Never-ending story

How repetition helps a child's vocabulary

It may be boring for parents – but reading the same book over and over again to children is the best way to develop their vocabulary. Researchers at Sussex University have found that repetition is more likely to help them improve their reading skills.

"What we think is happening with reading is that each time a child hears the book, they are picking up new information," said psychologist Dr Jessica Horst, who conducted the research. She added: "We know that children who watch the same television programme over and over again do better in comprehension tests afterwards."

The researchers devised an experiment with three-year-olds in which they were exposed to two new words to test the theory. Each word was a made-up name for an unfamiliar object – such as a "sprock", a hand-held device for mixing food.

Over the course of a week, one group heard three different stories with the same new words. The second heard only one story with the words. Each contained a drawing of the new objects.

What happened was that those who had heard just one story were much better at remembering and recalling the new words when tested at the end of the week compared with those who had been read the three different stories.

"We know that the more books you have at home, the higher the academic achievement," said Dr Horst. "But what we haven't understood is actually how that learning happens.

"This research shows that it's not the number of books but the repetition of each book that leads to the greater learning."

Margaret Morrissey, of the parents' pressure group ParentsOutloud, said: "To a degree I could go along with that. The most important thing is taking the time to read to your children every night in the first place."

She added: "It is important, too, to allow them to choose the story to read. If you do that, nine times out of 10 they will probably choose the same one." However, she warned that it was imperative there were enough books in the home to allow the child a choice.

The research is by Dr Horst, Kelly Parsons and Natasha Bryan and is being published in Frontiers in Psychology later this month.

Meanwhile, a row broke out yesterday over plans to use non-words to test children on in the Government's proposed new reading test for six-year-olds. The test is designed as a phonics- based progress check to tease out those children who will need extra help to keep up in class.

The Department for Education is aiming to pilot the tests this summer. Phonics focuses on sounds rather than whole words. The UK Literacy Association said: "The inclusion of non-words is counter-productive since most six-year-olds expect to make sense of what they read."

However, Schools minister Nick Gibb said: "The new phonics-based reading check for six-year-olds will ensure that children who need extra help are given it before it is too late and then they can enjoy a lifetime's love of reading."

Pre-primary schools: NGO alleges malpractices in admission process

 Unhappy with the admission process at the pre-primary schools this year, an NGO, Forum for Fairness in Education (FFE), has sent a legal notice to the Chief Minister and School Education Minister of Maharashtra and Deputy Director of School Education.

FFE alleges that despite the tall claims made by the state government to curb the malpractices during admission process in pre-primary schools, no action has been taken against schools conducting admissions based on the interviews of students and their parents.

“Even this year, around 85 per cent schools have openly conducted interviews for students and their parents. Admission procedure for pre-primary was started in the month of October last year and will be completed by February 15. My client states that surprisingly one of the schools had asked parents to get a Character Clearance Certificate from the local police station. Despite all this malpractices highlighted in media across the state, the government has failed to take any stringent action against such schools,” said Jayant Jain, President of FFE, and parents associated with it have demanded strict action against schools conducting interviews and written test of students as well as parents for admission and schools collecting donations during admissions etc.

Jain added, “On one hand, the state asks parents to come forward and file complaints against such schools and on the other the authorities refuse to accept complaints citing this section does not come under their purview. I was left with no option but to take judicial help to stop this. Through this legal notice dated February 7, we have given the state government 15 days to act on the matter or we will approach the court.”

State seeks to regulate pre-primary education

 If all goes according to plan, the state government will soon be able to put an end to the “unaccountable practices” of school managements for  admission to pre-primary classes. This means that there will be checks on collection of capitation fee, which is described as voluntary donations by p

arents, and screening of children.

And this will be possible because of the Right To Education Act (RTE), which was launched on April 1, 2010.

The Act has mentioned banning capitation fees and also advised the state government to regulate the fees for pre-primary class by 2013. The RTE Act makes it mandatory for state governments to make changes in their systems and implement the rules within three years.

Currently, the state school education department does not have a say over the pre-primary school activities.

“Considering all these issues, and also that pre-primary class does not fall within our jurisdiction, we have decided to look into how we can bring it under the school education department,” said state school education minister Rajendra Darda. “Right now, it comes under the Human Resources ministry, which is not there at state-levels. So, there is no accountability as such.”

This is not the first time that the state government is trying to bring in pre-primary schools under its jurisdiction.

The state government, in 1996, had formulated the Maharashtra Pre-School Centres (Regulation of Admission) Act, 1996, which included all the issues, but it was scrapped before being implemented due to pressure from politicians.

Darda’s predecessor Balasaheb Thorat had initiated the process and sought the legal department’s opinion on the issue.
Thorat had also asked the Maharashtra State Council of Education, Research and Training to initiate discussions with stakeholders and formulate guidelines for pre-primary schools’ inclusion.

Heart disease cause of Hank’s death

 Hank the chimpanzee died in January at the Chattanooga Zoo from fluid around his heart and “sudden cardiac death,” according to necropsy results.

“We know he had a great life here at the zoo, and the report points to the fact that Hank was simply facing challenges of aging,” said Chattanooga Zoo Director Darde Long in a prepared release Monday.

The necropsy on Hank, who was 42 when he died, was performed by the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Pathobiology.

Hank’s final diagnosis was “Idiopathic myocardial fibrosis and sudden cardiac death,” according to zoo veterinarian Tony Ashley.

“Myocardial fibrosis occurs when the normal muscle tissue of the heart is replaced by scar tissue,” Ashley said. “This prevents the heart from pumping properly, and it interferes with the electric pathways through the heart. Hank died because fluid built up in the sac around the heart.”

The veterinarian said the fluid prevented Hank’s heart from filling properly.

“If the heart cannot fill with blood, it cannot pump blood. This is called cardiac tamponade, and it is lethal within minutes,” Ashley said. “Alternatively, the scar tissue could prevent the electric impulses from going through the heart properly. This could have caused a fatal arrhythmia.”

Hank was found dead on the morning of Jan. 24. Zoo officials said he had appeared to die in his sleep. He was the seventh zoo animal to die in a period of about a month over the holidays.

The chimpanzee’s unexpected death, coupled with the other recent zoo animal deaths, caused an outcry from a number of former zoo keepers and former zoo volunteers.

Some whistleblowers wrote to regulators and told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that they had concerns about the management and incidents at the zoo.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Inspection Service made a follow-up inspection and cited the zoo with several violations of animal care, including feeding concerns.

On Monday, Ashley said chimpanzee research has shown that 81 percent of chimpanzees have some evidence of the heart problems shown on Hank’s necropsy, and one in three die of sudden cardiac death because of the disease.

“So it is a fairly common disease in common chimpanzees,” he said. “The disease is called ‘idiopathic’ because there is no known cause for the scarring.”

Ashley also said there are no signs of sudden cardiac death in chimpanzees, except at the time of the death.

“Hank did not have your typical heart failure found in people, where there is a lot of coughing or abdominal swelling beforehand,” Ashley said.

The release of Hank’s necropsy was contained in an e-mail from zoo spokeswoman and board member Robin Derryberry. She said a fax of the necropsy would follow, but it was not received Monday.

Sandra Harbison, spokeswoman for the University of Tennessee’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said she was awaiting zoo permission to talk about the necropsy.

Springtime at the Artroom Gallery

 Published on Tue Mar 01 10:07:27 GMT 2011

Spring is in the air at The Artroom Gallery in Garstang with their new exhibition of artwork by two British artists, Ann Bridges and Barbara Jepson.

Both have created artwork on a floral theme for the ‘Promise of Spring’ exhibition.

Ann works from sketchbook studies and direct observation creating vibrantly coloured images. She combines painting and stencil based printmaking processes. Layers of inks are applied directly to the picture surface using small hand held rollers, allowing each layer to dry before adding the next. By wiping off areas that are not quite dry and drawing into the ink, hidden colours are revealed and the richness of the image is gradually built up.

Ann, based in Ruthin North Wales, is a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy. Much of her current subject matter is developed from happy childhood memories of playing in the garden, walking through bluebell woods and picking and pressing flowers.

Barbara Jepson is a textile artist who starts her pictures by creating colourful backgrounds using batik and printing methods. Following this she machine stitches layers of floral motifs until there is an abundance of plants resembling a cottage garden border. The exhibition continues until April 26.

* Helen Carr and Linda Robinson from the Artroom Gallery have revealed they are moving location.

In late March the gallery will be moving from Bridge Street to larger premises opposite Pipers Restaurant on the High Street. The Artroom Gallery specialises in quality British art and craft including ceramics, glass, jewellery and textiles. A variety of pieces handmade by craft makers from Lancashire and other parts of the UK will be on display.