Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. 'Orientación curricular para la funcación fase'.

Esta guía ofrece orientación y ayuda a los profesionales para establecer un adecuado plan de estudios que cumpla los objetivos de aprendizaje en los primeros años de escolarización de los niños, es decir, a partir de los tres años. Abarca seis áreas de aprendizaje: desarrollo personal, emocional y social; desarrollo del lenguaje oral, escrito y de la comunicación; desarrollo matemático; conocimiento y comprensión del mundo y, por último, desarrollo físico y desarrollo creativo.

Understanding mathematics for young children : a guide for Foundation Stage and Lower Primary Teachers.

Guía para tener una comprensión más clara de las matemáticas y de los materiales que se utilizan en el aula con niños de tres a ocho años. Muestra cómo ayudarlos en el desarrollo y la comprensión de las matemáticas por sí mismos, en lugar de aprender recetas y rutinas. Al final de cada capítulo se incluyen algunos ejemplos de actividades que pueden ser utilizadas en las distintas edades. Contiene estrategias para el cálculo mental.

The thinking child resource book : brain-based learning for the early years foundation stage.

Ofrece a los profesores, estudiantes y padres, prácticas y sugerencias para la aplicación del aprendizaje, basado en cómo está configurado el cerebro del niño en sus primeros años de vida. Se enumeran ideas sobre cómo usar técnicas de aprendizaje que incluyen las formas de promover la autoestima y la inteligencia emocional, las ideas para la enseñanza a través del juego, música y movimiento, actividades para la hora de la asamblea, asesoramiento sobre el manejo de la conducta positiva y fomento de las relaciones con padres y cuidadores. Los estudios de casos, tomados de una variedad de entornos, dan una idea de cómo las técnicas basadas en el cerebro pueden ser utilizados para enriquecer la experiencia de aprendizaje de los niños pequeños.

The type and frequency of interactions that occur between staff and children outside in Early Years Foundation Stage settings during a fixed playtime period when there are tricycles available

This study reports on an investigation into adult and child interactions observed in the outdoor play environment in four Local Authority early years foundation stage settings in England. In this instance the common two features across the settings were the presence of tricycles and a timetabled outdoor play period. In total, across the four schools, there were 204 children. The study aimed to gain an understanding of the nature of the dialogues between staff and children, that is, the types of exchange that occurred when either the child approached an adult or the adult approached a child. The most frequent type of utterance was also analysed. The study concludes that adults in these settings spoke more than children and the greatest type of utterance was that of the adult about domestic matters. When the child initiated the conversation there were more extended child utterances than domestic utterances. This may suggest that children wish to be involved in conversations of depth and meaning and that staff need to become aware of how to develop this conversational language with children.

What is outside? The early years foundation stage in England: outdoor facilities, organisation and staff attitudes

The purpose of this paper is to report on the facilities available, organisation of, and staff attitudes to early years outdoor education from schools within the south east of England, focusing on provision for children aged three to five. One component of the successful education of the child involves providing an ‘environment for learning’, including the facilities, layout and routines. This paper presents findings concerning the type and variety of facilities available outside; the various styles of organisation of the space; staff attitudes about: their roles, their aims for the environment, children’s behaviour and learning, and perceived drawbacks to practice. This paper draws on empirical data collected from schools within the University of Reading partnership. The findings suggest that although all early years settings must adhere to the statutory framework there are a range of facilities available, and there are a number of ways this environment is organised. Further there appears to be uncertainty about the adult role outside and the aims for activities. The conclusions drawn indicate that staff do not appear to be linking their aims for outdoor education to the facilities provided or to their actions outside. This means there is not a clear link between what staff provide outside and the declared ambitions for learning. This study is important as all educators need to be certain about their aims for education to ensure best outcomes for children. The implications of these findings for early years teachers are that they need to be able to articulate their aims for outdoor education and to provide the correct facilities to achieve these aims. Finally this study was undertaken to raise debate, posit questions and to ascertain the parameters for further research about the early years outdoor environment.

Modelo sostenible para las comunicadoras eucarísticas del padre celestial en su etapa fundacional en Colombia en el año 2014

Las Comunicadoras Eucarísticas del Padre Celestial son una comunidad religiosa católica (sociedad de vida apostólica de derecho diocesano), fundada en Colombia en el año 2004 por el sacerdote belga Antonio Lootens y la hermana colombiana Gabriela del Amor Crucificado; ésta comunidad nace con el fin de llevar el mensaje de Jesús a las personas, a través de los medios de comunicación masivos usados para la nueva evangelización: producción de programas televisivos y radiofónicos, creación y difusión de DVD’s participación en congresos, entre otros. Ante esta nueva iniciativa, las hermanas empiezan una gran labor evangelizadora dentro de la Iglesia produciendo diversos programas audiovisuales, pero es allí donde nace la dificultad de los recursos necesarios para ello; esto se debe a que la elaboración de dichas producciones implica un alto costo financiero, humano y técnico, y la comunidad no cuenta con los recursos financieros suficientes para lograrlo. Por ello, ésta investigación propone un modelo para la sostenibilidad económica de las Comunicadoras Eucarísticas del Padre Celestial en su etapa fundacional en Colombia en el año 2014, el cual al ser aplicado frecuentemente en la comunidad, le permite a ella ocuparse libremente de cumplir su carisma, sin preocuparse en cómo sostener sus necesidades básicas; así, se amplía día a día su labor evangelizadora en la Iglesia, a través de los medios de comunicación masivos. Aunque este modelo creado es aplicado inicialmente en las Comunicadoras Eucarísticas, podrá de igual manera ser adaptado y usado para otras comunidades religiosas dentro de la Iglesia, al igual que para otros organismos eclesiales tanto clericales como laicales, en los cuales se una la mística y la profesionalización.

Mathematics in the primary school : a sense of progression.

Proporciona un conjunto de principios básicos para la enseñanza de las matemáticas en la escuela primaria a través de los principales temas del programa de estudios. Los autores exploran la comprensión de los niños en áreas claves de las matemáticas en la etapa Fundación (Foundation Stage) y la etapas clave de las fases 1 y 2 (Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2). Identifican importantes enfoques de la enseñanza, incluyendo el uso de calculadoras y ordenadores, y hacen énfasis en el cálculo mental y en la solución de problemas. Se utilizan estudios de casos para ilustrar como ponerlos en práctica y cómo los niños responden a ellos. Subraya la importancia del conocimiento matemático de los propios profesores y les ofrece orientación y consejos prácticos.

The aims of early years outdoor education in England: a conceptual and empirical investigation

This paper explores the place of aims in the early years foundation stage outdoor environment in England. Through examining the writing of academics, various themes are identified, and constructed into possible aims. These themes/aims are compared to an empirical study of early years teachers’ attitudes. Data was collected by questionnaire from schools within the University of Reading partnership. There was general agreement between experts and teachers as to the aims. While some respondents were able to explain what the aims of outdoor activity were, a significant number were unable to identify aims; further, a significant number did not distinguish between approach/practice and aims. A lack of understanding and agreement as to what the aims are may indicate teachers are unsure about the purpose of outdoor education for young children. A result of this study is to agree and make explicit the aims for outdoor education in the early years.

Growing better brains? Pregnancy and neuroscience discourses in English social and welfare policies

In recent years, English welfare and health policy has started to include pregnancy within the foundation stage of child development. The foetus is also increasingly designated as ‘at risk’ from pregnant women. In this article, we draw on an analysis of a purposive sample of English social and welfare policies and closely related advocacy documents to trace the emergence of neuroscientific claims-making in relation to the family. In this article, we show that a specific deterministic understanding of the developing brain that only has a loose relationship with current scientific evidence is an important component in these changes. We examine the ways in which pregnancy is situated in these debates. In these debates, maternal stress is identified as a risk to the foetus; however, the selective concern with women living in disadvantage undermines biological claims. The policy claim of neurological ‘critical windows’ also seems to be influenced by social concerns. Hence, these emerging concerns over the foetus’ developing brain seem to be situated within the gendered history of policing women’s pregnant bodies rather than acting on new insights from scientific discoveries. By situating these developments within the broader framework of risk consciousness, we can link these changes to wider understandings of the ‘at risk’ child and intensified surveillance over family life.

Molecules Clarify a Cnidarian Life Cycle - The ""Hydrozoan'' Microhydrula limopsicola Is an Early Life Stage of the Staurozoan Haliclystus antarcticus

Background: Life cycles of medusozoan cnidarians vary widely, and have been difficult to document, especially in the most recently proposed class Staurozoa. However, molecular data can be a useful tool to elucidate medusozoan life cycles by tying together different life history stages. Methodology/Principal Findings: Genetic data from fast-evolving molecular markers (mitochondrial 16S, nuclear ITS1, and nuclear ITS2) show that animals that were presumed to be a hydrozoan, Microhydrula limopsicola (Limnomedusae, Microhydrulidae), are actually an early stage of the life cycle of the staurozoan Haliclystus antarcticus (Stauromedusae, Lucernariidae). Conclusions/Significance: Similarity between the haplotypes of three markers of Microhydrula limopsicola and Haliclystus antarcticus settles the identity of these taxa, expanding our understanding of the staurozoan life cycle, which was thought to be more straightforward and simple. A synthetic discussion of prior observations makes sense of the morphological, histological and behavioral similarities/congruence between Microhydrula and Haliclystus. The consequences are likely to be replicated in other medusozoan groups. For instance we hypothesize that other species of Microhydrulidae are likely to represent life stages of other species of Staurozoa.45

The impact of life stage and societal culture on subordinate influence ethics: A study of Brazil, China, Germany, and the US

In this paper, we investigate the effects of societal values and life stage on subordinate influence ethics. Based on the evolving crossvergence theory of macro-level predictors of values evolution, we demonstrate the applicability of crossvergence theory in the micro-level context. Furthermore, our study provides the first empirical multi-level analysis of influence ethics utilizing a multi pie-country sample. Thus, we illustrate how the breath of crossvergence can be expanded to provide a multi-level theoretical foundation of values and behavior evolution across cultures. Specifically, we integrate micro-level life stage theory and macro-level societal culture theory to concurrently assess the contributions of each theory in explaining subordinate influence ethics across the diverse societies of Brazil. China, Germany and the U.S. Consistent with previous research, we found significant societal differences in influence ethics. However, we also found that life stage theory played a significant role in understanding influence ethics. Thus, our findings expand the crossvergence perspective on societal change, indicating that key micro-level predictors (e.g., life stage) should be included in cross-cultural research. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the prognostic significance of serum galectin-3 in American Joint Committee on Cancer stage III and stage IV melanoma patients

Galectin-3 (Gal-3) is a member of the P-galactoside-binding lectins family and has been implicated in angiogenesis, tumor invasion, and metastatic process in vitro and in vivo. As we showed recently that advanced melanoma patients presented high serum level of Gal-3, we investigated the association of this protein with the outcome of melanoma patients. Whether this protein could be a biomarker has riot been assessed, and we compared the prognostic value of serum Gal-3 in multivariate analysis with lactate dehydrogenase, C-reactive protein and S100B. We conclude that Gal-3 could be of prognostic value in melanoma patients; more precisely, this protein has a strong independent prognostic signification with a cut-off value of 10 ng/ml. After these data, we believe that serum Gal-3 measurement can have an important role in the follow-up and management of advanced American Joint Commission on Cancer stage III and stage IV melanoma patients. Further studies will uncover whether Gal-3 will be able to open new therapeutic perspectives. Melanoma Res 19:316-320 (C) 2009 Wolters Kluwer Health | Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

Reliability of moderate-intensity and vigorous physical activity stage of change measures for young adults

Background. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability of stage of change (SOC) measures for moderate-intensity and vigorous physical activity in two separate samples of young adults. Staging measures have focused on vigorous exercise, but current public health guidelines emphasize moderate-intensity activity. Method. For college students in the USA (n = 105) and in Australia (n = 123), SOC was assessed separately on two occasions for moderate-intensity activity and for vigorous activity. Test-retest repeatability was determined, using Cohen's kappa coefficient. Results. In both samples, the reliability scores for the moderate-intensity physical activity staging measure were lower than the scores for the vigorous exercise staging measure. Weighted kappa values for the moderate-intensity staging measure were in the fair to good range for both studies (0.50 and 0.45); for the vigorous staging measure kappa values were excellent and fair to good (0.76 and 0.72). Conclusions. There is a need to standardize and improve methods for staging moderate-intensity activity, given that such measures are used in public health interventions targeting HEPA (health-enhancing physical activity). (C) 2003 American Health Foundation and Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Improving the environmental performance of bedding products by using life cycle assessment at the design stage

Improvement of the environmental performance of processes and products is a common objective in industry, and has been receiving increased attention in recent years. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the potential environmental impact of two bedding products, a polyurethane foam mattress (PFM) and a pocket spring mattress (PSM). These two types are the most common mattresses used in Europe. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) shows that the PFM has a higher environmental impact than the PSM. For both products the main cause of environmental impact is the manufacturing process, respectively the polyurethane foam block moulding process for the PFM, and the pocket spring nucleus process for the PSM. A scenario analysis shows the possibility of reducing the environmental impact of the products’ life cycle using an alternative End-of-Life scenario, resorting to incineration rather than landfill. Two strategies were also studied in order to reduce the environmental impact of the PFM: (1) reutilization of foam that was sent to the waste system management, and (2) a 20% weight reduction of the polyurethane foam. The second strategy has proven to be the most effective.

Geography 360õ : foundation book 1.

Su contenido se adapta a la llamada etapa tres (key stage tres) y, en concreto, a los alumnos de los niveles dos al quatro. Proporciona un gran número de actividades para la práctica de habilidades geográficas, que pueden realizarse a nivel individual y también en clase; incluye, también, evaluación periódica de los alumnos sobre cada uno de los temas de este programa.