After-School Care Essays - Mathematics Education,

After-School Care Posner and Vandell's article, "Low-Income Children's After-School Care: Are There Beneficial Effects of After-School Programs" provides valuable research to support the need for quality after-school programs for low-income children. Low-income children need after-school programs like UCLinks because "poverty affects children directly because it limits the material resources available to them and indirectly because of the psychological distress it engenders in parents, which in turn negatively influences parental behavior."(1) The time a child spends after-school is also important to their academic and social development. The quality and type of after-school care a child receives directly correlates to their performance in school and growth in academic abilities. The UCLinks program was created to offer low-income children a quality, academic after-school program. In the UCLinks program, they have children develop their academic skills in language arts, reading comprehension, off-computer activities, and mathematics. The UCLinks after-school program works on bringing the children up to grade level or furthering their development. It does not serve as a homework center for children. Instead, the UCLinks program concentrates on fostering their academic talent in an organized environment. In Posner and Vandell's article, they document research that promotes organized, academic after-school care, "Children's academic and conduct grades were positively related to time spent in one-to-one academic work, with an adult, whereas academic and conduct grades were negatively correlated with the amount of time spent in outdoor unorganized activities." (454) The children of the UCLinks program work with a mentor in 1-1 or 1-2 setting, where mentors specifically focus on academic areas they need to improve or help them develop their abilities to the fullest. 1B. The UCLinks program understands how important reading skills are to children's success in school. If children do not learn to read at grade level, they have a greater risk of falling behind in class work and eventually dropping out. The UCLinks program uses a combined approach to reading instruction with whole language and specific skills development. In each mentoring session of the UCLinks program, the mentors practice whole language instruction. Children have the opportunity to read one on one with their mentor. Bill Honig advocates this interaction with the children, "Teachers classroom routine should include reading good literature to students and discussing it with them, especially by asking questions that stretch children's minds beyond the literal meaning of the text."(3) The active participation the children engage in while reading to their mentors is productive because the children are able to practice decoding, automatic recognition of words, and improve their reading comprehension. Mentors ask their students relevant questions about the book that pertain to the plot, main points and theme of the story. The UCLinks program also practices the specific skills development with their students. Specific skills development focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, print awareness, word structure, and word-attack and self-monitoring skills. Honig recommends specific skills development, "Students should be taught these skills in an active, problem-solving manner that offers plenty of opportunities to practice the skills in actual reading and writing situations."(13) Children work on computer software like Kid Phonics to develop these specific skills which will ultimately help them read better. The children of the UCLinks program can also spend off-computer time writing stories and poems which immerses them in print awareness and word structure. 1C. In "Children, Mathematics, and Computers" by D. H Clements, he writes "It appears the dominant focus of school mathematics instruction in the last decade has been on computational skills(which students are learning fairly well), but that the development of problem-solving skills and conceptual understanding has been inadequate."(1) The focus on computational skills rather than the problem-solving and conceptual understanding hinder the mathematical abilities of students. As math becomes more abstract, they do not have the required mind state to solve problems with higher level concepts. The UCLinks program supports the teaching of relational mathematics, according to Skewer, knowing what to do and why, over rote learning with their students. The solid mental foundation relational mathematics builds will increase the mathematical abilities of the children and help them problem-solve as math becomes more complex and abstract. The teaching of relational mathematics in the UCLinks program can be observed with the use of pencil and paper, manipulatives, and computers to help children understand mathematical concepts and problem-solving. These practices are further supported in Clements article, "National Council of Teachers in Mathematics recommends that students be actively involved in learning, experimenting with, exploring, and communicating about mathematics."(4) The development of children's mathematical abilities increases when they actually learn the concepts behind the math problems and how to solve them on their own. The interaction children have with pencil and

Clark and Menefee Architects essays

Clark and Menefee Architects essays Maggie Cookman September 27, 2000 The Reid House was designed by W.G. Clark and Charles Menefee and built in Johns Island, SC in 1986. Menefee and Clark designed primarily in the American South. Clark and Menefee are known for their tripartite vertical organization. The base level normally consists of secondary bedroom(s)/studio spaces and services. The First floor is a piano nobile of principal rooms with a double-height living space. The attic level usually consists of the master bedroom and bath. The Reid House is set up in this fashion. The house is located in a modest setting, surrounded by house trailers and cheaply built houses. The image of the house was derived from vernacular farm buildings as well as from more formal Palladian structures. One author described the setting as Johns Island, a peaceful landscape where truck farmers tend tomato fields carved out of scrub-pine and dwarf-cedar forests, and where the front yards of shacks are littered with junked cars, rusting agricultural machinery, an d other decaying impedimenta of the Industrial Revolution. The house is a three-story tower with two components. The first is a 20 ft. sq. section made of concrete block, housing the living and bedrooms, referred to as the served space(s). The second part, referred to as the serving space(s), is a wood-frame shed that holds the kitchen and the bathrooms. These two components are joined at the fireplace and chimney, around which the stair winds. The materials used for the house are inexpensive, in keeping with the surrounding structures. One section is made of concrete blocks, exposed on the inside and covered with waterproofing paint on the outside. The other part of the house is sheathed in plywood and battens and its roof is covered in asphalt shingle. The floors are painted pi ...

Diabetic Ketoacidosis v Hyperglycamic Hyperosmolar State Essay

Diabetic Ketoacidosis v Hyperglycamic Hyperosmolar State - Essay Example There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2 and gestational diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is formerly known as juvenile diabetes, simply because it is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetes, or adult-onset diabetes, is the most common form of diabetes as it can develop at any age. The failure of the muscles and liver to use insulin properly forces the pancreas to produce more insulin until such time that it can no longer cope with the demand and lose its ability to secrete insulin. Gestational diabetes is the kind that is associated with a woman’s pregnancy (â€Å"Diagnosis of Diabetes†). Insulin deficiency may also cause the buildup of an acid known as ketone in the blood. Ketoacidosis, or having high levels of ketone in the blood, can poison the body as it disrupts the chemical balance in the blood and may lead to a diabetic coma or even death. It passes up in the urine and is the warning sign that insulin levels are very low and that ketone levels are high. It is most commonly found in people with type 1 diabetes. Some of the symptoms include: dry mouth, frequent urination, hyperglycemia, constant feeling of tiredness, dry/flushed skin, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, difficulty in breathing, fruity odor on breath and confusion. While the common cold or flu can bring about ketoacidosis, some other causes may be insufficient insulin in the body which would lead to the breaking down of fats for energy, insufficient food intake, and low blood glucose (â€Å"Ketoacidosis†). Hyperosmolar hyperglycemic nonketotic coma (HHNC) is a condition that is more commonly found in Type 2 diabetes patients. It is characterized by decreased consciousness, extreme dehydration, and extremely high blood glucose levels, which is not accompanied by ketoacidosis (â€Å"Diabetic Hyperglycemic Hyperosmolar