The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers


Nancie Atwell - 2007
    The book establishes the top ten conditions for making engaged classroom reading possible for students at all levels and provides the practical support and structures necessary for achieving them.

Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How Our Children Really Learn--and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less


Kathy Hirsh-Pasek - 2003
    It's a message that stressed-out parents are craving to hear: Letting tots learn through play is not only okay-it's better than drilling academics!Drawing on overwhelming scientific evidence from their own studies and the collective research results of child development experts, and addressing the key areas of development-math, reading, verbal communication, science, self-awareness, and social skills-the authors explain the process of learning from a child's point of view. They then offer parents 40 age-appropriate games for creative play. These simple, fun--yet powerful exercises work as well or better than expensive high-tech gadgets to teach a child what his ever-active, playful mind is craving to learn.

Phonics They Use: Words for Reading and Writing


Patricia Marr Cunningham - 1990
    This text is an invaluable resource for any new teacher or veteran teacher in search of new ideas as this latest edition is packed with new activities and strategies for teaching reading.

Your Child's Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, Use Them


Jenifer Fox - 2008
    For too long, parents and teachers have focused on identifying and “fixing” kids’ weaknesses to improve academic performance. Passionately written and informed by Fox’s twenty-five years of experience, Your Child’s Strengths turns that flawed paradigm on its head. Fox’s strengths-based philosophy provides the tools to prepare kids for the future in a world that demands greater adaptability and creative thinking than ever before. Your Child’s Strengths will give parents and teachers the tools to discover strengths in three main areas: Activity Strengths, the tasks that make you feel engaged and energized; Relationship Strengths, the things you do for and with others that make you feel valued and competent; and Learning Strengths, the unique ways we approachand understand new information. All three strengths work in tandem. Pairing inspiring firsthand accounts of success with practical workbook tools and an outline of the award- winning Affinities Program Fox has implemented at her own school, this much- needed book is a user- friendly guide for parents, teachers, and administrators that will improve individual performance and an indispensable road map for young people and society to a future that plays to strengths.

Teach Ye Diligently


Boyd K. Packer - 1975
    This is the theme and focus of this newly redesigned edition of Teach Ye Diligently, which has been a premiere resource on gospel teaching since its publication 35 years ago. A teacher by profession, President Boyd K. Packer draws upon personal experiences and observations from the classroom and his won family to provide insightful interpretations of basic teaching principles. He shares suggestions about maintaining discipline, providing a climate conducive to learning, getting the attention of students, making difficult subjects more easily understood, and answering hard questions. Throughout the book, the emphasis is on teaching moral and spiritual values.About the AuthorPresident Boyd K. Packer has devoted much of his life to teaching. Currently the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Packer became an Assistant to the Twelve in September 1961, and was ordained an apostle in April 1970. He holds a Ph.D. in educational administration and has been supervisor of seminaries and institutes of religion for the Church and president of the New England States Mission.

Free Range Learning How Homeschooling Changes Everything


Laura Grace Weldon - 2010
    This data-from neurologists, child development specialists, anthropologists, educators, historians and business innovators-turns many current assumptions about school-based education upside down.The books factual approach is balanced by quotes and stories from over 100 homeschoolers from the U.S., Canada, Germany, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico, India and Singapore. These parents and kids are the true authorities on alternative learning. Free Range Learning demonstrates:that children and teens can best be nurtured outside of restrictive educational systems that we can restore what is heart-centered and meaningful back to a central place in education how networking with others enriches the learning experience for our kids how homeschooling has become a force of positive social change-making the community a better place for everyone.The simple choice to homeschool is much more significant than a homespun method of education. Laura Weldon asks us to consider this choice as participation in a cultural shift toward redefining success and as a form of collective intelligence with major implications for the future of education. Laura Grace Weldon writes for national publications about learning, sustainability and spirituality. She is a long-time columnist with Home Education Magazine, and an award-winning poet. Laura lives on a small farm with her husband and their four homeschooled children. Her background includes teaching conflict resolution and developing community enrichment workshops.