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!

I'm a big fan of Singapore math -- they've got some great word problems to keep kids challenged. Also, lots of reading aloud, independent reading, and book discussions. The one thing that I try to actively teach over the weekends is grammar, since it doesn't seem to be taught in schools anymore. I did put my kids in a beginners Scratch workshop (when they were 10 and 7) and they enjoyed it. I think the challenge with afterschooling is figuring out how to supplement just the right amount -- you don't want to exhaust your kids (or yourself) but you want to make sure that they're building strong academic foundations and getting excited about learning. And you also want to make sure that there's time for play and nature and friends. It's a tricky balance!

Here are two poems about growing up that I love: Turning Ten, by Billy Collins, and The Light Gatherer, by Carol Ann Duffy. And here are some poets explaining the magic of poetry: To see the Summer Sky Is Poetry, though never in a book it lie – True poems flee. - Emily Dickinson A poem begins with a lump in the throat. - Robert Frost Browsing the dim back corner Of a musty antique shop Opened an old book of poetry Angels flew out from the pages I caught the whiff of a soul - Pixie Foudre Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. - Carl Sandburg Poetry is thoughts that breathe, and words that burn. - Thomas Gray

Wow, those are all really long lists! Great to see that kids are reading so much. I'm a high school English teacher, and I'm absolutely passionate about reading. We do a lot of family reading time, and often at meals, we'll all go around the table and share what we've been reading. Both my kids (DS age 11 and DD age 7) are avid readers as well. I'm trying to continue reading aloud to them despite their ability to read on their own, but it's often hard to find the time! But here are the read alouds we did last year, and here's my plan for summer read alouds: Over the school year: Flora and Ulysses I Lived On Butterfly Hill A Single Shard Listen, Slowly We loved all of them. I'm contemplating really stretching them a bit over the summer by reading something a bit older/more challenging to them: - Maybe a Dickens' novel like Oliver Twist? Suggestions welcome! I also want to get them to read more mythology from both East and West, and maybe read more historical fiction with them.

Wow, those are all really long lists! Great to see that kids are reading so much. I'm a high school English teacher, and I'm absolutely passionate about reading. We do a lot of family reading time, and often at meals, we'll all go around the table and share what we've been reading. Both my kids (DS age 11 and DD age 7) are avid readers as well. I'm trying to continue reading aloud to them despite their ability to read on their own, but it's often hard to find the time! But here are the read alouds we did last year, and here's my plan for summer read alouds: Over the school year: Flora and Ulysses I Lived On Butterfly Hill A Single Shard Listen, Slowly We loved all of them. I'm contemplating really stretching them a bit over the summer by reading something a bit older/more challenging to them: - Maybe a Dickens' novel like Oliver Twist? Suggestions welcome! I also want to get them to read more mythology from both East and West, and maybe read more historical fiction with them.

I'm all about building a math culture at home so that kids begin to realize that math can be fun. We used to live in the US but moved to Singapore about six years ago. I find moms in Singapore so interesting because they are so focused on deliberately building math-rich homes in so many interesting ways. From weaving math into conversations to playing games that increase math skills (chess is huge here, as are tangrams, robotics, scratch, sudoku, board games etc.), they do a lot to immerse children in math-rich worlds. And of course, Singapore math is pretty intense, so kids also do a lot of structured math with lots of challenging word problems. (When I looked at the math tests that young kids here do, I almost fainted -- it's very intense -- I would say about two to years ahead of what kids do in American public schools.) In fact, I was so struck by the differences between what moms here do compared to the moms I met in the US that I wrote a book about it (Beyond The Tiger Mom)! To answer your question, I think that relaxed math can be in the form of games that enhance calculation skills, problem solving skills, and visual-spatial skills (chess, tangrams, puzzles, sudoku, robotics etc.). Some online math games might also work - Sumdog, Mathletics, Khan Academy, Splash Math etc.

Does your child's school have a lot of daily homework? My philosophy (and I'm also a teacher) is to make sure that my kids do their school homework during the week because it teaches them to organize their time and get work done. It helps them build a work ethic, if nothing else. Often it also helps them consolidate basic skills. I try to afterschool for math during the week (we carve out math time on Wednesday evenings) and then I do some afterschooling on Saturday mornings as well (usually math and/or grammar). We also try to fit in as much reading as possible everyday. Realistically, it's not possible to do a whole lot of afterschooling when kids have long days at school and substantial school homework, but I do think that the consequences of ditching school homework completely could be negative. I would recommend working with the teacher and reinforcing homework... www.mayathiagarajan.info

Our school gets out next week -- I can't wait. And I'm with you -- I'm really looking forward to not being bound by the constraints of the school year. Since I'm a teacher, I'm out for the summer too, and I'm really looking forward to it. We live in Singapore, which is a fabulous country, but also a very intense and stressful place in a lot of ways. So I'm excited to be able to take a break from Singapore and have some breathing space! Interestingly, almost all moms in Singapore afterschool, and most parents assume that summer includes some amount of learning. Singapore is a fascinating place to raise kids because it is so learning focused... http://www.mayathiagarajan.info/

I'm counting down the days till summer. Our break starts next week -- and since I'm a teacher, it's as much a break for me as it is for my kids. I love planning summer learning. This year, the focus will be on travel and history/culture, though I'll also encourage reading and some amount of math. So excited! For me, the summer is a great time to both consolidate my kids' skills as well and to help them deepen passions and learn things that they may not learn in school. I think of learning during the school year as a sort of sprint, but learning in the summer is more like a walk in the woods -- it's beautiful and enjoyable without any of the stress, speed, and competition of the school year. I'm such a fan of long summers! Our plan is to work on Singapore math, read a lot (I have some great books lined up for the summer), and immerse ourselves in history projects connected to our summer travel. http://www.mayathiagarajan.info/

I'm a big fan of afterschooling and have blogged and written about it frequently. We used to live in the US, but we moved to Singapore six years ago. My kids attend an international school that is very experimental/progressive in its approach to education. (I also teach at the school.) I afterschool for a number of reasons: to fill in the gaps and make up for whatever my kids may not be getting at school, to provide extra challenge, and to bond with my kids over books and learning. It's very important to me that my kids have rock solid academic foundations, and it's also very important to me that they love learning. We do some structured math together each week, I teach grammar and reinforce writing skills every weekend, and we do a lot of reading together. During vacations, I like to add some content (science, humanities) to the mix, especially when we travel/take trips. In Singapore, most Asian mothers afterschool in a number of different ways (though they don't use the term "afterschooling"). All the Asian moms I know afterschool for math -- in fact, Singapore has a tremendous math culture. Kids here grow up immersed in math at home and at school in a hundred different ways. http://www.mayathiagarajan.info/

Some of my son's favorites (he read these on his own though; while they are not necessarily as challenging to read as Dickens, they are all very compelling books and make great free reads for a strong reader): - The Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankweiler, by Konigsburg - Flora and Ulysses, by Kate Di Camillo - The Giver, by Lois Lowry - Esperanza Rising, by Munoz Ryan - The Garbage Kings, by Elizabeth Laird - Shadow, by Michael Morpugo - The Transall Saga, by Gary Paulson - D'Aularies Book of Greek Myths - The Land of Stories series, by Chris Colfer - Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, by Grace Lim - Red Scarf Girl, by Ji Li Jian (but I had to give him some historical context for the cultural revolution) - Axxis and the Golden Medallion, by Tim Murari - Skellig, by David Almond