Book picks similar to
The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children by Suzanne Bouffard
parenting
non-fiction
nonfiction
education
Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It
James M. Lang - 2020
The logical response is to ban electronics in class. But acclaimed educator James M. Lang argues that this solution obscures a deeper problem: how we teach is often at odds with how students learn. Classrooms are designed to force students into long periods of intense focus, but emerging science reveals that the brain is wired for distraction. We learn best when able to actively seek and synthesize new information.In Distracted, Lang rethinks the practice of teaching, revealing how educators can structure their classrooms less as distraction-free zones and more as environments where they can actively cultivate their students' attention.Brimming with ideas and grounded in new research, Distracted offers an innovative plan for the most important lesson of all: how to learn.
White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America
Margaret A. Hagerman - 2018
In this heated context, sociologist Margaret A. Hagerman zeroes in on affluent, white kids to observe how they make sense of privilege, unequal educational opportunities, and police violence. In fascinating detail, Hagerman considers the role that they and their families play in the reproduction of racism and racial inequality in America.White Kids, based on two years of research involving in-depth interviews with white kids and their families, is a clear-eyed and sometimes shocking account of how white kids learn about race. In doing so, this book explores questions such as, "How do white kids learn about race when they grow up in families that do not talk openly about race or acknowledge its impact?" and "What about children growing up in families with parents who consider themselves to be 'anti-racist'?"Featuring the actual voices of young, affluent white kids and what they think about race, racism, inequality, and privilege, White Kids illuminates how white racial socialization is much more dynamic, complex, and varied than previously recognized. It is a process that stretches beyond white parents' explicit conversations with their white children and includes not only the choices parents make about neighborhoods, schools, peer groups, extracurricular activities, and media, but also the choices made by the kids themselves.By interviewing kids who are growing up in different racial contexts--from racially segregated to meaningfully integrated and from politically progressive to conservative--this important book documents key differences in the outcomes of white racial socialization across families. And by observing families in their everyday lives, this book explores the extent to which white families, even those with anti-racist intentions, reproduce and reinforce the forms of inequality they say they reject.
The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander
Barbara Coloroso - 2002
All it takes to understand that this is a recipe for tragedy is a glance at headlines across the country. In this updated edition of The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander, which includes a new section on cyberbullying, one of the world's most trusted parenting educators gives parents, caregivers, educators - and most of all, kids - the tools to break the cycle of violence. Drawing on her decades of work with troubled youth, and her wide experience in the areas of conflict resolution and reconciliatory justice, Barbara Coloroso explains:The three kinds of bullying, and the differences between boy and girl bulliesFour abilities that protect your child from succumbing to bullyingSeven steps to take if your child is a bullyHow to help the bullied child heal and how to effectively discipline the bullyHow to evaluate a school's antibullying policyAnd much moreThis compassionate and practical guide has become the groundbreaking reference on the subject of bullying.
On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep
Robert Bucknam M - 2017
Born for Love: Why Empathy Is Essential--and Endangered
Bruce D. Perry - 2009
Perry and award-winning science journalist Maia Szalavitz interweave research and stories from Perry's practice with cutting-edge scientific studies and historical examples to explain how empathy develops, why it is essential for our development into healthy adults, and how it is threatened in the modern world.Perry and Szalavitz show that compassion underlies the qualities that make society work—trust, altruism, collaboration, love, charity—and how difficulties related to empathy are key factors in social problems such as war, crime, racism, and mental illness. Even physical health, from infectious diseases to heart attacks, is deeply affected by our human connections to one another.As Born for Love reveals, recent changes in technology, child-rearing practices, education, and lifestyles are starting to rob children of necessary human contact and deep relationships—the essential foundation for empathy and a caring, healthy society. Sounding an important warning bell, Born for Love offers practical ideas for combating the negative influences of modern life and fostering positive social change to benefit us all.
UnCommon Learning: Creating Schools That Work for Kids
Eric C. Sheninger - 2015
Be the leader who creates this environment. UnCommon Learning shows you how to transform a learning culture through sustainable and innovative initiatives. It moves straight to the heart of using innovations such as Makerspaces, Blended Learning and Microcredentials. Included in the book: Vignettes to illustrate key ideas Real life examples to show what works Graphs and data to prove initiatives’ impact
Growing Up Brave: Expert Strategies for Helping Your Child Overcome Fear, Stress, and Anxiety
Donna B. Pincus - 2012
We read to them, play with them, and comfort them when they cry. But despite all this, one in five children today suffers from a diagnosed anxiety disorder, and countless others suffer from anxiety that interferes with critical social, academic, and physical development. Dr. Donna Pincus, nationally recognized childhood anxiety expert, is here to help. In Growing Up Brave, Dr. Pincus helps parents identify and understand anxiety in their children, outlines effective and convenient parenting techniques for reducing anxiety, and shows parents how to promote bravery for long-term confidence. Perhaps your young child has trouble sleeping or separation anxiety, or your teen suffers from social anxiety or panic attacks--whatever the issue, Growing Up Brave can help. Using methods based on cognitive behavioral therapy, you will learn to identify your child's fear and anxiety on the spectrum from normal and predictable to what might be cause for concern, to promote a secure attachment with your child in only five minutes a day, tools to foster coping skills in the face of anxiety-producing situations, strategies for reinforcing problem-solving behavior, adaptive parenting styles, and much more. Dr. Pincus includes stories from her practice of children--from preschoolers to teens--who have overcome their fear and anxiety through her step-by-step approach, as well as information on therapy and medication. Whether your child has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or simply needs help navigating this increasingly stressful world, Growing Up Brave provides an essential toolkit for instilling happiness and confidence for childhood and beyond.
Deep Kindness: Practicing Kindness in a World that Oversimplifies It
Houston Kraft - 2020
But with quotes like, “Just be kind” or, “Throw kindness around like confetti,” we’ve oversimplified what it takes to actually demonstrate kindness in a world crying out for it. Deep Kindness pairs anecdotes with actions that can make real change in our own lives, the lives of others, and throughout the world. Diving into the types of kindness the world needs most today, this book takes an honest look at the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well—and shows us how to put intention into action. Exploring everything from the empathy gap to the skill of emotional regulation, Deep Kindness is perfect for anyone who believes in a kinder world and recognizes that there is a lot of work to do before we achieve it.
Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal
Donna Jackson Nakazawa - 2015
Childhood Interrupted also explains how to cope with these emotional traumas and even heal from them.Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall well-being. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents, chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical fingerprints on our brains.When we as children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, excessive stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering our body chemistry. The developing immune system and brain react to this chemical barrage by permanently re-setting our stress response to high, which in turn can have a devastating impact on our mental and physical health.Donna Jackson Nakazawa shares stories from people who have recognized and overcome their adverse experiences, shows why some children are more immune to stress than others, and explains why women are at particular risk. Groundbreaking in its research, inspiring in its clarity, Childhood Interrupted explains how you can reset your biology and help your loved ones find ways to heal.
Time to Parent: A Blueprint for Organizing Your Life While Raising Kids
Julie Morgenstern - 2018
Her realistic, achievable methods will help you savor your time with the kids and on your ownParents have struggled with the time equation for generations. In the age of extracurriculars, calendar alerts, and smart phones, the question of how to give your kids undivided attention—and still take care of yourself—looms larger than ever. Time to Parent is a take-you-by-the hand manual that shifts the goal from "having it all" to getting it right in that moment.Morgenstern offers parents: proven strategies for prioritizing what really matters to your family; organizational skills to get the basics—food, clothing, health—in place and out of mind; relief from “this is forever” thinking with ways to divide the parenting years into manageable stages; and realistic, research-backed guidelines for what quality time really looks like.
The Growth Mindset Playbook: A Teacher's Guide to Promoting Student Success
Annie Brock - 2017
Studies show growth mindset results in higher engagement, better test scores, and all-around greater student success. In this follow-up to widely praised The Growth Mindset Coach, education professionals Annie Brock and Heather Hundley show how to take mindset to the next level with further resources, examples, and ideas. The all new book is packed with detailed lesson plans, hands-on activities, and discussion points for talking with parents and other educators. Featuring up-to-date information on brain science and current mindset studies, The Growth Mindset Playbook shares fascinating research, tips, and strategies that help educators fully understand and implement growth mindset instruction and best practices. They break down the research and studies into actionable steps for building a culture of mindset not only in the classroom, but at the school level as well.
Making Learning Whole: How Seven Principles of Teaching Can Transform Education
David N. Perkins - 2008
He describes how teaching any subject at any level can be made more effective if students are introduced to the "whole game," rather than isolated pieces of a discipline. Perkins explains how learning academic subjects should be approached like learning baseball or any game, and he demonstrates this with seven principles for making learning whole: from making the game worth playing (emphasizing the importance of motivation to sustained learning), to working on the hard parts (the importance of thoughtful practice), to learning how to learn (developing self-managed learners).Vividly explains how to organize learning in ways that allow people to do important things with what they know Offers guidelines for transforming education to prepare our youth for success in a rapidly changing world Filled with real-world, illustrative examples of the seven principles At the end of each chapter, Perkins includes "Wonders of Learning," a summary of the key ideas.
Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st-Century Families
Natania Barron - 2012
Geek Mom: Projects, Tips, and Adventures for Moms and Their 21st-Century Families explores the many fun and interesting ways that digital-age parents and kids can get their geek on together. Imaginative ideas for all ages and budgets include thrifty Halloween costumes, homemade lava lamps, hobbit feasts, and magical role-playing games. There are even projects for moms to try when they have a few precious moments alone. With six sections spanning everything from home-science experiments to superheroes, this comprehensive handbook from the editors of Wired.com’s popular GeekMom blog is packed with ideas guaranteed to inspire a love of learning and discovery. Along the way, parents will also find important tips on topics such as determining safe online communities for children, organizing a home learning center, and encouraging girls to love science. Being geeky is all about exploring the world with endless curiosity. Geek Mom is your invitation to introducing the same sense of wonder and imagination to the next generation.
Beyond Measure: Rescuing an Overscheduled, Overtested, Underestimated Generation
Vicki Abeles - 2015
In Race to Nowhere, Vicki Abeles identified a widespread problem in our nation’s schools: as students race against each other to have constantly higher grades, better test scores, and more AP courses than their classmates, they are irreparably damaging their mental and physical health. Now Abeles taps into this same grassroots community across the nation to find the solutions in Beyond Measure, which publishes simultaneously with the release of her new documentary. Pulling from powerful anecdotes and convincing new research, Abeles presents inspirational, quantifiable success stories and shows how anyone—students, parents, and educators—can effect change. Teachers who cut students’ workload see scores rise; kids discover their own motivation once parents relieve the pressure to perform; schools that institute later start times have well-rested students who are able to learn more efficiently; and schools that emphasize depth over test prep find students more attentive, inventive, and ready to thrive. It’s no secret that our education system is broken, and Beyond Measure inspires parents, educators, and students to take practical steps to fix it—starting today. In so doing, it empowers all of us to redefine learning and success, and to discover the true, untapped potential awaiting our children, not just in college, but in life.
No Bad Kids: Toddler Discipline Without Shame
Janet Lansbury - 2014
As a RIE teacher and student of pioneering child specialist Magda Gerber, her advice is not based solely on formal studies and the research of others, but also on her twenty years of hands-on experience guiding hundreds of parents and their toddlers. “No Bad Kids” is a collection of Janet's most popular and widely read articles pertaining to common toddler behaviors and how respectful parenting practices can be applied to benefit both parents and children. It covers such common topics as punishment, cooperation, boundaries, testing, tantrums, hitting, and more. “No Bad Kids” provides a practical, indispensable tool for parents who are anticipating or experiencing those critical years when toddlers are developmentally obliged to test the limits of our patience and love. Armed with knowledge and a clearer sense of the world through our children’s eyes, this period of uncertainty can afford a myriad of opportunities to forge unbreakable bonds of trust and respect.