Teaching Your Child To Love Learning

They're hallmarks of childhood. The endless "why" questions. The desire to touch and taste everything. The curiosity and the observations. It can't be denied-children have an inherent desire to know. Teachers and parents can either encourage this natural inquisitiveness or squelch it. There is joy in the classroom when children learn-not to take a test, not to get a grade, not to compete with each other, and not to please their parents or their teachers-but because they want to know about the world around them! Both Christian educators and parents will find proven help in creating a positive learning atmosphere through methods pioneered by Charlotte Mason that show how to develop a child's natural love of learning. The professional educators, administrators, and Mason supporters contributing to this volume give useful applications that work in a variety of educational settings, from Christian schools to homeschools. A practical follow-up to Crossway's For the Children's Sake, this book follows a tradition of giving serious thought to what education is, so that children will be learning for life and for everlasting life.

The "project approach" has long been a tremendous tool for educators working with young children. This is not an activity book but a book about doing in-depth investigations about topics that interest your child and you. The project approach stimulates your child's curiosity, shows the advantages of learning academic skills such as reading, writing and math and helps you build a strong relationship with your child as you share the adventure of learning together. In this book, we have adapted the approach to show parents, grandparents and other caregivers how to do meaningful and exciting projects at home. Featuring many photos of children doing project work this book thoroughly explains the benefits to both you and your child of doing projects together. Ideas are given for transforming your home into a place to learn including guidance for collecting and storing materials, making time for projects, and documenting your child's work. Seven complete examples of at-home projects are shared. Chapters also show you how to coach your child to build skills for reading and writing, mathematical development, scientific thinking, and more. Direction is also provided for adapting the project approach for use in family child care centers, home schooling, and gifted education.

A step-by-step program that shows parents, simply and clearly, how to teach their child to read in just 20 minutes a day.

Young children can surprise us with tough questions. Tominey’s essential guide teaches us how to answer them and foster compassion along the way. If you had to choose one word to describe the world you want children to grow up in, what would it be? Safe? Understanding? Resilient? Compassionate? As parents and caregivers of young children, we know what we want for our children, but not always how to get there. Many children today are stressed by academic demands, anxious about relationships at school, confused by messages they hear in the media, and overwhelmed by challenges at home. Young children look to the adults in their lives for everything. Sometimes we’re prepared... sometimes we’re not. In this book, Shauna Tominey guides parents and caregivers through how to have conversations with young children about a range of topics-from what makes us who we are (e.g., race, gender) to tackling challenges (e.g., peer pressure, divorce, stress) to showing compassion (e.g., making friends, recognizing privilege, being a helper). Talking through these topics in an age-appropriate manner—rather than telling children they are too young to understand—helps children recognize how they feel and how they fit in with the world around them. This book provides sample conversations, discussion prompts, storybook recommendations, and family activities. Dr. Tominey's research-based strategies and practical advice creates dialogues that teach self-esteem, resilience, and empathy: the building blocks for a more compassionate world.

The "project approach" has long been a tremendous tool for educators working with young children. In this book, three experienced teachers show parents, grandparents, and other caregivers how to do meaningful and exciting projects in their home and community. Featuring many photos of children doing project work, this volume:

“Ellen Galinsky—already the go-to person on interaction between families and the workplace—draws on fresh research to explain what we ought to be teaching our children. This is must-reading for everyone who cares about America’s fate in the 21st century.” — Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent for The PBS NewsHour Families and Work Institute President Ellen Galinsky (Ask the Children, The Six Stages of Parenthood) presents a book of groundbreaking advice based on the latest research on child development.

With so much emphasis these days on making students globally competitive and prepared to beat students of other nations on international assessments, and with so much talk about academic rigor and emphasis on rigid accountability measures, we are in danger of losing sight of the most fundamental element of successful teaching and learning — love. Teaching Students to Love Learning, Not Just Endure It makes the case that if we really want 'no child left behind' we must return to the solid foundation on which successful teaching and learning has always rested — the love of teacher for her students (and they for her) and the passion of the teacher for her discipline and her desire to share that passion with her students.

Includes tips for home schoolers.What do you do when your child hates school?When little Sarah cries herself to sleep at night, when Johnny has tummy aches in the morning, something is clearly wrong. An occasional problem at school is one thing. But what do you do when school is the problem? When your child hates school because school doesn’t like your child, you’ve got to act. Don’t let a one-size-fits-all educational system steal the joys and riches of learning from your son or daughter. Your child is unique, with a personal learning style that needs to be understood and respected. In this groundbreaking book, learning expert Cynthia Ulrich Tobias shows how you can work with your child’s school and teachers to tailor an education your child will love, not hate. Here are practical ways to craft an approach that draws out your son or daughter’s giftedness and minimizes the things that frustrate.Filled with practical applications and insights as commonsense as they are revolutionary, I Hate School includes a Learning Styles Profile Summary on which to base your plans and actions. So don’t waste time. Today, starting now, you can take steps toward an education for your child that will replace the words “I hate school” with “Is it time to go to school yet?”

Motivated Minds--a practical guide to ensuring your child's success in school. What makes students succeed in school? For the past twenty years, the focus has been on building children's self-esteem to help them achieve more in the classroom. But positive reinforcement hasn't necessarily resulted in measureable academic improvement. Through extensive research, combined with ongoing classroom implementation of their ideas, Deborah Stipek, Dean of the School of Education at Stanford, and Kathy Seal have created a program that will encourage motivation and a love of learning in children from toddlerhood through elementary school. Stipek and Seal maintain that parents and teachers can build a solid foundation for learning by helping children to develop the key elements of success: competency, autonomy, curiosity, and critical relationships. The authors offer both practical advice and strategies on understanding different learning styles for Math and reading as well as down-to-earth tips about how to manage difficult issues -- competition, grades, praise, bribes, and rewards -- that inevitably arise for parents and teachers. Most important, Stipek and Seal help parents create an enriching environment for their children at home that will mesh with the school experience and become a positive, effective climate for learning.