Healthcare in the 21st century

UCL: AI in Medicine 2020 Conference

2020-01-13T12:02:00.004-08:00

I attended the MedTech UCL AI in Medicine Conference: a bespoke, one-day conference bringing together some of the greatest minds in digital health. With speakers from Google DeepMind, BenevolentAI, NHS X and others. The day consisted of talks, discussions on the greater implications of AI in healthcare, exciting workshops.

BenevolentAI integrates AI technologies at every step of the drug discovery process from early discovery to late stage clinical development.It has a platform of computational and experimental technologies and processes using vast quantities of mined and inferred biomedical data

AI uses already generated medical data for research into areas like biomedical sciences. AI research also explains the difference in the prevalence of certain diseases amongst different races for example diabetes affects Asians more than Africans.

BenevolentAI collaborates with international organisations such as the African genome variation project.
Genetic studies of human diseases are more challenging to perform in sub-saharan Africa because genetic diversity is greater than in other populations.This pilot will increase our understanding of African genome variation and enable the design of large scale genetic association studies in the region.

The African genome variation project aims to collect essential information about the structure of African genmes to provide basic framework for genetic disease studies in Africa.

Clinical trials are relatively absent in most parts of Africa and there is an opportunity to bridge the gap ad provide data for AI needs

Demo for an electronic health record system( Africa Safety Data)

2019-08-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

Integrated Paediatric Service

2019-08-03T03:54:00.003-07:00

Integrated Paediatric Service (IPS) is a new care model was set up to deliver specialise health care services for children in acute and community settings to receive specialist care by appropriately qualified staff in their own home or primary care settings. The target patient groups include 0-16 years (19 special needs).

The service model include

Children with chronic illness being seen by the same team of professionals in both hospital and community
Facilitate direct access and admission to hospital
Multi-disciplinary team (MDT) which is clinically lead that will interface with primary care clinicians to provide the highest quality of individual holistic care to the child and family
Working with consultants in clinics located in hospitals, homes and schools

To facilitate this the level of interface between primary and secondary care services should be seamless between the various clinical system example, EMIS interface with e-referral (ERS). As at the time of writing this, integration between both systems doesn’t exist so GPs at primary care level may not be able to refer patients directly to secondary care without the use of a clinical assessment service to triage referrals between primary and secondary care.

The advantage of IPS include

Paediatric Referral Triage

• Reduced numbers of inappropriate outpatient referrals due to the Consultants ability to defer back to

primary care with advice and guidance.

• Patients being seen in the right place first time reducing duplication of care

Integrated Clinics

• Reduced need for outpatient follow-up due to improved handover to primary care

• Cost savings due to redirection of outpatient activity into clinics at a lower tariff

MDTs

• Reducing the need to refer to secondary care for specialist advice saving outpatient referrals

• Providing a platform for proactively managing patients and best utilising early help and community service

reducing the reliance on secondary care

Teaching and engagement

• Upskilling GPs and increasing their confidence to treat children in secondary care

• Removing barriers to GPs seeking advice and guidance from secondary care, reducing the need for

outpatient referrals to secondary care

Interoperability: Health Information Exchange

2019-07-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

When time is of the essence, every moment that you wait for a patient’s information could have life altering repercussions for the individual and their family. The ability to cut out this waiting time won’t just help you respond to the needs of a single patient quicker, you’ll also be able to maintain a continuous flow of patients through your health system

By supporting the exchange of data across organisational, geographical and technological boundaries, caregivers can access clinical information from any venue of care. That means that medications, pre-existing conditions, test results, allergies and more can all easily be considered when clinicians are creating health plans for patients, with safer and more timely decisions reached at the point of care.

The health information exchange (HIE) provides integration services via a one-way HL7 API and two-way REST API to integrate all sources of health and social care information across a region. It uniquely solves the consent to share and access patient information by allowing the patient to manage the permissions of each organisation, team or individual via the user interface of the patient portal. It provides granular consent to segment the record and allow permission to be granted by the individual for secondary uses of data (such as population analytics). The consent API provides all other connected systems with details of what information can be shared with each organisation, with a medico-legally audited ‘break glass’ functionality for overriding patient consent in cases of emergency or lack of capacity, where it in the person’s best interest. The HIE is managed by a publish-subscribe architecture and connects to integration engines and to most major systems in primary, secondary and tertiary care to deliver fully coded medical data in a view only or read/write approach. It is a fully hosted service with zero infrastructure requirements.

How to help children develop problem-solving skills

2011-11-17T13:38:00.001-08:00

For children to learn how to resolve conflict, they must first learn problem-solving skills. Children should be encouraged to think of solutions and alternatives to problems, which will help them be more confident when they’re faced with difficult situations. Children who learn problem-solving skills will develop and use them throughout their life.

Here are some general steps to teach children problem-solving skills:

Get the facts and identify feelings. When children are fighting, angry, frustrated or upset, identify the problem. When asking children to tell you their problems, you need to be calm and nonjudgmental. Children see things from their own perspectives and may be completely unaware of how their actions affect other children. Helping children identify their own feelings and recognize the feelings of others is an important step.
Help children set the conflict-resolution goal and define what they want to happen in the situation. When children have clear goals, it’s easier to think of solutions.
Generate alternatives. Help children stay focused on their problems and ask what they can do to reach their goals. When children offer alternatives, repeat their ideas and ask them what else could be done. Don’t criticize their ideas. Instead, prompt more solutions by asking the children questions. If they cannot think of alternatives, ask them to imagine how someone else might handle the situation.
After children have generated their ideas and alternatives, help them evaluate the consequences. For instance, “What might happen if . . .? Would it be safe? Would it be fair? How would everyone feel?” Adults should encourage children to evaluate their ideas and see why they are acceptable or unacceptable.
Ask for a decision. After children evaluate their ideas, adults should restate the problem, summarize their ideas and let children decide which actions they would like to try. If children choose an idea that you think will not work, make sure they know what their alternatives are and what they should try next.

Helping children recognise pattern

2011-11-11T14:11:00.001-08:00

Patterns are all around. They help children see how things work together and help in predicting what happens next. Patterns help children become our future problem solvers. When children learn to recognize, copy and extend patterns they are taking a giant step into the world of math. However, repetition is needed for children to become proficient at this. A five or six year old may be able to recognize and recreate patterns but this will take time and practice. The use of a variety of manipulatives during the lesson is needed.

1.Divide the classroom into 3 stations. Place the strips of construction paper at the first station along with a drawing of an A-B pattern. Instruct the children to create a paper chain in the A-B pattern in front of them. Ask them how they could extend this pattern. This will test whether the child is able to reproduce and extend a given pattern.

2.Set up the second station with different color crayons. Instruct the children to sort the crayons in whatever way they desire. The children may think of grouping colors by darkness or lightness of the color, by different shades of the same color, etc. There is no wrong way to sort them. Ask the children to explain why the crayons are sorted in this way. This helps to reinforce reasoning skills.

3.Set up the third station with colored candies. This station can help the children recognize that there are patterns everywhere, even in the food we eat. Instruct the children to take a handful of the candies. Tell them to count how many are in their hand. Instruct the children to create groups from what they have. Then have them count how many are in each group. This introduces them to simple mathematics. Ask the children why they grouped the candies like this and how many are in each group. Then ask them how many they had all together.

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How to deal with challenging behaviour.

2011-11-07T15:12:00.001-08:00

Hopefully, you will not encounter behaviour like this in your classroom. However, you can sometimes feel like you've done ten rounds in the ring when you get home at the end of a busy day.

There are going to be some classes where, as a group, or because of the behaviour of specific individuals, you are likely to encounter challenging behaviour. Challenging behaviour is a label which sounds politically correct but describes less than perfect behaviour.

As a classroom teacher, you will need to deal effectively with this behaviour to avoid losing the class. I have seen this happen to a couple of teachers and it is not a happy thing. The teachers ended up feeling like they had failed, lost credibility and face.

This can be a real knock to self-confidence and it takes courage to get back up in front of a class again. If this ever happens to you, try and put it in a good perspective and be philosophical. The whole thing could be a learning experience, even if you learn that you never want to lose control of a class again!

The following are a number of interventions and approaches to managing challenging behaviour:

1 Planning

Much of the success in behaviour management comes from prevention rather than cure. If you carefully research and plan your approach to each class and the individuals that present challenging behaviour, you are much more likely to reduce the probability of disruptive behavior in the first place. At the least, thorough planning should help you to reduce the impact of any behaviour if it occurs.

For example, before I actually teach a class I will carefully look at the Special Needs Register and make note of any issues that the children may have. Often the SEN Department will have an action plan in place for that child. The action plan or IEP (Individual Education Plan) should have details of strategies that work or don't work for the child. It will be tailored to help with the child's problems . If you are teaching lower ability classes, definitely check out their IEP's. Another example of planning might be to look at the Schemes of Work and talk to SEN classroom assistants who know the kids well. You can then provide resources that are at the right level for the pupils and so avoid unnecessary frustrations.

This type of planning will help you get routines in place to help your classroom run smoothly.

2 Have your own sets of rules and communicate your expectations of the class.

3 Follow the School's Behaviour Policy.

If all the teachers in a school stick together and follow the policy, it has a much better chance of working. If you are new to a school, make sure you are familiar with the Behaviour Policy so that you can enforce it if necessary.

4 Keep things light and sidestep minor disruption with humour.

A certain amount of minor behaviour can be dealt with by the teacher making light of the behaviour but addressing it if it continues. Humour can be a great way to disarm a provocateur in a non-confrontational manner. As an example, I taught this boy called Tom, who had developed this attention grabber - by letting go gigantic farts just when I got to an important point in my lesson, or when I had just settled the rest of the class. The first time he did his trick in my class, the fart immediately caused mayhem. Kids moved because of the stench and some started to gag. I made a humorous comment about him eating beans for dinner and "beans, beans good for your heart, the more you eat the more you fart". This got the class laughing and gave me enough time to open the windows and door to let the gas escape. I quickly moved back to the point I was about to make and the lesson went on without a major disruption. Fifteen minutes later, Tom had built up enough gas to trump again. At this point, I asked him to take his gas outside and stay there until he was sure he could come back in without farting. After a cool off period, Tom realised I wasn't going to take any more disrupting from his overactive bottom and rejoined the class - fart free - for the rest of the lesson. As a footnote to the story, I heard that Tom had soiled himself while trying to disrupt his English lesson. What goes around, comes around!

If kids do not respond to your actions start to use the School Behaviour Policy.

If effective, warn and use detentions, a threat of parking or removal to 'time out'.

Children in care 'under-perform academically'

2011-10-31T04:15:00.000-07:00

Children in care are not likely to perform well academically, with less than 25% attaining five C to A* grade GCSEs, figures released today will show.

In 36 local authorities, fewer than 10% of children taken into care achieve the grades, the statistics are expected to show.

The Government will release the figures this morning as part of an initiative to tackle local authorities' under-performance for children in care and adoption.

The figures are also expected to show that the proportion of "care leavers" not in education, employment and training is up to 69% in the worst areas.

Later today, the Department for Education will publish a series of tables ranking local authorities on key issues relating to children in care and adoption.

A spokeswoman said the Government wants to overhaul the care and adoption system to improve chances for vulnerable children.

The number of babies adopted in England fell to 60 last year, with children waiting an average of two years and seven months to be found a new home, a spokeswoman said.

Since 2007 the numbers of adoptions have fallen 8%, she added.

In a recent speech, Education Secretary Michael Gove said local authorities should speed up the adoption process.

He also warned that children were spending too long in care or with dysfunctional families when they could be adopted or fostered.

Mr Gove said: "At fault is primarily a justice and a family justice system which does not prioritise the needs of the child and takes forever to make critical decisions which matter hugely in ensuring the child is found the right home.

Helping children through divorce

2011-10-28T02:59:00.001-07:00

Thousands of kids experience the stress of divorce each year. How they'll react depends on their age, personality, and the particular circumstances of the separation and divorce process.

Every divorce will have an effect on the kids involved — and many times the initial reaction is one of shock, sadness, frustration, anger, or worry. But kids can also come out of it better able to cope with stress, and many become more flexible, tolerant young adults.

The most important things that both parents can do to help kids through this difficult time are:

Keep visible conflict, heated discussions, and legal talk away from the kids.
Minimize the disruptions to kids' daily routines.
Confine negativity and blame about each other to private therapy sessions or conversations with friends outside the home.
Keep each parent involved in the kids' lives.

Most adults going through separation and divorce need support — from friends, professionals, clergy, and family. Don't seek support from your kids, even if they seem to want you to.

Breaking the News

As soon as you're certain of your plans, talk to your kids about your decision to live apart. Although there's no easy way to break the news, if possible have both parents present for this conversation. It's important to try to leave feelings of anger, guilt, or blame out of it. Practice how you're going to manage telling your kids so you don't become upset or angry during the talk.

Although the discussion about divorce should be tailored to a child's age, maturity, and temperament, be sure to convey one basic message: What happened is between mom and dad and is not the kids' fault. Most kids will feel they are to blame even after parents have said that they are not. So it's vital for parents to keep providing this reassurance.

Autism detected in voice of children

2011-10-24T03:31:00.000-07:00

Toddlers with the developmental disorder pronouce words differently to their healthy peers which can be picked up by a new automated vocal analysis system created by scientists.

The device called LENA (Language Environment Analysis) could lead to the screening for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for which early intervention is important.

It works by recording a child's speech for a whole day and then feeding the data into a special computer program that compares the noises with those of other youngsters already known to have the condition.

The researchers said early speech of infants with autism - particularly the way they pronounce the syllables of words - are distinct from those of typically developing children.

The system which costs about £130 picked up those with the condition with 86 per cent accuracy, according to the findings published online in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It also differentiated normal children and those with autism from children with language delay based on the automated vocal analysis.

Early diagnosis and treatment of autism can have a dramatic effect on the development of children.

The problem is that it is hard to detect and by the time it is usually detected a lot of damage is already done.

Professor Steven Warren, of Kansas University, said: "This technology could help paediatricians screen children for ASD to determine if a referral to a specialist for a full diagnosis is required and get those children into earlier and more effective treatments."

The researchers analysed 1,486 recordings from 232 children aged between 10 months and four years – more than 3.1 million identified utterances.

They found the most important indicator proved to be the ones targeting the way children pronounce syllables – the ability of children to produce well-formed syllables with rapid movements of the jaw and tongue during vocalisation.

Infants exhibit control of the voice in the first months of life and refine this skill as they acquire language.

Parents' scrap prompts school patrols

2011-10-22T02:18:00.000-07:00

Police are undertaking daily patrols outside a primary school in Cardiff after parents fought in the playground.

South Wales Police confirmed that its community support officers have attended the Welsh-language Ysgol Glan Morfa, Splott, all this week. It comes after two families came to blows and a subsequent playground ban resulted in staff being "threatened" and "physically manhandled".

Sian Wyn Thomas, a teacher, has since written to parents, saying poor behaviour would not be tolerated. In the letter, dated 17 October, Ms Thomas wrote: "We have had some unpleasant incidents involving foul language and aggression by a small minority of parents.

"Last Friday was the worst so far, with two families fighting on the schoolyard."

South Wales Police confirmed its officers were continuing to patrol the school twice a day. Cardiff Council said parents bringing their children to school – which has about 400 pupils – should remain at the gates, before being escorted into the building by staff.

Helping Children and Teens with Asperger's to Achieve Success in School Settings

2011-10-18T12:45:00.000-07:00

ulie Balderston, with a Master's in speech and language pathology, has spent ten years working in the public schools, specializing in Asperger's Syndrome and the autism spectrum. Her work with children and teens with Asperger's and with high functioning students on the autism spectrum has led to her appreciation of their gifts; she feels extremely fortunate for the opportunities she has to work with these students. Her positive attitude shows in her dedication to meeting their educational needs at the highest levels possible. Rather than lowering expectations for children with Asperger's learning in the public schools, her motto is "the sky is the limit".

Establishing an Educational Program
Julie Balderston stresses that it is best for the students when they are diagnosed early, to allow for early intervention and support. She notes that the educational criteria and the medical criteria for Asperger's Syndrome are somewhat different, making it important for parents to work with school personnel as well as their family doctor or other specialists. Public schools generally look at diagnostic criteria that include impairments in communication, difficulty with some social interactions, restrictive areas of interest, sensory oversensitivity, and a consistency in these characteristics over time and in intensity. In the public schools, once students are found eligible for Autism Spectrum support, most get on an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and are given a case manager. The case manager then becomes their advocate and a voice for them in the school system.

When she acts as a case manager for a student with Asperger's Syndrome, Balderston advocates for the student both in and out of the classroom. In the classroom, she works with the teachers to accommodate the student's needs and modify materials in class. She often suggests alternative assignments and encourages the teacher to focus on the student's special skills; she also helps students and teachers to set educational goals. She says, "I do not want kids to be held back or have a bad experience with education." Instead, when a student encounters an area where characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome may be causing them extra difficulties, Balderston helps teachers to look for other avenues for the student to express his or learning and abilities.

Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy

2011-10-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

Scaffolding
Lauren Scharff discusses the Scaffolding approach to teaching.

Eton backs plan for state boarding schools

2011-10-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Eton College is backing plans to increase the number of state boarding school places in the UK.

The boys-only private school has been involved in talks with at least two state schools about the prospect of opening up new boarding houses for their pupils.

Tony Little, headmaster of Eton, told The Independent that the number of state boarding schools will grow as a result of the stampede to take up academy status. "As they develop specialisms in areas such as sports and music, the likelihood is that they will be attracting students from further afield– for whom boarding could have a positive impact."

Mr Little rejected the idea, pioneered by Andrew Adonis in the last Labour government, that state boarding places should just be for vulnerable children from broken homes or where parents were on the verge of splitting. Mr Little said they should offer the opportunity to young people from a range of backgrounds. He added: "The old image of boarding as fagging and beating and not walking down certain corridors, that's pretty well long gone."

Instead, today's 1,300 pupils at Eton all have their own boarding room rather than being crammed into dormitories.

The drive towards opening up more boarding school places in the state sector is among several initiatives being planned by Eton to improve links with the state sector.

The college is to increase the number of pupils on scholarships and bursaries from its present level of 20 per cent to 33 per cent. In addition, it wants at least 70 of its pupils to have free places.

Helping kids learn words

2011-10-09T08:02:00.000-07:00

We learn and refine the meanings of words throughout our lives. Children need to understand the sound structure of words and to know the meaning of many different words, as well as how to figure out word meaning from the context in which a word is used. Word skills are important as the foundation for learning to read.Words have multiple meanings. There are central meaning (most common) and peripheral meanings (less common). There are also figurative meanings ('hit the sack'). Take the word 'ear', for example. The most central meaning is the listening device on the side of your head. A less common meaning would be as in an 'ear of corn'. Figurative meanings of ear may include, 'I have an ear for music.' or 'I'm all ears!' Figures of speech are important because they are very common in everyday speech and yet quite confusing to those who are trying to learn a language.

1. Children need to develop some understanding of the sound system of words.
· Parents may play rhyming games. For example, "Listen, I can change the word 'saw', a thing I use to cut wood to 'paw', a dog's foot. Reading books with word play, like Dr. Seuss, provide valuable experience.
· Parents can point out similarities in the sounds of words. For example, the word "McDonalds has Don's name in it. Listen, Mc-Don-alds".
· Parents can play blending games and analysis games. For blending games, children can be asked to combine 2 words, such as 'cow & boy' into one word or if analyzing, tell which 2 words make up the word 'cowboy'. For older children, this can be done with sounds. For example, "d-i-n-n-e-r"-ask the child to say what the word is.
· For older children, parents can show how words change with small additions. For example: "I really like your shoes----NOT" or "He is cheerless" or "She is unconscious".
· Parents may emphasize word meaning and sound structure with older children by engaging in casual word play. You may play a running game of 'fictionary' where each person tries to bring home a 'stump' the family word or you may make up words for events that have no words (Example: The cart at the grocery with a wobbly wheel may be called "cartiswabis"). Parents may reward children for recognizing unfamiliar words and asking what they mean (Example: "You are so recalcitrant.") or may reward them for recognizing words used in the wrong context that sound almost like the intended word (Example: "Here, let me give you some destruction on how to do that.")

2. Children need to develop an understanding of the concept of 'word' and meanings in different situations.
· Parents can talk about words and what they mean in any everyday situation. Once you have a child attending to a word, use it in various sentences and fit it into the present context, if possible. Extend to other meanings or words with similar meanings.
Example: Suppose the word is "shimmering" and you are watching the moonlight shimmering on the lake. Show and talk about your earring shimmering in the moonlight or a wet rock. You may extend on to talk about the rock 'glistening' or 'shining' in the moonlight.
Example: Suppose you are talking about a child who is described as being 'bad'. You could refine your child's understanding of bad and extend to other words by saying, "Well, she is not malicious. Malicious is when you mean "to hurt others". I do not believe she wants to hurt others. It is difficult for her to stop herself when she wants to do something. That is called being petulant.

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Talking to kids about death

2011-10-08T04:58:00.000-07:00

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101 tips for improving children's behaviour

2011-10-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dr Andy Gill and other authors for these 101 parenting tips on understanding and improving children’s behaviour. Nearly all frequently asked questions about children’s behaviour are included in this list. If you have a “strong-willed” child, you don’t need to feel distressed. Tips #5 provides you with a freebie,5-week online self-help course to empower you to cope with him/her. Toddlers and preschoolers have endless effort to test your boundary with their weapon, throwing tantrums. Tips #8 Dealing With Tantrum suggests some measures that can help reduce the frequency of occurring. I think most parents cannot avoid the bedtime battle, Tips #11 shows you how to win theBedtime Battle. Some tips, like Helping Your Child Learn Responsible Behaviour, Parenting Teens, The Debate Over Spanking not only give you the general information, but also some further readings or related links through which you can go into depth. You can keep this tips list as your parenting library or bookmark for your friend.

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7 ways to help your child lose weight

2011-10-02T05:10:00.001-07:00

Rates of obesity in children are on the rise. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that more than 15 percent of six- to-nine-year-olds were overweight in 1999 to 2000, compared with about 11 percent in 1998 to 1994. The study also found that increased rates of overweight and obesity have led to more and more children being diagnosed with previously grown-up, obesity-related conditions such as highcholesterol and Type II diabetes.

There is no quick and easy way to help your child lose weight. It requires long-term modifications in lifestyle and eating habits that need to be incorporated into the family structure. But it can be done. Here's how:

1. Set realistic goals for your child.
Because children are still growing, it may be a better to help them maintain rather than lose weight. As your child grows taller without gaining weight, she will naturally become thinner. For more overweight or obese children, a one pound a week weight loss is a good goal. The more attainable the goal, the more likely it is you child can live with these lifetime modifications.

2. Encourage exercise.
Any type of aerobic activity will help your child expend calories. Walking, jogging, bike riding and Rollerblading are all great ways to burn calories. You should also encourage your child to stay active in other ways, like using the stairs instead of the elevator, or walking instead of driving to a friend's house or the local store.

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How to cope with autism

2011-09-30T00:40:00.000-07:00

How will I deal with this diagnosis?

It's not easy to hear the news that your child has autism, and realize that your life will be utterly different than you had expected it to be. Daily life with a special-needs child presents many unique challenges. How do you come to terms with the fact that your child has autism? How do you cope once you get over the initial shock? We aim to help you by providing regular features on topics ranging from how autism affects your family to day-to-day survival strategies.

You are never prepared for a diagnosis of autism. It is likely that you will experience a range of emotions. It is painful to love so much, to want something so much, and not quite get it. You want your child to get better so much you may feel some of the stages commonly associated with grieving. You may “revisit” these feelings from time to time in the future. Part of moving forward, is dealing with your own needs and emotions along the way.

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Stages Associated with Grieving

Shock
Immediately after the diagnosis you may feel stunned or confused. The reality of the diagnosis may be so overwhelming that you're not ready to accept it or you initially ignore it. You may also question the diagnosis or search for another doctor who will tell
you something different.

Sadness or Grief
Many parents must mourn some of the hopes and dreams they held for their child before they can move on. There will probably be many times when you feel extremely sad. Friends may refer to this as being “depressed,” which can sound frightening.
There is, however, a difference between sadness and depression. Depression often stands in the way of moving forward. Allowing yourself to feel sadness can help you grow. You have every right to feel sad and to express it in ways that are comfortable. Crying can help release some of the tension that builds up when you try to hold in sadness. A good cry can get you over one hurdle and help you face the next.

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The importance of private education

2011-09-26T02:22:00.000-07:00

Any society has a right to expect positive and productive contributions from its citizens. Private schooling, when given the opportunity, plays a significant role in achieving this expectation. In addition to producing students with strong academic achievements, private schools focus on producing productive citizens who contribute significantly to the broader well-being of their societies.

Private schools also reduce the financial burden on government for the education of its citizens. Private schools achieve these benefits most effectively when they function from a firm philosophical foundation, when they partner with parents who have the opportunity to choose such alternative educational programs for their children, and when they educate from a basis of conviction for the overall academic, social, physical, emotional and spiritual development of their students.

Education plays a key role in strengthening society. Although education has taken various forms to address the desires and needs of a given culture, community or society, it is generally agreed that an appropriately educated society will be more productive. Its people will be more conscious of cause and effect, and thus more socially aware, and they will take greater responsibility for the well-being of others and the preservation of their country’s environment and natural resources.

An educated society promotes a sense of personal and national identity that results in greater social stability, a stronger sense of community, and a willingness to sacrifice in times of necessity. Positive cultural values enrich any society, and an educated society helps to perpetuate such values by developing students’ historical understanding and communicating the morals and ethics that the society chooses to promote.

The United States has a rich heritage of private schools, many of which originated years before the official founding of the nation. Throughout their country’s history, Americans have been aggressive and assertive about providing education for their children. One example occurred over 100 years ago in the western state of Idaho. A band of settlers in the Boise Valley had begun clearing the sagebrush to prepare the land for the crops they envisioned growing there. The settlers soon built their small church, and since the public schools were too far away, almost immediately developed a private school.

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Helping children with learning disabilities

2011-09-23T16:57:00.000-07:00

This documentary, shown on American Health Journal on PBS, describes the use of brain research in order to help people with learning disabilities solve their learning problems. Physio-Neuro Therapy, the recently discovered learning technique, has shown incredible success in improving learning ability for children and adults with a learning disability like Dyslexia, Hyperactivity, Attention Deficit Disorder, and more.

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Reading to children daily improves achievement and behaviour at school

2011-09-23T06:07:00.000-07:00

The Institute of Education's study found a correlation between mothers who believe it is important to teach their toddler the alphabet, to count, and read to them regularly and the child's achievement at the age of five.

The Government-commissioned study looked at the foundation stage profile, a teacher's assessment of a child's achievement after one year at school, and assessed the cognitive abilities of just over 8,000 five-year-olds.

It also used a questionnaire to assess each child's behaviour.

The study focused on which factors are associated with achievement at the age of five, and took into account "parental variables" such as how much time is spent with the child reading, teaching the alphabet and counting, watching television.

It concluded: "Reading to the child every day and having a mother who thinks it is important to stimulate young children are positively associated with all cognitive outcomes and negatively with problem behaviour." It said that reading to a child every day "appears to lower behavioural

Children who were read to daily did better in the naming vocabulary test, which involved the children being shown a picture and asked to identify the object.

They also performed better in the foundation stage profiles and had higher behaviour scores.

Youngsters whose mothers thought it was important to talk to them and teach them the alphabet did better than their peers in a number of other tests, and also had better foundation stage profiles.

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Private schools may shut as parents turn to state sector

2011-09-20T06:46:00.000-07:00

The recession is making almost a third of private school parents rethink plans to pay for education, according to a major survey published today.

A poll of just over 2,000 parents reveals that 29 per cent are either scrapping plans to send children to private schools or reducing the amount of money they will spend. Such an exodus would have a devastating effect on the private sector, prompting school closures. The sector educates around 600,000 children from 300,000 families – the number is higher once pre-school nurseries are taken into account.

The poll, carried out by Schroders bank, surveyed parents who spend money on private education for children of all ages. Experts from the independent sector conceded yesterday that some parents were facing financial difficulties, although their numbers had fallen by a marginal 0.2 per cent in an annual census. The true picture for this academic year will not emerge until next April's census.

There is already evidence, though, that parents are being more selective about how many years their children spend in private schools.

"I think it's the parents who are contemplating private education who are holding back on a decision," said Neil Roskilly, chief executive of the Independent Schools Association. "They may be being more selective in terms of the key stages they may put their children in for private education. Some believe the basic skills are all important, introducing their children to private education at nursery level or the early years; others think the most important thing is entrance to university

Helping children with Dyslexia

2011-09-19T04:28:00.000-07:00

Proficient reading is an essential tool for learning a large part of the subject matter taught at school. With an ever increasing emphasis on education and literacy, more and more children and adults are needing help in learning to read, spell, express their thoughts on paper and acquire adequate use of grammar.

A dyslexic child who finds the acquisition of these literacy skills difficult can also suffer a lot of anguish and trauma when they may feel mentally abused by their peers within the school environment, because they have a learning difficulty. Much can be done to alleviate this by integrating the child into the class environment (which is predominantly a learning environment) where he/she can feel comfortable and develop confidence and self esteem.

Class teachers may be particularly confused by the student whose consistent underachievement seems due to what may look like carelessness or lack of effort.

These children can be made to feel very different from their peers simply because they may be unable to follow simple instructions, which for others seem easy. It is a class teacher's responsibility to provide an atmosphere conducive to learning for all pupils within their class.

Class teachers need to have an understanding of the problems that the dyslexic child may have within the classroom situation. Hopefully, with this knowledge, a great deal of misunderstanding of a child's behaviour can be prevented. In a positive and encouraging environment, a dyslexic child will experience the feeling of success and self-value.

Of particular importance is an understanding of the problems that poor auditory short term memory can cause, in terms of retaining input from the teacher.

Examples of poor auditory short term memory can be a difficulty in remembering the sounds in spoken words long enough to match these, in sequence, with letters for spelling. Often children with poor auditory short term memory cannot remember even a short list of instructions.

The following items should provide useful guidelines for teachers and parents to follow and support :

Helping children with autism

2011-09-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Early intervention is the key to improving the outlook for a child with autism, a neurological disorder that impairs communication and social skills. Here are several strategies you may want to consider.

To complete this How-To you will need:

A medical workup
A gluten-free, casein-free diet
Speech, occupational, and alternative therapies
School enrollment
A nutritionist or dietitian (optional) (optional) (optional)

Step 1: Take your child for a complete medical exam. Some behavioral problems associated with autism, like temper tantrums, can sometimes be reduced if physical problems common in children with autism, such as gastrointestinal issues and allergies, are alleviated.

Step 2: Put your child on a gluten-free, casein-free diet, which means no barley, rye, oats, wheat, or dairy. Many families of children with autism have had good results -- but only if the diet is followed to the letter, no exceptions.

Tip: To make sure your child is getting the proper nutrients despite these restrictions, consult a nutritionist or dietitian.

Step 3: Get your child started on speech therapy as soon as possible. If your child is nonverbal, try PECS, which stands for Picture Exchange Communication System. This technique, which uses picture cards, may encourage them to speak.

Step 4: Get your child sensory-integration therapy, which has been proven effective in helping children with autism become less sensitive to light, sound, and touch.

Step 5: Hire an occupational therapist to help them with skills they'll need for an independent life. Depending on the child, this can be anything from physical coordination to anger management.

Step 6: Use applied behavioral analysis, or ABA, the only intervention approved by the Surgeon General's Office. ABA is a one-on-one approach to teaching children how to react appropriately to everyday social situations with the help of rewards. Parents can either hire an ABA-trained therapist or learn the technique themselves.

Step 7: Try other therapies. Most children with autism benefit from a combination of treatments.

Tip: A popular exercise is "floortime," in which the parent or other caregivers get on the floor with the child and mimic how they play, to encourage them to let others join in the fun.

Step 8: Consider verbal behavior intervention, which is designed to develop language skills through motivation and reinforcement.

Step 9: Test the TEACCH approach, which customizes an education program to the child's strengths and weaknesses. Because children with autism tend to be visual learners, the program is structured around visual clues.

Tip: Some autism experts think the TEACCH system tries to incorporate too many interventions, and winds up diluting them.

Step 10: Consider becoming trained in Relationship Development Intervention, or RDI, which suggests everyday things parents can do at home to help their child adapt to changes and be more open to interacting with others.

Step 11: Enroll your child in school when they turn three. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act requires that states provide special education services to children with disabilities, beginning at this age.

Step 12: Stay up-to-date on autism research; new therapies are being tested and developed all the time.