Educational theorists, from philosophers like Socrates and Rousseau to researchers like Howard Gardner today, have addressed theories of learning. Many of their ideas continue to influence homeschoolers as well as traditional educators. A little familiarity with some of the ideas most popular among homeschoolers will help you make sense of the wealth of available materials when you begin to make choices for your family.
Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development
He proposed that children go through several distinct stages of cognitive growth. First comes the sensorimotor stage (birth to two years), during which the child learns primarily through sensation and movement. At the pre-operational stage (ages two to seven), children begin to master symbols such as language and start to be able to form hypotheses based on past experiences. At the concrete operational stage (ages seven to eleven), children learn to generalize from one situation to similar ones, although such reasoning is usually limited to their own concrete experience.
Finally, at the formal operational stage (eleven years older), children can deal with abstractions, form hypothesis and engage freely in mental speculation. Although the rate at which children progress through the stages varies considerably, the sequence of stages is consistent for all children.
Therefore, to be appropriate and effective, learning activities should be tailored to the cognitive level of the child.
Rudolf Steiner and the Waldorf Schools
Steiner divided children's development into three stages: to age seven, children learn primarily by imitation; from seven to fourteen, feelings and emotions predominate; and after age fourteen, the development of independent reasoning skills becomes important. Waldorf education tends to emphasize arts and crafts, music, and movement, especially at younger ages, and textbooks are eschewed in favor of books the students make for themselves. Waldorf theories also maintain that the emphasis should be on developing the individual's self-awareness and judgment, sheltered from political and economic aspects of society until well into adolescence.
Montessori and the Prepared Environment
Italian physician Maria Montessori's work emphasized the idea of the prepared environment: Provide the proper surroundings and tools, so that children can develop their full potential. Montessori materials are carefully selected, designed to help children learn to function in their cultures and to become independent and competent. Emphasis is on beauty and quality, and that which confuses or clutters is avoided: Manipulative are made of wood rather than plastic tools are simple and functional, and television and computers are discouraged.
Charlotte Mason: Guiding Natural Curiosity
Charlotte Mason was a nineteenth-century educator advocated informal learning during the child's early year contrast with the Prussian system of regimented learning then in vogue. She recommended nature study to develop both observational skill and an appreciation for the beauty of creation and extended that approach to teaching history geography through travel and study of the environment rather than as collections of data to master. She felt children learn best when instruction takes into account their individual abilities and temperaments, but she emphasized the importance of developing good habits to govern one's temperament and laying a solid foundation of good moral values.
Holt and Unschooling
Educator John Holt wrote extensively about school reform in the 1960s. Although he originally proposed the word ?unschooling? simply as a more satisfactory alternative to ?homeschooling.? Unschooling now generally refers to a style of homeschooling, in which learning is not seperated from living, and children learn mainly by following their interests. Children learn best, he argued, not by being taught, but by being a part of the world, free to most interests them, by having their questions answered as they ask them, and by being treated with respect rather than condescension.
Gardner and Multiple Intelligences
Psychologist Howard Gardner argues that intelligence is not a single unitary property and proposes the existence of ?multiple intelligences.? He identifies seven types of intelligence: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Because each person has a different mix of these intelligences, learning is best tailored to each individual's strengths, rather than emphasizing the linguistic and logical-mathematical approaches traditionally used in schools. A bodily kinesthetic learner, for instance, might grasp geometric concepts presented with hands-on manipulative far more easily than she would if they were presented in a more traditionally logical, narrative fashion. A teaching approach that recognizes a variety of learning styles might encourage many individuals now lost by conventional methods.
There is no doubt that a website redesign can be suitable for just about anybody. It is probably the most suitable for a company or business that is looking to improve their success. It is also suitable for a company that is looking to get the best results out of website promotion or website optimization. Of course, if you just have a website which can use some readjustments, considering a new website design can be a very good choice for you.
Why is the Best Website Designing Important?
There are a number of different reasons why making sure your website experiences the best website designing can be very important to its overall success. The reasons are as follows:
* It can improve your websites overall appeal to anyone, through some of the best website graphics and styles. * Website promotion can be a whole lot more effective, due to the new appeal of your website. * It can help you pick out some of the best wording for your website, in order to make sure that your website optimization is top notch.
Why Can Website Redesigning Be Important For a Company?
Although you may have heard that it is true before, chances are that you may not know why a new website design can be very important for a company website. Well, for a number of different reasons.
* When people can easily understand how to use a website, they will be a whole lot more likely to use a service. * The overall appeal, as well as how professional your company’s website looks can be a huge determining factor as to how successful your company may be.
Know What You Want to Improve About Your Website
One of the main keys to getting the best website redesigning is knowing what it is that you want to improve about your current website. For example, do you want to get rid of those lousy graphics and have a graphic design company replace them with their professional graphic services? Or do you want to make sure that everything that it is on your website sounds professional enough? No matter what the case, it is important to have a good idea of what you would like to improve beforehand.
Know What You Want to Keep About Your Website
One of the main keys to getting the most through website designing is knowing what your website’s strengths are. For example, do you like the way that everything is worded, but you simply do not like the way that it is laid out? If this is the case, all you will need is a new layout. Or perhaps you just want to make your website easier to understand. No matter what it is, you should have a good idea of what it is that you like about your website as it is right now.
Have Ideas in Mind
Having the right ideas in mind can be very important for you. It can make the entire process of redesigning your website go a whole lot smoother. Chances are that you will also probably have a much better chance of getting what you are looking for if you have some ideas of what you want beforehand. Otherwise, it will be completely left up to your website designer. It is safe to say that; overall, brainstorming can be very helpful to anyone.
Know How Well it Grabs Attention
One of the main keys to having the ultimate website promotion, as well as the ultimate website optimization, is making sure that your website grabs attention. Chances are that if the design of your website is boring, people will not become overly interested. However, if you make your website interesting and very stylish, chances are that you will begin to see much3 better results.
If you do not know whether or not your website grabs attention right now, you should make sure that you ask several people what they think about your website’s appearance. If they like it, chances you will not need to change much but if they do not like it, you could end up needing a complete website redesign.
Understand The Purpose of Your Website
The most important thing about having the most effective and well designed website may be understand what the purpose of the website is. For example, if it is intended to advertise a company, you should know that. If it is used to sell your company’s products, you should be able to freely identify that.
Whether these are the purpose of your website or if it is just used to teach others about your personal interests, you should have a good idea of what your website is supposed to do. This can make the website redesign process go a whole lot easier.
Improve the Content on Your Website
There is no doubt that the content of your website is probably the most important thing. It can completely determine how effective your website promotion or website optimization will be. Not only do you want to make sure that the content on your website flows, but you also want to make sure that the content on your website also sounds credible. This is especially important if you have a company website, in order to ensure the sale of your products or services.
Hire The Best Website Redesigners
Although anyone can redesign your website for you if you pay them to, not everybody will be able to do the same job. It is important to make sure that you hire the best people to transform your website through website redesigning. In order to find the right company, it is important to find people who are experienced in website designing, and who will also cater to your needs.
Although you may find a website redesign company who will offer you cheap services, the most important thing is quality.
Quality will determine the complete success of your company, or overall effectiveness of your website.
Both Joshuap & Rajesh Tavakari are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Joshuap has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Cure Anxiety and Public Speaking. Joshua Poyoh is the creator of . For more information on. Joshuap's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.
Rajesh Tavakari has sinced written about articles on various topics from Education, Nokia Phones and Pets. Rajesh V. Tavakari, Senior SEO of Website Promotion & Ranking-Services. Offering affordable and. Rajesh Tavakari's top article generates over 5400 views. to your Favourites.