Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.10, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Twestival Education changes our life ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://twestival.fm/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [The Canadian CAEC Exam](https://twestival.fm/the-canadian-caec-exam/) - For decades, the GED test was the most popular high school equivalency assessment in Canada. In 2023, however, the Canadian provinces and territories were informed that GED Testing Service would no longer offer the exam in Canada starting May 3, 2024. The publisher of the GED test said it would become far too costly to - [GED Fast Track Course: Onsego](https://twestival.fm/ged-fast-track-course-onsego/) - Some time ago, I reviewed a new online GED course developed by Onsego. But I feel I should elaborate a bit more on this wonderful program because it is one of the best, most innovative, and to-the-point education courses I've seen in recent years. The course is targeted toward GED® students, but it is structured - [Onsego Experience And Review](https://twestival.fm/onsego-experience-and-review/) - Onsego is an online GED prep course that's highly recommended by teachers. So I took the chance to take a closer look at this online course. The Onsego GED Prep Course is built around this motto: Work Smarter, not Harder. Onsego demonstrates the Work Smarter mantra in several ways: The Onsego course utilizes a spaced - [Teaching Children How To Read](https://twestival.fm/teaching-children-how-to-read/) - One of the most essential parts of growing up for a child is to learn how to read. It should be given top priority by parents because as to how good their child can read will provide long-term benefits to their children. Although, I would say that most of the parents today are well known - [The Birth of Twestival](https://twestival.fm/the-birth-of-twestival/) - In September 2008, a London, UK, group of Twitterers came up with the idea to set up an event for the local Twitter community where they had the chance to socialize offline, meet some faces behind Twitter's avatars, have a good time together with the local community, enjoy some nice entertainment, have some drinks in - [Help Your Child With Math Homework](https://twestival.fm/help-your-child-with-math-homework/) - Homework means a home task in which the teacher gives the responsibility to the student to work on the topics covered in the class. Well, you, the parents, can play a leading role when it comes to showing all the fun math can bring and mastering the challenges. The following are the primary steps for - [Help Your Child With Math Homework](https://twestival.fm/help-your-child-with-math-homework/) - Homework means a home task in which the teacher gives the responsibility to the student to work on the topics covered in the class. Well, you, the parents, can play a leading role when it comes to showing all the fun math can bring and mastering the challenges. The following are the primary steps for - [Next Generation School Programs](https://twestival.fm/next-generation-school-programs/) - If you walk into schools these days, you often can tell the environment radiates an atmosphere that is completely created for students. The teachers will provide each individual student with the support and commitment they require to feel confident learners and individuals. New school energy gets driven by a few important trends: Student-centered - We have - [Tuition-Free Colleges and Low-Interest Student Loans](https://twestival.fm/tuition-free-colleges-and-low-interest-student-loans/) - By the time you've earned your high school or GED diploma, you may think about going to college. Now, this may come at a hefty price, but there are some colleges that make it financially easier for you. These colleges may not be right around your corner, but maybe you have some relatives that live - [Twestival - What You Need To Know](https://twestival.fm/twestival-what-you-need-to-know/) - Now, what exactly is a Twestival? How does it differ from Tweet-ups or similar events? Now, this website is mostly about education, but we all know in what way modern technology and communication is essential for up-to-date education. So there's the link between Twitter and education. A Twestival (or TwitterFestival - Twitter & festival makes Twestival) has - [Interview on an RIE Approach with Janet Lansbury](https://twestival.fm/interview-on-an-rie-approach-with-janet-lansbury/) - To learn how to practice gentle guidance principles with my daughter, I discovered all about Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) and the philosophies of Janet Lansbury. RIE is basically about trusting and respecting babies and infants as whole human beings and there are so many ways of doing so. I'm happy to interview Janet, an - [The Lewis Family Members](https://twestival.fm/the-lewis-family-members/) - I'm a great fan of Bluegrass, and particularly The Lewis Family. So besides articles about education, I love to share my love for Bluegrass and the First Family of Bluegrass Gospel with you here. The Lewis Family is known all across the globe as Georgia's "First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music." The Lewis Family (based - [Using Apps in Early Education](https://twestival.fm/using-apps-in-early-education/) - The real benefit of using smartphone apps is that they help with connecting individuals without a lot of hassle. You may wonder how exactly something so advanced as a mobile app might help in earlier education with regard to children. It’s accurate that kids of this generation tend to be somewhat different than we were - [Preventing Bad Posture in Children with Better Classroom Furniture](https://twestival.fm/preventing-bad-posture-in-children-with-better-classroom-furniture/) - While classrooms have evolved quite a bit over the past few decades, in many cases, classroom furniture has not. It’s a typical scene from a school classroom: children sit for hours at a time in hard-backed chairs from decades past, arching their backs at unnatural angles, writing in workbooks. or reading at outdated school desks, - [Does School Size Matter?](https://twestival.fm/does-school-size-matter/) - People often ask me, “Does school size matter?” In a nutshell…yes, school size matters. Historically large schools (especially for middle and high school) have been the norm for many reasons. A school building, in and of itself, is expensive to operate and maintain. So the fewer buildings that a district has to pay for, the - [Skin Color According to a Five-Year-Old](https://twestival.fm/skin-color-according-to-a-five-year-old/) - Children begin to notice the difference in people’s skin color fairly early on. They innocently make comments that an adult would never get away with. Sometimes those comments about skin color are ironically spot on. This is the current understanding of skin color according to our five-year-old. So a few days back, we replayed a - [Monetary Donations For Public Schools](https://twestival.fm/monetary-donations-for-public-schools/) - One school district where I worked had 12 schools K-12. Between those 12 schools, especially among the 9 elementary schools, there was a sizable socio-economic divide. A few of the schools were Title I (a federal program that entitled lower-income populations to additional funding), while other schools in the district were incredibly affluent. In fact, - [What a Teacher Really Wants, Not Another Mug](https://twestival.fm/what-a-teacher-really-wants-not-another-mug/) - During the course of my career as a teacher and school administrator, I’ve received my share of memorable gifts from students. They cannot give us the smaller classes we would appreciate most (that would be the most beautiful gift) but as they cannot do that, let's see what they can. And one of the first - [What are the three main traditions of gospel music?](https://twestival.fm/what-are-the-three-main-traditions-of-gospel-music/) - Many people think that Gospel Music is a typical southern phenomenon. The fact of the matter is, though, that the roots of Gospel Music actually date back to the 1730s in New England. It began when Rev. Jonathan Edwards (a New England preacher) started a religiously orientated revival labeled "The Great Awakening". The traditional, slow - [The Lewis Family- Gospel & Bluegrass Music](https://twestival.fm/the-lewis-tradition/) - The Lewis Family is 3 generations of a musical family from Georgia. The Lewis Family is recognized as one of the most reputable music groups and has its place in Georgia’s Music Hall of Fame. This website is dedicated to the history of the 3 generations of this remarkable family. How it started Pop (Roy) - [5 steps to make my child stop interrupting my conversations](https://twestival.fm/5-steps-to-make-my-child-stop-interrupting-my-conversations/) - I'm now into educating my youngest one to let me talk to people in peace. She always interrupts me and it's annoying, as you might understand. One of my fears of dating somebody new is that when they'll be around me and my little one, they might be horrified at how I let her boss - [What is Bluegrass Music?](https://twestival.fm/what-is-bluegrass-music/) - If you ask a hundred different people what Bluegrass Music is, you will get one hundred different answers. To understand bluegrass music is to realize and appreciate its musical roots. Bluegrass music's origins come from Scottish and Irish immigrants who settled in the Appalachian Mountain region making their own "mountain and hillbilly" music. This music - [The Complicated Middle and High School Master Schedule](https://twestival.fm/the-complicated-middle-and-high-school-master-schedule/) - There is absolutely nothing more complicated in middle and high school than scheduling. Whether it’s scheduling for athletics, use of rooms/meeting space, or bus scheduling, it’s all ridiculously complicated. And the larger the school, the more students; the more students, the more teachers, and staff; And thus, the ever more complicated scheduling becomes. Above all, - [Momnesia](https://twestival.fm/momnesia/) - My kids are 5 and 2.5 years old, and I am a chronic sufferer of momnesia. If you’re a mom, you may know all too well what I’m referring to. And the more kids you have the stronger your momnesia. I go downstairs to the kitchen and stare at the cabinets wondering for what reason - [How Much is an iPad App Worth?](https://twestival.fm/how-much-is-an-ipad-app-worth/) - Modern Mom Blogger, Andrea Benton, posted an article titled Why Parents Should Pay More for Educational Apps. While it’s probably not the best lead-in title for someone like me (read: frugal), it still piqued my interest so I read on. In her post, Ms. Benton cites three main points: 1) Apps cost money to make. - [Lewis Family Performance - Best Videos Selection](https://twestival.fm/home_page/) - When I have a hard day I listen to the Lewis family music. Recently it happened when my little ones start screaming and protesting. After trying unsuccessfully for several minutes to calm her down I left, knowing she’d eventually fall asleep. I went back down to the kitchen, turned on The Lewis Family soundtrack, and - [The First Family of Bluegrass Gospel](https://twestival.fm/first-family-bluegrass-gospel/) - The Lewis Family is known for their distinctive sound emphasized by the often hilariously blazing banjo virtuoso Little Roy Lewis. Another characteristic is the enormous bass drum, accompanied by the phenomenal vocal harmonies by the Lewis daughters who were always identically dressed. For several decades, the Lewis Family dominated the Georgia bluegrass festival scene, and - [How Important Is It to Learn a Second Language?](https://twestival.fm/how-important-is-it-to-learn-a-second-language/) - The past few days have been busy due to the holiday and because as of late, I have been engrossed in watching Korean dramas that stream for free on Netflix. Watching Korean dramas got me thinking, how important is it to learn a second language? Or maybe more appropriately, I should say how important it - [What Happened to Field Trips?](https://twestival.fm/what-happened-to-field-trips/) - Have you ever wondered, “Whatever happened to field trips? Do kids still go on field trips?” When I was a teacher a long time ago, we took our third-grade students on several field trips throughout the year. From what I can recall, there were around 5 total, including a big day trip to downtown Chicago, - [BlueGrass Gospel Music-How it all started](https://twestival.fm/bluegrass-gospel-music-started/) - In the early 1600s, Irish, Scottish, and English immigrants to the U.S. brought the music styles with them that form the roots of contemporary bluegrass music. The first immigrants later moved on to Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North & South Carolina, and Kentucky where they were writing songs about everyday living circumstances in the new - [The Lewis Family Biography](https://twestival.fm/lewis-family-biography/) - The Lewis Family is known to many of their fans as “The First Family of Bluegrass Gospel”. The group originated from Lincolnton, a modest Georgia community (some 1,500 residents) located in the northeastern portions of Georgia, close to the South Carolina state line. Lincolnton is named after Benjamin Lincoln, a Revolutionary War general, and the Lewis - [Should I Be Allowed to Choose My Child’s Specific Teacher](https://twestival.fm/should-i-be-allowed-to-choose-my-childs-specific-teacher-part-ii/) - In the first part of this two-part series, I wrote from the perspective of an administrator who honors parent/guardian requests for specific teachers. For the second part of this two-part series, I’ll share the perspective of an administrator who does not accept parent/guardian requests for specific teachers. There are a number of valid reasons for - [An Example of a Great Country Gospel Music Church](https://twestival.fm/example-great-country-gospel-music-church/) - Well, here is something that you don't see or hear about every day, a tourist ministry church. Nashville, Indiana, in beautiful Brown County, has had just that since 1994. It all started when Charlie and Roxann Waggoner, of Salem, Indiana, were asked to go to Brown County to play the music for a new mission - [The First Day of Kindergarten](https://twestival.fm/the-first-day-of-kindergarten/) - Months in advance of the start of this school year, we decided to send Lil Pig to the full-day kindergarten program at his pre-school. After weighing all the pros and cons given our current family situation (ie. academic needs, class size, our jobs, sister at the same school, cost), this decision made the most sense. - [Time Out With Gospel Artist Mark St. John Carson](https://twestival.fm/time-out-with-gospel-artist-mark-st-john-carson/) - Mark St. John Carson is one of the area's most gifted worship leaders. Going Around The World, one of his CDs of the past decade continues to showcase what those in the D.C. area already know - Carson is on his way to becoming one of the genre's finest music ministers. Nationally, the gospel community is - [Joann Rosario Finds A New Reason To Worship - Gospel, Now....More Than Ever](https://twestival.fm/joann-rosario-finds-a-new-reason-to-worship-gospel-now-more-than-ever/) - One of Gospel's finest new singers, Joann Rosario, knows what it's like to go through trying times. A former singer with Fred Hammond's Radical For Christ and known for her breakout hit More, More, More, Rosario noticed trouble with her vocal cords in late 2002. By January 2003, she was diagnosed with nodules on her - [More job searchers just quit looking. Some head back to school, others just sit paralyzed in 'living hell'](https://twestival.fm/more-job-searchers-just-quit-looking-some-head-back-to-school-others-just-sit-paralyzed-in-living-hell/) - When Steven Weinberg was laid off in September last year, he decided not to fritter away his savings on a job search he assumed would be fruitless. Instead, he decided to go to law school -- a career move he made in large part because so few employers are hiring. "I realized there are no - [Lewis Phillips Bluegrass](https://twestival.fm/lewis-phillips-bluegrass/) - In early 2010, after the world-famous Lewis Family had disbanded in 2009, Lewis Phillips started out by performing in another new band named The Lewis Tradition in Lincolnton, Georgia. The band's line-up included his beloved mother Janis Lewis Phillips, his highly-talented cousin Travis Lewis (the son of Wallace Lewis who had already passed away), and - [The Gospel Music Hall Of Fame & Museum](https://twestival.fm/gospel-music-hall-fame-museum/) - The Gospel Music Association was founded in 1964 and functions as the voice and face for the community of Christian Gospel music. The association is committed to promoting, highlighting, and celebrating gospel music that has come to us in all sorts of styles such as country, southern gospel, rock, pop, praise & worship, R&B, black gospel, hip - [The Origins of Gospel and Bluegrass Music](https://twestival.fm/the-origins-of-gospel-and-bluegrass-music/) - Black slaves and plantation owners also gave the South what became Gospel with its ring shouts, congregational songs, quartets, sanctified groups, sacred harp choirs, and even work songs. White Gospel really got its beginning in pre-Civil War camp meetings, revival music, and sacred harp singing. When the Ruebush-Kieffer Publishing Company was established, James Vaughn started - [5 reasons of why being a single mom rocks](https://twestival.fm/5-reasons-of-why-being-a-single-mom-rocks/) - I've been a single mother since the moment I found out I was pregnant. By the time I was feeling sick and all that, I was as single as one can be. Four years later I keep single and despite our society assumption that happiness is part of having found a soul mate (check any - [Is Your Child Gifted or Accelerated?](https://twestival.fm/gifted-vs-accelerated/) - One of the things I quickly learned as a school administrator is that kids enter kindergarten with a wide range of abilities and with differing degrees of background knowledge. This doesn’t mean that those that don’t know are dumb, and equally, it doesn’t mean that those that do know are gifted, although those parents like - [Graduation for Fifth Grade, Really?](https://twestival.fm/graduation-for-fifth-grade-really/) - In order to bring some meaningful traffic to my blog, I have been participating in online mom communities like Mamapedia and Modern Mom. It’s fascinating to me the questions that people have about all sorts of topics. Today, one such question got my attention: “What is the proper etiquette for gift-giving? Do you give gifts - [Should I Hold My Child Back a Grade (aka Retention, Flunking, Repeating a Grade)](https://twestival.fm/should-i-hold-my-child-back-a-grade-aka-retention-flunking-repeating-a-grade/) - One of the toughest questions that parents ask me is, “Should I hold my child back in the same grade?” As such, I’ve given this topic a lot of thought, and the various professional experiences I’ve had with students and parents/guardians helped shape my views on holding kids back a grade. One of the - [Progress Reports](https://twestival.fm/progress-reports/) - The school year is in full gear, and by now, most schools on a traditional school calendar are hitting the halfway point of the first quarter. That means it’s about time for progress reports. Progress reports used to be mailed out around mid-quarter (or mid-marking/grading period) to students who were at risk of failing. However, - [Should I Hold My Child Back Part 2](https://twestival.fm/should-i-hold-my-child-back-part-2/) - This is the time of year when some parents may be wondering: Should I hold my child back a grade? It is a difficult and challenging question for any parent to grapple with. Back in June, I wrote a post about retention, and it has been by far, the post that generated the most commentary, - [Back to School — How to Get Off to a Successful Start](https://twestival.fm/back-to-school-how-to-get-off-to-a-successful-start/) - Summer is coming to a close; the sun is setting earlier; it’s time for back to school! Here are a few simple tips for getting off to a successful start and on into the school year. 1. Build a strong rapport with your child’s teacher(s) right off the bat. Introduce yourself in person, make sure - [How To Tackle Your Kid’s School Supply List](https://twestival.fm/how-to-tackle-your-kids-school-supply-list/) - It happens every year. The school supply list is mailed to your home in the summer and this year it seems it will even bigger than the last one, even if your child is only in elementary school. I know it's pretty early in the year to bring this up, but better a bit too - [How Are Students Placed In Classes?](https://twestival.fm/how-are-students-placed-in-classes/) - Have you ever wondered: how are students placed in classes? How are they separated? What are the factors that are involved? Do the teachers do it or does the principal do it? Can I as a parent have some say in the matter? What about new students? In all likelihood, your child’s school has a - [Should My Child Skip a Grade?](https://twestival.fm/should-my-child-skip-a-grade/) - One of my nephews, whom I will refer to as Thor (because he loves the movie character), was born at the end of September. His older sister, whom I will refer to as Rachel Alexandra (because she loves horses), was also born at the end of September. Neither of them made the September 1 cut ## Pages - [Contact us](https://twestival.fm/contact-us/) - Get in touch with us by sending an email to support@twestival dot fm ## Categories - [Education mom](https://twestival.fm/category/educationmom/) - [videos](https://twestival.fm/category/videos/) - [History of Music](https://twestival.fm/category/history-of-music/)