Education Teaching Books

After trying at least four other proofreading exercise programs over the years, I've finally found the winner of the bunch. These proofreading exercises are at just the right level for my middle schoolers, and the humor keeps them engaged. The jokes are helping improve my EL students' reading comprehension, as well. At first, my EL students had to frequently ask for the explanation to a joke. Now, most of them pick up on the context clues that create the humor. I highly recommend "Phunny Stuph."

This book has been wonderful to use in my 8th grade Language Arts classes as a daily warm-up. The students enjoy reading and correcting these funny stories way more than anything else I have tried. In fact, I ordered this book because one of my students was sitting with me as I previewed it and was laughing out loud! It is well worth the purchase!

As a middle school writing teacher, I had trouble getting students interested in proofreading and editing. These proofreading activities are fast and easy to use, and what middle schooler doesn't enjoy a joke to spice up an assignment?

I found this book to be one of the most helpful I've ordered in the course of three years of personal research and work with my son. I knew that the school my son attends was using picture schedules, but I had not been able to fully understand the theory and practice of this.

While producing and using a picture schedule can take a great deal of time--training for independence is quite challenging--the book establishes the theory of the practice in plain language. This is definitely a must read for parents and care-givers, including volunteers in church or community child-care or respite programs.

In addition to clear explanation of the theory and use of picture schedules, the images included work to sharpen the concepts--also a plus for those of us are more visually inclined. The tips for starting small and working up, as well as tips for using picture schedules of varying levels of sophistication are also priceless.

I'm using this with some of my other (read neuro-typical) children, and it works beautifully with them, as well. Like signing with your baby, this is a great step in establishing routines and independence in little ones, and even older children.

This book is a must have for anyone wishing to implement an activity schedule. This book was required reading for a teaching children with autism course at UMASS. Not only is it extremely informative, guiding the reader through each detail designing the schedule and implementing the schedule, it is also an easy, quick read that I refer back to often. Additionally, the authors are well published in scientific journals. Great resource for parents, teachers, and professionals.

A great book for teaching life skills to children with autism. Useful for the young and old child, the new and experienced teacher. Very detailed and helpful book.

The goal of raising any child is to guide them into independance, and though many autistic children will never reach complete independance, it remains an important goal. Independance is an important factor in self-esteem and is essential for entering any portion of adult life. I was consistantly frustrated with therapy manuals which required my complete and undivided attention at all times. I'm under no delusion that I will be forever available to my autistic son, and it would be nice for me to feel that he could get up and at least dress himself at some point without my verbally prompting him.

The clear instructions and logical directives in "Activity Schedules for Children with Autism" place it on my 'highly recommended' list. While not a book I would recommend for a parent whose child has been newly diagnosed, I certainly recommend it to those parents with other therapeutic programs already in place. The activity schedules are very easily integrated into existing therapies and school environments, greatly boosting their success. I've also implimented an advanced version of activity schedules, verbally explained, with my five-year-old typical daughter - as a result the morning 'dilly-dallies' and afternoon 'hum-drums' have all but disappeared.

I would recommend that existing image programs be used whenever possible, only to cut down on the time it takes to prepare the schedules. I use Flash! Pro2, which can be found online, though there are many other graphic programs that could be used as well. (As a webmaster I've found that many of the 'web-ready' image collections contained pictures that were appropriate for this program as well as ABA and DTT programs.)

All-in-all, excellent book, flexible program, expertly explained.

This book is necessary for anybody looking to implement or improve an already existing activity schedule. Although McClannahan and Krantz are experts in the field of behavior analysis, they wrote the books so that you don't have to be a near genius I.Q to understand it. The book is perfect for parents and teachers as well as students studying behavior analysis or special education teachers interested in working with autistic children. The first chapter is dedicated to discussing what an activity schedule is and how your child or student will benefit. The subsequent chapter delves into the pre-requisite skills the child will need prior to beginning. The authors explain each pre-requisite skill, why it is necessary and provide examples of each skill. The next few chapters discuss how to implement the activity schedule as well as how to measure progress. They really left nothing out. Toward the end of the book, they explained what to do when the activity schedule is mastered and provided a great deal of detail on the dos and don'ts. It is clear, that the McClannahan and Krantz really want readers to be successful at creating and teaching activity schedules. They have also co-authored Teaching Conversation to Children with Autism, which is also worth checking out. My hats off to them on such an awesome educational easy to read and understand how to book.

This book has some good discussion questions, and the DVD that goes with the study is pretty good, but I would definitely suggest looking through the first lesson and deciding which parts to do. I am in a small group, and we decided that some of the sections should be done as homework beforehand so that the sessions don't run so long. The questions about related Bible verses are not so much discussion questions as they are short answer, and those seemed a little elementary. However, it was nice to see a group study that incorporated the Bible a little more than others. I do recommend getting this book, if you are willing to do a little planning before beginning it. I definitely recommend getting the leader's guide, and the DVD is required for the group study.

I am using this book and video in an adult Bible study with 17 participants. It is a good study which shows you how to live and love like Jesus did. John Ortberg uses humor and touching stories to get his point across. Another thing that I like is that you are referred to scripture to see how Jesus faced the same problems that we face in our daily lives.

Our small group just started this lesson. The DVD messages are only about 15 monutes long. THe bulk of your small group time is spent looking up verses to discuss. There is also homework to do between meetings which is nice. BTW- You MUST get these books if you are doing the DVD study- the DVD references the book, and you really cannot do the study without this book.

I initially wrote a review for this product thinking I was reveiwing the Hardback book. I truly think this participants guide is unnecessary. The book itself has discussion questions and stuff in it. This is really just a lot of duplication (I personally would not buy again.) Save your money here and just buy the book.

When our small group decided to study together John Ortberg's "The Life You've Always Wanted," we couldn't decide whether to read the book or watch the DVD with companion study guide. So, we decided to do both.

Though there was understandable repetition between these two resources from the same author about the same topics, that was actually a good thing for us, as the principles were more fully embedded each week. Ortberg is a great teacher, so his teaching segments on the DVD were solid. In addition, the accompanying study guide provided a host of solid questions to use in response to the teaching time.

My greatest critique of the participant's guide in conjunction with the DVD was that it left me wanting more each week. Especially because we were reading the book at the same time, I was aware of how much more Ortberg had to say than he was able to include in 13 minutes of video teaching. And it was very common for our discussion to center around the text in the book that we had read earlier in the week more than the video that we had just watched.

I found this participant's guide to be fully functional and ultimately worthwhile. However, if I were to recommend "The Life You've Always Wanted," I would suggest that you just read the book. It provides much more content and the questions in the back still allow for groups to study it together. In any case, Ortberg has provided the church with a great contemporary resource about spiritual disciplines, regardless of which format you choose.

I bought this product for an Anatomy and Physiology class. Not only was it cheaper than if I had purchased it at the bookstore, but it also arrived much more quickly than anticipated.

This is a wonderful book for anyone wanting to know more about Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies. This book breaks it all down into manageable pieces that are very easy to follow and understand. This should be on every CM fans "must-read" list. An excellent book!

This book was my favorite (as written by a homeschool mom) to describe the Charlotte Mason philosophy and how one can use it in a practical way to teach their own children at home.

It is not only easy to read but a charming book. I have passed it on to my oldest child, who has begun homeschooling her daughter and son.

A book that makes the ideal childhood including education feasible and practical to implement. It shows that education does not have to take place in a chair and behind a desk. It shows that learning takes place all the time and the most important lessons are taught outside of textbooks.

This book gave me more inspiration, enthusiasm and direction for homeschooling than I ever expected to have with my oldest child still just two years old. Written by Karen Andreola, an intelligent, well-written and passionate mother who has homeschooled three children Charlotte Mason-style, the thrust of the book is not how to mold intellectually superior children (though that may be a natural result :) but rather how to nurture their natural curiosities and cultivate in them a love of learning. Reading "whole" or "living" books is foundational to this method, that is, books written by authors who have a personal passion for the subject, an enthusiasm that the reader may catch. Charlotte Mason is critical of most textbooks as they are over-stuffed with information compiled by committees aiming to meet generalized standards of what a child should learn in a particular grade. Charlotte felt that to know about something was not the same as knowing it personally. "Children are educated by their intimacies," was an oft-repeated theme which Charlotte was convinced of. A necessary partner to the reading of whole books is the "narration" of them, when a child is asked to re-tell what they have learned in their own words. Naturally the child will begin to incorporate the words of their authors into their own vocabularies. As they get older, they may narrate in both written and oral forms. In a child's early years (the first 6), no formal schooling is recommended but rather abundant play and exploration in nature, that they might experience the world through the five senses, as well as songs and books and practice at helpfulness in the home. Most importantly, Charlotte Mason recognizes Christ in her theories, placing spiritual formation as central to the child's education "...because knowledge without virtue is nothing to God."
A perfect compliment to this book in its emphasis on spiritual formation in the home: "Family Driven Faith," by Voddie Baucher.

If you've read the Charlotte Mason 6 volume set, there is no need for this companion book. My hope in reading this book was to get a modernized take on Miss Mason's educational theories. I was sadly disappointed. I find this book to be just about as victorian as the original. I do believe that the CM method will work in today's homeschools, but let's be honest, my children (and my home for that matter) look nothing like the rosy picture painted by Karen Andreola. I was hoping this book would break down the meat of CM's philosophy into what works for the modern home. I guess I'll have to do that myself.

The book was in great condition. By mistake I purchased a class room activities Manual instead of the book needed for the school class I am enrolled in. I need to return the book for a refund. Sorry, Patrick

This is one terrific source for any English teacher as it's chock full of wonderful ideas for helping our students connect with language through a variety of mediums.

I can't comment on the third edition entirely because I only have the second edition--from '99--but what's in there is really impressive, even to a methods cynic like myself. What I like about the Milner's is that they don't hesitate to give their textbook a personal slant: they provide their own perspective on theories and research as it relates to English instruction, and their classroom ideas are essentially their own preferences, based on reviewing lots of different sources. I personally can't stand it when a book comes out with the same old KWL charts and whatnot, so I love that many of the ideas in this book are novel and not familiar to most English teacers; it definitely stands out from similar texts.

Of all the books I had to read in college on literacy, this one is the most helpful and the only one I keep in my classroom as a reference. It clearly explains normal literacy development and disects the problems that arise. PRACTICAL strategies to help struggling readers and writers and abundant. It's not a quick read, but if you work with struggling readers and writers, you'll learn a lot from this book.