Word Power - Do you have it?

Can what you speak influence your life and who you are?

If we take this sentence into consideration, we can clearly state that your vocabulary can predict your success. In other words, the size of your vocabulary will usually determine the size of your bank account. Word power can be also associated to life power, the power of seduction and we can't deny...it's a great and important power! The famous author of the popular book serie Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki wrote, “If you want to be rich, you have to have a rich man’s vocabulary. Words can make you rich, or can make you poor.” E. D. Hirsch, Jr., is the founder of the Core Knowledge Foundation and professor emeritus of education and humanities at the University of Virginia. He is the author of several acclaimed books on education issues and he has also written in a recent article entitled A Wealth of Words, “the key to increasing upward mobility is expanding vocabulary.”  In the same article, he also states that "Vocabulary doesn’t just help children do well on verbal exams. Studies have solidly established the correlation between vocabulary and real-world ability." This topic is really a very important matter.

According to E. D. Hirsch Jr., "Nonetheless, there’s no better index to accumulated knowledge and general competence than the size of a person’s vocabulary. Simply put: knowing more words makes you smarter. And between 1962 and the present, a big segment of the American population began knowing fewer words, getting less smart, and becoming demonstrably less able to earn a high income." So, if you want to be smarter, you should read, study and dedicate part of your time to improve your vocabulary. And if you want to get a good salary, keep on reading and studying. Now you know that it can bring much more benefits than what you could imagine! 

Post Question for the students: How is your vocabulary? What could you do to improve it? Do you think that it is important to learn new words? What new word have you learned lately?
Tip: To know more about it, just click here and read a complete article about vocabulary, written by E. D. Hirsch Jr. 

Parent and Teacher Conference

 

          This post is to thank all the parents that attended the first Parent and Teacher Conference on January 25.

          Although it was on a Saturday morning and we know how the weekend is very special to rest, mainly after a working week, this meeting is a very important moment because it will introduce the school and teacher’s methodology to new parents and explain the changes or some new topic for the ones who have already been with us.

          My students will start the high school period, so it is a great opportunity for parents to meet the new teachers and ask questions about this new phase in their children’s life. Questions like:

      -        What skills and knowledge will the students be expected to master this year?

      -        Are there challenging academic standards and how the students will be informed about the academic standards they are expected to meet?

      -        What kinds of projects and assignments have we planned that will help the students meet higher academic standards?

      -        How will the students be evaluated? How are grades determined in our classroom?

      -        Are summer school, tutoring, or other programs available for students who need more help?

And a very important contribution:

      -        What can parents do to stay more involved in their child's academic progress?

Educate a child, a teenager or an adult is a great responsibility, which must be divided by everyone involved in this process. When the work can be done together, it is easy to achieve the desired results and even go further!

Thank you very much for attending the conference and count on us! 2014 will be a very promising year!

PS.: If any parent couldn’t attend the meeting scheduled by the school, don’t worry. Set up an appointment and I’ll be glad to talk to you! See you!