The Reggio-Emilia Nursery Classroom and Its Benefits

Reggio-Emilia is a popular educational philosophy that guides the teaching of many schools and nurseries around the globe. It was born and developed around 60 years ago in the village of Reggio-Emilia, Italy by pioneering teacher Loris Malaguzzi. Aware of dissatisfaction among parents with mainstream childcare and education, he sought to provide a different style of teaching and learning.

The innovative principles that guided teaching in his first school are still used today. You’ll find Reggio-Emilia-inspired nursery schools all over the world, often thought of as the best nursery schools in their area. Here, we look at what makes Reggio-Emilia nursery classrooms special and how they benefit their students.

What are the principles of Reggio-Emilia?

The design of a Reggio-Emilia classroom is guided by the main principles of this educational philosophy. They are:

●      Child-led learning

Reggio-Emilia believes all children are naturally curious and should follow their own interests in their classroom learning. This means that children direct their own learning with the encouragement and support of the class teacher. By independently exploring the classroom environment, children make discoveries and increase their understanding of the world.

A child will be encouraged to immerse themselves in their learning and explore an interest fully: to research it, to understand it, to reflect on what they have learned and to create something inspired by it. They may produce artwork, writing or other media to demonstrate what they have learned. This way, children are developing the crucial critical thinking skills they’ll need throughout their lives.

●      Teachers as observers, supporters and curators

The role of the teacher in the Reggio-Emilia nursery classroom is principally to support, encourage and observe their students in their learning. However, to ensure children are inspired by their surroundings, the teacher’s role as curator of the classroom is also absolutely vital.

Teachers must provide a stimulating environment that sparks children’s interests in a variety of subjects and inspires them to ask questions and get creative.

Here’s how they set up their Reggio-Emilia classroom to do just this.

The Reggio-Emilia Classroom

In the Reggio-Emilia approach, the classroom is absolutely central to the philosophy. In fact, the classroom is consistently viewed as the third teacher (after the child’s parents and class teacher). Just like the human teachers, the Reggio-Emilia classroom should inspire, encourage and guide but not dictate.

These are the ideas that guide Reggio-Emilia teachers when they design their classroom set up:

●      Home from home

The nursery room needs to fulfill the following criteria: bright and airy, with lots of space. A Reggio-Emilia classroom should feel relaxed and calm, like a home away from home, so lots of natural light and room to move are essential in achieving this.

An overcrowded classroom can be noisy and overstimulating, so Reggio-Emilia teachers take care that their classrooms are tidy and uncluttered. This allows children to think freely and clearly and access the materials they need easily.

●      A beautiful space

Reggio-Emilia nursery classrooms are never sterile. While they should be well-organized with easily accessible spaces for a variety of work and play, they should also be warm and inviting. Aesthetics are important as they help stimulate classroom creativity and put children at ease. So, comforting, homely touches such as indoor plants and thoughtfully displayed artwork are essential.

The outdoor classroom should also be inviting and encourage children to connect with nature. There will be carefully thought-out landscaping using natural materials that encourage children to use and explore the whole space. There will be a range of plants, too: flowers and herbs for color and scent, for example. Art and creativity are not limited to the indoors, so materials and objects that inspire and allow children to create should be outdoors as well.

●      Carefully curated objects

A Reggio-Emilia teacher gives very careful thought to the range of objects available for use in the classroom. The key question they would ask is, “Can this item inspire creative, open-ended play?” For this reason, the item should be simple, so that the child can choose any number of creative ways to use it . It should also be inviting and appealing to the child.

Collections of natural objects like seashells, pine cones, smooth pebbles are frequently used in the Reggio-Emilia classroom because they are pretty and highly tactile. They are so inviting that children can’t resist picking them up. They’ll then begin, for example, sorting and organizing, counting, using them for imaginative play, or as part of artwork.

Everyday household items are also central to the Reggio-Emilia classroom. These include things like cotton reels, clothes pegs, and wooden spoons. Playing with these items can help improve gross and fine motor skills, as well as inspiring imaginative play and storytelling.

●      Well-organized writing and art materials

In a Reggio-Emilia classroom, writing and art materials are never hidden away in a cupboard. Instead, they should be well-organized and invitingly arranged so that children can easily find what they need and are encouraged to use these items without reservation. Therefore, the arrangement of these materials should be attractive to a child’s eye and within easy reach for them.

The test of a well-arranged Reggio-Emilia nursery classroom is whether children are enjoying their environment, immersed in their learning and able to work independently. If they are, then they are in a classroom that is instilling a love for learning and nurturing the questioning and critical thinking skills they’ll need for life.

AUTHOR BIO

Ayesha Hoda is a marketing and communications specialist working at Step By Step Nursery Group in the UAE. She holds an MBA degree from a leading business school in Pakistan and has more than 13 years of experience in corporate communications and journalism. She has worked in both agency and client-side roles, designing communication strategies for multinational clients, nonprofits and small businesses in various industries, such as education and healthcare.

Average GRE scores for top MBA programs at business schools

There is a common question asked by applicants whether they should opt for GMAT or GRE. The answer is very common that it depends on whether a student wants to get enrolled in an MBA programme or MS. If you are thinking of pursuing an MBA degree it is better to take the GMAT score. But if you have already taken up GRE and need to know the comparison of your GRE scores, with average scores of GRE from top business schools, the list is here having average GRE scoreboard having a list of major MBA programs in topmost business schools.

It is necessary to have GRE to GMAT convertor system through which you can compare the numbers neck to neck.

Average GRE results of topmost business schools

Harvard Business School has an average GRE score of 328 and verbal GRE scores of 163.

Stanford Business School has an average GRE score of 330 and verbal GRE scores of 165.

Wharton Business School has an average GRE score of 325 and verbal GRE scores of 163.

Yale Business School has an average GRE score of 328 and verbal GRE scores of 165.

Darmouth Business School has an average GRE score of 324 and verbal GRE scores of 163.

Duke Business School has an average GRE score of 319 and verbal GRE scores of 160.

Virginia Business School has average GRE score of 328 and verbal GRE scores of 164.

Why are GRE results important?

Proper GRE results that help you to get accepted within the graduate degree programme of your choice of subject. With this, you can score well in GRE. It always depends on the program of study and the field as well. Good GRE scores are necessary for graduate degrees in various education programs, various programs in engineering, psychology programs and also in MBA studies. There are lots of business schools that accept GRE results in place of GMAT results.

The major portion of GRE is verbal as well as a quantitative aptitude test. Do get the bestGRE resultsin the vocabulary you need to know words and sentences for which reading and writing comprehensions and passages is necessary. The more you know new words and can frame sentences with it, the more range of vocabulary you possess which will benefit you while the GRE vocabulary exam thus leading you to score well here.

Why is it necessary to have an average GRE score?

It is important to know that verbal GRE and Quantitative sections in GRE need to have scores between 140 to 170, where the average score is between 150 to 160 approximately. The analytical writing section is equally important too and needs you to have a score between zero to six,including some half points as increments. The average hits will be around 4.5. with these average GRE score; you get the opportunity to compete with the majority of students coming from various corners of the globe.

GRE is not at all an easy task to perform. For this, at least to score average, you need to have a lot of study materials at hand and revise them regularly even if when you are relaxing or sipping your coffee. The qualitative and quantitative tests are used to determine your IQ levels and though the questions seem to appear easy, they have twist in the tale.

Visit libraries and indulge yourself in lot of vocabs to get a good hold on your knowledge whether it is general knowledge or subject studying. If you have work experience, you might have some practical knowledge too but then, you need to have book knowledge to know the exact theories of studies to have best GRE results.

Get to Know More About Boston University

There is usually lots of pressure placed on choosing a college because of the impact it is said to have in your life. Given this, it is no easy feat and requires much time thinking and considering before you can ultimately make a choice. Usually, you would consider different factors.

For some, factors maybe after the degree program, while for others, this may be their dream campus. If you were the latter, you probably give more importance to the university campus as it will be your home for the next few years. Various universities have unique aspects to offer, but the choice ultimately lies on you.

Boston University (BU) is known to be one of the US’ largest universities. The campus is divided in two; the main Charles River Campus and the Boston University Medical Campus. The school has been around since 1839 and has since become home to tens of thousands of students. It ranked 40 in the national university rankings of the US News & World Report. It is also one of the three universities in Boston and Cambridge that belongs to the Association of American Universities.

 What’s In Store for You in Boston University?

 BU offers a wide range of academic programs ranging from the arts and sciences to engineering, business, and many more. The campus provides several avenues for students to engage in the arts, athletics, and fitness and recreation. The university’s website highlights this and allows you to look through their activities and facilities such as the theater, performance center, intramurals, and many others. With that said, a complete BU campus tour may still show you more of what’s really in store for you should you decide to attend Boston University.

Focus on Sustainability

 BU has also placed importance on the environment through its sustainability program, which aims to do continuous research to contribute to the environment and human welfare. The university likewise tries to engage its students and faculty by encouraging them to support its goal of reducing the school’s environmental footprint.

In BU, sustainability is not merely a practice but a movement. It allows students to participate in this movement by being a student sustainability leader, exploring clubs, or even joining the Earth House.

Although the program is still in its early stages, the university has already taken steps towards its goal for sustainability. It is currently undertaking several campus initiatives to promote sustainable actions among students and faculty members. Immersing yourself into the school through a BU campus tour will allow you to see these initiatives firsthand.

For example, the school has incorporated sustainable practices into its infrastructure projects. The campus now houses Green Buildings such as the Myles Standish Hall and Yakeway Center for Student Services. Priorities with these projects include the reduction of the use of non-renewable resources and an improvement in resource efficiency of buildings and operations.

BU helps students get to know more about the school and its campus through various campus video tours that you can view from home. One of these includes a BU campus tour filmed by a student who shows a quick day in his life, highlighting his activities in different parts of the school.

Overall, BU offers lots of opportunities for learning and growth in different areas of expertise. It gives students of different interests and passions the chance to come together and build a home in its extensive campus. Even without physically visiting its campus, it is still possible to get to know more about the school. BU hosts virtual events where different members and students of the university give insights on specific topics.

The Reason Why You Need a Vocational Education

Did you know thousands of students graduate every year? But the question is, do they hire relevant to their field jobs? The answer is, no. They don’t.

Why? It’s simple; they are not fully prepared and don’t have the appropriate skills and experience that most of the employers are looking at these days. How to solve that issue? Vocational education and training is the solution for all the graduates who are not yet employed with their field jobs.

Vocational Education: What Is It?

The main objective of vocational education and training is to prepare you for the actual work. It is primarily designed to help an individual to be ready for their chosen specialized occupations. Vocational education trains and prepare you for a career in the technical field and supports the development of your Industrial skills. Once you have these two important factors as your primary skills, you’ll have a higher chance of acceptance rate compared to a bachelor’s graduate who focuses more on academics.

Here are the reasons why you need vocational education.

Teach You Real-Life Work Skills

Vocational education focuses more on technical skills rather than academics. It gives actual and real-life knowledge about the skills and training you needed for a particular job. Also, it’ll help you get your desired field job without any hassle. Besides, vocational education empowered your skills to enhance it more, so employers are ready to hire you.

Today, skill development is vital to your career success because jobs nowadays are very competitive. The only thing that you need to outshine other applicants is the relevance of your skills to what the employers are looking for. As you may know, there are hundreds, or even thousands of hopefuls applying for the same position. An applicant with the most relevant, core skills, and appropriate training exposure have more chances of getting the job than to those applicants who don’t have experience and skills.

Companies Prevent Shortage of Competent Staff

In most companies, employees are their assets. If the company operates an industry that has an acute shortage of competent and trained staff – hiring and investing from vocational training is the only resource they have to save the company.

When that happens, an individual who studied vocational education will have a bigger chance to be employed in those companies than individuals who graduated from college. Besides, in-company vocational training is an excellent way to prevent the shortage of competent staff for a particular company. Because once a company doesn’t have enough numbers of qualified personnel, their business will suffer.

So for individuals who specialize in technical and industrial skills, most likely jobs are knocking on your door continuously.

You’ll Contribute to Country’s Economic Progress

Vocational training can positively affect a country’s economic growth. Why? Because it helps to lessen the crime rate, poverty, and unemployment rate. Also, the demand for skilled individuals keeps on growing every year. With more individuals who take part in acquiring vocational training and education, entering the job market with proper technical and industrial skills, it’ll be easier for you to get jobs and be employed. Therefore, once you become employed, you’ll be an aid to increase the country’s employment rate and promote economic growth.

Moreover, since more companies are investing in vocational training, it gives their current employees the motivation to excel and work harder in their current job to help them stay at the top of the industry. Once an employee becomes motivated at work, he or she will become a productive and efficient worker.

2 Things To Consider Before Accepting A Job Offer

You spend several days to write an impressive resume. You mailed it to several companies and now you are patiently waiting for their response. After getting sales jobs singapore offer, you are in a hurry to complete all the formalities.

When you receive a job offer, you are so overwhelmed that you are unable to make the right decision. Your employer wants you to sign the documents fast. You are not supposed to hesitate because this is the time for which you were waiting for long and at last, you have your favorite job offer.

If you ponder on a couple of the things, then it will save you from future problems. If you can take some time to respond, then ask your boss. You may have seen the office culture and well aware about your future responsibilities that you are going to fulfill. Do you think that you will be able to fulfill them easily? Are you proficient in this kind of job profile? Remember that accepting a job offer is a big responsibility on your shoulders and you cannot blame it on anyone if you take the wrong decision. You do not want to regret after a few months. That is why you need to slow down the joining process and consider a few factors. This will enhance your confidence level and you will take the right decision.

Negotiation

You need to find out if there is anything left that you want to negotiate. If you do not want to negotiate anything, then why it is playing a hindrance in your mind and stopping you to join this job offer.

In case, you have received sales jobs Singapore offer from a start-up company. This company is starting from the scratch and your base salary is just okay. Before declining or accepting this offer, check other factors like what are other benefits, you will get. Do you have flexible work hours? Is there an option of profit sharing if company achieved a specific benchmark?

Do the benefits fulfill your requirements?

If you have not checked the company’s benefit package, then gather enough information about it. Asking for complete information beforehand will help you understand whether you will get full health coverage for your kids and spouse or not. You do not need to purchase your own health insurance plan. Health plans are costly, so if your firm is giving complete health coverage to your family member, then it is worth considering.

Does neurofeedback help people with ADHD? Find out here

Sadly, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD affects a lot of people around the world. They usually lose their impulse control, their attention is always affected, their learning is also affected and their activity levels depriving them of living a normal life.

These symptoms can be very challenging for many, while for some, they manage to hide it in plain sight. For children suffering from ADHD usually, they are treated with different medications, psychotherapy and also changing their lifestyles, however, these do not entirely work for everyone, while there are some approaches like medicines have negative side effects in the long run.

That is why neurofeedback therapy has been gaining a lot of attention these days because this non-invasive therapy has made a lot of people believe that it can help alleviate and manage the symptoms of ADHD effectively. Others also call this therapy as biofeedback or the Neurotherapy.

So, what is neurofeedback? And how does it help people suffering from ADHD? Neurofeedback involves using electrodes that are attached to the head and responds to particular stimuli while the special technology shows the person’s brainwaves knowing that if a person has ADHD, the brain usually displays some characteristic patterns of their behavior that particularly happens on the front lobe of the brain. This area is highly relevant to the personality, learning, and behavior of the person.

A functioning brain and the person’s overall behavior are connected completely and the changes in behavior affect the brain as well and this happens vice versa that is why neurofeedback is targeting to completely change a person’s overall behavior by changing their brain according to the most-trusted school for Neurofeedback and EEG courses in Australia.

So, how does neurofeedback “change” a person’s brain? Well, as you know our brain produces electrical signals or waves in a measured way where neurofeedback also creates its own measurement by determining the waves using the device they call electroencephalograph or EEG that can measure five different waves in our brain that are called; alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and theta that have its own different frequencies using an EEG to measure.

There are different findings on the effectiveness of neurofeedback to people who have ADHD. There are already scientific findings that were published a couple of years ago that concluded that neurofeedback creates a big improvement in terms of impulsivity and inattention to people with ADHD. It also has a slight improvement in hyperactivity which makes the researchers suggest that neurofeedback can be an efficacious treatment for specific symptoms of ADHD.

The study conducted after testing around ten participants ages eight to 15 who have ADHD and undergone more than twenty sessions of neurofeedback while a portion of them underwent fake neurofeedback. Both groups surprisingly experienced the same changes that tell that there are also placebo effects among the participants especially those who received fake neurofeedback therapy.

However, before you even decide to undergo neurofeedback therapy, you have to consult different medical experts especially if the patient is a child just to make sure that nothing will go wrong.

Difference between integrated and regular courses

Integrated courses and regular courses are the words we get to hear a lot from the students, teachers, colleges, and universities. Both courses require you to study, but each of them has a different study plan, syllabus, and duration.

Integrated Courses

• An integrated course is where two courses (from the Under Graduation level and the Post Graduation level) are combined to form a single course. This helps save a year of studies or consolidates the courses and still earns a degree.
• For example, if you opt for an integrated MBA after 12^th standard, you will complete the course in 5 years. Students are free to choose between management or engineering courses as optional courses during the program.
• Not every college offers integrated courses. So students are advised to do some research about the streams available, the courses they can opt for and then join a university or a business school.
• An advantage of choosing an integrated course is that students do not have to attempt various entrance examinations in an attempt to get admission into one college if not another.
• An integrated course is the best option for students who have a clear idea of which course they want to pursue and what stream they need to opt in to fulfill their career dreams.

Regular Courses

• A regular course is where students follow the said guidelines for completing their 12^th standard or under graduation, etc. and joining another course either as a continuation of their stream or as diversification into another stream/ subject.
• The number of years for each course is fixed and students will have to attempt entrance examinations, attend interviews, and get into the college or university of their choice.
• For students who like to take one step at a time and take a plunge into a course at the last minute, the regular courses will allow them to space things out accordingly.
• For example, an integrated Ph.D. would mean the student has to complete their post graduation and Ph.D. in a single period. By choosing the regular courses, students can take a year off, get some work experience or even start a business and opt for a Ph.D. when it suits them.
• When faced with unexpected circumstances, regular courses can give the much-required breathing space to the students.
• Moreover, students can continue with their studies while joining an internship or a part-time/ full-time job.

Integrated courses and regular courses have advantages and disadvantages. Deciding which one to choose depends entirely on the students and their aspirations. There has been a rise in the number of students opting for integrated courses as the complex process of re-enrollment in a new college can be avoided.

Look at the eligibility criteria for each option, talk to students who are already pursuing these courses to get a better idea. Find out all that needs to be known before taking the big decision that will impact your life.

How to Select an Online Exam Proctoring Service?

Online education is has become a widely known phenomenon as more and more people are availing online courses to gain knowledge and skills without having to attend classes at a college or university campus. And, due to this widespread popularity of e-Learning, many techniques are mushrooming to instill reliability and authenticity into online programs.

One practice that is infusing trust into online exams is proctoring. Though test proctoring is mostly taken for granted when it is conducted on-campus since there are several professors and assistants to invigilate. However, it is a real challenge to manage an online exam proctoring service.

Many institutions are formulating disparate strategies to administer online proctored assessments. When there is no formal policy, the decisions related to proctoring are made by the faculty. In many cases, students also use learning management systems to go through instructional contact and submit assignments, but this does not always work. Hence, there is a need for an apt online exam proctoring service, especially for those students who stay far away from the campus.

The Growing Need for Exam Proctoring

What has been noticed in the past couple of years is that students residing in remote areas have to look for authorized proctors in places near them. The proctors could be a librarian, as church minister or a pastor and its cases like these where there is no assurance that the proctor will meet the expectations of the institution unless there is a video recording to prove the legitimacy of the exam.

A genuine exam proctoring service can help your institution provide a seamless online examination experience to your students without having them to visit the campus. There are majorly three types of online proctoring services out there.

1. Live Online Proctoring

A live proctored exam involves an invigilator monitor a student’s screen & audio-video feeds in real-time. In this kind of proctoring service, a proctor will be placed in a remote area to check the authentication of the candidate and detect any unusual activity during the exam.

2. Recorded Proctoring

Recorded proctoring entails the screen and audio-video share feeds to be recorded during the examination, hence, there is no need for a proctor to keep an eye over the students in real-time.

3. Advanced Automated Proctoring

This is the most modern type proctoring where the screen and audio-video feeds are recorded and there is a system to monitor any fraudulent activity by using audio and video analytics.

Now, to choose a suitable online exam proctoring service, you need to conduct a market survey and seek services that fir into your budget. It can get a bit challenging to pinpoint the right service that will satisfy your institution’s proctoring needs as there are several vendors out there. But, you have to go for the one that offers you the maximum benefits.

How Can Specialised Schools Help Your Child To Success?

Most parents wish their children to succeed in their lives at personal, academic as well as professional levels. In this respect, the educational institutes have a key and indispensable role to play in the ultimate success of any child. There are some children with special needs that need extra support and care so that they may understand and learn anything being taught to them in an easy and perfect manner. Here, special needs schools in Cheshire or those operating at other places universally play an important role. Such schools are quite helpful in letting your child learn the concepts of academics and also polish their skills for higher education. Here are some of the key ways by which specialised schools help your child to succeed.

Identify the strength and weaknesses of your child

Of course, the tutors and other staff members recruited in specialised schools are trained and experienced enough to identify the strengths as well as weaknesses of your child through interaction and other modes of getting connected with him/her. This, in turn, helps them to work on your child’s weaknesses so that he/she may excel in all fields of life. This is vital to attain success.

Polish the skills of your child

Every child has some innate skills or abilities that need to be polished in order to boost and take the same to the next level for achievement of success. And this task is well-served by the specialised schools for children with special needs. Since it is somewhat difficult to understand and recognise the special skills possessed by children with special needs, therefore, specialised schools prove to be of great help in this respect.

Offer totally personalised learning programs

Taking into account the fact that every special needs child has some distinct needs as far as learning is concerned, the specialised schools offer totally personalised learning programs for each child. Since learning is made quite easier this way for such children, therefore, the path to success is paved automatically.

Pay individualised attention to your child

Surely, it is also a great way by which specialised schools help children with special needs. These schools are totally aimed at paying individualised attention to each child. This, in turn, helps your child to adapt to the given learning atmosphere in a better manner. Hence the process of learning is eased to a great extent. Again it is vital to the attainment of success.

Use of specialised learning aids

Lastly, the specialised schools use some special learning aids so that students may grab and learn everything being taught to them in a better manner. This, in turn, allows your child to be successful automatically.

This way specialised schools prove to be greatly helpful in letting your child achieve his/her goals and ultimately succeed in life.