Based on Dr. Maria Montessori's instructions for raising infants, its comprehensive exploration of the first three years incorporates the furnishings and tools she created for the care and comfort of babies. From the design of the baby's bedroom to the child-sized kitchen table, from diet and food preparation to clothing and movement, the authors provide guidance for the establishment of a beautiful and serviceable environment for babies and very young children. They introduce concepts and tasks, taking into account childrens' ''sensitive periods'' for learning such skills as dressing themselves, food preparation, and toilet training. Brimming with anecdote and encouragement, and written in a clear, engaging style, Montessori from the Start is a practical and useful guide to raising calm, competent, and confident children.

    With many examples from their own classrooms, three experienced teachers offer practical techniques to help you: * Establish clear expectations for behavior from day one* Teach students how to articulate their learning goals for school* Create classroom rules that connect to students' goals* Use techniques such as interactive modeling to teach positive behavior* Reinforce positive behavior with supportive teacher language* Quickly stop misbehavior* Restore positive behavior so that children retain their dignity and continue learning* Reinforce positive behavior with supportive teacher language

    Since 100 Top Picks was published in 2005, many great new products have been introduced. While many of Cathy's Top Picks from 2005 remain, many others have been replaced with even better options.Cathy's book makes the job of selecting the right curriculum easy! It includes extensive reviews of each of her Top Picks.101 Top Picks is a must-have for new home educators.

    Even with access to compelling theories and approaches such as multicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, culturally relevant instruction, culturally sustaining pedagogy, schools still struggle to implement equitable change that reshapes the academic experiences of students marginalized by the prevailing history, culture, and traditions in public education. Instead of getting it right with equity implementation, many schools and districts remain trapped in a cycle of equity dysfunction.In Belonging through a Culture of Dignity, Cobb and Krownapple argue that the cause of these struggles are largely based on the failure of educators to consider the foundational elements upon which educational equity is based, belonging and dignity. Through this work, the authors make these concepts accessible and explain their importance in the implementation of educational equity initiatives.Though the importance of dignity and belonging might appear to be self-evident at first glance, it's not until these concepts are truly unpacked, that educators realize the dire need for belonging through dignity. Once these fundamental human needs are understood, educators can gain clarity of the barriers to meaningful student relationships, especially across dimensions of difference such as race, class, and culture. Even the most relational and responsive educators need this clarity due to the normalization of what the authors refer to as dignity distortions. Cobb and Krownapple challenge that normalization and offer three concepts as keys to successful equity initiatives: inclusion, belonging, and dignity. Through their work, the authors aim to equip educators with the tools necessary to deliver the promise of democracy through schools by breaking the cycle of equity dysfunction once and for all.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR: In the mid-1990's, Deborah Taylor-Hough set up one of the first Charlotte Mason homeschooling websites and edited The Charlotte Mason Monthly ezine. Debi currently edits The Charlotte Mason eMagazine and blogs at CharlotteMasonHome.com

    When exhausted parents are living the day-to-day grind, it can seem impossible to muster enough energy to make learning fun or interesting. How do parents nurture a love of learning amid childhood chaos, parental self-doubt, the flu, and state academic standards?In this book, Julie Bogart distills decades of experience--homeschooling her five now grown children, developing curricula, and training homeschooling families around the world--to show parents how to make education an exciting, even enchanting, experience for their kids, whether they're in elementary or high school.Enchantment is about ease, not striving. Bogart shows parents how to make room for surprise, mystery, risk, and adventure in their family's routine, so they can create an environment that naturally moves learning forward. If a child wants to pick up a new hobby or explore a subject area that the parent knows little about, it's easy to simply say "no" to end the discussion and the parental discomfort, while dousing their child's curious spark. Bogart gently invites parents to model brave learning for their kids so they, too, can approach life with curiosity, joy, and the courage to take learning risks.

    Designed to be read on the run and make every minute count in your classroom, Reading Reminders features Jim Burke's one hundred best techniques for teaching reading, complete with tools and tips on how to implement them. Jim wrote this book to help teachers like himself whose often large and always diverse classrooms contain a wide range of reading abilities and needs. All of the strategies have been tested and tested again with his students, and each one has achieved significant gains in student performance, confidence, and engagement. Together, the reminders will challenge your best students and support struggling ones. This book will help you:teach students to read a variety of types of texts, including websites, tests, literature, and textbooksuse a wide range of teaching and reading strategies based on current reading researchanchor your teaching in state and national reading standardsestablish and maintain a comprehensive reading program that includes Sustained Silent Reading and direct instructionplan your lessons, select your texts, and assess students' learning with tools and techniques specifically designed for those purposesimprove your students' ability to discuss and understand what they readdevelop a community of reflective readers within your classroomincrease the amount of writing your students do.

    Parents will be inspired to break free of conventions, unleash their child's unique creative genius, cultivate determination, and create an authentic atmosphere of learning.

    The authors acknowledge both the structural and sociological issues that contribute to low-performing schools and offer multiple tools and strategies to assess and improve classroom management, increase literacy, establish academic vocabulary, and contribute to a healthier school culture.

    Now a world-renowned expert gives us a substantially updated and augmented edition of her classic work: drawing on an additional fifteen years of cutting-edge research, offering new information on all aspects of dyslexia and reading problems, and providing the tools that parents, teachers, and all dyslexic individuals need. This new edition also offers:- New material on the challenges faced by dyslexic individuals across all ages - Rich information on ongoing advances in digital technology that have dramatically increased dyslexics' ability to help themselves - New chapters on diagnosing dyslexia, choosing schools and colleges for dyslexic students, the co-implications of anxiety, ADHD, and dyslexia, and dyslexia in post-menopausal women - Extensively updated information on helping both dyslexic children and adults become better readers, with a detailed home program to enhance reading - Evidence-based universal screening for dyslexia as early as kindergarten and first grade - why and how - New information on how to identify dyslexia in all age ranges - Exercises to help children strengthen the brain areas that control reading - Ways to raise a child's self-esteem and reveal her strengths - Stories of successful men, women, and young adults who are dyslexic

    According to Kafele, educators can achieve remarkable results by focusing on five key areas:* The teacher's attitude toward students* The teacher's relationship with students* The teacher's compassion for students* The learning environment* The cultural relevance of instructionReplete with practical strategies and illustrative anecdotes drawn from the author's 20-plus years as a teacher and principal in inner-city schools, Closing the Attitude Gap offers a wealth of lessons and valuable insights that educators at all levels can use to fire up their students' passion to learn.

    Featuring sixteen pages of full-color illustrations, a bolder, easier-to-follow format, and a thoroughly updated curriculum, What Your Third Grader Needs to Know is designed for parents and teachers to enjoy with children. Hundreds of thousands of children have benefited from the Core Knowledge Series. This edition, featuring a new Introduction, gives today’s generation of third graders the advantage they need to make progress in school and to establish an approach to learning that will last a lifetime. In this book you’ll discover   • Favorite poems—old and new, from the traditional rhyme “For Want of Nail” to Lewis Carroll’s whimsical poem “The Crocodile” • Literature—including Native American stories, African folktales, European fairy tales, classic myths from ancient Greece, stories from ancient Rome, and more • Learning about language—the basics of written English, including sentence structure, parts of speech, and a first look at writing a report or letter • World and American history and geography—journey down the great rivers of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, visit ancient Rome, and experience the earliest days of America with the Pilgrims and Native Americans • Visual arts—an introduction to masterworks by Rembrandt, Henri Matisse, Mary Cassatt, and others, with full-color reproductions and fun, do-it-yourself activities • Music—the fundamentals of appreciating, reading, and making music, plus great composers, instruments, and sing-along lyrics for songs such as “Bicycle Built for Two” and “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” • Math—stimulating lessons ranging from counting money to solving division problems, numbers through 100,000, graphs, and the metric system • Science—fascinating discussions on the natural world, the cycles of life, the human body and its systems, and the environment, with accompanying activities and stories about famous scientists such as Copernicus and Alexander Graham Bell

    How did they do it? For the first time, Kenny reveals the secret to creating a powerful workplace culture that attracts the most talented people and brings out their passion and highest performance—a culture that produces stunning student achievement results and teachers who regularly use words like “magical” to describe the workplace environment. It is a must-read for anyone who cares about children and the future of this country and for leaders who want to inspire fierce dedication in their employees.

    In Falling in Love with Close Reading, Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts show us that it can be rigorous, meaningful, and joyous. You'll empower students to not only analyze texts but to admire the craft of a beloved book, study favorite songs and videogames, and challenge peers in evidence-based discussions.Chris and Kate start with a powerful three-step close-reading ritual that students can apply to any text. Then they lay out practical, engaging lessons that not only guide students to independence in reading texts closely but also help them transfer this critical, analytical skill to media and even the lives they lead.Responsive to students' needs and field-tested in classrooms, these lessons include: strategies for close reading narratives, informational texts, and arguments suggestions for differentiation sample charts and student work from real classrooms connections to the Common Core State Standards a focus on viewing media and life in this same careful way."We see the ritual of close reading not just as a method of doing the academic work of looking closely at text-evidence, word choice, and structure," write Chris and Kate, "but as an opportunity to bring those practices together to empower our students to see the subtle messages in texts and in their lives." Read Falling in Love with Close Reading and discover that the benefits and joy of close reading don't have to stop at the edge of the page.

    What curriculum do I choose? What if we can’t afford all the books? How do I schedule our time? Will my children become socially awkward recluses? What if I screw up my kids’ education?! Lorilee Lippincott, a seasoned homeschooling mom, shows just how simple homeschooling can be. She and her husband taught their two kids in a one-bedroom apartment before picking up and moving the whole family to China. They’ve discovered that they don’t need rooms full of books, educational toys, and other teaching tools, nor do they need schedules packed full of extracurricular activities, field trips, and social events. Perhaps even more importantly, they don’t need to panic about making sure their kids turn out okay. It’s actually all pretty simple, she tells readers.But homeschooling well does require some planning and dedication, and a book like The Homeschooling Handbook to be your guide. Here you’ll find all your questions answered in Lippincott’s straightforward, warm, and witty style. Topics covered include:How to instill curiosity and a love of learningTypes of homeschoolingYour socialization fears assuagedHow to create simple schedules and stick to themTips for keeping costs downTeaching kids with disabilitiesThe benefits of play timeLegal requirementsHow to avoid burnoutAnd much more!Full of anecdotes, interviews with other homeschooling families, and wisdom, this is a must-have for any family considering the homeschooling life.