But there they were on a recent Wednesday morning, three months into the school year, counting up to seven and higher, even doing some elementary addition and subtraction. At recess, one boy, Joshua, used a pointer to illustrate a math concept known as cardinality, by completing place settings on a whiteboard.
“You just put one plate there, and one there, and one here,” he explained, stepping aside as two other students ambled by, one wearing a pair of clown pants as a headscarf. “That’s it. See?”
For much of the last century, educators and many scientists believed that children could not learn math at all before the age of five, that their brains simply were not ready.
But recent research has turned that assumption on its head — that, and a host of other conventional wisdom about geometry, reading, language and self-control in class. The findings, mostly from a branch of research called cognitive neuroscience, are helping to clarify when young brains are best able to grasp fundamental concepts.
In one recent study, for instance, researchers found that most entering preschoolers could perform rudimentary division, by distributing candies among two or three play animals. In another, scientists found that the brain’s ability to link letter combinations with sounds may not be fully developed until age 11 — much later than many have assumed.
The teaching of basic academic skills, until now largely the realm of tradition and guesswork, is giving way to approaches based on cognitive science. In several cities, including Boston, Washington and Nashville, schools have been experimenting with new curriculums to improve math skills in preschoolers. In others, teachers have used techniques developed by brain scientists to help children overcome dyslexia.
And schools in about a dozen states have begun to use a program intended to accelerate the development of young students’ frontal lobes, improving self-control in class.
“Teaching is an ancient craft, and yet we really have had no idea how it affected the developing brain,” said Kurt Fischer, director of the Mind, Brain and Education program at Harvard. “Well, that is beginning to change, and for the first time we are seeing the fields of brain science and education work together.”
This relationship is new and still awkward, experts say, and there is more hyperbole than evidence surrounding many “brain-based” commercial products on the market. But there are others, like an early math program taught in Buffalo schools, that have a track record. If these and similar efforts find traction in schools, experts say, they could transform teaching from the bottom up — giving the ancient craft a modern scientific compass.
Beyond Counting
In a typical preschool class, children do very little math. They may practice counting, and occasionally look at books about numbers, but that is about it. Many classes devote mere minutes a day to math instruction or no time at all, recent studies have found — far less than most children can handle, and not nearly enough to prepare those who, deprived of math-related games at home, quickly fall behind in kindergarten.
“Once that happens, it can be very hard to catch up,” said Julie Sarama, a researcher in the graduate school of education at the University at Buffalo who, with her colleague and husband, Doug Clements, a professor in the same department, developed a program called Building Blocks to enrich early math education.
“They decide they’re no good at math — ‘I’m not a math person,’ they say — and pretty soon the school agrees, the parents agree,” Dr. Clements said.
“Everyone agrees.”
In a Building Blocks classroom, numbers are in artwork, on computer games and in lessons, sharing equal time with letters. Like “Sesame Street,” Building Blocks has children play creative counting games; but it also focuses on other number skills, including cardinality (how many objects are in a set) and one-to-one correspondence (matching groups of objects, like cups and saucers). Teachers can tailor the Building Block lesson to a student’s individual ability.
On a recent Wednesday afternoon at the Makowski center, Buffalo’s Public School 99, Pat Andzel asked her preschool class a question:
“How many did you count?”
She had drilled them on the number seven. She held up a sign with “7” and asked her students what number they saw (“seven!”); had the group jump seven times, counting; then had them touch their nose seven times. As the class finished counting seven objects on a poster, she asked again:
“How many?”
Commentary by Jay Ralph
Dec. 29 (Bloomberg) — As 2009 started, the world was in a state of shock and the financial markets were on the brink of a meltdown. Many were feeling the burden of debt and worrying over the safety of their bank savings accounts. Many questioned the integrity of the free-market financial system. World leaders stepped in. Without their rigorous, swift and concerted actions, the world economy would have been in dire straits.
Perhaps most surprising is that the banking industry, one of the most regulated in the world, was the main force that dragged the economy into the worst recession most people can remember. At the time it was particularly interesting for me, as I was an American living in Switzerland.
It was a global financial crisis that required unprecedented coordination and joint action among many nations to lead us where we are today. It is a convincing argument for further European and even global collaboration.
Two decades of liberalization, deregulation and low interest rates have changed the face of the world economy. Globalization has proven to be a success story. The age of low interest rates was probably a key facilitator of that development. For many companies, 2009 proved to be the acid test of their business models. Some disappeared or shrank to irrelevance. Others struggled to survive — some succeeded.
AIG Derivatives
The insurance industry as a whole remained strong even with AIG finding itself in the eye of the storm. It wasn’t American International Group Inc.’s basic insurance business that brought it into difficulties, but rather its derivative operations. Within the insurance industry, there was less contagion than some had feared.
The financial crisis has changed the landscape of many business models. Capital strength, sustainable profitability and the ability to satisfy differing stakeholder interests are all important ingredients of success.
A customer entrusting money to an insurer for 30 years or longer seeks “peace of mind.” This trust can only be honored by those companies that invest prudently and maintain strong capitalization. Financial strength is the buffer that allows the industry to keep its promises when the winds blow and the financial markets quake. Thriving over decades of change requires a steady set of basic principles founded on long-term values rather than current fashion.
Market Outlook
Looking forward to 2010, cautious market optimism is permissible, though there remain major caveats:
1. There are still significant prevailing risks. Dubai and Greece are timely reminders that the world economy isn’t yet out of the woods.
2. The real economy is still subdued, though most economists forecast a return to growth in 2010. There is little doubt that pre-crisis market levels and economic activity won’t be returning soon.
3. The risk of ample liquidity may already be laying the foundation for the next bubble. Let’s not forget how difficult it is to take liquidity out of the market without endangering the fragile economic recovery.
Unintended Consequences
It would be short-sighted to concentrate only on 2010, given what we all have just experienced. There are longer-term implications. Intense global discussions are taking place around future regulation that may set the rules for decades to come. We must get this right. Though there is a need to act swiftly, we must give careful consideration to the unintended consequences of new regulation or legislation.
Are our efforts to build a more stable economic framework, while trying to protect free markets, futile? I don’t believe so. If we succeed, financial institutions will be better prepared for the next crisis. This serves us all: industry, employees, owners, customers and the wider society.
Nonetheless, I am left with the feeling that the financial crisis may have been too short and the lessons of 2009 not fully learned. Companies, governments and consumers may go back to their old ways. Bubbles may again form. Long-term sustainability may give way to short-term profitability and people could again get hurt.
I sincerely hope this won’t be the case. I know that insurance companies like Allianz will act prudently to honor their long-term promises to stakeholders during times of personal loss and financial turmoil. It’s our business.
(Jay Ralph joined Allianz SE’s management board on Jan. 1. He is responsible for the insurer’s North American business. The opinions expressed are his own.)
Click on “Send Comment” in the sidebar display to send a letter to the editor.
–Editors: David Henry, James Greiff.
To contact the writer of this column: Jay Ralph at feedback.j_ralph@allianz.com
To contact the editor responsible for this column: James Greiff at +1-212-617-5801 or jgreiff@bloomberg.net
-0- Dec/29/2009 02:00 GMT
basketball jerseys,
baseball jerseys
The Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia states around 20 million hectares of land - including tropical forests, woodlands, scrub, savannah and tundra - are cleared each year to make way for the progress of humankind.
Land is cleared in a variety of ways for a range of purposes. The primary reason for clearing land is urban development (the growth and spread of cities), and to make way for agricultural land. The rate of land clearing for industry, primarily logging, has also increased exponentially in the past decade.
Land clearing has the most devastating impacts on the tropical nations of West and Central Africa, South America and South-East Asia. These areas have particularly intricate biological webs - it is estimated that over 70% of the world's known species live in tropical regions. As a result, these areas are the most significantly disturbed by land clearing.
Land clearing naturally results in a loss of species, and a related loss of diversity. However, there are a number of other negative and often unconsidered impacts of clearing land. Reduction in soil productivity is a major issue, with rain leaching beneficial nutrients out of the exposed soil. The exposure of the soil, and the loss of the binding plant roots, also leads to erosion. The removal of plant roots may allow the subterranean water table to rise, resulting in salinity.
With the lack of forest ecosystems depositing natural materials to decompose, nutrients simply cannot be replaced. Through the clearing of tropical forests, the planet has lost many of its vital 'carbon sinks', which help to remove excess carbon dioxide gas from our atmosphere. Large, well-established forests also generate their own rain, and when these forests are destroyed rainfall patterns shift or decline.
The Microsoft ENCARTA Encyclopedia estimates that 500 million people across the world today rely directly on land under threat from clearing for shelter, food and fuel.
“It is already late in the day, and the need is more urgent than ever for all of us who live together on this planet to work together seriously in order to repair the damage we've done, and to deepen our understanding of what went wrong and why.” - Sir Richard Branson, Chairmain, the Virgin group.
And in recovery from a.n. Your blog is so inspiring and gives me yummy food ideas. I guess I am a little *disturbed* by some of the comments for this post - about exercising more the next day, eating healthier, etc. (doesn't "making up for it" just play in to the eating disorder?) Like others have said, three truffles is not "too much." My nutrish has me eating chocolate chip cookies everyday (and I'm done gaining weight).
Raymond Sparks