The Missing Alphabet

The Missing Alphabet
Author: Susan Marcus
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2012-10-23
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 160832379X

The future will belong to children with innovative minds. Which is why this team of education experts have drawn on their decades of applied research in creativity, individuality, play, and media to craft an engaging guide for parents who understand that creative thinking skills are no longer a luxury, but a necessity for success in the new, grown-up world of work. The book introduces the Sensory Alphabet, basic building blocks that are as powerful for building twenty-first-century literacies as the ABCs are for reading—and that are lacking in schools today. The Missing Alphabet also offers foundational knowledge, current research and a pragmatic path for parents to understand the individual strengths and creative potential that will help their own children learn productively in the future. To turn these ideas into action, there is a Field Guide full of resources and activities for parents and kids to explore together at home, in museums, and around the neighborhood. This tried-and-true approach engages children with the creative thinking process, the capacity to invent with many media, the ability to think across disciplines, and the reliance on (and joy in) the imagination. Over the past forty years, the authors have developed highly successful programs for both in and out-of-school settings based on these concepts. Now, they offer parents a comprehensive guide for building the confidence and creative thinking skills for their own children—and now urgently needed for our collective future.

Every Parent's Guide to Navigating Our Digital World

Every Parent's Guide to Navigating Our Digital World
Author: Kara Powell
Publisher: Sticky Faith
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2018-10-15
Genre: Parenting
ISBN: 9780991488070

Feel like your kids are drowning in a sea of new questions, apps, and devices? Want to talk about digital media more with your kids, but aren't sure how? Help is here. Every Parent's Guide to Navigating Our Digital World helps you think and talk differently about digital media, as you learn from inspiring and creative parents like you who navigate these ever-changing waters day after day. Drawing from the best research on media and youth, as well as our own conversations with parents and teenagers, this resource offers new breakthroughs for your most pressing tech-related dilemmas.

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (The Ordinary Parent's Guide)

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (The Ordinary Parent's Guide)
Author: Jessie Wise
Publisher: Peace Hill Press
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2004-10-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 194296837X

A plain-English guide to teaching phonics. Every parent can teach reading—no experts need apply! Too many parents watch their children struggle with early reading skills—and don't know how to help. Phonics programs are too often complicated, overpriced, gimmicky, and filled with obscure educationalese. The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading cuts through the confusion, giving parents a simple, direct, scripted guide to teaching reading—from short vowels through supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This one book supplies parents with all the tools they need. Over the years of her teaching career, Jessie Wise has seen good reading instruction fall prey to trendy philosophies and political infighting. Now she has teamed with dynamic coauthor Sara Buffington to supply parents with a clear, direct phonics program—a program that gives them the know-how and confidence to take matters into their own hands.

Raising Boys to Be Good Men

Raising Boys to Be Good Men
Author: Aaron Gouveia
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2020-06-16
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 151074942X

"If you are the parent of a boy . . . this is the book you need . . . insightful, enlightened, practical." —Peggy Orenstein, New York Times bestselling author of Boys & Sex From the dad who created the viral tweet supporting his son wearing nail polish, this essential parenting guide shares 36 parenting tips for battling gender norms, bringing down "man up" culture, and helping sons realize their potential. Our boys are in a crisis. Toxic masculinity and tough guy-ism are on display daily from our leaders, and we see anger, dysfunction, violence, and depression in young men who are suffocated by harmful social codes. Our young sons are told to stop throwing like a girl. They hear phrases like “man up” when they cry. They are told “boys will be boys” when they behave badly. The “Girl Power” movement has encouraged women to be whoever and do whatever they want, but that sentiment is not often extended to boys. Just watch the bullying when boys try ballet, paint their fingernails, or play with a doll. But we can treat this problem—and the power lies in the hands of parents. It's not only possible to raise boys who aren't emotionally stifled and shoved into stereotypical gender boxes; it's vital if we want a generation of men who can express their emotions, respect women, and help nurse society back to a halfway healthy place. We can reframe manhood. From Aaron Gouveia, who gained viral fame after tweeting his support for his son’s painted fingernails (and who knows toxic masculinity very well), learn practical and actionable tips such as: Don’t accept different standards for moms and dads Teach boys that “girl” is not an insult and retire phrases like “boys will be boys” Show boys that expressing their emotions and being physical is a good thing Let boys pursue nontraditional interests and hobbies Talk to boys about consent and privilege Model healthy and respectful relationships for boys to emulate Penned with equal parts humor, biting snark, and lived advice, Raising Boys to Be Good Men is the essential parenting guide for raising sons to realize their potential outside the box. ​

The Smartest Kids in the World

The Smartest Kids in the World
Author: Amanda Ripley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2014-07-29
Genre: Education
ISBN: 145165443X

Following three teenagers who chose to spend one school year living in Finland, South Korea, and Poland, a literary journalist recounts how attitudes, parenting, and rigorous teaching have revolutionized these countries' education results.

Of Games and God

Of Games and God
Author: Kevin Schut
Publisher: Baker Books
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2013-01-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1441240519

Video games are big business, generating billions of dollars annually. The long-held stereotype of the gamer as a solitary teen hunched in front of his computer screen for hours is inconsistent with the current makeup of a diverse and vibrant gaming community. The rise of this cultural phenomenon raises a host of questions: Are some games too violent? Do they hurt or help our learning? Do they encourage escapism? How do games portray gender? Such questions have generated lots of talk, but missing from much of the discussion has been a Christian perspective. Kevin Schut, a communications expert and an enthusiastic gamer himself, offers a lively, balanced, and informed Christian evaluation of video games and video game culture. He expertly engages a variety of issues, encouraging readers to consider both the perils and the promise of this major cultural phenomenon. The book includes a foreword by Quentin J. Schultze.

PopularMMOs Presents A Hole New World

PopularMMOs Presents A Hole New World
Author: PopularMMOs
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 211
Release: 2018-06-19
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062790897

New York Times Bestseller! Minecraft-inspired YouTube star PopularMMOs brings everyone’s favorite characters to life in a thrilling adventure to save their friend, battle the undead, and escape the hole new world they’ve crashed into with one unfortunate misstep. Fans of DanTDM: Trayaurus and the Enchanted Crystal and Zach King: My Magical Life will love this PopularMMOs graphic novel adventure, filled with hilarious jokes, thrill-a-minute action, and beloved characters. When Pat and Jen stumble into a hidden hole while playing hide-and-seek, they find that they’re trapped in a dangerous underworld and that their good friend, Bomby, has been kidnapped! Now it’s up to our daring duo and their “friend” Carter to battle the zombies, find the castle, and get back home before it’s too late. Can Pat and Jen find Bomby and flee the underworld before they get zombified by the evilest villain of them all—Evil Jen? One of the most popular YouTubers in the world, with over 13 million subscribers and 10 billion views, PopularMMOs brings together one magical unicorn, one talking cloud, an enormous golem, a dimwitted ship captain, and one oblivious cat in this heart-stopping adventure, as Pat and Jen try to rescue their friends from the zombie-filled new world they’ve fallen into with a single regrettable stumble.

The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution

The Parents’ Guide to Climate Revolution
Author: Mary DeMocker
Publisher: New World Library
Total Pages: 362
Release: 2018-03-05
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN: 1608684822

“Relax,” writes author Mary DeMocker, “this isn’t another light bulb list. It’s not another overwhelming pile of parental ‘to dos’ designed to shrink your family’s carbon footprint through eco-superheroism.” Instead, DeMocker lays out a lively, empowering, and doable blueprint for engaging families in the urgent endeavor of climate revolution. In this book’s brief, action-packed chapters, you’ll learn hundreds of wide-ranging ideas for being part of the revolution — from embracing simplicity parenting, to freeing yourself from dead-end science debates, to teaching kids about the power of creative protest, to changing your lifestyle in ways that deepen family bonds, improve moods, and reduce your impact on the Earth. Engaging and creative, this vital resource is for everyone who wants to act effectively — and empower children to do the same.

The Collapse of Parenting

The Collapse of Parenting
Author: Leonard Sax
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 277
Release: 2024-10-01
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1541604547

In this New York Times bestseller, one of America’s premier physicians offers a must-read account of the new challenges facing parents today and a program for how we can better prepare our children to navigate the obstacles they face In The Collapse of Parenting, internationally acclaimed author Leonard Sax argues that rising levels of obesity, depression, and anxiety among young people can be traced to parents abdicating their authority. The result is children who have no standard of right and wrong, who lack discipline, and who look to their peers and the Internet for direction. Sax shows how parents must reassert their authority - by limiting time with screens, by encouraging better habits at the dinner table, and by teaching humility and perspective - to renew their relationships with their children. Drawing on nearly thirty years of experience as a family physician and psychologist, along with hundreds of interviews with children, parents, and teachers, Sax offers a blueprint parents can use to help their children thrive in an increasingly complicated world.