How Children Learn

I read this book, by John Holt, long before I ever got around to reviewing it. You see, it is SUCH a WONDERFUL book that I wanted to give a great, perfect review, not just say that I thought it was great. This is a book with the power to change the way Americans think about education for the better, times a million. It contains story after story after story illustrating how smart kids really are, how little we give them credit for, how condescending we are in our ideas of "teaching" when really the children's learning is often in spite of us, and rarely because of us, at least in a traditional "schooling" setting, as well as when we're worried about teaching our babies everything on a timetable.

Here are two examples I noticed while reading this book. They really bother me:

1. Between the Lions on PBS "Makes reading fun" because of course reading is SO NOT FUN! um...wait...

2. A commercial for a new board game series...."children don't naturally share" but our games can make them learn how!

And here are a few brilliant quotes from the book itself:

"When they learn in their own way and for their own reasons, children learn so much more rapidly and effectively than we could possibly teach them, that we can afford to throw away our curricula and our timetables, and set them free, at least most of the time, to learn on their own." p. 156

"We make too much of the difficulties of learning to read. Teachers may say, 'But reading must be difficult, or so many children wouldn't have trouble with it.' I say that it is because we assume that it is so difficult that so many children have trouble with it. Our anxieties, our fears, and the ridiculous things we do to 'simplify' what is simple enough already, cause most of the trouble." p.157

"Children know all too well when people respect and trust them and when they don't..." p. 168 Talking about testing being unmeaningful: " most of the fifth-graders I taught did not know more than a small part of the mathematics that their test scores supposedly showed they knew, and regardless of their reading scores, only a handful really liked to read or would read unless made to."

Sorry for not making the review as good as the book! And oops, sorry it got in here so late!

The Homeschooling Handbook

This book, by Mary Griffith, is eminently useful. I think it delivers on its name fairly well, because it contains a wealth of information on all types of homeschooling: not just a how-to, or a guide to a certain curriculum, but a comprehensive guide, especially helpful for parents who are seeking more general information. It had a chapter on different methods and philosophies of homeschooling, different laws concerning homeschooling, kinds of support groups and how to find and/or create support for yourself, LOTS of testimonials, typical questions, etc.

So. Highly recommended if you want to learn more about the widely varied world of homeschooling. And now I'm off to dream of the impossible--namely, how we're going to homeschool AND both have satisfying career-like interests AND money AND sanity AND a good night's sleep.

The End.

Getting Things Done: the art of stress-free productivity

David Allen might just be my new hero. But only time will tell.

You see, I just finished his book on organizing your life to minimize stress and maximize "effectiveness," and so far I feel quite enthusiastic about his methods. They're just so simple and straightforward and seem so easy and also eminently sensible and helpful. The word functional comes to mind.

However.

I haven't lived with this system for long, so we'll see how I feel about it in a few weeks.

Also of note: this book is really geared towards busy professionals, with lots of references to work projects, board meetings, etc, but I feel it's good for anyone if you can use your imagination to apply the basics to a life without Palm Pilots. Just so you know.

Thanks for the recommendation, Becky!

One Thing at a Time

This book by Cindy Glovinsky looked like a great organizational book--it has 100 very short chapters, each with a single tip on how to get and stay organized and on top of all of your "Things."

But I have to say, I was somewhat disappointed. There were a few good ones but most of it was stuff that doesn't seem that relevant to my life. I think it's good that she mentions how to keep organizational efforts as simple as possible so you don't just add MORE stress and stuff to your overburdened life, but a lot of the tips are just very forgettable or not very helpful to me. But that all depends on where you are in life and where your messiness comes from and all those things. It could work really well for you.

Too bad it's not for me.

How to Talk so Kids Can Learn

This book is by Adele Ferber and Elaine Mazlish, famous for their book How To Talk so Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk. It is in the same vein, a parenting-advice-type book, just meant for both parents and teachers. I think it's great but I didn't really feel it was too different from HTTSKWL if you're the parent. That being said, I would LOVE to see teachers read and implement the book's ideas about how important it is to respect a child's feelings so he or she is emotionally ready to learn new information and such. Highly recommended, but again, sort of superfluous to their most famous book if you're the parent.

Unconditional Parenting

I can't believe I missed reviewing this book. This is one of those in my parenting top 10. It explains a way to parent that is not really practiced much here in the U.S. and it contains LOTS of research on the effects of different types of parenting skills on the children, which I think is great for those who feel the need to be, or can be, convinced by research, although of course there are plenty of problems with any kind of research and it also just appeals to my own common sense.

This is a must-read for anyone who wants to raise his or her child with a sense of respect for that child as a person, who wants to enable the child to reach his or her full potential and be unafraid of his or her abilities. It is also a must-read, in my opinion, for anyone who believes that "permissive parenting" is really the problem.

That being said, please note that there is a type of "permissive parenting" that is not helpful to children either, but mostly the problem is that parents do not respect children enough. We don't recognize their autonomy in ways that helps them grow, and we hold them to a much, much higher standard than is realistic in many cases, and definitely than we hold ourselves to.

READ IT! =)

The Mother Trip: Hip Mama's Guide to Staying Sane in the Chaos of Motherhood

I just finished this book, by Ariel Gore, today, but even though I have several other reviews from my vacation that need posting, this couldn't wait. It is an AMAZING read, absolutely revolutionary, as well as entertaining. I can't say enough good things about this book or about Ms. Gore's philosophy: that mothers don't need any more criticism and that we can change the world for the better, or at least that's the best summation I can come up with. For example, one of my favorite stories from the book goes something like this:

Picture the perfect mother. What does she look like, what is she wearing? Where is she? What is she doing? What is she saying?

Now look in the mirror. That is the perfect mother for your children.

This is a must-read. It is also perfectly designed for moms, who might not necessarily have a lot of time to sit down and read...each chapter is a self-contained little essay, and the whole thing only took me maybe an hour to read anyway. So go get it from your local library, or if you're lucky enough to have some disposible income (unlike me), go buy it!

Writing Down the Bones

Oops.

I was reviewing the books I've read this year, and saw the posts I wrote about the books I'd picked up at the library, and noticed that I started several of them and didn't finish them (like, for example, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Last Child in the Woods), but then I also noticed that I DID finish this one, but never reviewed it.

So, here are my leftover impressions from reading Writing Down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg, back in January:

It was pretty good. However, I had just finished Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and that is an AMAZING book, so this one seemed a little dry and boring comparatively. They're both how-to books for aspiring writers, and both are quite good at helping you with your writing, but Ms. Lamott's was infinitely more passionate and inspiring. But again, it's not that Ms. Goldberg's wasn't--it just suffered from the close comparison of the two.

If you're looking for a book to read that will help you get started on a writing project, or for that matter, that will help you through the middle of it or help you finish it or just help you feel like writing, you should probably read both. Both were helpful. Just read this one first so you're not so wowed by the other that you spend all your time mourning the fact that this is not that.

Got it? Good.