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Recommend a book for adult learning?


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Been a busy couple of weeks.  Is there anyone else here pursuing adult learning while also homeschooling their kids?  I'm going to read "The Well-Educated Mind" but I was wondering if there are other books out there you could recommend.  I am looking at getting "Peak Learning" among others.  Any ideas?  Thanks!

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm a teacher and an author, and here are a list of my favorite education related books. I've bolded my top picks.

 

BOOKS EVERY TEACHER (and parent) SHOULD READ:

 

On Reading:

 

Proust and the Squid:  The Story and Science of the Reading Brain, by Maryanne Wolfe (brilliant and beautiful; this is one of my all-time favorite books)

 

On Math:

 

Beyond the Tiger Mom: East-West Parenting for the Global Age, by Maya Thiagarajan (the first chapter is devoted to what Asian moms do for math -- it's about how Asian moms in Singapore create math-cultures in their home to prime their kids for math success, and it draws on a number of interviews with parents as well as lots of current academic research about helping children learn math. Highly recommended!)

What’s Math Got to Do With It? By Joanne Boaler 

Number Sense, by Stanislas Dehaene (quite scientific, little more academic, but I found it very interesting. Dehaene also wrote an interesting book on the neuroscience of reading.)

 

On Teaching Character

 

Mindset, by Carol Dweck

How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough

 

On Schools/Education/Learning more generally

 

The One World Schoolhouse, by Salman Khan (founder of the Khan academy)

Education Nation, by Milton Chen

Why Children Don’t Like School, by Daniel Willingham (the title is misleading; it's really about how children learn. Great book!)

Beyond the Tiger Mom: East-West Parenting & Education for the Global Age, by Maya Thiagarajan (examines ways to blend the best of Asian and Western approaches to learning, education, and parenting. The book is not about tiger parenting, it's about blending the best of different approaches.)

 

On Learning and the Brain/Neuroscience

 

How the Brain Works, by Donald Kotulak (great beginning book for teachers and parents)

The Jossey Bass Reader on the Brain and Learning, Edited by Kurt Fischer

The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our Brains, by Nicolas Carr (Love this book -- some fascinating insights)

Brain Rules, by John Medina

The Teenage Brain, by Frances Jensen

 

On the Importance of Nature for Children

 

Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv (an easy read, but really interesting and full of great insights.)

 

On Curriculum Design and Pedagogy

 

Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understand, by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins

Understanding By Design, by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins

Making Thinking Visible (multiple authors)

Cultivating Intellectual Character, Ron Ritchard

 

On Multiple Intelligences

 

Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner

Multiple Intelligences, by Howard Gardner

Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman

 

Other Important Books for Educators

 

Quiet, by Susan Cane (on introverted children)

Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life, by Winifred Gallagher (on focus and attention)

Flourish, by Martin Seligman (on Positive Psychology)

 

 

I hope that's helpful! 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Nutrition science, evolutionary biology, genetics:

 

  • Your inner fish- Neil Shun
  • Ominvores Dilemma- Michael Pollan
  • The violinists thumb- Sam Kean
  • Cats are not peas- Gould
  • The selfish gene- Richard dawkins

 

Cognitive science, developmental psychology etc:

  • Thinking, fast and slow- Daniel Kahneman
  • Blank Slate- Steven Pinker
  • The tell tale brain- V.S.Ramachandran

ETA: None of the above are directly related to education; but I found all of them invaluable to shore up my own info/knowledge gaps.

Edited by ebunny
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Enjoy falling in love with something, try some classics if you haven't read many yet. Dickens' tale of two cities, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo.

Sci fi: Hugh howey's Wool Omnibus.

Or for something COMPLETELY different and modern and mind blowingly cross curricular, Haruki Murakami 1Q84.

I understand you are asking for recommendations for adult "curricula" or guidance but IMO literature can be amazing.

 

Becoming more widely read opened up lots of topics of interest for me in my personal goals.

Edited by Shred Betty
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On Multiple Intelligences

 

Frames of Mind, by Howard Gardner

Multiple Intelligences, by Howard Gardner

Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Goleman

 

I found Thomas Armstrong's books for educators, explaining in practical terms Gardner's theory, were much more readable. 

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