Role of educational toys and games in skill development

Educational toys are part of the modern educator's curriculum. These educational toys and games are fun to play while they help the child in skill development.

Wikipedia says:

Educational Toys In Child Development:
"Educational toys enhance intellectual, social, emotional, and/or physical development. Educational toys are thus designed to encourage reasonable development milestones within appropriate age groups.

For preschool age youngsters, simple wooden blocks might be a good starting point for a child to begin to understand causal relationships, basic principals of science (e.g. if a block falls from the top of a structure, it will fall until a surface stops its fall), and develop patience and rudimentary hand-eye coordination.

For a child moving towards elementary school, other, more sophisticated manipulatives might further aid the development of these skills. Interlocking manipulative toys like Legos or puzzles challenge the child to improve hand/eye coordination, patience, and an understanding of spacial relationships. Finally, a child in elementary school might use very sophisticated construction sets that include moving parts, motors and others to help further understand the complex workings of the world. Importantly, the educational value derived by the child increases when the educational toy is age appropriate."

In an article from "Creativity Institute" it says:
"Playing with blocks can be good for children with ADHD"

"Block play can be great for many ages. From simple stack-up and knock-over fun to imaginative building. Blocks teach problem-solving skills, because a child discovers how stacking and matching can produce different results. They can also become components of pretend play, because a child can fantasize what the structures are. There are also big foam blocks that are almost "life size" and let children create their own fantasy playhouses. These lightweight blocks are so versatile, they can be climbed on or tunneled under. Magnetic block and construction sets have pieces that connect in more ways than can conventional plastic snap-together blocks and allow even more imaginative opportunities. And don't forget the versatility of the classic wooden building blocks.
Blocks, like many traditional toys, have other educational advantages for a child with ADHD. The number of positive outcomes is limitless, so children can continue playing until they've reached a level of personal satisfaction."

* Nik Nak toys offers: Child Development Chart: It is Child Development Toy Guide for you to use when considering which toys to give to loved ones. This provides guidelines to development stages and then suggests appropriate educational toys.

Teachers can use this guide in kindergarten or pre-school stages, where you need to provide learning in a fun way.

Someone said "Education is what creates true motivated free thinkers." and there is no doubt that when learning is fun, you can get success in creating true motivated free thinkers.

* Find the right toy.com is online retailer of educational toys for all children. It guides you in finding the right toy for your child. This site is useful for both parents and teachers as it guides you to choose the toys, which might help in developing skill level in many areas like as "visual, sensory, social, emotional, and so on.

It showcases meaningful advances in child development and educational learning toys. From kids' mobility toys to visual learning and developmental toys, your leader in educational toys.
What they do?

"We do the legwork for you, sorting through the veritable litany of "developmental" toys and educational "learning" toys. We've taken professional experience in developmental therapy and put it to work, screening toys that make a difference in the lives of children and parents. When it comes to child development and occupational therapy toys, we're serious about success. From kids' mobility toys to sensory stimulation toys and improving hand eye coordination. Our collection of educational toys capitalizes on your child's strengths by using them to develop weaknesses. With developmental toys and more we've put the child back in child development."

* Creativity Institute deals in toys which bring out the creativity in your child. They believe that "Every child has creative ability just waiting to be tapped!"
What they say:
"We've selected toys we believe can help develop creativity in children, whether the creative process comes naturally to them or not.

Through our newsletter and articles featured on creativityinstitute.com, we do everything we can to try to help parents nurture creativity in their children with helpful hints, advice and suggested activities."
Their blog has many useful posts about creativity.

* Learning toy center says in "Why Educational Toys For Your Child?":

"Learning and developing new skills as a child grows can make a big impact on their life. Educational toys and games help stimulate a child’s creativity as well as their development. "

*** Sites providing educational toys and games for your child

Importance of time management in academic career

Every teacher or student knows that time management is very important to improve academic performance.
There are number of sites, which provide time management tips and techniques. A few links are given here:

* Academic Tips.org suggests these tips:

1. Personal Time Survey
2. Study Hour Formular
3. Daily Schedules
4. Don't be a Perfectionist
5. Learn to Say NO
6. Learn to Prioritize
7. Combine Several Activities
8. Conclusion
For the detailed article:

Time management

* www.vt.edu/(Virginia tech) suggests an interactive time management test:
-For the link: Study Skills Self Help Information

* The College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University are recognized Catholic liberal arts colleges, and they suggest these 23 time management techniques:

23 TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

STUDY WHEN:
- Plan two study hours for every hour you spend in class.
- Study difficult (or boring) subjects first.
- Avoid scheduling marathon study sessions.
- Be aware of your best time of day.
- Use waiting time.
- Use a regular study area.

STUDY WHERE:
- Choose a place that minimizes visual and auditory distractions.
- Use the library or empty classrooms. Get out of a noisy dorm.
- Don't get too comfortable. Sit (or even stand) so that you can remain awake and attentive.
- Find a better place when productivity falls off.

YOU AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD:
- Pay attention to your attention.
- Agree with roommates about study time.
- Avoid noise distractions.
- Notice how others misuse your time.
- Get off the phone.
- Learn to say no.
- Hang a "Do Not Disturb!" sign on your door.
- Ask: "What is one task I can accomplish toward my goal?"
- Ask: "Am I beating myself up?" (lighten up, don't berate self).
- Ask: "Is this a piano?" (or, "Are you a perfectionist?")
- Ask: "How did I just waste time?"
- Ask: "Would I pay myself for what I'm doing right now?"
- Ask: "Can I do just one more thing?" (Stretch yourself).

Article link:
Time management

* time management from study guide zone

"School for Champion"- A site helping you achieve your goals

School for champions is an educational site providing you articles on different topics relating to teaching and schools. How to be successful and achieve our dreams is the main focus of the site.

What it means for "Champion", site explains it:

"Being a champion is about doing your best to achieve difficult goals. Our concept is that by optimizing your health, knowledge, excellence, value to others and character, you have a better chance of achievement or even winning. These are called the 5 Powers of a Champion™ and they can turn our students into champions in whatever they do."
Mission:
To help you achieve your dreams, in these areas:

- Assisting you with basic education and strategies for success,
- Providing you with principles to help you become a champion in whatever you do, and
- Encouraging you to champion worthy causes by helping others

People access lessons over 500,000 times each month. Students and teachers from many colleges, high schools, and middle schools use the site.

Check their blog for reader question and feedback

How to be a champion?
(Suggestion)

Live Your Life as a Champion:
1- Have Vitality
2- Have Knowledge
3- Have Excellence
4- Have Value
5- Have Character
Be a Champion!

There are a lot of article links at left side bar. I searched for few links and there were number of more articles relating to that topic. As I clicked on "mental healt"h link, resulting page was a series of articles on these topics:
- Understanding mental health
- Maintaining mental health
- Healing mental wounds
- Specific ailments
and more.

Link:

Speed reading tips and techniques

Adults or students who need to read a lot, feel the pressure of time. Reading faster may be a solution to the problem,
but how speed reading techniques help us achieving more within short time?

According to Wikipedia:
"Speed reading is a collection of reading methods which attempt to increase rates of reading without greatly reducing comprehension or retention.

It is important to understand that no absolute distinct "normal" and "speed-reading" types of reading exist in practice, since all readers use some of the techniques used in speed reading (such as identifying words without focusing on each letter, not sounding out all words, not sub-vocalizing some phrases, or spending less time on some phrases than others, and skimming small sections). Speed reading is characterized by an analysis of trade-offs between measures of speed and comprehension, recognizing that different types of reading call for different speed and comprehension rates, and that those rates may be improved with practice.

Speed Reading expert Don Wetmore says:

The average person spends about two hours per day reading at the rate of about 200 words per minute. If you can double your reading speed, you can cut your reading time in half. What takes two hours can now be done in one hour. An extra hour a day for you. Seven hours per week and 365 hours for you over the next year. That’s the equivalent of nine additional workweeks over the next year to spend time with your family or hobbies or work on those important tasks that are being neglected."

Full article link: speed reading

I have searched for sites which provide FREE tips, techniques to learn speed reading, and present it for students, teachers and parents who want to read more at speed and learn more.

Links and sites providing tips, technique for speed reading!

* Read fast now provides many articles on reading, teaching someone to read and speed reading methods.
-In one of the articles "Reading Fast – Why You Might Want to Think About Speed Reading" it says:

"Your Comprehension and Retention Will Improve
One of the main reasons you’ll want to think about learning how to speed read is because your ability to comprehend and retain the material you read will be increased when you know how to speed read. Speed reading is far more than just learning how to read fast, but it is a technique that helps you learn to pull out the important information as you read and how to retain it as well. So, instead of reading through some information only to realize you don’t remember a word you read, speed reading can help you comprehend what you read and retain it for future use.

You’ll Save Time
Another benefit of speed reading that definitely makes it worth your time to learn is that it can really save you a huge amount of time. You can read a book or other document in just half the time you used to if you learn how to speed read. Speed reading allows you to ready quickly and to just skim the material in order to get the information that you need from the material. So, whether you are reading material for work, school, or for pleasure, you’ll be able to do it in just a fraction of the time it used to take you.

Reading Will Become Enjoyable
People who learn how to speed read also find that they start to enjoy reading. For many people, reading is a task that is less than exciting to them because it takes them so much time. However, when they learn how to speed read, instead of feeling that reading is boring and time consuming, they begin to find that it is enjoyable and interesting. Not only will you find that you enjoy having the opportunity to read, but you will also find that you increase and develop your intellectual skills as well.

Grades Can Be Improved
If you happen to be in high school or even in college, you can also benefit from learning how to speed read. Many students feel overwhelmed with the amount of information they are required to read, absorb, and learn; however, speed reading can definitely help. There have been many students who have been able to increase their comprehension and therefore their grades by learning how to speed read. So, if you want to improve what you gain from your education and also your grades, speed reading is a great skill to take advantage of.

Increased Vocabulary
Learning how to speed read can also help you to increase your vocabulary as well. As you become a better and faster reader, you will learn more words and build up the vocabulary that you have. You will not only increase your vocabulary, but you will also enrich your knowledge as well. So, speed reading is a great way to improve and enhance your knowledge and education as a person.

So, as you can see, there are many great reasons that learning how to speed read is an excellent choice. With all of these excellent benefits presented to you, no doubt you can see why it is so important to take a course in speed reading on your own. There are many excellent speed reading courses available to you today, some free and some you may have to pay for. Taking the time to learn the art of speed reading will benefit you in your personal life, in your life at work, and it can also help you as you pursue a higher education as well."


* dictator is a program for on-screen reading of text files, developed with the intention of making it easier to read some of the fine electronic texts available on the net.
The problem with these texts is that reading them on-screen the conventional way is a drag and printing them out is time-consuming, costly, and wasteful. Dictator provides an alternative approach called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) in which words are displayed consecutively in the same place at a user-controllable rate. This method prevents unconscious re-reading of adjacent text and decreases the tendency of the reader to oralise the text, allowing for increased reading speeds. RSVP also permits the use of larger fonts for text display which improves text clarity. While it does take some getting used to, with a little practise you may find that reading with Dictator becomes faster and easier than reading from a book.

Double Your Reading Rate is from "Scott H Young" blog. He himself tried the speed reading methods and now he is a faster reader. He says that he could read at 450 words per minute before using the techniques, but he could increase that rate to around 900 words per minute.
He suggests six major keys to improve reading skill, which are:

1- Reading is Not Linear: You can skip down to read only my main bullet points, or read them in practically any order.
2- Stop Subvocalizing: Subvocalizing is the saying of words aloud or in your mind. It slows down your reading speed.
3- Practice Reading: Practice reading means reading faster than you can actually read.
4- Use a Pointer: You should use your finger as a pointer. By moving your finger faster than you can actually read, your eyes get used to viewing text faster than your brain can process what is written down
5- Eliminate Distractions: Avoid internal or external distrations.
6- Find Your Motivation: If you can connect what you are reading to a deeply held motivation, and determine your specific purpose for reading you can maintain a very alert and focused state.

Full article link: Double Your Reading Rate

* Speed Reading and Speed Listening at "Getting things done" blog. It also suggests 6 tips which are:
1- Take a few minutes to “get to know” the book
2- Decide which parts of the book you are going to read
3- Sit up straight in a suitable environment
4- Keep moving your eyes no matter what!
5- Don’t mutter under your breath or in your mind
6- Stay focused and monitor your comprehension
Full article link: Speed Reading and Speed Listening

* 4 tips for reading better and retaining more at "Gear fire which provides tips for academic success.

* An article at "Study skills" blog: 4 tips - Catch up with speed readers

* How to Learn Speed Reading at "WikiHow"

* Improving Reading speeds at "Speed readin.com

- Speed Reading - Learn to Read Faster at the same site.

"Team Nutrition" A resource for kids nutrition education

For teachers and school management this resource can provide lot of information and guidance relating to the health and nutrition of the school going kids. There is a lot to learn for parents who are concerned about their child's eating habits and nutrition education.

"Team nutrition" is from USDA 'United States Department of Agriculture' providing an integrated, behavior based, comprehensive plan for promoting the nutritional health of the Nation's children. This plan involves schools, parents, and the community in efforts to continuously improve school meals, and to promote the health and education of 50 million school children in more than 96,000 schools nationwide.

Mission:

To improve children's lifelong eating and physical activity habits through nutrition education based on the principles of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid.

How it works:
Team Nutrition uses three strategies to change behavior:

1. Training and Technical Assistance for Healthy School Meals:
- Planning and preparing healthy meals that appeal to ethnic and cultural taste preferences in all Child Nutrition Programs;
- Linking meals programs to other educational activities, such as learning in the classroom and developmental progress in child care;
- Providing nutrition expertise and awareness to the school or child care community; and
- Using sound business practices to assure the continued availability of healthy meals and the financial viability and accountability of school meal programs.

2. Nutrition Education:

Through fun, interactive nutrition education children are encouraged to:

- Eat a variety of foods
- Eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
- Eat lower fat foods more often
- Get your calcium-rich foods
- Be physically active

3. School and Community Support:
School and community support for healthy eating and physical activity focuses on three behavior outcomes for school and community leaders:
- Adopting and implementing school policies that promote healthy eating and physical activity;
- Providing school resources adequate to achieve success; and
- Fostering school and community environments that support healthy eating and physical activity.

Mor links about nutrition:

* The University of Illinois Extension Family Nutrition Program(FNP) Promotes safe and healthy eating for families on a budget.
- Provides nutrition programs for families.
- Education programs:
- Healthy eating
- Safe eating
- Food budgeting
- Monthly and seasonal topics

Review: "What is"- An internet and computer information site!

From beginners to professional level, everyone can learn and master new concepts, technologies, skills and a lot more at the site. This site provides FREE content.

"WhatIs.com" is a knowledge exploration and self-education tool about information technology, especially about the Internet and computers.

It contains over 4,500 individual encyclopedic definition/topics, a number of "Fast Reference" pages and learning tools. The topics contain about 12,000 hyperlinked cross-references between definition-topics and to other sites for further information.

When it was Launched in September 1996, it contained 350 alphabetized words about computers and the Internet. But by late 1998, WhatIs.com's audience grew rapidly, reaching one million page views a month.

In 1999, PC Magazine editors voted WhatIs.com one of the five best sites about information technology.
By September 2003, WhatIs.com was being visited over a million times a month, serving over 50,000 visitors each business day, and delivering five million page views a month.

learning tools:
There is a series of fast education 10-step "Learn IT" pages that explain, summarize, cross-refer, and test the reader about a complex subject.

Fast Guides:
For doing specific tasks, quizzes, a series of Learning Paths in which you can learn by reading definitions in sequence, and a number of popular Fast References, including Every File Format in the World, Mathematical Symbols, and The Speed of...(a table comparing data rates).

Awards and recognitions:
link page
Site link: What is.com

Few resources providing FREE tutorials "To learn Drawing "

I am a drawing and art lover and from my childhood I was among few students who were interested in drawing, art and crafts, and their work was always appreciated. Even now I am taking art, crafts and drawing classes at my school. I still search for art and drawing links at the net, and now it's time to share those links with other teachers and students who love to draw. Most of the given links are FREE.

1- Drawing tutorial at "South wind" by "Rebekah Lynn"
Includes:

* Basic drawing steps
* The tools
* Understanding the art of shading

You may subscribe to their newsletter if you want to be informed of new art from SouthWind!

2- Kinder art.com is the largest collection of free art lessons on the internet. It started in 1997, providing an opportunity for parents, educators, artists, students to have fun while exchanging ideas, finding information and learning.

Mission of the site is to make art lessons and educational information accessible to all. They offer printable activity pages, the art kitchen, educational links and articles, early childhood education resources and much more.

JANTJE SAYS:
"Let children try. Let children fail. Let children succeed. Give them the freedom and they will create."

* art lessons
* drawing
* Articles on art education and profiles of young artists. Includes ways to cultivate creativity in children, over 200 things you can do with an art degree, Tips for Teachers and Children & Their Art at: Art speack
* Recipes galore so you can make your own art materials and/or some yummy treats to fuel your creativity: art kitchen
* Tips for teaching ECE: Tips

3- "Artists Helping Children" is a Children's site dedicated to comforting children by empowering artists and others to donate artwork, donated murals, donated art supplies, donated toys and a lot of love to sick and needy children. Artists Helping Children also helps artists by giving them information on how they can help the sick and poor children by volunteering to paint murals and other art for hospitals, shelters, clinics, etc.
We also have filled this site with free coloring pages & coloring printouts for children to color with as well as 1000s of free arts and crafts projects for kids to use when they need some crafts ideas.

4- Drawing curriculum, art lessons

5- Creativity portal provides lot of resources.

6- Drawing coach Learn how to draw and improve your skill in no time with the help of an online coach. Whether you're an art teacher, art student, or just a hobbyist artist you will find the step by step education that will give you the ability to bring those images in your mind into paper reality.
monthly newsletter, Just Draw It. It's delivered at the end of each month and will inform you about new info that has been added to the site. It's a great way to keep up with the latest an greatest drawing tutorials from the coach.
- drawing techniques
- Subscibe to their blog

7- Study sphere

8- draw

9- Free drawing lessons

10- Drawing techniques

12- Drawspace is the largest and fastest growing recreational art education website in the world. The site owner, Brenda Hoddinott, is a world renowned artist and art educator, and is the author of two internationally published books on drawing.Free lessons

13- Back in the mid-1980s, a young man named Mark Kistler took up a cause. He envisioned that every child would be able to expand their imaginations by using art. He believed that the key to understanding art was to teach children how to record their art on paper in a meaningful way, which in his mind meant learning how to draw three dimensional pictures. Mark's teaching methods found their way into the world of public television. His "The Draw Squad" series of 44 video lessons is the highest quality TV production Mark has ever done. It includes Mark's standard 7 Seven Magic Words of Drawing format AND high tech set design with backgrounds and animated characters flying around while he enthusiastically teaches kids how to draw.
Link to the site:
- draw squad

14- It is one of the TV show which features art and craft projects. You may find some drawing techniques from the link below.
-Art attack

15- This is a free site for students who want to learn 'how to look' and teachers who require practical drawing and painting lesson notes. Cowdisley Lessons are currently being used by over 1000 US and international schools, colleges, universities and ateliers by teachers for their classroom lesson plans. We aim for a world of greatly improved visual 'literacy' and begin here with the basics.
- Drawing lessons

Amazing paper craft blogs

Paper craft is not only limited to the paper folding or origami. You would be amazed to see the work poeple do with simple papers, as I was astonished to see the artistic creation. It is simplt ab art
According to Wikipedia

"Origami (折り紙 origami?) (from ori meaning "folding", and kami meaning "paper") is the ancient Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create a given result using geometric folds and crease patterns preferably without the use of gluing or cutting the paper medium.

Origami only uses a small number of different folds, but they can be combined in a variety of ways to make intricate designs. In general, these designs begin with a square sheet of paper whose sides may be different colors. Contrary to most popular belief, traditional Japanese origami, which has been practiced since the Edo era (1603-1867), has often been less strict about these conventions, sometimes cutting the paper during the creation of the design. There are many different designs such as the traditional crane or the very confusing flower."

1-"Paper forest"
The name of the blog is "Paper forest" and it is for paper craft lovers. It might be surprising to know that origami or paper folding seems child's play, comparing to the craft shown at this blog.

Blogger "Jaime Zollars" is a painter and she loves making, constructiong paper mechanical toys or writes about them at blog. More about her at her blog: Jaime Zollars blog

Blog Paper Forest provides a lot of paper projects you may try to make yourself. There are other paper craft site links at the blog. There are lot of paper craft projects which are FREE to use, and every post or paper project is unique.

2- Peter Callesen.com

Peter Callesen is from Denmark, and he is a paper magician, becaue the craft he has created from flat piece of paper into a 3D form is unbelievable.

He uses the A4 blank sheet of paper, which in his opinion gives the paper sculptures a fragility which underlines the tragic and romantic theme of the works.

* Samples of his magic art work with A4 paper

3- Paper kraft.net is to guide people find the best FREE papercraft on the web promote the works of prominent and up-and-coming paper modelers.

Blog is created by Ron Rementilla.
Main focus of this site is on 3D (three-dimensional) paper models. Whenever you see the word "papercraft" it refers to "3D paper models". The types of genre included are anime, manga, video game, PC game, cartoon, and film. Also included are origami, paper automata, pop-up cards, and dioramas.

4- Paper craft world provides free paper models and papercraft goods.

5- Paper box world presents boxy paper toys, available for download free of charge.


6- SS42.com is directory of very talented paper model artists from all over the world that have created and offer free printable paper models, paper toys, cut-outs, paper dolls, printable paper crafts of cars, buildings, spacecraft, animals and more.
-Origami projects

7- Paper arts links at Craft pop.com