What books changed the way you teach or view education?

[Alessandra]

Not about HS per se but very relevant to it:

 

Hold On to Your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate

Einstein Never Used Flashcards by Kathy Hirsch-Pasek & Roberta Golinkoff

The Hurried Child and Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk by David Elkind

Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children be Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society by William Crain

Alfie Kohn's books especially Punished by Rewards

 

HS/Education Books:

TWTM

The Well-Educated Child by William Bennett

The Paideia Proposal and sequels by Mortimer J. Adler

Climbing Parnassus by Tracy Lee Simmons

Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma

 

This is a great list. Since I love the David Elkind and Liping Ma books and have been meaning to order the Kohn & Bennett books, I figure that I should really look at the rest of your books in some detail. Thanks for the recommendations!

[texasmama]

Forgot to mention the Liping Ma book. It was a real eye opener after my typical public school math education and struggling for years to understand math even though I was bright enough in other areas of study.

 

LCC = Latin Centered Curriculum, if I am not mistaken

[angela in ohio]

Seven Laws of Teaching

 

That's the biggest one.

 

Other helpful books (parts of each, but not everything, of course :001_smile:): Teaching the Trivium, You Can Teach Your Child Successfully at Home, The Well-Trained Mind, Classical Education and the Homeschool, When You Rise Up (just a bit.)

 

The most influential thing (ironically, since I'm a very visual learner,) has been listenting to talks from CIRCE, ACCS, and VP.

[angela in ohio]

Creative Art For The Developing Child taught me how, as a preschool teacher, to value process over product in early childhood.

 

This is such a helpful book. I used it with all my dc, and I have it put away for my grandkids. :D

[ladydusk]

The most influential thing (ironically, since I'm a very visual learner,) has been listenting to talks from CIRCE, ACCS, and VP.

 

I Agree! Those lectures have been worth their weight in gold.

 

I'm also having my world rocked by Norms and Nobility, it is a whole different way of considering education and what it ought to be. Wisdom and Eloquence was a great book that started me on the path. My first love is WTM and I find myself referring to it often.

 

I'd agree with the others who liked Liping Ma's book, excellent information and helpful when thinking about how to teach math.

[jewel7123]

The most influential thing (ironically, since I'm a very visual learner,) has been listenting to talks from CIRCE, ACCS, and VP.

 

Links please! :001_smile:

[Stellalarella]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU all for your posts.

I keep hearing about it from you all, so I just got online for our library and requested Liping Ma's book on math.

 

As for me, the book that pushed me over the edge into homeschooling was "The Power of Play" by David Elkind. http://www.amazon.com/Power-Play-Learning-Comes-Naturally/dp/0738211109/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282436300&sr=8-1 OUr public school system only allows even the littlest children one short recess a day. After they took away kindergarten naps and added standardized testing, I felt so desperate. This book gave me research and philosophy to stand up against what I knew in my heart was not a good environment for my little ones.

 

Then, like many here, I dove into TWTM. Honestly, though, the book finally clicked for me once I also listened to SWB's audio lectures from the Peace HIll Press website.

 

"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv really grabbed me as well. It changed they way I wanted to do schooling for my kids. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Child-Woods-Children-Nature-Deficit/dp/156512605X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282436583&sr=8-1

 

I really appreciate this board. I so appreciate hearing about the curriculums you all love/hate. :001_smile:

[Shelly in the Country]

Many of the books mentioned already and Left Back by Diane Ravitch.

[ladydusk]

Links please!

 

I'm not Angela, but:

 

CiRCE's lectures ... individually, the prices aren't bad and $35 for the plenary sessions from this year's sounds like a steal to me from what I've heard of the conference. The conference sets are *expensive* but there are a lot of lectures (I still haven't finished last years') Definitely find the "Contemplation of Nature" lecture; it is spectacular. I only wish the "Contemplation of Nature part II" was available individually, too so I could recommend it. I haven't listened to all of last years' because I've listened to these two talks over and over and over again. I told my friend that they are de-Dewey-ing my mind.

 

You can find Veritas Press and ACCS talks on Wordmp3.com. Happily there are a number of very good talks for free. If you're a Christian, Linda Janikowski's lecture: "Math: God's Invention, Man's Discovery" is great. There's one on Chanting and Singing in the classroom that is also very very good. I've just been listening to some of these and really enjoying them.

[matermagistra]

Books that have had the deepest influence on my homeschooling philosophy and way of living have been:

 

The Well-Trained Mind -this was the book that started it all and it made homeschooling so clear to me, as well as gave me confidence that I could actually *do* it.

 

Climbing Parnassus- Wow. This book was incredibly inspiring to me. It's one that I try to re-read every year. It has a lot about Latin and Greek and its importance in education, but it is so much more than that. It's about our heritage and the need to preserve it. Very inspiring. Many days when I am having a hard time I have the mental picture of climbing that mountain and how it will feel at the top.

 

A Thomas Jefferson Education- and all other books by the DeMilles have changed my life. It has taught me how important it is to be inspiring. And it has shown me the extreme importance of keeping my own education alive and thriving as an example to my children. Their seminar on cd of the "Core and Love of Learning" phases have really been inspiring to me as far as family culture and way of living day to day. I don't adopt all of their philosophy, but wow, they have a lot of great things to say.

 

The Year of Miss Agnes- just a short, simple story that I read just today that made my heart swell with inspiration to be a better teacher and inspirer and mentor to my kids. LOVED this book.

 

Though written by a public school teacher, I found the book Lessons from the Classroom to be incredibly helpful and inspiring. This book is by Hal Urban.

 

This has been an exciting thread to read. I had not even heard of the book about teaching math by Liping Ma. I am definitely going to check that out. Also the Circe recordings. I'm inspired to re-read Norms and Nobility again too.

[angela in ohio]

I'm not Angela, but:

 

CiRCE's lectures ... individually, the prices aren't bad and $35 for the plenary sessions from this year's sounds like a steal to me from what I've heard of the conference. The conference sets are *expensive* but there are a lot of lectures (I still haven't finished last years') Definitely find the "Contemplation of Nature" lecture; it is spectacular. I only wish the "Contemplation of Nature part II" was available individually, too so I could recommend it. I haven't listened to all of last years' because I've listened to these two talks over and over and over again. I told my friend that they are de-Dewey-ing my mind.

 

You can find Veritas Press and ACCS talks on Wordmp3.com. Happily there are a number of very good talks for free. If you're a Christian, Linda Janikowski's lecture: "Math: God's Invention, Man's Discovery" is great. There's one on Chanting and Singing in the classroom that is also very very good. I've just been listening to some of these and really enjoying them.

 

Thanks! :001_smile:

 

Also, you can subscribe to the educational talks at Wordmp3.com for a low price, and it allows yuou to stream any of the talks from VP, ACCS, etc.

[Rebecca VA]

Marva Collins' Way (about the inner-city teacher who inspired her students to reach for the highest heights) is always an encouragement for me.

 

The Hive has been the most helpful thing in my homeschooling experience. I love you ladies!

[Night Elf]

Alison McKee's Homeschooling Our Children, Unschooling Ourselves. She was a teacher who witnessed too many students losing their love of learning and losing themselves in the system and wanted differently for her children. She ended up doing something like unschooling but the book isn't about the method itself. It's about their family journey. I have read it so many times that I've had to replace it 3 times. Once was because I loaned it out and didn't get it back. If I kept no other homeschool books on my shelves, that would be the one I would refuse to part with. :)

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[Skadi]

Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write or Add

 

Not to be confused with another excellent book with a similar title by John Taylor Gatto, this book puts forth the real data on how American children are faring. It also features some very important case studies about America's educational industrial complex that will blow your mind.

[1Togo]

Roxaboxen & Miss Rumphius

 

Bonita

 

P.S. I hopped over here from the high school board. Wonderful thread!!

Edited August 23, 2010 by 1Togo
Adding

[Angie in VA]

 

The Year of Miss Agnes- just a short, simple story that I read just today that made my heart swell with inspiration to be a better teacher and inspirer and mentor to my kids. LOVED this book.

 

 

I *love* this book! I just re-read aloud to my kids! We all enjoyed it. Again!

[crazyforlatin]

Thank you very much everyone for contributing. I'm so excited by the books recommended here, most of which are new to me. Now I just need to decide how many books I can order without breaking the bank...

[Ellie]

John Holt's books. All of them. :-)

[Guest RecumbentHeart]

dp

Edited August 26, 2010 by RecumbentHeart
Double post ... goofy connection

[Guest RecumbentHeart]

I can't speak for the whole book because I haven't read it all but the section on Elementary Studies in John Henry Newman's "Idea of a University" made it to the top of my list. It was one of those "THIS!" moments where I was reading someone else articulate all that I couldn't put into words myself while exposing to me WHY I couldn't do it myself. It's really shaken the ground for me and brought my goals into focus.

 

Oh and I borrowed a couple of the books recommended in this thread from the library this week and will say that The Underground History I'd American Education (if I'm recalling the title correctly) has been inspiring me to ask even more questions and take even less for granted regarding what I believe about education and why.

[Ellie]

Understood Betsy

I love that book. And the part where Betsy is so confused about what "grade" she is...yeah, that's the part I think about every time a homeschooler says she has a "4th grader" or asks what a "6th grader" should be doing.:)

[Swirl]

Understood Betsy

 

I love that book. And the part where Betsy is so confused about what "grade" she is...yeah, that's the part I think about every time a homeschooler says she has a "4th grader" or asks what a "6th grader" should be doing.:)

 

I especially love Cousin Ann's test taking attitude!

There have been many times I've thought to myself, "Now what would Cousin Ann do?"

 

I had never really thought about my motives when giving others a helping hand, that part with the clothes for the little boy really struck a nerve. Thankfully, whenever DC and I do something to help others, it always runs through my mind.

 

The first 2 chapters of that book were so wordy that I almost shelved it, I'm so glad that I kept reading on anyway.

[Melissa B]

My favorite book for scheduling, educational philosophy and educationally focused motivation in the secondary level (6th grade and up) - Tractate of Education - John Milton.

 

A book I've only read once, but must have made an impression as it often comes back to me when I'm mulling over our philosophy - Outliers: The Story of Success - Malcolm Galdwell.

[TracyP]

Wow! I just stumbled upon this awesome thread. I must have missed it the first time.

 

Here is a bump for anyone else who might find this helpful today.:D

[RoundAbout]

So many great books out there, but I haven't seen Rafe Esquith's books mentioned:

 

Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire

There are No Shortcuts

Lighting Their Fires

 

Although they are about his teaching in LA public schools the idea of raising standards and expectations in kids (while still keeping learning enjoyable and inspiring) is universally applicable.

 

I have been strongly influenced by:

 

Adventuring With Children by Nan Jeffrey

 

About a family that takes their twin boys and infant daughter all over the world - from bicycling Morocco to ocean sailing and backpacking through Europe and South America. Great combination of philosophy and practical advice.

 

Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv

 

Louv's book gets a little flaky at the end I think but his philosophy of giving kids lots of unstructured time in nature is pretty sound.

 

Extreme Kids: how to connect with your children through today's extreme (and not so extreme) outdoor sports by Scott Graham

 

How to opt out of the Saturday soccer family phenomenon and how to participate *with* your kids in sports that physically and mentally challenge them and gain a better appreciation of the natural world. The "extreme" title is a bit misleading as most of the book is about how to do these sports (kayaking, hiking, rock cimbing, etc) in a safe, fun, and age appropriate manner.

 

 

Though none are really about homeschooling or academics I like the idea of raising expectations of kids and not putting them into a very limited box. Just as I got tired of assumptions about schooling, I got tired of assumptions that we would automatically put our kid in lots of structured activities, spend every Saturday on the soccer field, and never travel again. These books are a nice antidote to that mindset.

[Hunter]

Ecclesiastes

 

Climbing Parnassus This was before LCC was written. I haven't read LCC, but just talked about CP with the author as he was writing LCC.

 

Robinson Curriculum but I substitute the KJV Bible for the literature.

 

Science Matters

 

Biographies about the childhoods of famous men.

 

Write Like Hemingway

 

The Organized Home Schooler

 

Melisa Neilsen's youtube video on planning

 

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Edited March 13, 2011 by Hunter

[purplejackmama]

Thank you so much for bumping this thread today. My Amazon cart is FULL, now. Wonder if my family would notice if I use the powerbill money on books?!? :001_smile:

[ElizabethB]

Everything that made me change the way I think or teach has already been mentioned except an obscure book from 1844.

 

Maybe not up there with the others, but it is free and it made me think, "The Teacher" by Jocob Abbott, 1844. Here is a quote to ponder from p. 64:

 

There are three kinds of human knowledge which stand strikingly distinct from all the rest. They lie at the foundation. They constitute the roots of the tree. In other words, they are the means, by which all other knowledge is acquired. I need not say, that I mean, Reading, Writing, and Calculation.

 

Teachers do not perhaps always consider, how entirely and essentially distinct these three are from all the rest. They are arts; the acquisition of them is not to be considered as knowledge, so much as the means, by which knowledge may be obtained. A child, who is studying Geography, or History, or Natural Science, is learning facts,--gaining information ; on the other hand, the one who is learning to write, or to read, or to calculate, may be adding little or nothing to his stock of knowledge. He is acquiring skill, which, at some future time, he may make the means of increasing his knowledge, to any extent.

 

This distinction ought to be kept constantly in view, and the teacher should feel that these three fundamental branches stand by themselves, and stand first in importance. I do not mean to undervalue the others, but only to insist upon the superior value and importance of these. Teaching a pupil to read, before he enters upon the active business of life, is like giving a new settler an axe, as he goes to seek his new home in the forest. Teaching him a lesson in history, is, on the other hand, only cutting down a tree or two for him.

 

[momma aimee]

I want to go read all the responses and come back with an answer.

 

I opened this thread and immediately opened another tab for the Amazon website, lol.

:D me too :D

[papillon]

You CAN Successfully Teach Your Child, Grades 4-8, by Ruth Beechick

 

Creative Home Schooling: A Resource Guide for Smart Families by Lisa Rivero

 

Easy Homeschooling Techniques - The REAL How-To Guide by Lorraine Curry

 

More Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison

[Susie in MS]

 

"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv really grabbed me as well. It changed they way I wanted to do schooling for my kids. http://www.amazon.com/Last-Child-Woods-Children-Nature-Deficit/dp/156512605X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1282436583&sr=8-1

 

:001_smile:

 

I just looked up the description of that book. Here is part:

 

"Instead of passing summer months hiking, swimming and telling stories around the campfire, children these days are more likely to attend computer camps or weight-loss camps: as a result, Louv says, they've come to think of nature as more of an abstraction than a reality. Indeed, a 2002 British study reported that eight-year-olds could identify Pokémon characters far more easily than they could name "otter, beetle, and oak tree."

 

Ain't that the truth!!

 

Books for me have been those by Ruth Beechick and those about the Charlotte Mason techniques.

[Susie in MS]

Roxaboxen & Miss Rumphius

 

Bonita

 

P.S. I hopped over here from the high school board. Wonderful thread!!

 

 

Hehe! I have never thought that picture books could have that effect, but having read those two with our FIAR studies I can certainly see how they could! Great books!

[readinmom]

To Kill a Mockingbird

In Chapters 2 and 3, Scout's experiences at home and at school are invaluable. The part where Miss Caroline comments about Scout's reading ability: "...your father is teaching you all wrong...I'll try to undo the damage..." has stayed with me for a lifetime. Reading is a journey; we need not choose the same path to get to the destination.

 

The Great Conversation (Mortimer Adler)

How to Read a Book (Mortimer Adler, Charles Van Doren)

 

The Essential 55 (Ron Clark)

Maybe not necessary for some of you, but this is an excellent resource for student expectations and behavior in the classroom.

[Mama Butterfly]

Anything by Lisa VanDamme of the VanDamme Academy. She believes there is a way to make TWTM even more rigorous and start with a more basic foundation. The Montessori method is used in the early years-so anything by Dr. Montessori is worth reading too.

I hope to open a small school modeled after hers and the LaPort Schools someday :001_smile:

[12Stars]

Another for Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss.

[ElizaG]

These are the ones that seem to have stood the test of time so far. All of the linked books are available as free downloads. :001_smile:

 

Curmudgeonly

Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt

 

Montessori

numerous books by Maria Montessori

several books by Paula Polk Lillard

the Michael Olaf catalog

Children Who Are Not Yet Peaceful by Donna Goertz

 

Classical & Christian

A History of Education in Antiquity by Henri-Irenee Marrou

The Gutenberg Galaxy, Understanding Media, & several other books by Marshall McLuhan

Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong, SJ

The Death of Christian Culture & The Restoration of Christian Culture by John Senior

The Idea of a University by John Henry Cardinal Newman