Survey Highlights The Importance of Teaching Children Good Social Skills
(ARA) – Your 4-year-old may already know how to tie their own shoelaces and spell out their first and last names. But as preschool looms around the corner, are you worried how well they’ll fit in with the rest of the classroom?
According to a nationwide survey conducted of 1,000 parents by Mom Central Inc. on behalf of Hasbro Inc., the majority of parents feel the same way with 90 percent considering social skills to be vital to their children’s happiness and confidence.
Nearly eight out of 10 parents also think social skills are more important than academic skills when it comes to their child’s overall happiness. As a matter of fact, parents gave social skills a higher ranking than academic skills on the survey in nearly every area of child development.
“More than ever, our children must get along with others to function effectively,” says Stacy DeBroff, chief executive officer of Mom Central, found at www.momcentral.com. “In this age of team sports and structured play, it has never been more critical for our children to master socialization skills. From children’s play groups to collaboration in the classroom, kids today engage in significantly more structured group activities, raising the profile and the necessity for good social skills.”
According to the survey, one in five parents feel overwhelmed with teaching social skills and more than one-third say that teaching social skills leads to frustration. In response, Stacy DeBroff has developed some tips parents can use to help their child learn social skills in a positive and reinforcing way:
* Lead by example.
Children are excellent observers. If they see Mom and Dad using polite language, sharing and being respectful, they will follow their parents’ guidance.
* Play with them in an educational way.
Children love to play games with their parents because it provides them with direct attention. Noodleboro by Hasbro is a new line of board games, which includes storybooks and audio CDs that nurture preschoolers’ social skills through laughter and play.
* Take a problem-solving approach.
If a situation becomes stressful, encourage your child to talk about the issues they might have with saying “please,” and “thank you” or sharing their toys with their friends. By allowing children to talk, they often discover for themselves what’s causing the problem while also coming up with unique ways in which they will be able to handle themselves.
“It’s more than just manners… it’s sharing, it’s listening, and it’s engaging with others. The Noodleboro games offer an innovative way to use a classic board game to reward and challenge kids as they learn valuable social skills,” says DeBroff.
Courtesy of ARAcontent
(ARA) - Throughout U.S. history, women of every race and class have made contributions that have helped to shape and strengthen the country. In 1987, Congress declared the month of March Women’s History Month to recognize these contributions and to promote the teaching of women’s history.
This Women’s History Month is especially significant. For the first time in American history, a woman has a legitimate chance of winning a major party’s presidential nomination. And whether she wins or not, history continues to be made in our country.
Our national parks offer an extremely unique opportunity to visit the sites and learn about the people that made women’s history what it is today. The parks help to commemorate advances made in education, economic and social welfare, property rights, family life, and most importantly, the right to vote. National parks allow present and future generations to witness this history firsthand.
“America’s history comes alive in the national parks,” says National Parks Conservation Association Deputy Vice President for Government Affairs Laura Loomis. “Taking care of the places that honor our past, and continue to inspire our future, should be a national priority for all Americans.”
Despite the rich history the parks hold, they often go ignored. They are significantly underfunded and understaffed, and currently face an operational shortfall of $750 million. They face issues such as adjacent development, crumbling buildings, looting of cultural resources, and numerous invasive plant species. The parks hold our country’s most valuable history. There is the real potential of losing this history forever, unless we continue to advocate for their protection and enhancement for generations to come.
In Congress, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) introduced a bill that could significantly enhance the historic significance of the women’s rights movement embodied in our national parks. Her bill would establish a commemorative trail in connection with the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in New York. The trail would link properties that are historically and thematically associated with the struggle for women’s suffrage. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
“Each time I take part in our democracy by casting a vote, whether it is on the House Floor or on Election Day, I am humbled by the shadow of history by the decades of work of women before me who fought tooth and nail for women’s suffrage,” says Rep. Slaughter. “In their honor, I have introduced HR 3114, the National Women’s Rights History Project Act, which hopes to provide Americans with the opportunity to learn more about the female heroes that fought tirelessly to secure the right we take for granted today.
“We’ve clearly come a long way since the suffrage movement, but we still have a long way to go. By recognizing our foremothers, my bill will remind us of the need to continue the movement for women’s equality on behalf of our granddaughters,” concludes Slaughter.
To walk in the shoes of other trail blazing American women, the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Association, the nation’s leading voice for the national parks, recommends travelers explore some of the national park sites that commemorate women’s history, including:
Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site (D.C.) was the original home of the National Council of Negro Women. Mary McLeod Bethune was the founder of NCNW, a national political leader, renowned educator, and one of America’s most influential black women. The organization’s mission remains today to lead, develop and advocate for African American women. Today, the site offers tours and special programs about the history of African American women. For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/mamc/ .
Women’s Rights National Historical Park (N.Y.) honors and commemorates the First Women’s Rights Convention, which was convened at Wesleyan Chapel in 1848. At the convention, 100 individuals signed the Declaration of Sentiments, publicly committing to a broad array of rights for women, including suffrage. Guided tours of the park are offered daily. For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/wori/ .
Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park (Calif.) preserves the many stories and sites of our country’s home front response to World War II. The Rosie the Riveter Memorial illustrates the challenges and opportunities that women faced during the war years. The National Park Service offers a self-guided automobile tour of the various sites that make up the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. For more information visit: http://www.nps.gov/rori .
Mesa Verde National Park (Colo.) was created thanks to the energy and leadership of a young newspaper reporter named Virginia McClurg. In the late 1800s, McClurg, frustrated by the indifference the federal government showed toward preserving Puebloan history at Mesa Verde, started a petition demanding protection of the ruins, and lobbied Congress to take action. Finally, in 1906, Mesa Verde was the first national park established for its cultural significance. For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/meve.
Clara Barton National Historic Site (Md.) serves as a memorial to the legacy of Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. The site served as both Clara’s home and an early headquarters of the Red Cross. In 1975, the site became the first National Historic Site dedicated to the accomplishments of a woman. Guided tours are available at the site. For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/clba .
Courtesy of ARAcontent
Raleigh, NC: Lorraine Stephens, president of Lorraine Speaks and L. Stephens & Associates, announced that she has been named as a member of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Management’s first Diversity Advisory Board. The board’s first meeting was held on Friday, January 25 and focused on bringing together diversity leaders, managers and directors from 14 Triangle area companies with strong diversity initiatives and three College of Management faculty members.
One of the key goals of the college that the board will support is providing exemplary educational opportunities that prepares students to engage in an increasingly global business climate. This initiative includes expanding efforts to support high achieving students from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
“Becoming a member of the NC State College of Management’s first Diversity Advisory Board is both and honor and privilege,” said Lorraine Stephens. “I am excited about moving forward with an opportunity to continue to emphasize the value diversity within the university and its student body.”
To learn more about Lorraine Stephens or her role on the Diversity Advisory Board, send an email to lorraine@lorrainespeaks.com
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
RALEIGH, N.C. - In a show of support for conservative military and displomatic historian Mark Moyar, who insists he was denied an interview for a position in the N.C. State University Department of History solely because of his political leanings, Raleigh Metro Magazine editor and publisher Bernie Reeves has posted a letter Moyar recently wrote to a reporter at The Technician, NCSU’s student newspaper, on the Metro website (www.metronc.com). The post is entitled “Campus Radicals Strike Again: The Mark Moyar Story.”
Cambridge University scholar Christopher Andrew alerted Reeves to Moyar’s situation. Moyar, author of Triumph Forsaken (Cambridge University Press, October 2006), a history of the Viet Nam war, received his Ph.D under Andrew’s tutelage. Deeming Moyar ‘the brightest undergraduate he had ever encountered,” Andrew could not understand why his former student was denied even an interview at N.C. State. He had graduated summa cum laude from Harvard, finishing first in the history department. He had published a highly praised history book, completed his Ph.D at Cambridge in record time, and received letters of recommendations from three top historians: Andrew himself, plus Ernest May and Akira Iriye of Harvard. Yet all the universities to which he applied rejected him after a preliminary interview. State wouldn’t even go that far.
Reeves responded to Andrew, a close friend who has worked with Reeves on the annual Raleigh Spy Conference, that he was “not surprised. In my 30 years as an editor and publisher in a community containing three large, prestigious universities, I learned that the liberal arts departments at UNC, State and Duke have closed their doors to teacher applicants who did not toe the [liberal] party line.The result is the destruction of scholarship in the liberal arts and the ascent of sensitivity propaganda masquerading as learning.”
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
Thousands of hard-liners want a British teacher put to death for insulting Islam
KHARTOUM, SUDAN - Thousands of Sudanese, many armed with clubs and swords and beating drums, burned pictures of a British teacher Friday and demanded her execution for insulting Islam by letting her students name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Sudan’s Islamic government, which has long whipped up anti-Western, Muslim hard-line sentiment at home, was balancing between fueling outrage over the case of Gillian Gibbons and containing it.
The government does not want to seriously damage ties with Britain, but the show of anger underlines its stance that Sudanese oppose Western interference, lawyers and political foes said. The uproar comes as the U.N. is accusing Sudan of dragging its feet on the deployment of peacekeepers in the war-torn Darfur region.
Many in the protesting crowd shouted “Kill her! Kill her by firing squad!”
In response to the rally in central Khartoum, Gibbons was moved from the women’s prison across the Nile in Oumdurman to a secret location, her chief lawyer Kamal al-Gizouli told the Associated Press. He said he visited her there to discuss her conviction Thursday on charges of insulting Islam.
Gibbons, 54, who was sentenced to 15 days in jail, spoke Friday with her son John and daughter Jessica in Britain by telephone.
“One of the things my mum said today was that I don’t want any resentment towards Muslims,” the son told AP. “She’s holding up quite well.”
Despite the fervor of the protest, the rest of Khartoum was quiet. The rally was far smaller than February 2006 protests held with government backing after European newspapers ran caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad, suggesting popular anger over Gibbons did not run as deep.
In their mosque sermons Friday, several Muslim clerics harshly denounced Gibbons, saying she had intentionally insulted the prophet, but they did not call for protests and said the punishment ordered by the court was sufficient.
Still, after prayers, several thousand people converged on Khartoum’s Martyrs Square, near the presidential palace, and began calling for Gibbons’ execution. Many seemed to be from Sufi groups, religious sects that emphasize reverence for the prophet.
Some angrily denounced the teacher, but others smiled as they beat drums and burned newspapers with Gibbons’ picture, waving swords and clubs and green banners, the color of Islam.
Chants of “Kill her!” and “No tolerance: Execution!” rang out as hundreds of police in riot gear stood by, keeping the crowd contained but not moving against the rally.
Protesters dismissed Gibbons’ claims that she didn’t mean to insult the prophet.
“It is a premeditated action, and this unbeliever thinks that she can fool us?” said Yassin Mubarak, a young dreadlocked man swathed in green and carrying a sword. “What she did requires her life to be taken.”
Read More: News & Observer
RALEIGH - The State Board of Community Colleges plans to select the next president of the North Carolina Community College System during a special meeting next Thursday, December 6, 2007. The process to select the man from among the three final candidates will take place over two days.
The Personnel Committee of the State Board of Community Colleges meets in closed session on Wednesday, December 5 at 4:00 p.m. in the State Board room.
The entire State Board meets on Thursday, December 6 at 8:00 a.m. in the Board Room. The purpose of this meeting is the selection of a new System President. This is the only item on the agenda. The first part of the meeting will be in open session. The majority of the meeting will be in closed session, when the Board will interview the three candidates.
The vote to select the new president will likely occur between 1:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. in open session.
The three candidates are:
- Kennon Briggs has served as the vice president for Business and Finance at the North Carolina Community College System for the past ten years. He was a senior budget analyst with the Office of State Budget and Management, the county manager for Yadkin County, and the county administrator for Jones County. He obtained both his B.A. in Sociology and M.P.A. in Urban Management from North Carolina State University.
- Philip R. Day, Jr. has served as the chancellor of City College of San Francisco for the past nine years. Prior to that he was president at Daytona Beach Community College, Cape Cod Community College in Massachusetts, and Dundalk Community College (Baltimore, MD). He obtained his M. Ed in Counselor Education from SUNY in Buffalo, his B.S. in Psychology (Portland, ME) and his Ed. D in Adult and Higher Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
Xerox, NC State University College of Management collaborate to advance research in service and innovation management
Raleigh, N.C. — Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) and the North Carolina State University College of Management this week announced a three-year collaborative project to fund research that will lead to new courses in professional service management and innovation management.
“We are operating in a service-led economy and increasingly larger segments of our Xerox research portfolio are dedicated to developing differentiated technologies for services,” said Sophie Vandebroek, Xerox chief technology office and president, Xerox Innovation Group. “Our collaboration with faculty at NC State, who are global leaders in services and innovation management, is an excellent way to advance knowledge in this area.”
“Establishing such industry-academic partnerships reflects the university’s commitment to economic development,” said James Oblinger, chancellor of NC State University. “Our students benefit through relevant courseware and employment opportunities that evolve from these relationships, and both the faculty and industry benefit through a dynamic exchange of knowledge.”
The new academic programs and research are being developed and delivered through NC State College of Management’s Service and Product Innovation Initiative (SPI) and the Center for Innovation Management Studies (CIMS), a unique industry/university cooperative research center based at the college.
The new courses include the Service Innovation Lab where graduate and undergraduate students will work with companies to develop innovative service concepts. In addition, a new graduate-level service management course will be taught in partnership with Indiana University, using emerging virtual world tools and technology.
“At the College of Management, our faculty has leveraged NC State’s strengths in engineering and design to establish a technology focus in all our programs,” said Ira R. Weiss, dean of the college. “Working in collaboration with engineering, textiles and design faculty, as well as industry leaders such as Xerox and IBM, assures a depth of relevance to our research and courseware in this area.”
A CIMS partner since 2002, Xerox recently hosted the biannual CIMS meeting at the Xerox Research Center Webster (XRCW), one of the company’s four worldwide research centers.
About NC State SSME
North Carolina State University’s management and engineering faculty offer graduate courses in Services Science, Management and Engineering (SSME). The MBA program in NC State’s Jenkins Graduate School of Management offers a concentration in services with two options: one emphasizing professional services and relationship management, and one emphasizing service innovation. The Jenkins Graduate School is part of NC State’s College of Management. NC State’s College of Engineering offers a master of science in computer networking with concentrations in IT services and network services. Business and engineering students and faculty work collaboratively in several of the service courses.
About Xerox
Xerox Corporation is the world’s leading document management, technology and services enterprise. A $16 billion company, Xerox provides the industry’s broadest portfolio of color and black-and-white document processing systems and related supplies, as well as document management consulting and outsourcing services. This year Xerox was awarded the National Medal of Technology, the highest technology award in the United States, for its innovations. For more information, visit www.xerox.com/innovation.
ReadOn:CarolinaNewsWire
RALEIGH, N.C. — More than 150 teachers from the Triangle and surrounding areas will be honored Wednesday, Nov. 14 at the fifth annual Touchstone Energy Bright Ideas education grant awards luncheon at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley. Approximately $153,000 in grant monies will be awarded to these outstanding educators whose commitment to the classroom is distinguished and inspirational. The Bright Ideas winning grants being honored at the luncheon will benefit more than 45,000 students in the Triangle and surrounding areas.
Delivering the keynote address will be Richard Ruffalo, a nationally acclaimed educator, motivator and athlete who has won many national awards for his teaching, including the Walt Disney Company/McDonald’s Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 1995. Ruffalo also holds national and world titles in shot put, discus, javelin and powerlifting.
The luncheon, which is part of a statewide celebration of Bright Ideas Month, begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom. The Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley is located at 4500 Marriott Drive, Raleigh, NC 27612. During November, North Carolina’s Touchstone Energy cooperatives will award a total of more than $515,000 in Bright Ideas grants to the state’s teachers.
The winning teachers attending the luncheon are from Harnett, Cumberland, Sampson, Bladen, Johnston, Duplin, Pender, Columbus, Onslow, Granville, Vance, Durham, Wake, Nash, Franklin, Alamance, Caswell, Orange, Person, Chatham, Lee, Moore and Randolph counties.
The Bright Ideas grant program awards grants up to $2,000 to individual North Carolina teachers for innovative classroom based projects. Since its inception 14 years ago, Bright Ideas has awarded more than $5 million and funded projects in mathematics, the arts and sciences that have touched more than 850,000 students. The electric cooperatives’ Bright Ideas grant program is the only education grant program exclusively for North Carolina’s classroom teachers.
Read More:CarolinaNewsWire
