If you haven't checked out our new eCatalog, now's a perfect time to start.  This year's catalog is more interactive than ever before, and is packed full of useful information about Kendall Hunt's growing roster of hands-on, standards- and inquiry-based curriculum for grades PreK-12.

Want to learn more about our K-12 ebooks for math and science? Just look for the free trial button throughout the catalog and click on it to get access to Flourish, our digital learning network. Looking for a middle grades math program that's rich with interactive whiteboard activities and games? Our Math Innovations section provides links that allow you to try them for yourself directly from the catalog page. And the BSCS Biology: A Human Approach and Forensic Science for High School catalog pages allow you to experience multimedia features like video, audio in English and Spanish, and virtual autopsies.

You can also find information about our newly-acquired Discovering Mathematics programs and the ways they align to the Common Core State Standards. It's easy to sign up for a free 30-day preview with a simple click of your mouse.  

But that's not all! Learn about our variety of online professional development programs along with our live and interactive Inside Look Webinar Series, which are led by Kendall Hunt curriculum experts and provide in-depth information about our programs.

To begin exploring the catalog, click here.

Are you going? Kendall Hunt will be there! The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) National Conference takes place in San Francisco March 9-12. The Kendall Hunt booth is number 1729, so be sure to stop by. You also won't want to miss our two workshops, one on BSCS Biology: A Human Approach, and one on our exciting new digital learning environment, Flourish.  You can find more information about those here.

Flourish will be in the spotlight, along with the four high school science programs, BSCS Biology: A Human Approach, Forensic Science for High School, Global Science, and KH Chemistry that are currently available in Flourish. Flourish is home to an ever-growing list of online course materials and digital learning resources and at NSTA you’ll see how affordable these products are when purchased digitally either as a complete curriculum, eChapters, or eUnits. When you visit our booth, you can sign up for a free trial of the program of your choice, and everyone who registers will be entered in a daily drawing to win a free classroom license for Global Science, Forensics or A Human Approach!

If you are unable to attend NSTA, we’ll miss you, but you can sign up for a free trial of Flourish at http://www.kendallhunt.com/freeflourishtrial. You’ll also find the same product-specific information we’ll be sharing in the booth through our free Inside Look  Webinar  series.

NSTA is always an exciting week. We get to visit with so many of the teachers using our science programs and share our programs for the first time with many others. Not to mention, of course, that the Moscone Convention Center is in the heart of fabulous San Francisco. We hope to see you there, so don’t forget to visit us at booth 1729!

Want to know what’s new at Kendall Hunt Publishing? Want to read more about Flourish, our new digital learning network that Charley Cook spoke about in his guest blogger post the other day?

Well, then you have to check out our interactive catalog for 2010-2011. You can see the catalog here, or by clicking on the cover image at right. Once you’re there you can zoom, bring up embedded video and pdfs, download the whole thing as a pdf, send an email to a friend, or just about anything else you can think of. It’s pretty cool and does a great job of highlighting all the advantages our PreK-12 products offer.

You’ll see plenty of screenshots from Flourish. And you’ll get glimpses into products still in development, including our online science curriculum, BSCS Biology: A Human Approach, as well as our online math curriculum for middle school, Math Innovations. Even though I use the word “textbook” a lot in this blog, we’re about much more than just books.

As an educational publishing company, Kendall Hunt must, of course, keep up with the trends and keep our business current. That’s the only way we can keep offering our outstanding high school science textbooks, elementary school textbooks, and higher education products.  

Of course one of the biggest topics of conversation around here is social media. How and when to use it, who uses it, etc. We are on We Are Teachers, a great online teacher community, but what about students? Some people are involved in a discussion about whether the use of classroom technology, such as online math and science curricula, an online elementary curriculum and the like, reflects what students are doing in their lives outside of school. We know that social media tools are considered a distraction at schools, so much so that many schools have blocked access to Facebook, MySpace and other online communities altogether. And with the growth of cyberbullying, it can become a real safety issue besides.

The other side of this coin is the collaborative nature or team/community building potential of these applications. Students working together toward a shared result, and all the educational benefits that come along with that. So is there a happy medium? Has your school found a way? Tell me about it!
 

So, it’s September 1, is everyone back to school? Funny how school starting dates vary so much depending on where you are. Here our kids go back in about the third week of August, while some states have passed laws that school cannot start until September 1. Anyway, I imagine most everyone is back of very close to it.

Here at Kendall Hunt, September 1 and the beginning of school mark the beginning of a new year for us too. This year we’re pretty excited about some things. We’re going to be offering a host of new digital learning opportunities in the PreK-12 area. As all school textbook publishers work to keep pace with technology, Kendall Hunt Publishing is no different. Most schools are moving toward using an online science curriculum or an online math curriculum, and we’ll be right there with the tool you need.

So, watch this space as we move through the school year, we’ll be rolling out all kinds of new and exciting learning tool!

Wow, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have flown by faster than the Thunderbirds at the July 4^th air show, haven’t they? The start of school is imminent, for you teachers I know many of you are already back. What’s new at your school’s this year? I’d love to hear the latest from any of you. As you pulled out your teacher edition textbooks or logged onto your online science curriculum, what new ideas have struck you? It seems like we’re always trying to find the next, latest, greatest, whizz-bang way to engage and motivate students.

How much do you use an online math curriculum? Maybe your district doesn’t have one yet, or maybe all your curricula are online. I’m doing a little research right now about whether online curricula work better for some students than for others, and I’ll let you know what I learn. But in the meantime I’d love to hear what you think, how you use your online elementary curriculum, and how your students do with them.

That first day of school isn’t far away now, is it? My son starts 5^th grade this Fall, which, due to a very crowded elementary school, is the first year of middle school in our town. While he’s pretty excited, I’m of course suffering from, “Ack, my baby’s going to middle school, where has the time gone?” syndrome.

All this talk about middle school got me looking in depth at Kendall Hunt Publishing’s middle school offerings this week. We talk a lot about high school science textbooks and elementary education books, but we don’t talk all that much about middle school. But have you checked out our new Math Innovations program? It’s amazing. It develops mathematical habits of mind, teaching students to think like mathematicians. It improves the reasoning and critical thinking skills that are crucial to success in the 21^st century.

Math Innovations offers textbooks, but is also a robust online math curriculum with an array of technology options to enhance and supplement the text. Three grade levels and five units per grade allows for customized alignment to state and district standards. Check it out when you have a chance!!

So we’ve decided to add a couple of new topics to our blog discussions here: math and online learning. Specifically in the online learning area we want to discuss what, if any online science curriculum you’re using, and what, if any, online math curriculum you have in place. As the PreK-12 world turns increasingly toward at least one online elementary curriculum and certainly as many as several high school programs online, I’m interested in your feedback on those you currently have.

And if you aren’t using any online curricula, do you want to? Have you looked at any? What’s keeping you from using them, or what’s the one thing that would make you jump into the online learning world?

Now, I also said we’d be talking about math, specifically grade school mathematics and gifted and talented math. Okay, math genius I never was and never will be, but I love math…the basic kind, anyway. And if you haven’t checked out our two gifted and talented math programs, Project M²: Mentoring Young Mathematicians, and Project M³: Mentoring Mathematical Minds, please do so. Project M² is geared toward Kindergarten through grade 2 and Project M³ is designed for grades 3-5. These outstanding, research-based, inquiry driven programs offer everything you need to implement a gifted program into your grade school mathematics.

 

About EDC

The Center for Science Education (CSE) is a division of Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC). CSE’s roughly 35 staff members comprise a diverse group of professionals—scientists, science educators and administrators, curriculum writers and developers, policy analysts, journalists, social and educational researchers, and educational program evaluators. We count among our staff experts who have an almost unrivalled depth of experience in the improvement of science education, here and abroad, and authors who have created some of the most highly regarded science instructional materials in the field. Together, our CSE team develops and supports projects and programs that are internationally recognized for their innovative approaches to the teaching and learning of science.

From after-school science programs to teacher mentoring to research into pedagogy, CSE’s work covers a broad range of science education initiatives. Most often, our initiatives fall into the following three categories:

• Research and evaluation of such facets of science education as inquiry teaching, teacher retention, capacity building, and the sustainability of reform efforts
• Professional development and technical support programs—online, and in-person—to encourage leadership and to build the capacity of teachers and administrators
• Development of science instructional materials, resources, and tools both for use in school for grades preK–12 and out of school

Working with funders, foundations, and corporations, we identify needs in the science education community and respond with programs and initiatives. Through this work, we develop resources and publications, provide customized services and support, and conduct comprehensive research and evaluation studies covering topics such as assessment, curriculum implementation, leadership, literacy, and that cover all grade levels—early childhood through high school.

Instructional Materials

Since 1958, EDC has produced high-quality science instructional materials. An in-depth understanding of education and scientific research and knowledge about how students learn and teachers teach continues to provide the foundation for all of our curricula.
Our materials are not only about students; they also support teachers. We acknowledge the professionalism of teachers by offering strategies to enhance their own skills and knowledge in science teaching and learning.

All of our curricula reflect the National Science Education Standards, adapted to the needs and interests of all students. They have been extensively pilot- and field-tested in classrooms across the country. All of our materials reflect:

• a focus on depth of understanding, rather than breadth of information.
• academically rigorous content framed in contexts relevant to students’ lives.
• a focus on scientific thinking and reasoning through a careful balance of direct experience with phenomena, use of secondary resources, discourse, and writing.
• close attention to the needs of a diverse student body.
• the use of formative assessment to guide instruction and learning.

We know that knowledge of science has many facets and to attain science literacy, students must master the concepts of subject matter, understand the nature of scientific inquiry, and gain insight into the many ways scientific knowledge affects them and their world.