Different can be great! Makayla is visiting friends in her neighborhood. She sees how each family is different. Some families have lots of children, but others have none. Some friends live with grandparents or have two dads or have parents who are divorced. How is her own family like the others? What makes each one great? This diverse cast allows readers to compare and contrast families in multiple ways.

"Family isn't always your relatives. It's the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what." -Unknown Teachers do so much more than just teach academics. They build a sense of community within their classrooms, creating a home away from home where they make their students feel safe, included, and loved. With its heartfelt message and colorfully whimsical illustrations, "Our Class is a Family" is a book that will help build and strengthen that class community. Kids learn that their classroom is a place where it's safe to be themselves, it's okay to make mistakes, and it's important to be a friend to others. When hearing this story being read aloud by their teacher, students are sure to feel like they are part of a special family. And currently, during such an unprecedented time when many teachers and students are not physically IN the classroom due to COVID-19 school closures, it's more important than it's ever been to give kids the message that their class is a family. Even at a distance, they still stick together.

This book is a lifetime of short stories that includes an autobiography and history of a woman, her immediate family, extended family, and pets. It also includes challenges, humor, tragedy, and historical lifetime events that spanned her life over a period of nearly seventy years. Truly, angels were in her life, walking with her along the path from childhood to old age.

This is my first book and is intended for family and close friends. The older I get the more I regret that I didnt ask my parents and grandparents more about their lives. My grandmothers were in their 20s when women got the vote. Did they care? What did they think about that? Nanas father died before she was born. Her mother had to raise six young children in a small town in Texas in the late 19th century. How did she manage? To the dismay of her parents, my mother eloped at 18 instead of going on to Stanford where she had been admitted. Grandpa lost his mother at a young age and gained a stepmother that he apparently didnt like. How did my grandparents meet and what attracted them to each other? What kind of weddings did they have? My questions are endless. Ill never get them answered. The stories would be precious to know. In this spirit I offer these family stories for readers I know and for all others in the future.

A culturally sensitive guide specific to the emotional health of Latinos, with a focus on family, in navigating the psychological, social, and cultural challenges faced after immigrating to America. Latinos immigrating into the United States bring with them their rich, unique cultural values and practices, with one constant being the celebration of and reliance on family. Family members find strength and support in the well defined roles and expectations passed down over many generations. This can provide a safe haven for individuals finding their way in the fast paced, competitive American culture where, in addition to the language barriers, different attitudes toward personal issues like dating and relationships, alcohol and drug use, parenting, and the role of elders can cause conflict and confusion and threaten the stability of family life.For over thirty years, the professionals at CLUES have worked with Latinos and their families to provide support and guidance in navigating the many psychological, social, and cultural challenges they face in adapting to their new environment. In this book, experts from different disciplines across this nationally recognized organization, share their practical wisdom--a combination of cultural sensitivity and knowledge and current behavioral health expertise--to produce a friendly, accessible guide to emotional health for Latinos. With a focus on family throughout, including success stories from a variety of Latino families, readers will find useful and inspiring information on: Understanding the importance of emotions, intimacy and communication in personal relationshipsFinding strength in cultural and family traditions as roles and expectations changeKey stages of life issues such as parenting, gender identity, and agingAvoiding alcohol and drug abuse and getting help should this become a problemContributing to family and society through work and career, education, and developing financial stabilityThe importance of spirituality and moral values in maintaining a sense of personal and family well-beingSelected key passages are bi-lingual.

This comprehensive handbook provides school superintendents and principals with indispensable information on community relations, parent involvement and community collaboration. Learn about programs used by other schools and school districts to successfully confront the challenges facing them; collaborations that help sustain programs that individual schools or districts couldn't support on their own; and techniques that encourage support from parents and the community. Sample forms and worksheets are included.

"Make it up, dammit! Just lie! How can you expect to become a physician if you don't learn how to lie?" I used to recommend to junior medical students the first day they walked into a ward. I shared the wisdom accumulated in more than thirty years. I had survived thanks to a carefully woven web of lies. The mother of all lies holds there is an objective good, such as money, power, or prestige. We are expected to pursue it at the cost of denying ourselves, our unique living truth. This book narrates the journey of Lodovico Balducci in his discovery of the living truth: the ability to give and receive unconditional love. "Agape" is purposeful, determined, and committed love inspired by our own mystery, the most intimate needs and inspiration. Agape allowed Balducci to convert his worst liabilities, such as depression, into his most valuable assets when ministering to the suffering. Agape showed Balducci that he was "sacred," that is, endowed with a mission only he can accomplish, that "sacrifice" (the recognition of one's sacredness) is the meaning of existence, and that redemption (the paying of somebody else's debt for the common good) is the goal of personal sacrifice.