Education Books

The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, Revised and Updated Edition

Susan Wise Bauer, Jessie Wise

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: W. W. Norton & Company Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $19.95

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> Psychology & Counseling -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 213 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"Outstanding...should be on every home educator's reference bookshelf."—Homeschooling Today

This book will instruct you, step by step, on how to give your child an academically rigorous, comprehensive education from preschool through high school. Two veteran home educators outline the classical pattern of education—the trivium—which organizes learning around the maturing capacity of the child's mind: the elementary school "grammar stage," the middle school "logic stage," and the high school "rhetoric stage." Using the trivium as your model, you'll be able to instruct your child in all levels of reading, writing, history, geography, mathematics, science, foreign languages, rhetoric, logic, art, and music, regardless of your own aptitude in those subjects.

Newly revised and updated, The Well-Trained Mind includes detailed book lists with complete ordering information; up-to-date listings of resources, publications, and Internet links; and useful contacts.

Kid Talk: Conversation Cards (Tabletalk Conversation Cards)

U S. Games Systems Inc.

Amazon Price: $6.00 List Price: $6.00 Usually ships in 1 to 4 weeks By: US Games Systems - Model: TTKD50 Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $5.75

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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Card Games -> General
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> Card Games -> General AAS
Subjects -> Entertainment -> Puzzles & Games -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Great family conversation tool 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

We were looking for a way to increase our family communication during dinner and to allow each child in the family to have equal "floor time" for their comments. The cards contain great topics, are creative, and enhance spontaneous discussion. Great buy!

kid talk 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

A little disappointing. Our family has to skim through a few cards before we find one that seems fun.

Don't believe everything you read 2 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I bought these to use with my kids, but found that they didn't find the ideas at all interesting. Personal interest varies, of course. It seems to me that we have more interesting conversations than the ones suggested in the deck on a regular basis. My main issue with these cards, however, is that many of the "facts" listed on the cards are completely incorrect. Don't beleive everything you read, and particularly with this card deck- find out if the "fact" it lists is truly a "fact". One could take this in an entirely different educational direction than it was intended, but a research project wasn't what I was looking for.

Editorial Review:

A grouping of stars is called a "constellation." Constellations are our oldest picture books. People who studied the stars at night long ago connected them with imaginary lines. These lines made shapes that looked like animals and people. Famous constellations include "Leo the Lion" and the "Big Dipper." Have you ever seen a picture formed by some stars? What was it? Could you find it again?

Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion

Amazon Price: $12.21 List Price: $17.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: AMACOM Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $9.31

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Subjects -> Health, Mind & Body -> General AAS
Subjects -> Home & Garden

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 44 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Foreword by Michael Shermer, Ph.D.

Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Penn Jillette, Julia Sweeney, and Dr. Donald B. Ardell

It’s hard enough to live a secular life in a religious world. And bringing up children without religious influence can be even more daunting. Despite the difficulties, a large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion.

In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children. With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and wellness guru Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.

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

Jenifer Fox M.Ed.

Amazon Price: $9.98 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 68 new & used starting at $3.62

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Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Education Theory -> Philosophy & Social Aspects
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Parent Participation
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Pedagogy

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An essential book for parents and teachers that explores how children’s individual strengths create success

With this groundbreaking work, educator Jenifer Fox is poised to change the conversation about education in this country. 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.

What Your First Grader Needs to Know: Fundamentals of a Good First-Grade Education (The Core Knowledge Series)

E.D. Jr Hirsch

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Delta Amazon Marketplace: 134 new & used starting at $2.37

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Total reviews: 32 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

What will your child be expected to learn in the first grade? How can you help him or her at home? How can teachers foster active, successful learning in the classroom? This book answers these all-important questions and more, offering the specific shared knowledge that hundreds of parents and teachers across the nation have agreed upon for American first graders. Revised and updated, filled with a wealth of opportunities for reading aloud and fostering discussion, this first-grade volume of the acclaimed Core Knowledge Series presents the sort of knowledge and skills that should be at the core of a challenging first-grade education. Discover:

Favorite Poems, old and new, such as "The Owl and the Pussycat," "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," and "Thirty Days Hath September"
Beloved Stories from many times and lands, including a selection of Aesop's Fables, "Hansel and Gretel," "All Stories Are Anansi's," "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," and much more
Familiar Sayings and Phrases such as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" and "Practice makes perfect"
World and American History and Geography--take a trip down the Nile with King Tut, and learn about the early days of our country, including the story of Jamestown, the Pilgrims, and the American Revolution
Visual Arts--fun activities plus full-color reproductions of masterworks by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cezanne, Georgia O'Keefe, and others
Music--engaging introductions to great composers and music, including classical music, opera, and jazz, as well as a selection of favorite children's songs
Math--a variety of activities to help your child learn to count, add and subtract, solve problems, recognize geometrical shapes and patterns, and learn about telling time
Science--interesting discussions of living things and their habitats, the human body, the states of matter, how we measure things, how electricity works, our solar system, and what's inside the earth, plus stories of famous scientists such as Thomas Edison and Rachel Carson

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 2: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance, Revised Edition ... the World: History for the Classical Child)

Susan Wise Bauer

Amazon Price: $11.53 List Price: $16.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Peace Hill Press Amazon Marketplace: 33 new & used starting at $9.00

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> General AAS
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General
Subjects -> Nonfiction -> Education -> Homeschooling -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children. Enjoy it together and introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world's civilizations.

Now more than ever, other cultures are affecting our everyday lives—and our children need to learn about the other countries of the world and their history. Susan Wise Bauer has provided a captivating guide to the history of other lands. Written in an engaging, straightforward manner, this revised edition of The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 2: The Middle Ages weaves world history into a story book format. Who discovered chocolate? What happened to the giant Fovor of the Mighty Blows? Why did the Ottoman Turks drag their war ships across dry land?

The Story of the World covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas—find out what happened all around the world in long-ago times. Designed as a read-aloud project for parents and children to share together, The Story of the World includes each continent and major people group. Volume 2: The Middle Ages, is the second of a four-volume series and covers the major historical events in the years 400 to 1600 CE, as well as including maps, illustrations, and tales from each culture.