Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Educational Resources - Helping Develop Social Skills


You can now include a wide range of educational resources for both outdoor and indoor activities for your children. They are available under different categories, such as art and crafts offering paints, adhesives, easels and pencils and crayons. Children can make use of imaginative play with the help of products that involve structures, such as prams, dolls and accessories for improving their role play skills.
Such kind of dramatic play resources can be stocked and propped up in the house or in the classroom, so that young children can play make believe games to stir their imagination. These can be in the form of pots and pans or stuffed toys that are washable and unbreakable. They can consist of a whole range of items, such as hats, purses, dolls, tea sets, beds and homes for dolls and so on. Such imaginative play helps kids to concentrate and they can benefit by increasing their attentive powers and self control abilities. For instance, the child can play a game of pretending to be someone who works in a supermarket, where they set up a counter and pretends to be selling cans of food and drink at a till. They can make use of a cash register and handle pretend money, and also place different items of groceries on the shelves. The child improves their talent for sequential acts and also learning numeracy skills. The child also learns the importance of doing things logically and correctly with the help of such educational resources.
The child can make use of miniature doll houses and transport items, such as cars and trains to create an entire story. He can also learn to substitute objects in case he does not have certain items. This will improve imagination and creativity. The child also learns to use a lot of emotions in this way and will learn to empathize with others through such educational games. They can, for instance, learn to sympathize for a doll that is hurt in the game or scold another doll for being naughty or even praise them.
Fine motor control can be developed with the help of such products. This can actually prove to be a precursor to writing, as the child starts making use of these toys in fantasy. Even small groups can play or work on such projects and games. Whether they use these educational resources by themselves or with others, the children learn to respect the ideas of others and develop their social skills, which is an important part of childhood education. It also helps them to solve problems and find solutions easily.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Pharmacy Technician Schools to Meet Specific Needs


As per the varying needs of the individuals, a number of colleges and vocational schools are available which offer conventional as well as online customizable courses to meet the specific requirements of an individual.
Some of the most renowned schools in America popular for offering excellent pharmacy technician courses are California State University and Texas Southern University. These universities offer a great curriculum which prepares the students well for the National Certification Exam offered by the Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. Apart from these two reputed universities, there are various other colleges which are highly recommended for pursuing a course for becoming pharmacy technician which include National American University, Austen Community College, Sullivan University and University of Houston. The best part is that the courses offered by these colleges also help the students to take on-the-job training at hospitals as well as retail pharmacies.
The number of people opting for online courses has increased keeping in mind the time factor as well as the cost effectiveness of the program. It's the best option for those who wish to take a training program while meeting their career and family obligations. It's also good for those who want to pursue training while working full time which gives them the convenience to complete the course at their own pace and according to the availability of time. The maximum flexibility is offered in the online courses to suit the specific requirements of the individuals. By joining these courses, an individual gets the freedom to learn as per his own convenience and complete at his own pace.
The online course for pharmacy technicians provided by the Kaplan University not only gives access to archived files to the students for study purpose but also facilitates live interactive sessions over the internet to resolve the queries of the students. The online course offered by Penn allows the enrolled students to log in at any time and complete learning sessions instead of restricting the students to attend virtual classes at a fixed time. These courses not only help in completing a training program online but, also prepare the students well for taking certification exams. It proves to be very useful as employers prefer to give work opportunities to the well qualified and certified pharmacy technicians.
Before enrolling in any program, it's must to ensure whether the school or college which offers the training program is accredited or not. Only those schools or colleges should be joined which are approved by any recognized organization like the American Society of Health System Pharmacists or any other similar body of the state. Technicians who pursue their courses from accredited schools are given preference during the hiring process and are also paid more by the employers.
Besides accreditation, there are various other things which should be checked before joining a training program. A person should know whether all the required courses are covered by the program or not. Not only should the courses, the topics covered in those courses also be checked. Apart from this, the nature of the modules should be checked to know if they are comprehensive enough to meet the specific educational needs of a student.
People opt for courses which are completed within a short span to save time however; it's always recommended to opt for such courses which prepare the students for specific certification exams. Before enrolling, the person should be aware about the duration, qualification and the cost of the course beforehand to avoid any confusion later.
So, this was a brief description about the pharmacy technician schools and the information to be checked to choose the best pharmacy technician school according to one's needs.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

State Vital Statistics Improvement Program


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, otherwise referred to as CDC, is federal government agency operating within the United States Department of Health and Human Services that's primarily responsible for protecting public health and safety through the provision of information to enhance health decisions, and the promotion of health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations.
The grants and programs of the CDC are all geared towards the achievement of its premiere agency mission which is to "collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health - through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats."
In keeping with this mission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has established the State Vital Statistics Improvement Program in an attempt to is to enhance the operational efficiencies of the state vital statistics programs and their ability to provide timely, high quality, and comparable data to the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS).
The programs seeks to stimulate collaborative efforts between the States and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in order to achieve the following objectives:
a) Implement the 2003 US Standard Certificates for Birth and Death and the Report of Fetal Death in all 57 registration jurisdictions
b) Facilitate the development and implementation of re-engineered birth, death and fetal death information technology systems in all 57 registration jurisdictions
c) Enhance and expand the use of cost effective business practices and procedures within the State vital statistics offices
d) Enhance the quality and timeliness of birth, death, and fetal death data for public health surveillance and medical research
e) Enhance the ability of State vital statistics offices to meet the needs of citizens for secure, legal copies of their birth and death records, which includes the provision of paper certificates to citizens for their immediate legal or personal use, and the provision of electronic verifications of birth and death records to meet the needs of State and Federal agencies in validating the citizenship and/or age of a person
f) Provide technical assistance to State vital record offices in order to support improved security and responsiveness of vital registration practices and systems.
In order to help achieve these objectives, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is set to enter into a five-year cooperative agreement with an eligible grant applicant and administer funds in the amount of $3,427,500.
Due to the unique nature of this program, only applications from The National Association of Public Health Statistics and Information Systems will be accepted and deemed eligible.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services, the primary agency funding this program, is the country's leading agency responsible for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially to those who are least able to help themselves.