User talk:Krobi036

Welcome to Wikibooks, Krobi036!

What year did you receive your BFA? I graduated from VCU (with a BFA in painting and printmaking)in 1993. I too am a stay-at-home mom. I agree that reading to children and helping them learn to read is very important for their growth and education. It expands their minds academically as well as creatively. I have mixed feelings about homework, though. While it's great practice for what they've learned during the day, shouldn't they be allowed to just be kids when they get home? Jkova003 (talk) 00:55, 11 September 2008 (UTC)jkova003

I'm Julie and I'm an art therapist/art teacher at a high school for emotionally disturbed students. I do wish we had more time to read to our kids. At our high school, we incorporated 30 minutes every other day for sustained silent reading. The whole class has to do it. Then the rest of the pd, teachers try to mentor their students by getting to know them at a more personal level; they can also go to other teachers for help in that subject, make-up work, etc. I wonder how this would fare in elem. schools, although they do seems to receive a lot of attention in reading in that teachers read to them or it is a part of their classtime. Last year, our 2nd grade teacher gave us homework for the entire week at the beginning of the week and that helped a lot! We could finish it when we had the most time so that on other nights, we could do more reading or just more family time. I wish all the teachers would do that. Couldn't they incorporate homework time before coming home? That way, the teacher is there for help and they are free to play when they get home. I don't know, just a thought. I think recreational activities are important too, although I know what you mean about being overscheduled. I think that about my kids sometimes, but then they always seems to have time for t.v, games and friends too, so go figure. I took a jewelry making class over the summer, via VCU and taught by a local elem. school art teacher in my county. We worked with precious metal clay and had lots of fun making silver jewelry. Hope to chat with you more in the future. My eldest is interested in VCU, but I understand you can't even appy unless you have a 3.5 gpa. Jsmit219 (talk) 21:46, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Hi Kim, this is Tish from your group at Rappahannock Community College. I enjoyed reading your bio. The first thing I thought of while reading it was that you are already at a huge advantage in your teaching career: you have four children of your own. I have not yet had a child, so I have not witnessed firsthand the astonishing ways in which children "take in the world." You have the advantage of understanding their different stages of development and the unique nature of each child. I see that you have a degree in fine arts. (I had a close friend in college who earned a degree in fine arts.) I believe that it is very important for children to receive more exposure to fine arts and other "right-brained" activities. I agree with your statement that children are overburdened with homework. Even when I was a child, I was given heavy loads of homework. I almost never went out to play, and, as a result, I became very overweight. (Perhaps the link between heavy amounts of homework and the childhood obesity epidemic should be explored.) It was not until I was in college that I started to understand the huge importance of physical fitness. I had an English professor whom I greatly admired, not only for her mind, but also for her level of physical fitness. She taught me how important it was for the body and mind to both be cultivated. Since then, I have worked constantly to improve my body as well as my mind. Thanks for bringing some balance into the discussion. Ehawk008 (talk) 21:32, 14 September 2008 (UTC)