Now this new edition of The Read-Aloud Handbook imparts the benefits, rewards, and importance of reading aloud to children of a new generation. Supported by delightful anecdotes as well as the latest research, The Read-Aloud Handbook offers proven techniques and strategies—and the reasoning behind them—for helping children discover the pleasures of reading and setting them on the road to becoming lifelong readers.

    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.

    Enthusiastically praised by parents and professionals around the world, the down--to--earth, respectful approach of Faber and Mazlish makes relationships with children of all ages less stressful and more rewarding.Recently revised and updated with fresh insights and suggestions, How to Talk so Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk is full of practical, innovative ways to solve common problems and build foundations for lasting relationships.

    This book is valuable to teachers, and for preachers, too. DAVID R. MAINS DIRECTOR CHAPEL OF THE AIR It's about time. Creative Teaching Methods is not just another book on the theory of creativity (which we don't need). Rather, it is a book on the practice of creativity in the classroom (which we desperately need). This is a book you will use over and over again.Creative Teaching Methods is loaded with practical and usable ideas that will make creative teaching a reality in your classroom. Without hesitation, I would recommend this book to anyone who teaches young people or adults. MIKE YACONELLI PRESIDENT YOUTH SPECIALTIES Marlene LeFever makes the principle of learning through creative participation come alive for Christian education. Creative methods are vividly and invitingly explored for their potential for deepening the spiritual life through new ways of hearing the Word of God and using heretofore untapped personal resources in responding to it. Unique in its assumption that in Christian education creativity is just as essential in work with youth and adults as it is in work with children. D. CAMPBELL WYCKOFF PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION EMERITUS PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Marlene D. LeFever is Manager of Ministry Relations for David C. Cook Church Ministries, holds a master of Christian education and is a frequent speaker at Sunday School conventions, writers' conferences, and professional organizations. Editor of Teacher Touch, a quarterly letter of affirmation for Sunday School teachers, Marlene has authored over ten books, including Creative Teaching Methods (Cook), Creative Hospitality (Tyndale), and Is Your To Do List About To Do You In? (NavPress).

    Get ready to amaze your friends—and yourself—with incredible calculations you never thought you could master, as renowned “mathemagician” Arthur Benjamin shares his techniques for lightning-quick calculations and amazing number tricks. This book will teach you to do math in your head faster than you ever thought possible, dramatically improve your memory for numbers, and—maybe for the first time—make mathematics fun.Yes, even you can learn to do seemingly complex equations in your head; all you need to learn are a few tricks. You’ll be able to quickly multiply and divide triple digits, compute with fractions, and determine squares, cubes, and roots without blinking an eye. No matter what your age or current math ability, Secrets of Mental Math will allow you to perform fantastic feats of the mind effortlessly. This is the math they never taught you in school.Also available as an eBook

    Now the authors of the bestselling Baby Minds and Baby Signs translate the latest research on the rich inner life of babies into practical, fun activities that will foster your child’s emotional skills during the most critical period–between birth and age three. This comprehensive guide will help you help your child express emotions effectively, develop empathy, form healthy friendships, and cope with specific challenges. Learn how to:•Talk with your child about emotions in order to help him recognize and control his own•Use face-to-face interaction, tone of voice, song, and touch to make your infant feel safe and secure•Start a gratitude journal to help your child appreciate the good things in life•Nurture self-esteem with “try, try again” activities and simple chores•Create a “What are they feeling” deck of cards to help your child understand and practice emotions •Use games and songs to help your child practice self-control•Overcome temper tantrums, aggression, shyness, separation anxiety, and other challengesWhether your child is as easy to raise as a sunflower, as difficult as the prickly holly bush, requires the patience of the delicate orchid, or is as active as the exuberant dandelion, Baby Hearts helps you provide the emotional support that may be the most important gift a parent can give.

    Now, in this elegantly written and passionate book, Vigen Guroian provides the perfect complement to books such as Bennett's, offering parents and teachers a much-needed roadmap to some of our finest children's stories. Guroian illuminates the complex ways in which fairy tales and fantasies educate the moral imagination from earliest childhood. Examining a wide range of stories--from Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid to Charlotte's Web, The Velveteen Rabbit, The Wind in the Willows, and the Chronicles of Narnia--he argues that these tales capture the meaning of morality through vivid depictions of the struggle between good and evil, in which characters must make difficult choices between right and wrong, or heroes and villains contest the very fate of imaginary worlds. Character and the virtues are depicted compellingly in these stories; the virtues glimmer as if in a looking glass, and wickedness and deception are unmasked of their pretensions to goodness and truth. We are made to face the unvarnished truth about ourselves, and what kind of people we want to be. Throughout, Guroian highlights the classical moral virtues such as courage, goodness, and honesty, especially as they are understood in traditional Christianity. At the same time, he so persuasively evokes the enduring charm of these familiar works that many readers will be inspired to reread their favorites and explore those they may have missed.

    In "Lighting Their Fires," Esquith translates the inspiring methods from "Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire" for parents. Using lessons framed by a class trip to a Dodgers game, he moves inning by inning through concepts that explain how to teach children to be thoughtful and honorable peopleas well as successful studentsand to have fun in the process.

    June R. Oberlander, a 19-year veteran kindergarten teacher in Fairfax County, Virginia, first published this book in 1988. Now her granddaughter, Hannah Oberlander, a current teacher in Loudoun County, Virginia, has updated and enhanced these classic activities for today's parents of the next generation.Organized in an easy-to-read format, these mini lessons prompt moms, dads, grandparents, caretakers, and guardians to play short, practical games with their children with step-by-step instructions, tips, and photos to guide them along the way. Activities are sorted for each age group between birth and kindergarten. Not only do they give a ballpark idea of how your child is developing, but also what activities and tasks he or she is currently ready for and what to be working towards over the weeks. Each activity has a box that clues parents in to which skills they are developing with their child. In addition, book ideas are referenced for each activity throughout Ages 3 and 4 to promote pre-reading skills and motivation.Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is like no other guide to developmental play ideas for today's child. These activities are tried and true to engage your youngster for specific purposes that will enrich his or her physical and mental growth during these crucial years of a child's life. No iPod app or electronic resource can replace a parent's face-to-face interaction with his or her child. Recognizing that time in every home is always scarce, these quick and simple activities foster parent-child contact that is not only constructive but also meaningful.Standards for kindergarten entrance and placement have risen over the past thirty years. Educators and experts have concluded that early and consistent stimulation before entering school is essential to a child's development. Thus, it's more important than ever before for parents and caretakers of young children to promote early development through motor skills, communication, and cognitive learning. Slow and Steady Get Me Ready For Kindergarten is just the tool! The most-rewarding job in the world is parenting, so why not get off on the right foot?

    Heather Haupt explores how knights historically lived out various aspects of the knights' Code of Chivalry, as depicted in the French epic Song of Roland, and how boys can embody these same ideals now. When we issue the challenge and give boys the reasons why it is worth pursuing, we step forward on an incredible journey towards raising the kind of boys who, just like the knights of old, make an impact in their world now and for the rest of their lives.

    Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.Gladwell introduces us to the particular personality types who are natural pollinators of new ideas and trends, the people who create the phenomenon of word of mouth. He analyzes fashion trends, smoking, children's television, direct mail, and the early days of the American Revolution for clues about making ideas infectious, and visits a religious commune, a successful high-tech company, and one of the world's greatest salesmen to show how to start and sustain social epidemics.

    Written by an educator who observed and worked in the world-famous schools, this groundbreaking resource presents the key tools that will allow American teachers to transform their classrooms, including these:Organization of time and space Documentation of children’s work Observation and questioning Attention to children’s environmentsThis workbook also contains interactive activities for individual or group reflection.Julianne Wurm works as an instructional reform facilitator in the San Francisco Unified School District. She lives in San Francisco, California.