Should Parents Save Money for Their Child's College Education?

My personal answer to this, and remember this is my own decision is yes. My wife and I are wanting to have our first child and this is one of the first things we discussed before we even started trying to get pregnant. We both have college educations, we both have full-time steady income jobs, my Grandmother set aside money for myself and my brother to go to college, and my wife paid hers through scholarships, grants, and working through school. My father has always said that he wanted to provide a better life for his family than he received, and always said to me that I would understand later in life. I do understand and that is what I want to do for my future children as well. I do not want my children to graduate with a lot of college graduate debt like I did.

I hear a lot of people ask, if I'm going to save for my children's education how much? Think of it this way, it's not the same for every student. Do you want your kids to graduate college and have money left over to go to graduate school if they would like, or do you want them to try and obtain scholarships, grants, and jobs to help pay off school? These are all things that the parents need to answer for themselves. If you are struggling to make ends meet how do you also save for your children's college funds? I would suggest trying YouNeedABudget.com. The program will allow you to create a budget and see what expenses you can cut, or where you can save a little extra money. Remember, a little*money for savings is better than no money at all.

You need to think of it this way, if you save $50 a month from the very first day your child was born, by the time they turn 17, you would have about $20,000 assuming a 7% return on investment. If you saved $200 a month instead, with a 7% return on investment by the time your child turns 17 you would save nearly $80,000! If you would like to check out more savings calculators check out this resource at FinAid.org

But you may ask why would you do it, or are there tax benefits? The answer is yes. There are tax advantages to saving in a section 529 college savings plan.

What is a Section 529 Plan?

There are two types of section 529 plans, one is a prepaid tuition plan, and the other is a college savings plan. Prepaid tuition plans let you lock in future tuition rates at in-state public colleges at current prices which are usually guaranteed by the state. College savings plans are more flexible, but do not offer a guarantee.

Benefits of Prepaid Tuition Plans

-Guaranteed to increase in value at the same rate as college tuition. If you prepay for a year's worth of college education when your child is 5, when they are 17 it will have increased in value to still cover a year's worth of college education.

-Parents, grandparents, family, friends, can contribute to a prepaid 529 plan. This is great because you can take gifts and apply it to the plan.

-Prepaid Tuition plans are exempt from federal income tax, and very often are exempt from state and local income taxes.

-The Money in the plan is controlled by the account owner and not the child. Most parents love this feature, because they don't have to worry if the child will start withdrawing money and using it for non college expenses.

-Safe. affordable, and convenient option for a family that is not a finance expert or do not have access to a financial expert.

Benefits of a*529 College Savings Plan

- The money in the plan is controlled by the account owner as well and not the child.

-Have the ability to gain higher potential earnings on investments depending on the rate of return and the decision on how the portfolio risk is decided. You can be highly aggressive with 100% equity funds to a more conservative approach which would be more towards money market funds.

-No restriction on choice of college other than it must be an accredited college or university.

-Flexible investment options such as age-based meaning if you start saving later, you can make up for the lost time, and also risk-based allocation dependent on how aggressive or conservative you would like.

What investment Strategy Should you Use?

-The first suggestion that I would say is the most beneficial is start early. It is never too early to start and it's not too late to start. The earlier you start the higher amount of interest you will accrue over the life of your child and the more compounding interest you can gain from starting early. This means that you will have to invest less out of your own pocket if you start earlier to gain the same amount of money you would if you started later in life.

-The second strategy I would use is invest in a highly aggressive manner earlier in your child's life and progressively get to a more conservative portfolio. This would be the same strategy used when you are thinking about retirement. Would you really want to take the chance that a year before your child goes to college they lose 25-50% of their college fund? I would strongly suggest speaking with a financial adviser or someone who specializes in college savings to help accommodate the best investment rtrategy when it comes to your child's life.

-Get a Financial Adviser! I cannot emphasize this enough when it comes to your own investments as well as your college investments. If you don't know how investing works or the best strategies to take, talk to someone who does it for a living. They have more time, more resources, and more ideas of the best investments you can make in life. One strong suggestion I would make is, is that you research who your adviser is and don't get stuck in a point where they are doing bad business decisions for you. Ask around and see who has great reviews, great customers, and who has been in the business for years. It's your money, don't let someone else destroy it by not doing your own research.

-Use savings plans that actually have tax advantages for you. That means use a Section 529 plan, or look at something where you can have a tax advantage for saving money for college expenses. If you don't do this, you will be losing money at the end of the year when you file taxes and have to claim your interest. Again, do you research on your own to make a quality, information-based decision.

Boarding Schools Help Children To Excel In School

Boarding schools offer several advantages over public schools. Due to this reason many people would state that boarding schools as a whole allow children to excel in school at a faster pace than that of public schools. Let's take a look at a few of the ways that boarding schools differ from public schools and how these advantages may allow your child to have a higher level of success. However, the choice between public and private school will be different for each family. Families need to consider the needs, priorities, and financial resources of each family. In order to make the most educated choice for your child's future parents must consider the benefits of private boarding schools:

· Most boarding schools offer a smaller class size - One of the main reasons that parents will choose to send their children to a private school is due to the small*class size. Since the classes are often that of a smaller size the students are often given a much more personal attention. If your child is getting one-on-one attention the chances are great that the children will excel in school. One-on-one attention allows individual learning plans, specialized study habits as well picking up and identifying any learning or behavioral issues before they become an issue. Public schools can often have very large class sizes and depending on where you live these class sizes could be as large as 30 students per teacher. In some areas, that could even be higher. Boarding schools ensure that children will have the individual attention that the need in order to excel in school as well in life.

· Teachers who are fully invested - Another benefit of boarding school education is that most of the teachers are fully invested in your child's future. Since the class sizes are much smaller the teachers are able to form that one on one bond with your child. Smaller classes sizes often mean that the teachers are also happier and a happier teacher will be able to give your child the attention the really need. As well as provide a solid education.

· Diverse educational opportunity - Since boarding schools do not have to deal with a struggling economy, these private schools will not have to be forced to deal with cut backs on certain programs. This will allow the schools to offer such diverse programs as art, music, yoga, sports, equine programs as well as adventure activities such as rock climbing and white water rafting. This allows the students to gain a well-rounded education that is generally not offered in public schools.

· Family focus - One of the most amazing benefits of a boarding school is that these private schools place a focus on family relations. Generally speaking boarding schools also offer greater opportunities for parental involvement. This will mean that the parents have more say in their child's education as well, being asked and invited to participate in making the choices for their child's education. This can be choosing the classes, attending family outing and adventure trips with the goal to develop stronger skills in the home. Having this family interaction will help to introducing new skills and strategies which will help to strength the family bond and in turn improve functioning at home.

To find the best up to date information about the most suitable boarding school for your child please click on the link or visit our website at http://www.ocrs.com/

The Way Coloring Printables Can Help With Children Education And Learning

It is actually essential to have the correct approach to early childhood intellectual development. Boys and girls enjoy online games though despise school at times. Yet, the childhood is the perfect period of time to study. Hence, it is actually a good initiative to combine different games and learning. In that way your daughter or son can have fun with some exciting online games and also discover new things. Kids may dislike studying arithmetic since it can be very difficult. However luckily there's an answer to this particular issue. Today you may get a lot of different color-by-number online games, which can be rather effective and interesting.

It's important to understand that color by number pages are designed for kids, who've particular problems with the learning process and also diligence. Lots of adults have appreciated the benefits which these coloring pages offer. The main advantage of colour by number pages is that these materials turn the process of learning in to an exciting gameplay. This means that your daughter or son will learn the ropes of maths whilst coloring different pictures.

Nowadays colour by number pages can be found in different artistic forms. You have an opportunity to choose among different animation heroes or pets, airplanes and so on and so forth. If your kid adores Finding Nemo, without doubts, you will find many coloring games with the heroes of this animation bestseller.

Today the World Wide Web simplified getting necessary info. And coloring printables took advantage of the web progress.

So there's no need to visit the shopping center to find interesting color by number printables to your beloved kids. Nowadays it is possible to buy different color by number pages on the net. These coloring pages may be printed in course of time and thus used as educational material for your children. However, it is possible to get different apps with rich collections of such coloring pages. These apps can be very powerful since in addition to leaning the numbers as well as bettering diligence, your son or daughter will study the fundamentals of computer work.

If you want to buy such apps for the kids, you definitely have to bear in mind some points. It's possible to purchase these applications without difficulties online. Yet, prior to getting make sure you will analyze the best deals to find applications your child will definitely appreciate. While performing online research, you have to make sure that the dealer provides you with test version of the a game in order to look at its advantages and drawbacks.

Without doubt, pre-school intellectual development is vital, yet in various cases children simply don't like studies as it might seem monotonous. However use of video games features in learning absolutely fixes this common problem for little ones and their parents.

As already stated, the most popular color pages offer animation heroes and animals. Little ones love cartoons and household pets, so, each and every kid will like exciting coloring books which might differ in complexity. A lot of colouring printables feature two to three colours as well as figures, at the same time you can buy more complicated book types as well (10+ colours). Applying video games in education turned out to be an advanced method around the globe. Furthermore, fathers and mothers might use color by number books at home to get ready children for kindergarten. The key benefit from this particular methodology is the fact that boys and girls like it! You can even encourage your child by offering prizes and also rewards for choosing the right colours.

For those who wish to see evidence of the way lion coloring can help with mastering maths, you can download absolutely free printables. That is the most effective teaching method for children!

My Child Is Gifted. Which Educational Toys and Games Will Keep Them Engaged And Interested?

It is not new at all that parents usually think that their boy or girl is the cutest, most intelligent and nicest kid on Earth. In fact, whenever a child shows some kind of specific interest in books, dinosaurs, colors, numbers, foreign languages or some kind or other of artistic expression, parents are eager to nourish and encourage that interest in them by sending them to private lessons, museums or by buying them books, reading to them, taking them to artistic workshops and so on.

However, there are times in which your child is truly special and it is undeniable that his intelligence is higher and more acute than other children his age. He gets bored at school, asks questions that are not typical of his age range and finally parents admit that their child is gifted. Finding the right school for a gifted child can be challenging. But finding educational toys and games that will keep him engaged and interested can even be more challenging. Hopefully, this article will provide parents of gifted children with good ideas on which educational toys and games they should be offered.

If your gifted child is highly creative, he may easily get bored when playing with ordinary toys. Gifted children expect not only to have fun with the toys they play but also that they allow them to express their creativity and interact with them in some way or other. Besides, as not all gifted children are the same or have the same interests and expectations, parents should be attentive enough to discover what their child likes best.

Most gifted children are extremely curious and show avid interest about a wide variety of things. In fact, their mind seems to jump from one idea to the other and they are usually fascinated whenever they discover or learn something new. If this is the case of your gifted child, make sure you offer him games that appeal to his interests. Puzzles, word and number games that may even seem too complicated for an ordinary child his age may offer your child a great stimuli to his avid imagination and eagerness.

If your gifted child shows a special inclination for painting and drawing, an excellent educational game for him can be an art easel. Make sure you also offer him crayons, markers, pencils, aquarelles and painting for him to explore his passion and plenty and plenty of blank white or colored sheets of paper. Art books or art related software programs that offer the viewer virtual tours around museums or expositions are also a great alternative and there are even some that are tailored suit for children.

If your gifted child loves music or is fascinated by a musical instrument in special, you should not think it twice and offer him a child version of the musical instrument he loves, music lessons, and even taking him to a concert can be a great educational experience for him.

Science games that allow children to create their own formulas or how different elements interact or react with each other are also worth considering educational toys and games for gifted children.

The educational development of your child is an incredible journey, one that begins before birth! And it's a difficult journey, wading through the mountain of information on not only the educational, but the social / emotional development of your child.

That's where we come in. CleverStuff offers outstanding quality children's educational toys, wooden toys and sensory toys. Toys that are exploratory, educational, tactile, functional, fun and funky. And we reckon that's pretty clever!

Educational Software for Kids Learning

Among the most important skills for a child to develop early on is familiarity with computers. No matter what vocation they choose in life, they will need to be comfortable with the basics of navigating on a computer and using a keyboard and mouse. All educational software helps to teach these skills even if the software was designed to teach them something else, like history or math. Kids will gain a comfort with reading and understanding menus, which will be necessary in most of the programs they will encounter later on in life. They will also gain the critical thinking abilities needed to use the software properly. Many types of educational software are similar to games, with the benefit being that they strengthen problem-solving abilities and hold the child's interest in a way that complements other teaching tools like books and videos. They provide all the entertainment benefits of a computer game (immediate feedback, scoring as a reward and to motivate the student) while providing lessons.

The various challenges contained in an education program, serve to reinforce lessons learned by standard methods, and also to introduce new areas of learning.

Math Software
There are programs available that teach a number of areas of math, ranging from the basics like addition and subtraction for pre-school students, to more advanced subjects like calculus. One of the things to look for with math software is that it offers lessons a variety of skill-levels so that as a child's ability grows, the lessons will become more difficult. Many programs will automatically adjust to the child's abilities based on their performance.

History Software
Whether a child is to be taught about ancient Egypt or American history, there are options for history software that provides that can provide them with the perfect learning environment for basic or advanced historical facts. Furthermore, history education is often tied with geography so that history software often provides an education in places and people as well. There are programs that teach about history in most parts of the world.

English Software
Reading and writing English is, of course, one of the most basic areas of a child's education. English software can help a child learn everything from phonics basics to advanced writing and vocabulary programs aimed at high school students. These programs can either be used to provide instruction for a child being home schooled or as a remedial tool or study aid.

Science Software
Programs like My First Amazing Science Explorer are good ways to develop a child's interest in science with the use of highly interactive and entertaining lessons for young children. The levels of science software available range from basic chemistry to 12th Grade physics.

Educational Software is useful both for homeschooling parents who like that their child is willing to focus on learning for hours at a time. The software is also for parents who just want to give their child an extra academic edge, whether or not they home school. These programs get a child into the habit of learning for fun even when they do not have an adult there to pressure them to do it.

All Educational Software offers educational software for all ages and all learners from Toddlers and Preschoolers to Grade School, Middle School, and High School. As well, it covers all subjects including math, language arts, science, music, learn to type, software for the deaf, and many more. The programs are designed to be fun as well as educational and in many cases link educational content to school curricula.

Exposing Your Children To Educational Books

One cannot undermine the importance of reading in a child's education. That's why educational books are important as they help increase a child's vocabulary and awaken his interest to learn more. Reading is the first step and the basic foundation for a child to perform well in school. When a child develops love for reading, learning other things becomes a lot easier. It is, therefore, important for parents to get the children's interest to read at a very young age.

In order to capture your child's interest for educational books, develop the habit of reading aloud to them. They will find it interesting as you read to them different stories and imitate various characters. Set aside a specific time of day dedicated to reading alone. This will have the children something to look forward to every day. Once the children develop love for reading, they will also develop the initiative to read on their own as they grow old. Reading is especially good to unwind and relax that's why many parents prefer to read bedtime stories to their children.

Another good way to get your child exposed to the wonders of educational books is to take them to libraries. This will both teach them to develop appreciation for good books and learn the responsibility of returning them properly. If they're old enough to select their books and reading materials, you can encourage them to get their own library card so they can explore and borrow on their own. Show them the area in the library where children's educational books are found.

One important tip to get the attention of your children is to engage them every time you read stories. When you read with feelings and emotions and, at the same time, interact with children as you tell stories, they are challenged to use their imagination and listen intently. As you read educational books, include your children as part of the characters in the story. This will thrill them so much that they will want to participate in the story-telling until they learn to tell the story on their own. There are movies that were created based on best-selling books. It would help to buy these books and watch the movie with your kids. This will help them to relate the movie to the original story in the book. This will test their memory and understanding of what they watch and read.

Children should be able to associate reading with fun; as such, you should know how to create a good environment that's conducive to reading and learning. It's best to set up a separate area in your house or room that's dedicated to reading and studying. Provide the appropriate furniture such as study table, chair and book shelves for all the educational books that you will buy for your children. Do not force them to read when they're not in a good mood as this might make them develop negative notions about reading and studying.

There's no specific age set to introduce your child to reading; but the earlier you expose them to the beauty of books and the wonders of reading, the better it is for them.

Finding a good collection of educational books that are effective and reasonably priced. Visit DHChildrensBooks.com to find books that your kids will surely love to read.

Emotionally Disturbed Children May Significantly Benefit From Individualized Education Programs

Many emotionally disturbed children are eligible for special education if their emotional condition occurs over a period of time to a significant degree and it adversely affects their educational performance. According to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) a child with an emotional disturbance must exhibit one or more of the characteristics: " an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors, and inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers, inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances, a general; a pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression and/or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems."

Each state in the United States has regulations of their own to carry out the policies in IDEA. Some parents find it confusing that each state is allowed to determine what to name their categories of disabilities. For example; children with emotional and/or behavioral disabilities may be categorized under many different names, such as; emotionally disturbed, behaviorally disordered, significant identifiable emotional disability, emotional/behavioral disability and likely others I am unaware of. Regardless of what the disability category is called, if your child qualifies he or she is entitled to an Individualized Education Program (IEP) with annual goals and objectives, services and accommodations and modifications.

I have worked with many children with emotional disturbances who were in a self-contained classroom setting or integrated into the general education population with pullout and/or inclusion support. The diagnoses of the children I have worked with most often over my career as an educator are children with bi-polar disorder, anxiety disorder, reactive attachment disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Some children with emotional disabilities are stabilized through medication and private therapy and their emotional disability does not negatively affect their education for long periods. Other children with these diagnoses tend to exhibit many behaviors as well as learning difficulties because of their emotional disabilities.

If your child qualifies for special education under the category of emotional disturbance, many interventions may be used in either the general education or special education setting to assist your child in experiencing more educational success. Some of the most common are: individual psycho-educational counseling, general group counseling or topical group counseling such as anger management or social skills, classes or participation in curricula in social skills, study skills and life skills, having a check-in/check-out person, graphic organizers to help with organizational skills, a designated "cool down" place to can go if the child gets overly angry, anxious or emotional, designated seating, testing and/or instruction in a smaller environment and a regular home-school communication system.

If you have a child with an emotional disability who has experienced significant struggles with school for an extended period of time and meets one or more the criteria listed in the first paragraph of this article, you may want to request, in writing, a special education evaluation from your child's school to determine their eligibility.

If your child is deemed eligible for special education you may see a significant increase in their educational performance, which is not only academic success but also their social and emotional health, their behavior and there ability to care for and advocate for themselves. For more information about emotional disabilities, IEPs, parental advocacy for your child with special needs and parenting your child with special needs please visit my website at, http://www.whatisiep.com

How To Use Color By Number Games In Children Education

It is important to have the right approach to kids education. Boys and girls love arcade games but don't like school at times. Still, the years as a child are the best time to get education. And thus, it is actually a good teaching method to combine different games and the learning process. In that way your child can enjoy some interesting online games and simultaneously learn something new. Children do not like studying math because it is too difficult. However fortunately there's a solution to this particular problem. Nowadays it is easy to find many different color by number video games, which could become fairly effective.

It is important to understand that color by number books and e-books are designed for kids, who have particular difficulties with learning and also attentiveness. Lots of adults have appreciated the advantages that these coloring pages offer. The key advantage of color by number books is that they actually turn the whole process of learning in to an exciting gameplay. Therefore your child will study maths basics whilst having a great time with various images.

These days color by number books can be found in various forms. You could choose among different fairy tales characters and/or aminals, autos and so on and so forth. If your child is in love with Winnie-the-Pooh, then you may find a lot of colour by number games with the heroes of this toon.

Today the Internet simplified looking for info. And coloring pages took advantage of the Internet progress.

As known there's no need to go to the local mall to search for interesting color by number printables for the loved little ones. Nowadays you have an opportunity to get different color by number pages on the internet. All these coloring books may be printed out in course of time and thus serve as educational material for the children. Yet, you can find different applications with large collections of those coloring pages. These apps are very helpful because in addition to leaning the numbers as well as bettering persistence, your kid is going to get to know the basic principles of computer work.

If you want to purchase such apps to your children, you definitely should take into account some aspects. It's possible to buy such games without any difficulties on the web. However, prior to getting make sure you analyze the market to get color by number games your daughter or son will certainly love. While you are performing analysis online, you must ensure that the company gives you trial version of the application to to look at its pros and cons.

Surely, early education is vital, but in different situations toddlers just don't like studies because it can be monotonous. However using computer games features in learning completely resolves that very common problem for children as well as their moms and dads.

As mentioned previously, the most popular color by number books offer animation characters as well as pets or countryside animals. Little ones really like toons and animals, thus, each and every child will like fascinating color pages that might differ in complexity. A lot of coloring printables have 2-4 colours as well as numbers, at the same time you may get complex ones as well (above 10 colours). Making use of computer games in teaching became a professional methodology across the world. Moreover, fathers and mothers may make use of color pages at home to get ready children for school. The greatest benefit from this particular methodology is the fact that boys and girls adore it! You may even motivate your children by providing prizes and also rewards for selecting the appropriate colors.

For those who would like to discover evidence of how lion coloring can easily help in learning ropes of maths, you can download totally free books. That is the most effective teaching method for children!

Children Education Evolution

Every system of this kind has to have some kind of justification, to make it intelligible and acceptable to people generally and to parents with children in the schools in particular. This was provided, at that time, by the theory of 'intelligence', it will be enough, therefore, to remind ourselves here that it was the received view that children are born with a given amount of 'intelligence', inherited from their parents; that this endowment is fixed and unchangeable (whatever their educational or life experiences) and that it is easily and accurately measured by an intelligence test. Tests of this kind formed the main component of the selective examination at eleven-plus. Early streaming and later 'selection' for different types of secondary school were, therefore, claimed to be not only scientifically based, but also fair and just. These procedures, it was further argued, were actually in the best interests of the children, since they ensured that in all cases the level of education provided was 'appropriate' to each individual child's level of intelligence.

While the old class teaching method may still occasionally be used it is certainly no longer the main approach. Far greater reliance is now placed on group, and in particular individual, work techniques which bring their own problems, but problems of a new kind. Again, abolition of the eleven-plus has relieved teachers of the need to concentrate their main endeavors more or less exclusively on the restricted syllabus this imposed. New areas of activity and of learning have entered the junior school: science, a modern language, music, drama, artistic and other creative activities, while the teaching of the 'basic' subjects, language and number, has been put on a new basis and greatly broadened in scope and in educational value. Nor is there any evidence that these new approaches have reduced standards of attainment; they have certainly broadened them while, under the old conditions, satisfactory levels of literacy were far from universal.

To enter a well-organized but reasonably typical junior school classroom today can be an impressive experience. The children are in groups arranged informally around the classroom, often engaged in different individual activities or projects; articulate (if asked) in explaining the tasks for which they now take a clear responsibility themselves. A certain amount of quiet talk goes on between those engaged in group work, as well as some movement about the classroom in search of materials needed. The teacher may be at her desk with a group of pupils, or circulating unobtrusively among the class monitoring activities, helping one child, encouraging another, perhaps reproving someone as occasion may demand. His main concern, it seems, is not to maintain a level of equilibrium, including usually some degree of talk and movement a 'busy hum' which betokens to his expert eye and ear that all is well, that the conditions for learning are being maintained.

There has clearly been a considerable change, one, most people would agree, very much for the better. What are the educational reasons for this? Why has it come about?

The shift to new approaches and new methods is based fundamentally on a new understanding of the nature of child development `nd of learning. Of course there are contributory reasons, notably improved conditions in the schools, smaller classes, more space in new buildings, while the abolition of the selection examination at eleven has been quite crucial in freeing primary schools from the practice of fitting children into the 'crystallized structure' of a divided school system. All this has allowed teachers to begin to put into practice forms of teaching and learning, of classroom organization, according at last with modern knowledge about the nature of child development.

Here the key point has been the rejection - by teachers, psychologists, administrators - of the theory and practice which legitimated the old system, intelligence testing.

None the less there are problems, both theoretical and practical, which need consideration.

First, there is theoretical confusion about the nature and process of education and of child development and this naturally affects practice. An extreme view is based on the theories originally elaborated by Friedrich Froebel, the brilliant German teacher and educator of the last century whose ideas greatly influenced infant schools and, through them, the junior schools of today. Put briefly, it is held that the child inner potentialities and abilities develop spontaneously, on their own, given a rich environment; that they unfold, as it were, like a flower and that any interference by the teacher in this process is likely to damage 'natural' growth. Children should be left to develop independently, choose their own activities quite freely, above all should not be guided, let alone pressurized, in any way or in any particular direction.

On the other hand modem study of the learning process in children, of the way they use language and form concepts, indicate how important it is to intellectual development that children should go through certain experiences, or engage in forms of activity in a systematic way, if the key concepts are to be acquired. In early education the most important aspects are language and number, both symbolic systems underlying conceptual forms, or ways of thinking. But these are not acquired by mere drilling in mental arithmetic, or spelling, or by mere concentration on reading, although this is a skill of key importance. So also is talking, which may be much more conducive to a grasp of language in such a way that it contributes to developing thought. This is why the junior allow for the development of specific skills and abilities within the framework of covering wide areas of experience and knowledge.

Much work, both theoretical and practical, in the schools is being devoted to these questions, but as yet teachers have not had the help they deserve in working out how best to unite modem knowledge on these issues with the practical, day-to-day problems of classroom management.