For many educators, parents, and children, school heralds more changes than the New Years. Attitude adjustment must be in the air because lately I've run across a bunch of great resources that can serve as agents of change.
Two welcome resources come from Jim Fay's Love and Logic Press. Fay is my discipline idol and I have new admiration for him after experiencing to his recent tape and video. He's now teamed up with his son, Charles, a counselor who speaks eloquent about how Jim's work benefits academic and emotional needs. Their video, Teacher in Charge: 10 Strategies for Managing Student Disruptions (Love and Logic, $79.95; 1-800-338-4065), is a must buy for professional libraries. I've listened to Jim's audios for years, but this is the first time I've seen him in action with children. As he teaches a complicated game to second graders, he shows tactics that are simple, make perfect sense, and effective. This is a great video for teachers who'd like to have fun disciplining, and then move on to have fun teaching. Jim models methods and tells stories and interspersed are Charles' explanations of the emotional and educational fits. Then they show the entire class from start to finish to give a sense of continuity and how it all works together.
The Fays also collaborate on an audio tape, Calming the Chaos: Behavior improvement strategies for the child with ADHD (2 audio cassettes, Love and Logic, $18.95)The tape, directed to both parents and teacher, is full of illustrative stories, interaction with a listening audience, and best of all, a wealth of techniques to handle the most disturbing and manipulative behaviors.
Free Spirit is a press which has shown again and again its regard for the emotional well-being of children. Two new books are great new beginnings resources. For teacher's there's Allan Beane's The Bully Free Classroom: Over 100 Tips and Strategies for Teachers K-8 (Free Spirit, $19.95). Beside a slew of strategies, there are reproducible handouts to help students better understand and track bullying. Clear explanations and activities help teachers and students understand and practice assertiveness, I-messages, conflict resolution, mediation. One of my favorite facets of this book is that it looks to support both the bullied and the bullies.
Rosemarie Clarke, Donna Hawkins, and Beth Vachon are three teacher-parents who have written The School-Savvy Parent: 365 Insiders Tips to Help You Help Your Child (Free Spirit, $12.950 From getting started at school to handling holidays and breaks, the authors offer practical advice on a million and one details of school life. They give great ideas about how to communicate with teachers, handle homework and tests, and set up home structures which prepare for and enrich the child's school learning. Throughout, the authors list a number of additional web and book resources. These authors know how busy parents are and so they've set up a format with minor print and major ideas.
Last, I think it's wonderful for parents to discover books that make learning a family affair. Mystery rules in the new Kids Can Press series featuring stories of two doggie sleuths. In Louise Dickinson's Lu and Clancy's Crime Science, the two canines use real detectives methods to solve mysteries and readers are treated to the "how it works" so they can perform their own investigations. Adrienne Mason's Lu & Clancy's Secret Codes has the two examiners checking secret messages and revealing numerous ciphers. ( both books from Kids Can Press, $5.95; ages 6-9)
Brain Quest was one of children's favorite ways to learn. These education boosters come as a bound deck of questions that challenge children to think, each targeting a specific skill or level. There are two new offerings in this series: 3rd Grade Brain Quest covers amphibians, decimals, root words, and more. Preschool Brain Quest contains queries about words and letters, patterns and shapes, and social concepts (each set includes two question decks and is published by Workman,$10.95)
Learning can take place anywhere. This fact is proved by Eric Muller's While You're Waiting for the Food to Come: Experiments and tricks that can be done at a restaurant, the dining room table or wherever food is served (Orchard, $8.95). From estimating how many times you can fold your napkin to launching a battle by blowing up submarine sandwich bags, Miller gives clear directions and the theory behind the activity The whole menu of experiments are served up with playful food lingo. Leave this book in your car, so you can turn long restaurant delays into a banquet of learning enjoyment.