Everyone learns differently, especially young children. It is important to accommodate and celebrate these differences inside the classroom. That is why many educators are turning toward a new type of learning—holistic learning. Read onward to learn how to effectively incorporate holistic learning materials into your elementary school classroom.

What Is Holistic Learning?

Holistic learning is a teaching philosophy that aims to educate the whole of a person, rather than simply teaching standard academic concepts. This means combining the cognitive, emotional, social, and physical aspects of a subject into a complete, well-rounded lesson. Students are encouraged to reflect inwards on themselves and recognize how their actions affect the world around them. Similarly, lessons are designed to reflect real-world scenarios and often feature local problems the students can help address.

What Are the Benefits of Holistic Learning?

Studies show that students who typically struggle in the classroom experience increased academic success when holistic learning is incorporated into the curriculum. Additionally, holistic learning cultivates empathy, thoughtfulness, and emotional awareness, resulting in students who feel empowered to connect with others and contribute to their communities.

Which Tools and Materials Are “Holistic”?

There is a plethora of holistic, pre-made lesson plans and enrichment items you could bring into your classroom. Puzzles promote dexterity and logical thinking. Board games teach children the importance of rules and cooperation. Read-aloud picture books mix visual and audio stimuli. Browse around to see what works for your unique students.

How Does the Classroom Itself Contribute to Holistic Learning?

Research indicates that the physical setup of a classroom affects a student’s ability to learn. When arranging your classroom, try to incorporate natural light, relaxing sounds, and interesting colors. To promote connection and communication, organize desks to face each other in small groups. If possible, add plants and other naturalistic features that your class can nurture together.

All educators want to do their best for their students. The current state of the education system makes that different. However, change is possible, one classroom at a time, holistically.

How fast can you write your essay? I remember my English subject during my college days wherein our instructor told us to write an essay for less than an hour. It's quite interesting because essay writing is one of my favorites. As long as the topic is worthy of a discussion I can really write about it. But for some students, essay writing ain't easy at all. They find it difficult to organize their thoughts. Maybe they have the ideas they just do not know how to present it. Good thing essay write ups can be obtained online. I came across www.poweredessays.com and so far, based on the testimonials, this site is reliable because they customized and can deliver your essay write ups just when you need it most.

Now that I am already a teacher though I am not teaching English subject, I still include essay writing on my test for my students. 

The Christian Church and other religious groups have long been associated with doing charity work wherever such ministry is needed. Constantine was a Christian emperor of Rome, and he is the first ruler on record as having funded the Christian Church's alms work. In the 1800s in England and the United States, the first government programs began for social work that paved the way for the work and education of social workers today. 

England was a leader in establishing laws and programs to help the poor and needy within its borders. The laws provided for low-income and less fortunate people to fit into categories that would serve them in the best way. As examples, the able-to-work poor were in a different category from the infirm and helped according to their need. 

In the United States, a growing problem was the overwhelming number of immigrants who arrived in the country and had no money or means of support. Aid programs sprang up and individuals and organizations donated time, supplies, food and medical help to the stricken people. Eventually, hospitals saw the need for some type of social workers and hired skilled nurses for the task. Massachusetts General Hospital was the first with others soon to follow that employed nurses as social workers. 

Today, social workers are often on the front lines in the fight against social injustices. They work with the poor and needy and strive to protect human rights. Those interested in a career in this field find many private and public colleges and universities that offer social work degrees. These institutions of higher learning are a positive presence in local communities, and they advertise on radio and television as well as in relevant printed material and webpages. They will sometimes list their bachelor's degree and masters degree in social work in the advertisements. Especially do they advertise social work coursework to target audiences on the internet. 

Social workers hours or benefits might be cut when the economy is struggling, and more social workers may be hired during times of economic highs. However, those in government realize that the poor need the social work programs in place. Schools offering education for careers in the social work field encourage students to enter this career path by showing the accomplishments and rewards of working for social needs. Certainly, government-funded social work and programs will continue into the foreseeable future.

Image courtesy of: www.vistacollege.edu

Earning a degree is very important not only for career building purposes, but for self-boost improvement as well. It's a different feeling if you obtain a degree in the field where you think you will really excel. However, not all individuals got the chance to pursue their studies though the means is available. Just like what the infographic above have indicated, there are lots of available scholarships for military spouses that goes unclaimed. One of the reasons maybe why the beneficiaries were not able to enjoy the said scholarships was busy schedule. There are also stay-at-home spouses who cannot make it because their hands were already full with the house chores and when they are done, they do not have energy left to go to school. However, cases like this have a definite solutions. As we all know there are educational courses being offered online. They offer flexible schedules thus obtaining an online degree is not impossible anymore. 

 

Mindanao University of Science and Technology (MUST) formerly known as Mindanao Polytechnic State College, continues to soar high as it embarks another year as one of the leading State Universities and Colleges in the Philippines. For the last three years since the Magna Carta was approved, MUST produces not only quality graduates but also strong edifices that every MUSTeans can be proud of. MUST strives to live up to its core values; Moral Uprightness, Unselfish Dedication, Social Responsibility and Total Quality Management. MUST also have its Five-Year Strategic Plan which will commence on the year 2014. Within this five-year goal, the massive infrastructure projects will be realized. For the meantime, the construction of the 8-Storey Engineering Building was going on along with the Gym Renovation. There is also an infrastructure project going on with MUST's satellite campuses. Indeed, the vision of MUST which is to be one of the country's leading providers of scientific and technological knowledge and skills was slowly realized with the improvement of its buildings and facilities.

To give credit to the accomplishments that the University has, annual celebration of MUST Days was held through the initiative of its ever dynamic president, Dr. Ricardo E. Rotoras. This year's theme Go Forth on the Fourth signifies that that MUST will not remain as just a mere university, but rather it aims to go further until it becomes globally competitive enough. The MUST Days highlights include MUST Alumni Homecoming where all its graduates here and across the globe from the year 1927 up to the present are cordially invited to take part of this momentum events. There will also be exhibits, academic and cultural competitions, lectures, and a whole lot more of fun activities. All of these will take place on February 6-9, 2013. Everybody is welcome to witness this annual event.

I am so over excited today that I came too early in the school for my first subject LOL. I thought my classes will start at 8am but when I scanned my schedule, it was still 10AM. Anyway, what should I expect from my dear students for this school semester? I could only pray for the better. I knew for a fact that mostly freshmen students have the attitude of a highschool buds that is why I shouldn't expect for that "maturity level" among them. I just miss my teaching career that is why I decided to resign from the office and try my luck again in the academe world. I know I still have lots of things to catch up but then I have less worries because I have a very supportive colleagues- and I already asked God for wisdom about it.

I just hope and pray that my first day of school will starts well. I'll be handling Engineering Drawing, Fundamentals of Drawing and Educational Technology. Well, my dear readers a.k.a followers, please pray for me for more wisdom and strength. God bless everyone!