In The Myth of Laziness, the bestselling author of A Mind at a Time shows that children dismissed as unproductive or “lazy” usually suffer from what he calls “output failure”—a neurodevelopmental dysfunction that can continue to cause difficulties into adulthood if left unchecked.The desire to be productive is universal, says Dr. Levine, but that drive can often be frustrated by dysfunctions that obstruct output or productivity. Drawing on his clinical experience and using real-life examples of both children and adults he has worked with, Dr. Levine shows how to identify and remedy these dysfunctions. A child suffering from language production dysfunction, for example, may be incapable of clearly expressing or explaining his thoughts, thereby leading to low productivity in school. A child who has difficulty making choices may wait until it is too late to complete a project or may act impulsively, creating a pattern of bad judgments. Similarly, a child with memory weaknesses may be unable to draw on his accumulated knowledge for an assignment. In each of these cases, as Dr. Levine shows, writing skills are often the key to diagnosing specific causes of output failure. Practical, wise, and compassionate, The Myth of Laziness offers parents and teachers day-to-day strategies and support to prevent output failure and, when necessary, to help children overcome dysfunction and become productive, successful adults.

    Never before in history have children been so plugged in—and so out of touch with the natural world. In this groundbreaking new work, child advocacy expert Richard Louv directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation—he calls it nature deficit—to some of the most disturbing childhood trends, such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and depression. Some startling facts: By the 1990s the radius around the home where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1970. Today, average eight-year-olds are better able to identify cartoon characters than native species, such as beetles and oak trees, in their own community. The rate at which doctors prescribe antidepressants to children has doubled in the last five years, and recent studies show that too much computer use spells trouble for the developing mind. Nature-deficit disorder is not a medical condition; it is a description of the human costs of alienation from nature. This alienation damages children and shapes adults, families, and communities. There are solutions, though, and they're right in our own backyards. Last child in the Woods is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research showing that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development—physical, emotional, and spiritual. What's more, nature is a potent therapy for depression, obesity, and ADD. Environment-based education dramatically improves standardized test scores and grade point averages and develops skills in problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making. Even creativity is stimulated by childhood experiences in nature. Yet sending kids outside to play is increasingly difficult. Computers, television, and video games compete for their time, of course, but it's also our fears of traffic, strangers, even virus-carrying mosquitoes—fears the media exploit—that keep children indoors. Meanwhile, schools assign more and more homework, and there is less and less access to natural areas. Parents have the power to ensure that their daughter or son will not be the "last child in the woods," and this book is the first step toward that nature-child reunion.

    "I can think of no better guide than The Stressed Years of Their Lives for overwhelmed parents and stressed-out kids for navigating these turbulent times. This is required reading for the college set.” —Brigid Schulte, author of the New York Times bestselling OverwhelmedAll parenting is in preparation for letting go. However, the paradox of parenting is that the more we learn about late adolescent development and risk, the more frightened we become for our children, and the more we want to stay involved in their lives. This becomes particularly necessary, and also particularly challenging, in mid- to late adolescence, the years just before and after students head off to college. These years coincide with the emergence of many mood disorders and other mental health issues.When family psychologist Dr. B. Hibbs's own son came home from college mired in a dangerous depressive spiral, she turned to Dr. Anthony Rostain. Dr. Rostain has a secret superpower: he understands the arcane rules governing privacy and parental involvement in students’ mental health care on college campuses, the same rules that sometimes hold parents back from getting good care for their kids. Now, these two doctors have combined their expertise to corral the crucial emotional skills and lessons that every parent and student can learn for a successful launch from home to college.

    You’ll learn how to set up an art space, how to talk to children about their artwork, how to choose the best art supplies (without breaking the bank), how to repurpose and organize the piles of art created, and even how to use kids' art activities to soften everyday transitions.  The more than sixty engaging kids' arts and crafts projects included here are accessible and developmentally appropriate for one- to eight-year-olds, and they’re a far cry from the cookie-cutter crafts many of us did in school as kids. From bubble prints to musical chairs art, these kids art activities allow children to explore art materials, techniques, and ideas as they grow more creative every day. With activities for downtimes, action art for releasing energy, and recipes for making your own art materials, this book is your guide for raising an artful family.

    What’s your predicament: breakfast on a harried school morning? The Mom 100’s got it—Personalized Pizzas are not only fast but are nutritious, and hey, it doesn’t get any better than pizza for breakfast. Kids making noise about the same old lunch? The Mom 100’s got it—three different Turkey Wraps, plus a Wrap Blueprint delivers enough variety to last for years.Katie Workman, founding editor in chief of Cookstr.com and mother of two school-age kids, offers recipes, tips, techniques, attitude, and wisdom for staying happy inthe kitchen while proudly keeping it homemade—because homemade not only tastes best, but is also better (and most economical) for you. The Mom 100 is 20 dilemmas every mom faces, with 5 solutions for each: including terrific recipes for the vegetable-averse, the salad-rejector, for the fish-o-phobe, or the overnight vegetarian convert. “Fork-in-the-Road” variations make it easy to adjust a recipe to appeal to different eaters (i.e., the kids who want bland and the adults who don’t). “What the Kids Can Do” sidebars suggest ways for kids to help make each dish.

    The methods described in Three Steps to a Strong Family aim to help parents give children a sense of security and stability and prepare them for the adult world.Linda and Richard Eyre's Three Steps to a Strong Family shows how to create a family legal system, a family economy and a sense of family identity which work together to provide rules, limits and goals.

    And that limits what they can learn while in school. This fact frightens parents, worries teachers, and ultimately hurts children.7 Keys to Comprehension is the result of cutting-edge research. It gives parents and teachers—those who aren't already using this valuable program—practical, thoughtful advice about the seven simple thinking strategies that proficient readers use:• Connecting reading to their background knowledge• Creating sensory images• Asking questions• Drawing inferences• Determining what's important• Synthesizing ideas• Solving problemsEasily understood, easily applied, and proven successful, this essential educational tool helps parents and teachers to turn reading into a fun and rewarding adventure.

    Scientists now know that the human brain is undergoing a constant and dramatic transformation in the first years of life. During this peak time of development, every activity and experience leaves an indelible mark on your baby’s brain, for better or worse. The right kind of stimulation and nutrition will create connections in the brain that promote intelligence and raise IQ. The wrong kinds of activities and foods can stifle intellectual development, destroy brain cells, and leave your child more vulnerable to learning or behavior problems down the road. So, what can you do during the first five years to ensure that your child is primed to excel?The good news is that raising a smarter child is easier than you think. It doesn’t require making an investment in expensive equipment or high priced tutors. It’s as simple as playing the right games, serving the right foods, and maintaining a brain-enhancing environment in your home by eliminating common household toxins. In Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten by Dr. David Perlmutter, you’ll learn easy and highly effective strategies that can vastly improve your child’s brain power and reduce his or her chances of developing ADD and ADHD. For example, you can:• Stimulate Memory: Changing a component on the over-the-crib mobile every week makes the baby compare what was there before to what’s there now, reinforcing memory pathways in the brain that are critical for learning.• Spread out those shots: Schedule more frequent trips to the pediatrician for vaccinations, so that fewer shots are administered at once. Flooding the immune system with a cocktail of different vaccines can damage the nervous system. • Get rid of toxins: Protecting a child from neurotoxins found in foods, toys and even baby bottles can help preserve precious IQ points. Dr. Perlmutter provides a scientifically backed food and supplement plan for children and nursing mothers and details the many brain-building activities that you can do with your child. In addition, he reveals the numerous toys and household products that contain harmful, brain-damaging toxins and shows how to identify and combat common childhood problems like ADD and food allergies that may affect your child’s development. Your job over the first five years is to help your child build the best brain possible. With Dr. Perlmutter’s help, you can mine the countless opportunities you have each day to make your child smarter, happier and better prepared to excel.

    Controlling a class isn't something that comes naturally to everyone - but it can be learned.This no-nonsense guide tells teachers what the teacher training didn't, and offers instant strategies for dealing with the most common, and extreme, classroom scenarios.Using his experiences of teaching in inner-city schools, as Behaviour Guru on the TES advice forum and working as a nightclub bouncer, Tom Bennett helps teachers, old and new, to assert their authority in the classroom.

    In Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed, renowned education authority Howard Gardner explores the meaning of the title's three virtues in an age when vast technological advancement and relativistic attitudes toward human nature have deeply shaken our moral worldview. His incisive examination reveals that although these concepts are changing faster than ever before, they are--and will remain, with our stewardship--cornerstones of our society. Designed to appeal to a wide readership, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed is an approachable primer on the foundations of ethics in the modern age.

    These skill areas include sensory perceptions, body coordination, language, understanding of numbers, and movement. This practical, color-illustrated parenting book is filled with activities and instructions for overseeing children as they carry out a variety of learning activities. Most activities will seem simple to parents, because once mastered, adults perform them automatically. However, toddlers experience a sense of accomplishment and self-worth when they learn to perform them independently. The many activities start with dressing and personal hygiene, then go on to include . . .Pouring activitiesThreading and sewing activitiesPeg activitiesCutting with scissorsSorting activities by touchA color matching gameMaking musical scales with bottles and waterUsing alphabet tiles to make wordsGrowing things in a window boxMaking finger puppetsActivities are described in detail and include checklists of needed items, as well as variations and related activities for children to try.

    Parent groups argued about it, bloggers, blogged, spouses became uncivil with each other, and the media jumped all over it. A lot of parents today, Skenazy says, see no difference between letting their kids walk to school and letting them walk through a firing range. Any risk is seen as too much risk. But if you try to prevent every possible danger or difficult in your child's everyday life, that child never gets a chance to grow up. We parents have to realize that the greatest risk of all just might be trying to raise a child who never encounters choice or independence.

    Perhaps you’re afraid that if you try, you’ll fail. The startling truth is this: Just about anyone can do great things, can live a life that’s remarkable, purposeful, excellent, and yes, even heroic. If you want to be a hero, you can be. How? That’s what this book is all about. Will you choose to do it? Will you decide to journey heroically, instead of spending your life merely marking time? If so, this is the book for you. Welcome to your heroic journey.

    This comprehensive book is a collection of articles describing the world of Waldorf Education - the fastest growing independent school movement in the world.