Thursday, February 21, 2008

How Can A Montessori School Save You Money?

Is it possible to save money by sending your child to a Montessori school? First, its important to understand how a Montessori classroom operates. The classroom is an environment for self-education and self-realization. The room is divided up into different learning stations. There are 5 stations in most classrooms:

Practical Life This area develops task organization and promotes the understanding of cognitive order.

Sensorial This area teaches the students to classify and describe sensory impressions such as length, width, temperature, color, etc. Special Montessori games are used which have metal weights, different length rods, puzzles of the world, United States, etc., and also includes smelling activities.

Math- The Math station uses manipulative materials to enable the comprehension of number, symbol, sequence, operations concepts and the memorization of basic facts.

Language Unique tools are used to communicate the understanding of letters and eventually the recognition of words and finally, the accomplishment of being able to read.

Cultural Activities Teachers spend times teaching about different counties of the world. The topics covered are: geography, history, cultures (food, clothing, traditions), music and art. This part of the program gives children a worldly perspective.

My 4 year old son has been attending Montessori school since he was 2. Its evident that his language and understanding of the world around him are developing at a rapid pace. In his school, it is expected that pre-schoolers (4 year olds) will know how to read and write before kindergarten.

What impressed me most about this particular school is that they use the Open Court Sound Cards. The sound cards are drilled every day throughout the entire school year. The cards have a picture and a letter on them. Each card represents either a vowel or a consonant. The students learn the letters and their corresponding sounds through repetition and pictures. There are 42 cards in the set, each with a different letter, vowel or letter grouping (the letter grouping example is ph, to represent the sound f).

An example is the sound card for the letter W. There is a picture of two whales whispering to each other. During the lesson, the students chant Whispering whale, whispering whale, wuh, wuh, wuh. This repetition enforces the concept of how the letter W looks and also what it sounds like. This exercise is the very beginning of learning to read. In order to learn how to read, a child must first learn all the letters of the alphabet and their sounds.

The Open Court Sound Cards, published by McGraw-Hill SRA, are reviewed each day for the entire year. If a child starts learning this at age 2 or 3, she will be putting the letters together and reading at around age 4 to 5. Some other benefits of Open Court learning are:

Phonological and phonemic awareness

Print and book awareness

Alphabetic knowledge

Oral language skill enhancement

Vocabulary growth

improved comprehension

According to www.montessori-ami.org, A significant finding in Montessori studies is the association between a Montessori education and superior performance on the Math and Science scales of the ACT and WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams). In essence, attending a Montessori program from the approximate ages of three to eleven predicts significantly higher mathematics and science standardized test scores in high school."

To answer the question posed in the title of this article, How Can A Montessori School Save You Money?, the answer is in the childs future education. Studies show that a Montessori educated child is more confident and enthusiastic about learning and school. He or she will already know how to read and write by kindergarten. Because of this, the child will be less likely to need tutoring or other prep classes during the elementary school years.

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Finding The Best Possible Golf Career For Your Needs

There is barely a golfer in the world that wouldn't trade in their day job to get paid to be on the course all day long. However, most do not realize that obtaining a golf career is actually not as difficult as they might originally believe it to be. You don't have to be a professional on the PGA circuit to enjoy all of the freedoms and fun of a career in your favorite sport.

There is a wide array of opportunities right from the beginning golfer all the way up to the professionals. Ideally, most would want to have a career simply playing golf. Although this is entirely possibly, it is advisable to discover if the idea is plausible before going ahead full steam. Perhaps you could start by playing in a few tournaments with cash prizes. If things go well and you end up with some money in your pocket, perhaps a career as a professional golfer isn't all that impossible. However, most golfers don't quite have the stuff to be able to compete for money. Thankfully, there are a lot of other golf careers that will keep you involved in the game even when you're not even on the course.

One thing to consider is to become a golf pro. If your friends are always remarking that you have the perfect swing or how your drives always reach a far distance and are always straight away, then a golf career as a golf professional may be the perfect choice for you. This is also a very flexible job because you decide how many hours you work per week. You could either do a few lessons a week just for supplementary income at the start and once your client base gets big enough, you could start doing it full time. The best advertising is word of mouth, so if your clients are happy with your service they will undoubtedly inform their friends and family as well.

There is also a wide variety of careers that involve the retail aspect of golf. You could start your own golf specialty store, which would keep you surrounded in golf gear every day and talking about golf to your hearts content. There is a booming industry presently with imprinted golf balls, which is a business that you can run directly from your own home. Many people are searching for golf balls with team logos, pictures of family or slogans emblazoned on them. The technology is a bit expensive at the beginning but all you would need to sell your items is a website. There is such a wide variety of golf careers that if you decide you want to work with golf full time, you shouldn't have a problem finding a suitable career.

A golf career doing maintenance on your favorite course will keep you on the grounds all day. Most people that work directly for the golf course either get to play for free, or at a discounted rate. If you have a love for golf, there is sure to be a golf career out there that fits perfectly with your talents. Whether as a golf pro, a retailer, a groundskeeper or even a professional golfer, the options are basically unlimited. So don't be intimidated by those who say you could never have a full time career in golf. Prove them wrong by landing the job of your dreams.

Andy West is a freelance writer and communications specialist for SDGA. San Diego Golf Academy is a premier golf school with five locations across the United States. For more information on starting your golf career, please visit http://www.sdgagolf.com.