The diverse and difficult needs of today's children far outstrip the ability of any one institution to meet them. Yet one of the richest resources for understanding a child's early learning experiences-parents-is quite often the most frequently overlooked. A Path to Follow suggests that parent "stories" can be a highly effective, collaborative tool for accessing knowledge that may not be obvious, but would obviously be of benefit. Pat Edwards and her coauthors have here defined "stories" as narratives gained from open-ended conversations and/or interviews, where parents respond to questions designed to shed light on traditional and nontraditional early literacy activities in the home. After all, as a child's first and most important teacher, a parent can offer memories of specific formative interactions, observations on early learning efforts, and thoughts on how their own backgrounds have impacted a child's attitude toward school. In sharing their anecdotes and observations, parents give us the keys to unlock a vault of social, emotional, and educational variables. The secondary benefit to the story approach, of course, is the empowerment that parents feel when they are given the chance to participate in a personally meaningful way-one that respects their viewpoint. As parents and schools continue to wrestle with prodigious challenges-shifting family demographics, time constraints, cultural divides, privacy issues, and of course, economics-stories remain a nonthreatening and practical vehicle for collaboration. With its step-by-step approach to creating parent story programs, sample questions, case studies, and useful guidelines on collecting and interpreting data, A Path to Follow will be hailed as a detailed and innovative roadmap to involving the whole community in a child's education.

Become a calmer and happier mother with Buddhism for Mothers. 'This is an excellent, practical guide to everyday Buddhism not just for mothers, but for everyone who has ever had a mother. ' Vicki Mackenzie, author of the bestselling Why Buddhism Parenthood can be a time of great inner turmoil for a woman yet parenting books invariably focus on nurturing children rather than the mothers who struggle to raise them. This book is different. It is a book for mothers. Buddhism for Mothers explores the potential to be with your children in the all-important present moment; to gain the most joy out of being with them. How can this be done calmly and with a minimum of anger, worry and negative thinking? How can mothers negotiate the changed conditions of their relationships with partners, family and even with friends? Using Buddhist practices, Sarah Napthali offers ways of coping with the day-to-day challenges of motherhood. Ways that also allow space for the deeper reflections about who we are and what makes us happy. By acknowledging the sorrows as well as the joys of mothering Buddhism for Mothers can help you shift your perspective so that your mind actually helps you through your day rather than dragging you down. This is Buddhism at its most accessible, applied to the daily realities of ordinary parents. Even if exploring Buddhism at this busy stage of your life is not where you thought you'd be, it's well worthwhile reading this book. It can make a difference.

Parenting: your path to enlightenment.

Joyful and alive, A Path for Parents is for anyone interested in spiritual life within the context of parenting - Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. It is a refreshingly honest and accessible account of how parents can grow spiritually among the everyday experiences of life with children. Sara Burns, mother and Buddhist practitioner, draws on her personal experience and research with Buddhist parents to identify the key opportunities and obstacles for growth inherent within parenting.

A spellbinding tale about a girl, the Thickety, and the power of magic. Fans of Neil Gaiman will love this thrilling world. A dark, forbidden forest. Vicious beasts. Deadly plants. An evil spellbook. Secrets. Mysteries. Witches, both good and bad . . . Welcome to the world of the Thickety. Full of action, set in an intriguing and dangerous world, and illustrated with gorgeous and haunting line art, The Thickety: A Path Begins is a truly stunning book. A Path Begins is the thrilling start of a middle grade fantasy series about a girl, a mysterious forest, and a book of untold magical powers. Kara and her brother, Taff, are shunned by their village because their mother was a witch. The villagers believe nothing is more evil than magic, except for what lurks in the nearby Thickety. But when Kara enters the forbidden forest, she discovers a strange book, a grimoire that might have belonged to her mother. The events she then sets in motion are both awe-inspiring and terrifying. And that is just the beginning of the story—there are three more adventures in the Thickety to explore after this first book in the series. Publishers Weekly Best Book IndieBound Indie Next List Publishers Weekly Flying Start Amazon's Big Spring Books Washington Post Summer Book Club

New understandings of learning and the brain, greater appreciation of the impact of culture on learners, and the differing values and expectations of families have created an educational environment ripe for expanded school choice. The result has been a rapid and little understood expansion of pre-collegiate educational opportunities. For parents anxious to find the best fit for their children, the growth in choice has been both a boon and a challenge. Choosing the Right Educational Path for Your Child seeks to reveal the various school designs, from public to private, from secular to religious, and from progressive to conservative. The mission assumptions, the economic models, and the pedagogical practices of each are examined. With chapters from leading experts from a variety of educational paths, readers will gain a thorough understanding of the ever-changing landscape of American education in the 21st Century.