Drawing from his own childhood experiences, Jonathan Bean takes the autobiographically inspired family he introduced in Building Our House through the special rhythms and routines of a homeschooling day. For young Jonathan and his sisters, Mom is the teacher and a whole lot more, and Dad is the best substitute any kid could want. From math, science, and field trips to recess, show-and-tell, and art, a school day with this intrepid, inventive family will seem both completely familiar and totally unique. Includes a selection of family snapshots and a note from the author.

Research has consistently shown that student success is directly related to the strength of the relationships between parents and schools. This book provides teachers and administrators with tools to build a foundation for student success based on positive relationships with students and their families. Drawing on original research and their professional experiences, the authors identify the common sources of both negative and positive school-home relationships. The book presents a comprehensive approach to building closer connections and includes: - Tools to help educators develop a deeper understanding of the communities they serve - Strategies for improving interpersonal skills and communication skills - A chapter on the importance of documenting and celebrating school events - Guidelines for creating three distinct levels of parental participation in schools With suggestions for cultivating a community network of support services and a summary of lessons for forging constructive relationships, The School-Home Connection is an essential tool for educators looking to strengthen the learning community and increase student achievement.

A user-friendly educational guide that helps parents set the direction, master the details, and design programs to guide children toward graduation.

Explores the experiences of homeschooling mothers Mothers who homeschool their children constantly face judgmental questions about their choices, and yet the homeschooling movement continues to grow with an estimated 1.5 million American children now schooled at home. These children are largely taught by stay-at-home mothers who find that they must tightly manage their daily schedules to avoid burnout and maximize their relationships with their children, and that they must sustain a desire to sacrifice their independent selves for many years in order to savor the experience of motherhood. Home Is Where the School Is is the first comprehensive look into the lives of homeschooling mothers. Drawing on rich data collected through eight years of fieldwork and dozens of in-depth interviews, Jennifer Lois examines the intense effects of the emotional and temporal demands that homeschooling places on mothers’ lives, raising profound questions about the expectations of modern motherhood and the limits of parenting.

Home, School, and Community Collaboration uses the culturally responsive family support model as a framework to prepare teachers to work effectively with children from diverse families. Authors Kathy B. Grant and Julie A. Ray skillfully incorporate numerous real-life vignettes and case studies to show readers the practical application of culturally responsive family engagement. The Fourth Edition contains additional content that enhances the already relevant text, including: a new section titled “Perspectives on Poverty” acknowledging the deep levels of poverty in the United States and the impact on family-school relations; increased coverage of Latino/Latina family connections; and updated demographics focusing on the issues impacting same-sex families, families experiencing divorce, children and family members with chronic illnesses, military families, and grandparents raising children. With contributions from more than 22 experts in the field offering a wide range of perspectives, this book will help readers understand, appreciate, and support diverse families.

Finally, the sequel to the international bestseller and one of the most classic movies of all time, The Graduate, has arrived. At the end of Charles Webb’s first novel, The Graduate, Benjamin Braddock rescues his beloved Elaine from a marriage made not in heaven, but in California. For over forty years, legions of fans have wondered what happened to the young couple after The Graduate’s momentous final scene. The wait is over. Eleven years and 3,000 miles later, Benjamin and Elaine live Westchester County, a suburb of New York City, with their two sons, whom they are educating at home. A continent now stands between them and the boys’ surviving grandparent, now known as Nan, but who in former days answered to Mrs. Robinson. The story opens with the household in turmoil as the Westchester School Board attempts to quash the unconventional educational methods the family is practicing. Desperate situations call for desperate remedies—even a cry for help to the mother-in-law from hell, who is only too happy to provide her loving services—but at a price far higher than could be expected. At long last, the unforgettable characters that made The Graduate such a classic are back …and they’re better than ever—including, of course, the extraordinary Mrs. Robinson. Wryly observing the horrors and absurdities of domestic life, Home School has all the precision and wit that made The Graduate such a long-lasting success. Praise for Charles Webb and Home School: "There's a lot of sharp, funny dialogue....those who remember the good old days will have some fun." --Hartford Courant “Charles Webb is a highly gifted and accomplished writer.” – Chicago Tribune "Brilliant...sardonic, ludicrously funny." --The New York Times on The Graduate “Charles Webb's sequel to The Graduate sparkles with as much wit and invention as the original. Throughout the book, everything – dialogue, characterization, even incident – is pared down to a minimum, and yet the result, far from being undernourished, hums with richness and vitality. So here’s to you Mrs. Robinson, and to Charles Webb for doing such a fine job of resurrecting her.” --Sunday Telegraph (UK) “[Home School] offers a witty and bitingly accurate tale of suburban frustration whose slightness is integral to its charm.” --Daily Mail (UK) “Distinctive, wry, spare and beautifully modulated.” --Daily Telegraph (UK) “Forty years overdue, the sequel to The Graduate was worth the wait. A great read.” --The London Paper (UK) “By utilizing the same wry humor and pinpoint characterization of the first novel, and by delving even further into the dark motives of the iconic Mrs. Robinson, Webb has made this continuation of a classic believable and entertaining.” --The Works (UK)

Reinvent public schools with proven, innovative practices Our homes, communities, and the world itself need the natural assets our children bring with them as learners, and which they often lose over time on the assembly line that pervades most of the public education system today. We see no actions as more important in school than developing, supporting, and reinforcing children's sense of agency, the value of their voices, and their potential to influence their own communities. In Timeless Learning, an award-winning team of leaders, Chief Technology Officer Ira Socol, Superintendent Pam Moran, and Lab Schools Principal Chad Ratliff demonstrate how you can implement innovative practices that have shown remarkable success. The authors use progressive design principles to inform pathways to disrupt traditions of education today and show you how to make innovations real that will have a timeless and meaningful impact on students, keeping alive the natural curiosity and passion for learning with which children enter school. Discover the power of project-based and student-designed learning Find out what “maker learning” entails Launch connected and interactive digital learning Benefit from the authors’ “opening up learning” space and time Using examples from their own successful district as well as others around the country, the authors create a deep map of the processes necessary to move from schools in which content-driven, adult-determined teaching has been the traditional norm to new learning spaces and communities in which context-driven, child-determined learning is the progressive norm.