Formation of Character is the fifth volume of Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling series. The chapters stand alone and are valuable to parents of children of all ages. Part I includes case studies of children (and adults) who cured themselves of bad habits. Part II is a series of reflections on subjects including both schooling and vacations (or "stay-cations" as we now call them). Part III covers various aspects of home schooling, with a special section detailing the things that Charlotte Mason thought were important to teach to girls in particular. Part IV consists of examples of how education affected outcome of character in famous writers of her day. Charlotte Mason was a late nineteenth-century British educator whose ideas were far ahead of her time. She believed that children are born persons worthy of respect, rather than blank slates, and that it was better to feed their growing minds with living literature and vital ideas and knowledge, rather than dry facts and knowledge filtered and pre-digested by the teacher. Her method of education, still used by some private schools and many homeschooling families, is gentle and flexible, especially with younger children, and includes first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas through books in each school subject, conveying wonder and arousing curiosity, and through reflection upon great art, music, and poetry; nature observation as the primary means of early science teaching; use of manipulatives and real-life application to understand mathematical concepts and learning to reason, rather than rote memorization and working endless sums; and an emphasis on character and on cultivating and maintaining good personal habits. Schooling is teacher-directed, not child-led, but school time should be short enough to allow students free time to play and to pursue their own worthy interests such as handicrafts. Traditional Charlotte Mason schooling is firmly based on Christianity, although the method is also used successfully by s

One of two parents' guides based on the revised National Curriculum, this book is intended as an introduction to Key Stages 1 and 2. The need for parents to be involved in their children's education has taken root in recent years. To be able to make choices, however, parents need to be informed. This book is intended to enable them to get to grips with the elements of the National Curriculum and topical issues.

Is your young child often disinterested in the books you bring home for them? Do you wish they would develop a love for reading that they could take into middle school and beyond? Some children love reading, requesting the same books over and over again and giggling with delight each time, while others simply despise sitting down for story time. What makes the difference in these two types of children? No child is born knowing how to read, so where does their interest come from? How do you encourage it? Like eating and drinking, reading is a daily necessity for every child. Parents should consciously guide and conform to their children’s interest in reading with appropriate reading materials whenever possible. Books should take priority over watching television and playing video games. Professional and systematic training can help children start to love reading, maintain good reading habits, and improve their reading ability. Teaching Your Child to Read is a guide book for parents looking to get their children, ages 3 to 6, interested in reading. It explains how to help children cultivate reading ability step by step, as well as answers the questions of Why should I? and How do I? when it comes to specific exercises. Tools parents will learn to use in their efforts include: interval questioning object comparing emotional contrasting plot mapping and more!

In this book, the author challenges reductive views of emergent literacy prevalent in many of today’s kindergarten and pre–K classrooms. As an alternative, Lysaker explains how reading wordless books with young children helps them to develop a range of comprehension abilities that are important for understanding narrative texts. Readers will find concrete methods to help them gauge, document, and respond to children as they make meaning of and respond to wordless books. Through description and analysis, the text reveals the undervalued richness of young children’s emergent comprehension and the intricate, purposeful nature of their specific early thinking activities. Before Words encourages readers to think about young children’s comprehension as complex meaning-making and suggests new ways of responding to the unique sense-making tools young children use during wordless book reading. Book Features: Demonstrates how young children develop reading comprehension abilities even before learning to read print.Expands on reading as more than just a technical skill.Engages the whole child and scaffolds their formation of relationships with other people, including peers, teachers, families, and communities.Nurtures students’ creativity, positive relationships with storytelling, and social-emotional growth.Offers guidance for building a wordless book library, including a selected list of books. “A breakthrough work. Prepare to have your mind opened to completely new terrain in children’s literate development.” —From the Foreword by Peter Johnston, The University at Albany–SUNY “Before Words is a kidwatcher’s delight! Her sensitive descriptions of reading conversations provide concrete strategies that will be welcome additions to both novice and experienced teachers’ toolkits!” —Deborah Wells Rowe, Vanderbilt University “Scholars of early childhood literacy development will find much of interest in this book.” —Nell K. Duke, University of Michigan

A devastatingly large number of people in America cannot read as well as they need for success in life. With literacy problems plaguing as many as four in ten children in America, this book discusses how best to help children succeed in reading. This book identifies the most important questions and explores the authoritative answers on the topic of how children can grow into readers, including: What are the key elements all children need in order to become good readers? What can parents and caregivers provide all children so that they are prepared for reading instruction by the time that they get to school? What concepts about language and literacy should be included in beginning reading instruction? How can we prevent reading difficulties starting with infants and into the early grades? What to ask school boards, principals, elected officials, and other policy makers who make decisions regarding early reading instruction. You'll find out how to help youngsters build word recognition, avoid comprehension problems, and moreâ€"with checklists of specific accomplishments to be expected at different ages: for very young children, for kindergarten students, and for first, second, and third grade students. Included are 55 activities to do with children to help them become successful readers, a list of recommended children's books, and a guide to CD-ROMs and websites. Great strides have been made recently toward identifying the best ways to teach children to read. Starting Out Right provides a wealth of knowledge based on a summary of extensive research. It is a "must read" for specialists in primary education as well as parents, pediatricians, child care providers, tutors, literacy advocates, policy makers, and teachers.

A book on how children learn to read.