Preparing Children For School And Life

Award-winning Marcia L. Tate provides a research-based road map for raising children to reach their fullest potential and strategies for helping young brains “grow dendrites.”

Set children on a path to success by understanding and nurturing the power of the brain Children’s brains develop faster in the early years than at any other time in their lives. If you want to make the most of this pivotal period, there is no time to waste. With newly updated research, the second edition of this bestseller provides parents and educators with strategies for building a brain-compatible environment where young learners can develop the skills they need to be successful. Inside you’ll find: How to design a brain-friendly environment, including the use of music, color, and lighting The effects of verbal communication, reading aloud, and discussion on children’s development Strategies for developing character and responsible behaviors An action plan to help parents follow through with implementation at home Multiple examples of best practices in action Based on the latest research on human growth and development and written by a nationally-known education expert, Preparing Children for Success in School and Life helps you satisfy a child’s natural hunger for learning and ensure that every child gets the best possible chance at success.

Being a parent is hard. You are your child's first teacher and there are so many things they need to learn, from the time they're born to when they're at school. Your child will learn more in their first five years of life than ever! And you will play an important role in how successful your child is. This book will help you and your child to not only survive, but thrive in the early years. You can then stress a little less knowing you've done all you can to prepare them and yourself for school. And maybe even have some fun along the way!'Easy to read, informative, humorous. Could be called "Parents Handbook on Raising Children". Touched on every topic, sound advice. Recommend to any parent preparing their child for school and life!' Lea Martin (Principal, Mother) 'A breeze to read, practical advice. Maps out the early school years. Her passion, desire for each child's school success evident!' Chanelle Chate (Speech Language Pathologist)'Practical advice, ideas, easy to read, non-judgmental. Sure to set you and your child up for success at school. Essential reading for any parent!' Matthew Thompson (Principal, Father)

This book presents an exploration of the beliefs held by parents, Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners and teachers and their relationships during children’s transition to school. This exploration was prompted by the author’s observations that the relationships between ECEC practitioners and teachers became increasingly strained when the term school readiness was introduced to the EYFS. Drawing on the findings of empirical research, the book presents the four qualities of relationships between parents, ECEC practitioners and teachers during children’s transition to school. Unlike many current texts, this book extends the transition to include the phases of preparation and adjustment and explores how the qualities of relationships between parents, ECEC practitioners and teachers can change throughout thephases of the transition. The conceptual framework, ‘The Relational Transition to School’ is developed and is a useful tool for researchers and those working together to explore the qualities of relationships between those supporting children during a transition. An Empirical Approach to Preparing Children for Starting School will be of great interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the field of early childhood education, as well as those training to be early years practitioners.

Make sure your children grow dendrites! As children′s first teachers, parents need to provide a firm foundation for lifelong learning. In this new book, award-winning educator Marcia L. Tate provides a research-based road map for raising respectful, responsible children who achieve to their fullest potential. The best-selling author, mother, and grandmother shares brain-compatible strategies for guiding children toward personal, academic, and career success. Her latest book provides parents and caregivers with a wealth of practical tips and tools for: Creating a calm and brain-compatible home environment Incorporating positive physical contact and verbal communication Encouraging play that develops creativity and imagination Strengthening children′s auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, and visual modes of learning Preparing Children for Success in School and Life shows parents how to help children′s brains "grow dendrites" in everyday ways such as telling them stories, using music to enhance memory, turning homework time into fun time, and allowing them freedom to draw and write. From day one through graduation and beyond, you and your family will reap the benefits of the author′s 30+ years of experience with thousands of children.

In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.

Understanding resiliency and student success by studying people who succumbed to risk but later triumphed. A number of people who failed in school currently enjoy meaningful and successful lives. They include, though they are by no means limited to, those with attention and executive function challenges, learning disabilities, learning and behavioral challenges arising out of traumatic events in their lives, and even those impacted by all of the above. Up until recently, little attention was paid to successful people who did poorly in school. Why? One reason might be that many of us doubted that it was actually possible. After all, many loving parents and caring teachers spent countless hours trying their hardest to help these failing children turn things around in school, sometimes with little or nothing to show for it. If these children continued to struggle and fail in school with all this help and support, it was understandable to assume that they would not succeed in the real world decades later without it. So what did we miss? Why were we so wrong about them? And perhaps most importantly, how can their life experiences help educators and parents understand what schools can do better to support students who are struggling today? In his groundbreaking new book, Mark Katz draws on research findings in clinical and social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, education, and other fields of study—as well as stories of successful individuals who overcame years of school failure—to answer these and other questions. In the process, he shows how children who fail at school but succeed at life can give teachers and schools, counselors and health care professionals, parents and guardians—even those whose childhood struggles have persisted into their adult years—new remedies for combatting learning, behavioral, and emotional challenges; reducing juvenile crime, school dropout, and substance abuse; improving our health and well-being; and preventing medical problems later in life.