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A common sight at daycare centers, preschools, and even libraries is children playing on or with jigsaw puzzle mats. It's also an option for families looking for playroom flooring for their home. Typically, these foam tiles are five-eighths of an inch thick, so, when pieced together, they provide a cushioned play surface for active preschoolers. Another advantage is hygiene. A six-by-six foot foam play mat can be a lot easier to clean and disinfect than the much larger floor of a classroom or an entire home playroom; so there are potential health benefits to using foam play mats, especially during the cold and flu season. Here are other reasons why puzzle play mats continue to enjoy such enduring popularity and widespread use.
Perhaps the main reason that interlocking foam mats are such a mainstay at daycare facilities and nursery schools is that it keeps toddlers busy, entertained, and mentally stimulated for more than five minutes at a time. Not only do preschoolers enjoy the colors and texture of interlocking foam mats, but many kids become engrossed in the challenge of piecing the jigsaw puzzle tiles together.
Interlocking play mats which have alphabet letters and numbers on them are also an excellent learning and teaching tool. It can help kids learn their alphabet and primary numbers, early on; and set a precedent for making learning a fun experience. Children can also gain an advantage in the self-esteem department when they know their alphabet, numbers, how to write their name, and a few other basics before they start their first day of kindergarten.
Kids' play mats are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from 24 square feet to as large as 72 square feet. Alphabet play mats that can be pieced together are most likely sold in larger and smaller sizes, but, for many daycares, schools, and parents, the ones that are around five or six feet in each direction are the most practical.
Putting together a large puzzle mat is an activity that several toddlers can do together, so not only is it educational and entertaining, but it also encourages social interaction and development. As many parents and all early childhood educators know, the first five years of a child's life are highly formative, in terms of both cognitive abilities and social skills. That may be why this simple learning tool continues to be popular, year after year, even in the age of interactive computer games and the Internet.
In addition to the standard alphabet and primary-numbers version, there are also a variety of other choices, including a digitally printed map of the world, which displays international flags and has other educational features.
Depending on your perspective and budget, prices from $90 to $135 may seem either prohibitive or reasonable. However, when you consider the number of uses you'll probably get from the mats, and the hundreds of hours of educational entertainment it provides, the prospect of buying a large interlocking play mat becomes much more cost effective, whether it's for your daycare center, nursery school, or home playroom.
Joel Sussman is a writer for Mountain Media, a Saratoga Springs ecommerce company that provides website development services for clients, such as Commercial Mats and Rubber, a site that sells jigsaw puzzle mats for kids, interlocking rubber mats, yoga mats, and several types of gym matting.
Why Voting No on the Minneapolis School Referendum is a Vote for Minneapolis School Children
No Administrator Left Behind!
What happens if the Minneapolis school funding referendum fails this election? What happens is the voters will be asked to approve it next year in November 2009 (when we vote in Minneapolis City Council elections). The Minneapolis School Board and referendum supporters have stated that if the Referendum fails this year, nothing “bad” will happen. This Referendum will have no effect on school funding in Minneapolis, for this year (2008-2009 school year) or next year (2009-2010 school year). It only affects school funding starting in 2010-2011.
Why should people who support children and Minneapolis public schools vote NO on the Referendum this year? Because they believe that the children of Minneapolis deserve better than the current referendum proposal. The current referendum is flawed and incomplete. Working together the Minneapolis School Board, school administration and teachers union can do and should do much better for Minneapolis school children, than the current Referendum proposal. The District needs to be much more specific about the actions steps it will take to achieve its stated goals, which I agree with. Below are the things I want to know and I think all voters should know made before we support a referendum. Unfortunately, the only way to gets this information is for us to vote NO this year. By voting NO we send a message to Minneapolis School Board, school administration and teachers union that they can do much better than the current Referendum proposal for Minneapolis school children.
Enrollment Decline
Minneapolis parents are voting with their children, by taking their children out of the Minneapolis School District and sending them to suburban districts. This is a major cause of the decline in enrollment in the Minneapolis School District. This says 10 times more about the Minneapolis school district than all the speeches, reports, editorials, and commercials on TV & radio etc. combined. Shouldn’t voters know the specific steps the School District is planning on taking to reverse this trend, before not after approving a $60 million tax increase?
School Closings
The School Board and administration will announce which schools they plan to close in February or March 2009. I want an aggressive school closings plan because I want my tax dollars going to teacher salaries and not to pay for heat, lights and especially for repairing and maintaining buildings that are over 50 years old including several from the 1920s. Others may want to keep neighborhood schools open, especially neighborhood elementary schools. Some people might vote No on the referendum if they knew their neighborhood elementary, middle and/or high schools was going to be closed. We the voters and especially parents deserve to know which schools the District plans to close before we vote on this referendum not after. Unfortunately, that means voting NO this year so we will know the District’s school closing plan before we vote next year.
Black White Achievement Gap
The achieve gap between black students and white students in Minneapolis public schools is among the very worst in the entire United States - worse than schools in Alabama or Mississippi. The achievement gap has not really changed since it was first identified.
The Minneapolis school board, administration and teachers union say they want to close the achievement gap between black students and white students. Is the District committed to doing whatever takes to eliminate the black white achievement gap? Or is only planning to do what is easy and/or what is not controversial? If easy steps could reduce the gap, it would have been eliminated years ago. The only way to know the level of commitment is to know the specific action steps the School Board and Administration are committed to taking to close the black white student achievement gap. But the District has not shared with voters what specific steps it will take to close the achievement gap. I want know and I believe that all voters, parents and especially black parents deserve to know if the School Board and Administration are willing to “take the heat” for making the unpopular and/or controversial changes that will be necessary to close the black white student achievement gap, before approving a $60 million referendum not after approving the referendum.
Staff to Teacher ratio
Several years ago, a study of California schools revealed that California public school had one staff employee for every teacher. The California parochial schools had one staff employee for every six teachers. Obviously a much higher percentage of revenue went to hiring teachers in the parochial schools than in the public schools. What is the staff to teacher ratio in the Minneapolis public schools? Do you know, because I don’t know? Shouldn’t voters know the staff to teacher ratio before approving a $60 million tax increase not after approving a tax increase?
Union Contract
The current contract with the Minneapolis teachers union severely restricts School Board and Administration’s ability and flexibility to change teacher assignments to improve student performance. The current union contract is designed to protect the established seniority system. Teacher assignments (which grade they teach, subject and school location etc.) are based on seniority; not experience in a specific subject or grade, interest in specific the subject or grade etc.
In business if a company has problems with quality and/or low productivity at a particular manufacturing plant; do they send their least experienced mangers and/or poorest performing managers to that plant? NO!! The company sends its best, most experienced managers to “turn around” the poorly performing manufacturing plant. The current union contract forces the District to send its newest and least experienced teachers to the schools with the poorest performance. The current contract does not see having teachers high on the seniority list assigned to a poorly performing school as a badge of honor.
The union contract prevents the District from paying a bonus to the best teachers, whose students show the biggest improvement on test scores. Shouldn’t teachers, that are extraordinary, be paid more than poor teachers? The current contract does not allow merit-based pay.
The current union contract also prevents the District from holding teachers accountable when their students perform poorly. If a teacher’s students perform poorly on standardized tests one year that is a matter of concern. If a teacher’s students perform poorly on standardized tests five years in a row, which is a problem. Teachers, that consistently underperform, cause problems for the teacher that gets those students the following year. Good teachers, that get students from poor performing teachers, have to do double work teach current grade work plus teach prior grade work that students did not learn because of the poor performing teacher. Good teachers have to double work because they care about getting the students back learning at grade level. Is this fair to students and good teachers? Teacher under performance needs to be addressed, perhaps by additional training, coaching from successful teachers etc. If a poor teacher does not improve after being a given reasonable time to improve, then that teacher needs to be terminated for the benefit of students and good teachers.
The vast majority of teachers high on seniority list, work hard to be good teachers. But there are a few bad apples that stop working or are just putting in their time until they retire. The slackers know that they will never ever be laid-off because of their seniority. The school district needs a union contract that allows them to lay off these few bad apples for the benefit of students and good teachers.
There are some senior teachers that have given up on black students. They feel no personal responsibility to go the extra mile to help black students who are behind catch up. They feel no personal responsibility if black students fail. The School District needs a union contract that allows it to lay off teachers that have given up on black students for the benefit of students and good teachers.
The Minneapolis School District needs the leverage of passage of the school referendum to negotiate a more flexible and student friendly contact with the teacher’s union. After the referendum what is the Union’s incentive to negotiate changes to the current contract? Voters deserve to know if the union will negotiate changes to the existing contract will allow performance-based pay, performance-based terminations and flexibility in teaching assignments before approving a $60 million referendum not after approving it.
These are the reasons I’m voting for Minneapolis school children by voting NO on the school referendum this year. Children, parents and voter deserve more information and a better proposal than the current referendum. I hope that Minneapolis School Board, Administration and Teachers Union will provide Minneapolis voters and parents with the information we need to make an informed decision about voting YES next year.
Several years ago, the Minneapolis school district decided on the number of teacher to layoff, before even considering reductions in administrative positions. To me this is backwards, decisions on the number of administrative positions are made first, before teacher layoffs are considered.
About the Author
Donald is the Executive V.P. of Twin City Business in Minneapolis.
In Old School, Luke Wilsons Character is a Sex Offender....?
In the Movie Old School, Luke Wilson goes to a Frat Party and hooks up with a college girl. He later finds out it is the dean's teenage daughter. So that means he should be tried and convicted of a sex offense with a minor.
But in the movie... it's funny. It's a joke. I don't get why society is so double sided.
Is it a serious crime or a joke?
Do you think someone in his situation should be punished / forced to register as a potential threat to society?
Yes, if he was caught he would have been sent to prison facing up to 5 years.
It is a double standard. The media makes Mary Kate & Ashley, Hilary Duff and others into teenage sex symbols. Then News at 11 says, "Another sex offender is arrested... and in other news Lindsay Lohan is finally legal!"
It makes no sense.
But honestly, in the situation depicted in Old School, the Luke Wilson character is not a pedophile or a threat to children. He should have just did his time and got off without having living restrictions or being on some useless list.
15-year-old Hall draws lots of fans
Gavin Hall, the 15-year-old high school sophomore from Pittsford, had 200 to 300 people, many of them from the Rochester area, tagging along with him during his first-ever PGA Tour round.
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