the wealthy school and those from the country school – or the poorer suburbs – has been fodder for Hollywood movies such as Friday Night Lights, McFarland USA, Coach Carter, The Mighty Ducks and Hoosiers. We like to believe sport is the great leveller and privilege doesn’t matter […] … learn more→
Abstract concepts that are best learned on video
The disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (commonly grouped by the acronym STEM, or STEM for its acronym in English Science Technology, Engineering and Maths ) are often full of abstract concepts that make it difficult to understand. If we think, for example, of our fridge magnets, it is fairly intuitive to understand that there is […] … learn more→
Why do kids have to go to school?
Why do us kids have to go to school? – Vanessa C., age 10, Gilbert, Arizona Kids go to school for many reasons. Where and when depends on their age, location, parental preference and local policies. Parents send their kids to school to expose them to experiences that are different from their own at home […] … learn more→
In a world of images, we must learn to look critically
“Let’s go to the beach, to cure your soul, close the screen, open the medal (…), and take advantage of the fact that the sun is hot and let’s enjoy the atmosphere”. Probably this song fragment has moved you to some summer enclave. If we add images, we find his music video showing us a Caribbean […] … learn more→
5 ways to support children’s early literacy skills and build family connections this summer
With the end of the school year here, parents, caregivers and educators may find themselves reflecting on another turbulent year in education. For researchers of children’s literacy, year-end reflections may prompt discussions of the “summer slide” — children’s loss of knowledge over summer break, particularly in literacy and numeracy — and what can be done to […] … learn more→
