Secretary Duncan spoke to the National Conference of State Legislatures and addressed the critical role legislators play in education reform. - 4 days ago

Statement by Attorney General Holder and Secretary Duncan on annual report examining crime in schools. - 4 days ago

Three students win the "I Am What I Learn" video contest and will receive a $1,000 prize. - 5 days ago

Needs $323 ($323 already given of $646 total cost) -- Give Now Tulsa, OK Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Literacy Resource: Supplies Your help will make it possible for all my students to fit on the rug where we spend the majority of instruction time. They are always complaining that there is not enough room. Read More My students need a new bright and colorful rug that has room for all of them. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $661 ($0 already given of $661 total cost) -- Give Now 30 days left! Redding, CA Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Literacy Resource: Other Our classroom is in need of a new rug that is appropriate for first grade. With a new rug students would get excited about rug time Read More My students need a new rug for class meetings and rug time. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $582 ($35 already given of $617 total cost) -- Give Now Chamblee, GA Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Literacy Resource: Supplies We spend a lot of our class time on the reading rug and that is not possible any more. This beautiful new reading rug will be just what my classroom needs! This new rug will motivate them even more to go to our beautiful new classroom library, pick up a book, and read! Read More My students need an A to Z Animals Rug. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $622 ($0 already given of $622 total cost) -- Give Now Bronx, NY Level: Grades 3-5 Subject: Literature & Writing Resource: Supplies Our third grade class needs your help because we need to have a rug that provides us with personal space. The rug contains bright colored squares so that each student can sit on their own square. This rug will allow us to reinforce graphing skills. It will also help... Read More We are in need of a new rug! More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $661 ($0 already given of $661 total cost) -- Give Now San Diego, CA Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Literacy Resource: Other These little energetic bodies need their space defined on the rug. They are learning to be good listeners and respect the personal space of their peers. A rug with defined lines will help us accomplish this goal. Read More My energetic kindergarten students need a rug that fits 29 little bodies. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $148 ($448 already given of $596 total cost) -- Give Now 41 days left! Brooklyn, NY Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Early Development Resource: Other We would love to have a classroom rug that we could all fit comfortably on. Having a nice, clean, spacious, rug would also fill us with pride in our learning environment. Read More My cute and cuddly Kindergarteners in need of a classroom rug. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $649 ($0 already given of $649 total cost) -- Give Now Tucson, AZ Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Health & Wellness Resource: Supplies My class rug fails to exist! When my class does activities on the rug, my students sit on the dirty, stinky, wood chip, sticker-thorn, and dirt infested classroom carpet. Read More My students need a Peaceful Sun carpet. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Needs $595 ($0 already given of $595 total cost) -- Give Now Shawnee, OK Level: Grades PreK-2 Subject: Early Development Resource: Other The Busy Bee ABC Learning Rug features upper and lowercase letters, as well as shapes, numbers and number words. Read More My students need an amazing circle time rug to inspire them at circle time. More Classroom Projects in rugs - 2 hours ago

Infants, meaning children under one year of age, are often the hardest ones to shop for. You want that first Christmas to be special, but you also want to get the most for you money in terms of toy longevity and usefulness. Here are some things to look for when shopping for educational toddler toys. Children this age change rapidly. In fact, more growth occurs in the human brain during the first few years of life than at any other time. Choosing toys that help to stimulate this process is a great way to give your child every advantage. But how can you find the best toys for your baby to enjoy? Make your toy buying decisions by choosing options that stimulate one of the five senses: hearing, tasting, smelling, feeling, and seeing. The best educational toys will make use of one or more of these things. Hearing: Choosing toys with audible sounds is an iffy topic. On the one hand, children enjoy hearing voices and music that they've come to enjoy. On the other hand, it is not recommended for children this age to have too many noise making toys unless the child has some control over the sounds. Rattles, for example, are generally acceptable because your baby will have full control over the rattling sounds. Other ways to help stimulate your child's sense of hearing is to talk and sing to him as much as possible. Read books together, sing lullabies, and narrate what you are doing as you go through your day. Tasting: Babies put everything in their mouths. Although this may seem like a strange way to play, your baby is actually learning more about the world around her. By gumming and mouthing objects, she can get a better idea of what they feel like, taste like, what their textures are, and if what their temperatures are. Although there aren't many toys specifically made for your baby to "taste", it's important that you pick some items that are safe for mouth exploration. This can include soft books made from rubber or cloth, blocks with no added paints, and teething rings. Just be sure to disinfect toys frequently. Smelling: Again, toys are generally odor free but that doesn't mean you can't use them to tie in certain sensory details. Find a book of pictures, for example and then get real items to go along. Show baby a picture of the flower and then let her have a sniff of a real one. This will teach her that the flower smells good. Feeling: Aside from mouthing toys, babies also use their hands to manipulate and feel the textures of certain objects. To help reinforce this concept, find toys that come in various textures and shapes, Examples include baby friend blocks, texture toys with cloth and crinkle fabric, and books with various textures included inside. Seeing: Nearly any toy can be used to stimulate your baby’s sense of sight. Books, blocks, stuffed animals, pictures, puzzles, and wall toys and mirrors are all great choices. Just remember that very small infants do not have the same eyesight as we adults. They need colors that sharply contrast in the beginning, like black and white, followed by bright primary colors in intriguing patterns.

Get the most for your money this Christmas by shopping for items your whole family can enjoy. It doesn't matter how old your children are or what their hobbies are, there are several toys, activities, and games you can purchase to enjoy with your kids for years to come. Children of all ages enjoy playing games. These may include board games, activity rugs, and memory games. Although they are generally listed by age group, parents and older children will still have a blast playing games targeted toward little kids as they learn new concepts. Many games also have a "hard" and "easy" play options in order to grow up right along with your kids. Learning Carpets Learning games like flash cards and memory games are also a great choice because it allows parents to get actively involved in their child's learning. You can play alongside your kids, or enjoy watching them master new skills. Games that involve getting physically active are another great choice. Exercise balls and trampolines are both good options because they can be purchased in both adult and child sizes. Some exercise balls even have stable bottom to prevent rolling as children jump on and off. You can burn off those extra holiday pounds while your kids romp and burn off extra energy. Best of all, you will be fostering a love of physical fitness that will last a lifetime. Activity Cubes You can also take part in having arts and crafts with your kids. Make it rule that birthday and holiday cards are to be made instead of purchased, and take turns drawing your favorite things. When you're done, compare your favorites with your child's. This not only fosters creativity and imagination, but will also give you and your kids a great way to spend time together and learn more about each other. No surprise here: books are another great way to spend time with your kids! You can purchase your favorite books as a child to share with them, and collect a library of new classics for them to enjoy. Studies have proven that children who are read to every day do better in school and feel more accepted and appreciated within their families. They will also develop earlier reading skills themselves, so you can take turns reading stories to one another. Educational Games for Kids However you choose to do it, spending quality time with your kids both during the holidays and throughout the year. You will both reap the benefits of love, encouraged expression and learning.

You want to choose the most educational toys for your child this holiday season, but before you spend big bucks buying all the latest toys, make sure you know what you're spending your money on. We here at SensoryEdge have believed that the best toys are usually simple, don’t contain batteries, and encourage imagination. Now, there is emerging evidence to support these beliefs. According to a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is no data at all that shows toys with talking buttons and singing animals help to promote a child's development. In fact, the AAP consistently encourages parents to buy children open ended toys like shape sorters and building blocks. This isn't to say that more technologically advanced toys can't help children learn to some small degree, but kids better grasp concepts like counting and reading when they’re learned by actively participating in their play, rather than simply listening to a character tell something is so. You can better understand this concept by imagining that you have never seen the ocean. True, you can find out what it looks like by viewing pictures and you can learn about it through reading books; but this is only part of the story. With time, you will likely forget much of what you learned and unless you continuously look at the pictures, you can’t fully remember what the ocean looks like in your mind. Now imagine that you go and see the ocean firsthand. You feel the sand in your toes and watch the way the waves crash onto the shore. By experiencing it firsthand, you will likely always remember what standing at the ocean looks and feels like. Similarly, when children press a button and it tells them something is a "triangle", they may understand that that particular button represents a triangle. However, if you give your child a paint set or a drawing board and show them what a triangle looks like and then allow them to practice making the shape themselves they are better able to internalize, and thus learn, what a triangle looks like, how to draw one, and what it IS. So as you do your shopping this year, choose toys that allow kids to be more involved with their learning and play. One general rule of thumb is that if the toy will be moving more than you child will be, you’d likely be better off going with something else. Swinging monkeys and dogs that really walk may look cool, but they are good for little else even if they sing the alphabet. Toy Link: Puzzles