Product Description
America’s leading experts on parent-child communication reveal how parents and teachers can work together to open kids’ minds to enjoyable learning From the heralded authors of the multimillion-copy best-seller How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk comes a breakthrough book showing parents and teachers how to handle one of the burning issues of our day: how to motivate kids to succeed in school, at a time when schools are rife with violence an… More >>
#1 by Denise Sabineau on January 27, 2010 - 12:35 am
I had to read this book because of a teacher’s request, for a topic at the university. She came to the classroom with this book, as if it were the ultimate guide on teaching – well, she obviously liked it, but not everybody has to agree with the “ideas” there. The things the authors wrote are so obvious, at least for some persons, that all I can say is that I really had a very good time reading it as a comic book, nothing else. I laughed very much with all the explanations a teacher gave to a 7 or 9 year-old pupil, because he touched her on the arm. It was a lecture, not a simple explanation! Clearly we have to be polite, encouraging and nice towards the students. But this book really exagerated some points in such a foolish way, that I could only laugh.
Maybe it’s good for people who are starting a teaching career – then I would say read it, but even though I would be very cautious.
Rating: 2 / 5
#2 by Anonymous on January 27, 2010 - 1:21 am
Should be called – how to give children permission to be in charge This book is for parents and teachers who want permission to let the children be in charge. If you are a firm believer that the parent calls the shots, this book is not for you. One of the suggestions in this book is to leave notes for the child, instead of confronting disciplinary issues head on. Part of our job, as parents, is to prepare children for the real world. If the child learns to write notes instead of dealing with issues face to face, she will be perceived as devious and spineless once she gets into the real world. I also found the dialog between the teachers to be contrived and very forced. A waste of time.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by Anonymous on January 27, 2010 - 2:20 am
I was in a rush and thought it was about ‘How to talk so kids can learn…TO TALK.’ So as the non-educator mother of a 13 month-old, my opinion may not be the most valuable. However, I did find the book to be a little wishy-washy. Of course its better to open a dialogue rather than to lecture, but does an adult have the obligation to walk on eggshells when responding to poor behavior on the part of a child? And while I can see why gratuitous punishment might not work well, the advice to never punish seemed off base to me. It could easily be interpreted as ‘never force a child to face the negative consequences of their actions.’ I just don’t think that works with kids. But, like I said, I’m not a teacher. It does seem like some of the advice in the book might create a better classroom environment in the long run.
Rating: 2 / 5
#4 by Anonymous on January 27, 2010 - 5:10 am
Unless you are used to talking completely rationally for optimum results, this will aid you in how to confront students without putting them on the defensive. In his autobiography, Mussolini talks about how, during his childhood, he would often have rock fights with his classmates who didn’t like him. They would go on to become friends afterwards, and the lesson is that childhood is filled with instances that may seem harsh but teach you something in the long run by overcoming them. This is what I learned growing up too, but growing up today is hard enough, so it is important to make students reasonably comfortable in their learning environment. In this instance, however accustomed you are to being “real” with your students, you need to back up a bit and realize that they are in a position where people are constantly asking them for a certain behavior (self-motivated and self-disciplined) so they assert their freedom in countereffective ways. When given appropriate choices they will usually choose a good one, but they need that control over their lives. (…)
Rating: 4 / 5
#5 by Donald G. Fought on January 27, 2010 - 5:23 am
As a middle school 6th grade teacher, I experience the gamut of behavoir issues from too much chatting, to rudeness to the occasional pushing/fighting. I found myself reverting to what this book suggests you don’t do (but most teachers do) and that is to constantly say “Don’t” and “because I said so”. While I control out of punishment and consequences, I was not feeling I was controlling out of respect. I was searching for a book that could help me, and came across this one. I liked the simple concepts. I liked the actual examples used of typical classroom issues. This book made me “think” about how I am coming across to my kids now and how I SHOULD come across. The only part of the book that left me wondering was ‘how do teachers have time to implement this’. I wish the author could have addressed that issue more.
Rating: 1 / 5