I heard on a breakfast TV program this morning that a preschool in Sweden now forbids identification of gender. No-one is allowed to use terms for the kids like "him" and "her" or "his" and "hers'. Seriously, if they want to make us genderless they need to chop our private parts off and give us hormone anti-therapy to stop us being male or female, and thinking male or female. From what I have experienced, boys tend towards cars and guns and girls towards dolls and pink things. What are they trying to do? Deliberately confuse people as to their gender and sexuality? I think there is enough confusion these days without social experimenters causing more. This is no diffferent to scientists using babies as guinea pigs many years ago to test their theories and totally damaging those kids psyches in the process. (Dont allow affection, see what happens. Oops..they die). The only children that could rightfully be not called him or her ("it" perhaps? Does that sound nice?) would be hermaphrodites. Yet it would still seem horrible for those unfortunates to not be assigned a gender.

Hi all,
I'm planning to do family day care from home in a few years, and am setting about getting my Montessori and childcare qualifications before then.
I have been searching on the internet for photos of family day care setups, childcare centre setups, montessori centres, kindergartens and so forth.
Photos to inspire me with ideas for my family day care areas..inside and outside the house.
Does anyone know of any blogs (such as homeschooling and montessori blogs) with photos that would inspire me? I like the pics here, for instance...  http://satorismiles.com/homeschool-room-photos/
Or pics of any centres online that would get my creative juices flowing?

This is a good series by TheRetroKidsShowon Youtube. A lady, man or child demonstrates a sign, says the word in Spanish a couple of times, and the word is displayed onscreen too.

Here's an example...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HPu94a3Bt3k&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/HPu94a3Bt3k&rel=1</a>

Here's a site for printable Primary worksheets. Couldnt check if we already had this listed as the "search" button appears to have disappeared witht the new layout. Lots of resources and free printables.

A-Z Worksheets

Example...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/16Zwgvnkf04&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/16Zwgvnkf04&rel=1</a>

[allegrosjf]

This youtube user allegrosjf has brief (less than one minute, to a few minutes max) video clips on SCIENCE subjects such as tarantulas, birds, solar system and planets, arthropods etc.

Recommended for grades 2-5 but perfect snippets for younger kids attention spans. From the acclaimed Science Screen Report DVD series from the 70s.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dS8frODupEc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/dS8frODupEc&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/JcwT3yxCUsM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/JcwT3yxCUsM&rel=1</a>

Here's a LONG one..
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/rb8HYbWyCpU&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/rb8HYbWyCpU&rel=1</a>

http://www.happalmer.com/ has cds, dvds and activities and colouring pages. Also instructions for teaching aids you can make.
Subjects such as Spanish, phonics, numbers, multiplication and more...

Egs...

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/KyJtXIyzCOE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/KyJtXIyzCOE&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/b2GQxXpzkVc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/b2GQxXpzkVc&rel=1</a>

[Spanish...]

Hap Palmer (www.happalmer.com) has a cd called "learning in two languages". His website has other cds and dvds for learning, and also colouring pages and activities.
Spanish and English. An example....

Spanish...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/KyJtXIyzCOE&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/KyJtXIyzCOE&rel=1</a>

English...
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/VlAcjki3ds0&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/VlAcjki3ds0&rel=1</a>

[vektorgt]

This Youtube user, vektorgt, has MANY science songs.."Space songs" (what is gravity, why do stars twinkle, what is friction etc) , Weather songs (what is climate, what makes lightning, highs and lows etc). Energy and Motion songs (what is energy? Electricity etc). Experiment songs (rainbows, thunder etc). Nature songs (parts of a flower. Why does a bee buzz?).

Apparently they are from a 6 LP set called Singing science, recorded decades ago. Sung by various individuals. It is all audio, no visuals. Not sure how accurate the info would be, being from so long ago!

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/dch380o58l4&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/dch380o58l4&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/YYu5ge4dc8c&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/YYu5ge4dc8c&rel=1</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/2kwNlcN1QYg&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/2kwNlcN1QYg&rel=1</a>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3UQEY1Ycnc&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfvssICRorU&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I have taken a bit of a sabbatical from my blog...it has been several months. I've just had too many other things to worry about, including deciding to do several courses next semester including children's services (to work in a Kindergarten, childcare centres etc). Trying to figure out how I can try to earn income and homeschool at the same time. It's nice to have adult interaction I must say!! And I am getting very sick of the inside of my house. I enjoy grocery shopping as it involves going out into the world and being among different people..and sometimes running into people you know and can catch up with. Blogging is a very house-bound activity (as is everything involving the internet).

Hi all...the competition ends today!!!
Imagine getting a free doman training course....that's valuable. This is a full-on Montessori training course with career opportunities resulting.

http://thewhizkidsofoz.blogspot.com/2011/01/win-montessori-preschool-teacher.html

Hi KL,
If you could take a look at my blog posts about Kisii...
http://thewhizkidsofoz.blogspot.com/2011/01/more-about-kisii-orphans-in-kenya.html
and http://thewhizkidsofoz.blogspot.com/2011/01/helping-poor-in-kisii-kenya.html

also this thread....
http://forum.brillkids.com/coffee-corner-general-chat/help-orphans-at-xmas/
(this man is now trying to start an EDUCATION CENTRE for the street kids of Gogoikrom in Ghana)...yet he doesnt even have a laptop so he can work from home.

you will notice that the needs are so great, and so BASIC...just getting bedding that is off the floor and paraffin to put in a lamp so they can see what they are eating is dificult...in fact the orphanage I mentioned have no money and have run out of pariffin.So in the midst of trying to help the orphanages that do have electricity, computers, tv and dvd player and such, I find these ones and want to help them MORE. Pluck them from obscurity and sit them on a hill and shower them with all sorts of gifts and mod cons.

But on the note of getting baby and toddler education to them...I hope to start my own charity and get it registered, so I can really concentrate on getting my projects running. One being starting a baby orphanage in Kisii, run by my local Kisii friends Geoffrey and Fridah. My older kids can go over and help when they finish high school, in their gap year before uni, and hopefully will return to help in kisii more.


I do know of baby orphanages that would benefit immediately as they already have some mod cons to be able to utilise the software. Mind you, as there are so many kids to each caregiver, putting the programs on dvds would help cut the workload for the carers, and benefit more babies at one time........but I would love to shower the ones who have NOTHING with these things!!
I will inbox you.

HI again,
People have been informing me their comments have not been accepted. I too was having that problem. I have nutted it out and changed the settings..so it's all working smoothly.
This course is not hard, and not time-consuming. It requires downloading files, and practising on your kids. ALL brillkids people would find it valuable. It's not Doman, but Brillkids people love Montessori too....and Montessori uses 3 part cards and nomenclature cards, which are similar to flash cards. You would learn A LOT!!!
I envy you.. I had to PAY to do this course!!! And possibly one of you will get it handed to you on a silver platter.

Try contacting them through ebay? I have emailed them there and had a prompt reply.

Hi all...

To enter a competition to win a scholarship to study online for a certificate in a PrePrimary (2-6 year olds) Montessori Teacher course, visit my blog. The course is worth $240 and many people have gained employment through having this qualification. The facilitator has many years experience and is well qualified and certified.

I am currently studying this course myself, and it is the one I referred to in my "educating the poor-my idea" thread in general discussions.

http://thewhizkidsofoz.blogspot.com/2011/01/win-montessori-preschool-teacher.html

Has anyone seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yn4SBNSkg4

Here's the info from underneath the clip...

Holly Riley is the parent of a fully recovered autistic child, her son Quinn. Quinn was diagnosed with Autism around the age of two and yet in a just a few short years, through the use of biomedical treatment and traditional autism therapies, Quinn was able to come out of the Autism fog. In this video Holly shares that:

• Quinn was fairly normal in his infancy, until about 1.5 years
• After his first birthday he exhibited unusual behaviors including spinning
• He wasn't talking, even at two years of age
• Holly figured out that Quinn had Autism after reading a book, and then confirmed the diagnosis with the State Department of Education
• By 2.5 years of age Quinn was receiving speech therapy, occupational therapy and Applied Behavior Analysis
• At 2.5 years his first words were, "up, up, up"
• Holly and her husband researched Autism on the Internet and read what other families did, and one of those things was the removal of dairy and gluten; also called the Gluten Free Casein Free Diet
• They discovered Generation Rescue, a website devoted to helping parents understand biomedical treatment and what therapies help reverse Autism
• There are multiple medical problems with most children who have Autism, including severe gut issues as well as heavy metal poisoning
• Removing dairy and gluten from the diet created major improvement for Quinn, including more eye contact and social interaction
• They found a DAN! Doctor - Defeat Autism Now Doctor
• Quinn had constipation and diarrhea, and the DAN! Doctor treated those medical issues
• Quinn went through various detoxification protocols, called Chelation Therapy, using various forms of chelating agents and delivery methods
• They treated the gut dysbiosis (bad microorganisms in the gut) with anti fungal medications and Probiotics (friendly bacteria for the gut)
• They used mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy
• They gave Methyl B12 injections, and they found that the B12 improved speech, and gave him daily doses of the B12 injections
• They rented a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber, which helped Quinn immensely
• They did the specific carbohydrate diet
• They did Network Spinal Analysis and Somato Respiratory Integration
• Quinn had huge developmental spurts after doing the biomedical treatment.
• Quinn started Catholic Kindergarten and excelled immediately. In fact, he scored 98th percentile for speech in first grade whereas at 3.5 years he was in the 2nd percentile (via IBS Testing).