Education Books

If you are reading this review, you may be a newcomer to this children's Christian curriculum.

A brief history: Sonja M. Stewart and Jerome W. Berryman's YOUNG CHILDREN AND WORSHIP is not just another set of Sunday School or Church School materials. It's a paradigm shift in the religious education of children. Religiously,it shifts away from the view that children are "born sinful" towards the view that children are spiritual beings, born with a longing to connect with the heart of Being, longings that they do not have the language to express. Educationally, it shifts away from the view of teacher as adult know-it-all who pours learning in to an empty vessel towards the Montessorian view of children and adults as explorers together.

The educational roots here are with Maria Montessori. Her disciple, Sofia Cavaletti, created the curriculum known as "Catechesis of the Good Shepherd," used in many churches, but especially in Catholic and Anglican or Episcopal congregations. Sofia Cavaletti's disciple, Jerome W. Berryman, an ordained Episcopal priest, has created the curriculum known as "Godly Play," and Berryman, together with Sonja M. Stewart, an ordained Presbyterian minister, have produced the curriculum in this book, YOUNG CHILDREN AND WORSHIP, sometimes called the "Children Worship and Wonder" curriculum. All are rooted in the religious and educational assumptions mentioned above.

If you are a newcomer to all this, I suggest you start by reading YOUNG CHILDREN AND WORSHIP. Read the Bible "presentations," which make up 2/3rds of the book. Read the presentations as you would read a personal, devotional book, one or two or three daily. Notice how, in the course of a year, the lessons present the history of Christian faith and the story of the church. Notice how traditional Biblical language is used, but sparely and with child-appropriate simplicity. Notice how the curriculum spirals back on itself; notice the repeated introduction of Jesus: once there was a man "who said such amazing things and did such wonderful things that people began to follow him." Notice the repeated language introducing the parables: "sometimes parables seem to have lids on them. But when you lift the lid of a parable there is something very precious inside..."

If you think as I do that this curriculum is light years better than anything else out there, then study the teacher's helps also in the text. You may want to seek training or read some of the other works referenced above or go to their websites.

This book includes explaination, 41 stories (lessons), and plans for materials needed of a great worship service children really get into. I have been doing this program for 2 years and my children are incredible. I wish the adults would have this much respect. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a successful worship program for their children.

I have worn out my first copy- having used the patterns and lessons for teaching Sunday School. Godly Play is portable and the pieces may often be made from cheap or found materials.Godly Play is useful, not just for children- I have given lessons in nursing homes,to seminary students, and others. Every one takes something different from seeing the presentations. The energy is indeed holy in each instance, where I have done my job correctly- so different from the stuffy old paper curriculum !

Young Children and Worship is an inspiring way to draw young children into the stories of scripture, the stories of God, enabling them to worship, interact with God, and ponder who He is. The form is a simplified version of the traditional order of worship emphasizing quiet, beauty and awe. After the introductory chapters most of the book tells you how to present specific stories. The focus in this book is on basic stories that tie into the church year and traditional worship. I found it very inspiring, whatever your worship tradition.

This is the seminal volume of what became the Godly Play movement.If you haven't yet explored Godly Play, I heartily recommend the method as such, and as set forth in Young Children in Worship. Godly Play allows children to experience Bible stories and other stories that carry faith messages, told with an archetypal spareness that allows each listener to absorb and reflect on the material in his or her own way. A teacher tells the story with the help of tactile materials, then helps children "wonder" about the stories. Children then may move to independent or shared "work" (art or reenactment of the story). The atmosphere is quiet, focused, and meditative. Tactile materials used in storytelling respect children's way of processing information. The method creates a space in which children may link faith-based language with their own perceptions of God, or fulfill deep emotional/spiritual needs. Godly Play is adaptable to different traditions and faiths by choosing among, or amending, the stories. We've found it to be deep and satisfying to all participants, young and old.

Young Children and Worship will tell you everything you need to know to get a Godly Play program going. It includes patterns and specifications for creating storytelling materials as well as information on all aspects of the work and philosophical thought on the Godly play method. Most of the book consists of stories from the Old and New Testament, plus other lessons, such as The Light, or The Church Year, that present concepts of Christian faith. Teacher notes show the use of tactile materials and provide "wondering" questions.

The obvious comparison is to co-author Jerome Berryman's outpouring of independent volumes on Godly Play. Berryman's many independent titles provide a few additional stories and expand on classroom management and facilities provision. He examines the effect of the work on children as well. However, Berryman's independent work may have exceeded its usefulness to practioners. Young Children and Worship is a do-it-yourself work that Berryman now seems to wish we didn't know about, preferring to sell us an endless series of new books and, from the Godly Play website, expensive materials. To be fair, Berryman's refinements and insight have grown as he practices. But decide your priorities before buying additional Godly Play materials. Young Children and Worship may be all you need.

this book comprised of blessing prayers that allow parents to bless their children in every aspect of their lives, to teach them to treasure God's promises, the blessings God has for them, and helping them to continue to live through their continuing faith in God.
Unlease your blessings.

This is not the sort of book you read at one go and say, "THAT"S NICE". This is a book you do. The more you use this book daily, the more you'll benefit and get out of it. So, set aside the time to use this book and do this book to bless your children. Thank You Pastor Sebastian. May this book release more of God's promise and blessing to our children so that they can enjoy God to the fullest. God bless them plentifully.

Do you want your children to receive the blessings of God? This is a book that all parents should take to heart if you what to bless your children. It is easy to read and use, the concept is simple just need 5 minutes or more depending on what you desire. You'll find out what a great difference your blessings really make in the lives of those you love most (your children). The bottom line is - you need to give time to expose spiritual matter in their lives instead of leaving God's promises and blessings out altogether.
I'm thrilled that here is a book to enrich my family's prayer life and God's promises to pass on.

This is such a great way to pray for & with your child everyday!!! It is very simple & easy to fllow... I LOVE IT!! I am thankful i found it! A must for every parent!

A must to have book for every mom and dad who wants to make a difference in the spiritual lives of their children. The book reminds us of the value of pronouncing blessings - how they can begin to experience God's promises in a different way and becoming aware of the blessings bestowed on them.

Add blessings and excitement of God's promises to their growth. They will benefit by how God's Word communicates to them. It's a tool that will literally prepare them to achieve what God had planned for them.

I bought this book early in the year to prepare for my AP Psychology course. It was a TREMENDOUSLY HELPFUL supplement with my Psychology textbook (Myers).

One of the reasons why I enjoyed this book was it has a "student planner" to carefully allocate your time in order to maximize your score on the AP test. If I had to estimate the time per week I used to read this book to fill in the holes I missed in the textbook, it would be at least 1 1/2 hours a week.

I followed exactly what the book recommended me to study, and when I finally took the AP Exam: I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Buy the book. It's your ticket to a 5.

With the easy-to-read text and study plans for the A student and the procrastinator, it is the best AP study guide I've seen for Psych. It is also more detailed than the Barron's and goes into depth about everything covered.

I used only this book to help prepare for the AP test, and I didn't take the class. If you are good at studying and memorizing, and at least somewhat interested in the subject, you can definetly pass the test with this book. I liked that there was a quiz after each chapter, it helped me focus on what I needed to review again from the precious chapter. Also, the text is not small so it's easy to read, and it's written in way that doesn't put you to sleep.

I was taking the AP Psychology on-line course. Half of the stuff in the on-line class was not on the test. And the class is only one semester so I was only half-way through the course when I decided to screw it and just read this book. I highly recommend it. It was the only thing I used. And I only studied this for about a week. I got a 4, but I only read about 2/3 of it. If you were to read the whole thing, I would say you would probably get a 5. I only spent a week, only read 2/3, but I spent many hours on it and focused. I tried the Barron's one too, but it didn't work for me. It had a lot of good information, but it was dull. This book had everything I needed, I only wish I would have read the whole thing.

Because my school is in the Boondocks, I did an independent study of AP Psychology. This book was what I used as my textbook. Most AP books have a content review section that resembles a bullet list. This book, however, provides very well written and complete chapters covering every aspect of the test. I took the two practice tests in the book before I took the exam and got a 5 on both. The practice tests were practically identical to the real thing. I highly recommend this for both the type of person that studies well in advance or the type that reads the entire review book in the weekend before the test and prays that he still got a 5 (I'm neither confirming or denying that I did this).

For intermediate to advanced phonics, Bishop's text is a great resource, but it's not for every reading teacher. It should be particularly valuable for reading specialists, speech therapists, and anyone looking to develop curriculum material.

How have I used the text? It's helped me adapt and develop materials for a junior-high student who reads 3-4 grades below level because of dyslexia. He hates the skill-sheets that were so obviously developed for elementary students. Now I can adapt or create materials easily.

What does the text offer? It generally gives 20-40 examples for every spelling-sound pattern, and explains the situations that lead to the exceptions. Entries are cross-referenced to examples that follow similar patterns. Bishop points out differences you probably haven't thought of noticing before (for example, when the featured spelling-sound pattern is stressed or unstressed, voiced or not voiced. Each of these distinctions comes with a separate set of supporting examples.) Bishop offers clues that help readers know which pattern to follow when sounding out a word that "sounds" equally like two different spellings.

This book far exceeded my expectations!
It unravels the mystery of the so-called unexplainably strange ways of spelling so many of our English words. Clear & concise format.
EXCELLENT for young children learning to read & spell...it answers any questions you might have about the rules of the way letters are put together in words & pronounced.
A must have for any home library...

This book is fascinating and will it will be highly valuable in planning spelling lessons. It is the ultimate resource for the wisdom of teaching phonetics.

Seldom is it possible to find an extensive list of specific 'unusual' information about our language. The ABC's and All Their Tricks contains a list of the number of times phonograms appear in English words.
As an educator of children and adults, specializing in spelling and grammar, I needed this information at my fingertips. Using the book as a reference, I find it easy to explain the consistency of our language and dispel the myth that English is too irregular and difficult to learn. Amazon is the only place I could find this book, as it was not available in Australia.

I liked the information this book offered, particularly because I believe it would be helpful to anybody teaching children--educators, parents, tutors, etc. You don't have to have a certain curriculum package to make this work. I LOVE having resources around that you don't have to read cover to cover. This is one that you can look up what you have questions on. Sometimes, when a student doesn't "get" something, it is only because it isn't presented in a format they understand. Often, the educator just needs a different tactic than what appears "obvious" to them, but not to the child. A great reference.

Another enjoyable read for me. The author has done a very good job in communicating the subject to the readers. I would highly recommend this for the young reader as well as the parent who reads to their children.

Everyone that's read this book has had very positive things to say about it. The story is in depth and helps teach some of life's valuable lessons in an engaging way.
Can't wait to read the third one. Great web site too.

What a precious, uplifting story full of encouragement and positive reinforcement. I enjoyed every minute of it and I know my grandchildren will too. The patience and understanding that Sunny showed Cloudy was so sweet. Very well done!

I'm not sure which was best....Reading the book WITH my six year old niece, or merely watching her expressive face as she experienced Sunny and Cloudy come to life. The books engage and entice a young reader to laugh, learn, and live. Sunny and the Chocolate Dog series conveys values and virtues in an enjoyable manner. "What is a buddy system..." she asked.....I myself had forgotten all about the buddy system. "Was I scared of the water the first time I went to the beach....". A great team approach to reading. Initially she needed help with some of the larger words, she now prides herself in the ability to annunciate and read them with ease. She has replaced the books on her bed side table with the Sunny and the Chocolate Dog series.

My son and I find the beautiful artwork very pleasing to the visual senses. The dogs are a lot of fun and my son learns along the way. My son said this is a "happy" book.
We want more of these guys!

Excellent Book for educating children on the spectrum. You will not find this information in other typical autism books.

As a special education teacher, I have found this book to be a very valuable and informative tool. The authors have obviously dedicated themselves to educating teachers, parents, and anyone else who is interested in learning more about autism, and the behavior modifications to use with a child with autism. This well-written book has been a great addition to my library of resources!

Thank you to Carol Schmidt and Beth Heybyrne for sharing their first-hand experience with a school aged autistic child. Their experience and knowledge is so valuable and I was impressed by how their writing gets straight to the point, very practical. What a great resource.

This book is an invaluable resource for anyone who works with autistic children. As an elementary teacher, it gave me helpful suggestions when teaching autistic children in my inclusion classes. Thank you to the author Beth Heybyrne and Carol Schmidt for providing such insightful and thoughtful resources to the classroom teacher.

This book is filled with practical approaches to designing and implementing effective interventions for school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders. The style is succint and emphasizes direct examples that can be immediately implemented into an individual child's intervention program. I found chapter 15, "Developing Useful Interests: Broadening general intersts, cultivating narrow interests," to be of particular merit. The book is divided into two main sections: School and Home. Both sections have invaluable advice to parent and teacher and are designed to allow for a smooth transition from school activities to home interventions. The chapter on sibling issues is also very enlightening and emphasizes the inherent socialization skills that "neurotypical" siblings can model for their autistic family member(s). Overall really outstanding. Emphasizes the practical over the academic; a quick, effective, and inspiring read. Hats of to the authors!!!

I have an eight and a six year old. Both of my daughters loved this book, they laughed a lot, there is plenty of humor. Now they want me to get the rest of the collection. Great book.

I'm a brand new Media Specialist at an Elemenary School and Babymouse flies off the shelves as soon as I put the books back. I read this one (and Babymouse Rockstar) the other day and feel in love with the character and the artwork. I agree that this has a very nice crossover appeal and it seems that Babymouse is a very approchable character for this age group.

Highly recommended. I am rooting for Babymouse and look forward to more of her adventures.

My daughter loves graphic novels and Babymouse is her favorite. The reading material is challenging enough for her, but still interesting. Great for kids who love to read, but want to read something entertaining also.

I wanted to look into this book because I hadn't really seen any of the graphic novels. My daughter is already an avid reader, so I didn't know if she "needed" a book like this. When I showed it to her, she thought it looked really funny. As anticipated, it didn't take her long to read it, but she said, "I want to read it again. I want to read it again right NOW!"

If your child is a reluctant reader, this comic book formatted novel might help her get inspired, and if she already reads everything in sight, like my daughter, she will probably love yet another way to process text on a page.

My eight-year-old daughter was a very reluctant reader who was having trouble with even the most basic words. We have a lot of books around the house and take several trips a week to the library. Babymouse was the first book to get her excited about reading. She read the first book to me, haltingly. She begged for the second. When we got it, I had to make dinner and she wanted to start right away, so she read it on her own, asking me loads of questions. She has now read all seven published Babymouse books and hardly needs any help anymore.

We love that Babymouse got her excited about reading. But we also love the books. Her 10-year-old sister and I wait hungrily to get our chances to read them. I love Babymouse's imagination and her love of books.

I love this book and have bought it for several of my coaching friends. Full of great info from one of the best. Good diagrams and great instruction on how to implement multiple offenses and defenses. One of my favorite coaching books (and I have a ton). A great higher-level resource.

I have read this book over and over again. It has been a useful tool is my basketball coaching.

This book is page after page of super basketball information. It goes into great detail offenses and defenses from simple to complex. But best of all, it is written with an emphasis on the fundamentals, which will make any team better. I really recommend this book for any coach, beginner to seasoned veteran, there is a wealth of valuable information from cover to cover.

This is an awesome book. A lot of useful information for students, professionals and athletes.

I coached a camp this past summer in which a few coaches were discussing this book and referred to it as "The Holy Grail" of basketball books. To any coach looking for new perspectives and strategies, I would strongly recommend this book. You may not be able to use everything, and some of the information is a bit dated, but it prompted a million ideas of my own, and helped me plan out some fresh drills, plays, and defenses for my team.

I enjoyed this book so much read it in a day which wasn't hard because it was pretty light reading, this book offeded lot of tips on how to make college life easier. I am headed off to college in the fall and Ithink it will help.

What I liked the best about the book is that it's told in students' own words -- students from a number of colleges commenting on topics ranging from how to schedule classes to handling homesickness to handling finances to getting along with that up-all-night roommate. You're getting the real scoop on college life from the people who are LIVING it, not what the admission literature says. As a student affairs professional, this is the kind of "quick read" resource I'm going to buy (on Amazon, of course) to make available to my students.

I enjoyed this book so much read it in a day which wasn't hard because it was pretty light reading, this book offeded lot of tips on how to make college life easier. I am headed off to college in the fall and Ithink it will help.

A very good read that will keep one's attention until the end. Although much of it will strike a chord as common sense, it naturally wouldn't dawn upon most for at least a year or more. Since Been There... is made up of quotes from college students, it reads more like a conversation. All the ideas are down to earth & they sound much better coming from those there than from adults who have been away for some time.

Now THIS is a really great little college book. It's literally filled with extremely useful advice from the first page to the last, all from the lips of college students who "learned" from their mistakes. Very fast and entertaining read as well, definitely an excellent buy for anybody about to enter college.

Just an extra note, this 505 tips for making college easier is similiar to the title "101 Things College girl should know" and "101 Things College guy should know."...this is a MUCH better buy for your money. The latter 2 books are the most useless excuses for books I've found...with tips like drink 8 glasses of water a day and...similiar common sense. Buy "505" instead, you'll be glad.

This is a great book to make sure you a creating a legal a measurable IEP. I am actually using it for a Master's program. It is a great review and I will use it for a reference during the school year.

This is a great reference source for teachers who write IEPs. My professor actually recommended this book. I am earning my graduate degree in Special Education after earning my undergraduate in Business Education so obviously it is a much needed resource for me personally. I find it to be well worth the money.

I ordered this book for a class I'm taking. When the book arrived it was bound backward. I contacted the publisher and they rushed me another copy. It was fine, until page 150, then the remainer was again bound backward. I contacted the publisher again, and again they rushed me another copy, this one in good shape. The book is great, but the process was frustrating.

This book should be required reading for every parent who has a child on an IEP. Assessment generates services and IEP goals, and goals inform the parent whether the services are remediating the child. Schools must follow the Law (IDEA) on how to write goals, yet, poorly written IEP goals is one of the biggest non-compliance areas. If a child's progress can not be objectively measured by correctly written goals, how are we to determine the effectiveness of the schools intervention? If you want to hold your school accountable for remediating your child, Bateman's book is a must. This book will help you be an active participant in developing your childs program for the individualized instruction they are entiltled to and help you assess if your child is recieving an appropriate education. Knowledge is power and this book will empower you!

I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any parent who has a child in special education. If you are looking for a book to understand and even draft IEPs, this is debatably the best, clearest book out there.

Reviewing and drafting IEPs can be very daunting. This book helps the reader (whether parent, school official, or legal professional) understand the IEP process. After reading this book, any parent will be able to better understand their child's IEP and even be able to write them.