Education Books

After watching the adults use the classroom, full-sized SEE Dictionary, the students started doing it to look up words they didn't know in their leisure-reading books (they figured out how to do it all by themselves). We gave the books to them in their end-of-year gift bags and the books were a HUGE hit. They are perfect little mini-versions of the full-sized book. LOVE them!

If you're looking to learn SEE (Signing Exact English) then go no further. This book really has it all. A better way of signing then ASL in my own opinion because this teaches all the proper uses of the language, and in turn shows in writing and such. Good sized images for each of the signs.

i loved the book very conveient i would recomend this book to the big one any day.....

This book is extremely helpful and very well made. It definitely helps out those who are trying to learn sign language but need a little extra something. I strongly recommend it for beginners or anyone who needs a quick resource from time to time. Definitely worth the money

This is a great signing book for adults. some of the actions are a little tough even for me to be sure on. But gives you pretty much everything you need.

As a general education teacher who has never worked with autistic children before, I found this book to be very enlightening. It gave me a better idea of the type of students I will be working with this next year and how to better adjust my plans to help them learn in a gen ed class.

I bought this book to prepare my son's new, mainstream school for him coming to 1st grade next year. It gives a great overview of ASD, and speaks directly to teachers about having children with autism spectrum disorders in their classroom. I donated a copy to the teacher's library at the school, and they were very receptive.

My recommendation is to read every book Ellen Notbohn writes about autism. All of her books are easy reads. The information is on target, clear and sometime humerous and always relatable. If you have a child with autism ask the teacher if they have read it, if not purchase a 2nd copy for them.

We got this book because our nephew is autistic and we wanted a better understanding of why he does what he does. After reading this book which was recommended by a friend, we are no longer in the dark about alot of his behavior problems. We thought it was him, as it turns out, we were the ones who needed the education on how to treat him so we wouldnt trigger certain things in his behavior. It works!!

Ellen Notbohm's second book about autism, TEN THINGS YOUR STUDENT WITH AUTISM WISHES YOU KNEW, is every bit as informative and encouraging as her first. She gets to the point, writes from personal experience, provides practical insight, and she cares. Her first book, TEN THINGS YOUR CHILD WITH AUTISM WISHES YOU KNEW, addressed matters pertaining to the very young. This book continues with the older child's development. After reading her book(s), anyone who deals with the mysteries of autism should feel greatly encouraged and better equipped to help these children grow.

My 14 month old has been choosing this one over other bedtime books since at least 9 months. The rhythm is soothing to me too, even on the 3rd reading in a row. That really helps by the end of the day!

Not quite a board book, but smaller than most picture books, "Ten, Nine, Eight" fills a nice gap in the middle. Molly Bang's exquisite colors illustrate this counting (from 10-to-1) book that culminates with the protagonist fast asleep.

The context is as warm and familiar as the counted objects: A little girl (it's difficult to tell how old she is, sometimes her face looks a liitle more mature than at other time) climbs up onto her daddy's lap. The dad is obviously smitten with his daughter, but in an unforced manner that seems to come from deep inside. The gentle pictures of their affectionate interactions provide the countable objects. These include 10 toes, 7 shoes (later we see the cat with the missing one), six "pale" seashells (each with its own shape), four "sleepy eyes which open and close," two "strong arms around a fuzzy bear's head (actually, you can see three arms, but you can always exclaim, "you're right, there are three arms!)," and "one big girl all ready for bed."

Ms. Bang's varied palette uses both bold primary colors and some more "sophisticated" hues not always found in a book for crawlers and toddlers. Overall, the tone is pleasant and warm, and the rhymes unforced and natural.

I have bought many copies of Ten, Nine, Eight to give as baby gifts. I love this book. I have been a librarian for over thirty years. I am so glad that this one has stayed in print.

The more I read this book to my 2-year-old son, the more I like it. He liked it right away. It really is a peaceful "goodnight" book.

My children have this book memorized, and so do I. We recite it sometimes without the book as a going to bed poem.

It is a wonderful addition to any parent's repertoire. If you have a friend expecting, be the one to buy this book.

It's better than "Good Night, Moon" by about 78%, at least.

It's clear, clever, engaging and informative. It's smart and interesting and packed with great and pertinent information.

Too long we have ignored most of the human brain. Brian Walsh's book clearly shows us how to take advantage of the rest of it.
Parents should read it, too.

Former educator

I've read a lot of books about superlearning, photoreading, success habits, brain functioning, mind mapping, memorizing. But here's a book that brings it all together in one place, full of way more realistic information than I'd known about before. In 273 pages, Brian Walsh gives a practical overview of state-of-the-art learning tools and techniques.

The book was a pleasure to go through! Not academic and heavy and boring, but a fun, informative read. Filled with great quotes, illustrations, internet links, practical information--heavy-duty reality--the structure itself is an example of facilitated learning.

In a sense, the book is a portal: one opening up a host of resources for the mind. Walsh points the reader to all kinds of ways for producing change. We learn how to break negative patterns and how to experience more productive and satisfying lives. He shows us how to best learn--and teach--a second language. He writes about brainstorming, about effectively influencing others, about real listening. We learn how we learn: what works and what doesn't.

It's a handbook for the human brain. I learned a lot by reading it. And I'm learning a lot by checking out some of the other sources referred to. If "unleashing your brilliance" is one of your goals, here's definitely a book to read.

Brian Walsh's book, "Unleashing Your Brilliance", has everything you need to get on the way to achieving more, in less time, with less effort, and have more fun doing while doing it. The author gives you the tools you need to explore everything from NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) to Photoreading to Hypnosis and much more. This book is a road map to accelerated learning. The top twelve (I tried to limit it to ten, but could not) things I learned from reading this book twice (yes, you read that correctly) are:

1. "I tried" is a cop-out. It is an escape hatch. "Try" is one word you should work on removing from your vocabulary.
2. "I will" tells the subconscious mind to not act on something since it only operates in the "NOW". Remember that when you are making affirmations or writing goal statements.
3. Exercise enhances memory, improves reaction times and aids in the generation of unique and spontaneous ideas.
4. Self-master is a lot like poker, you need to know when to learn new skills, when to hold on to beliefs that serve you and when to let go of beliefs that do not serve you.
5. People with high self-efficacy choose tasks that are more demanding. They set higher goals, put in more effort and persist longer than those who are low in self-efficacy.
6. Emotional Intelligence is a completely learned phenomenon that helps people excel in life and have flourishing relationships and careers.
7. The words "always" or "never" indicate a false statement.
8. Whatever is strongly believed becomes reality.
9. Anything can be learned if it is broken down into smaller units. There are no mistakes, only outcomes and no failures, only lessons.
10. If something can be learned by anyone else in the world, it is possible for you to learn (something my Grandmother always told me).
11. Photoreading is something more people should explore and put effort into learning.
12. The Vivaldi I played when my son was very young may have improved his recall by at least 25 percent.

If you think these twelve things are valuable, you should see the things in this book that I did not include in the list. Overall, "Unleashing Your Brilliance" offers a clearinghouse of information and is enough to get you started and to whet your appetite for more. This book, written in language simple enough for the average person to understand, gives enough information for even those already practicing many of the topics to find it valuable.

"Unleashing Your Brilliance" by Brian Walsh is a well-written, well-researched book about the great potential each of us has within us. It's fascinating the way in which we absorb and process information. Brian's book gives a thorough, simple and comprehensible explanation of how we learn.

I'm drawn to self-help books that explore the human mind. I think the science of human understanding is vastly changing. Brian points out in his book that more progress has been made in understanding the human brain in the past five years than we had in the preceding decades. Imagine what we will know in five more years.

The techniques Brian introduces to stimulate thinking, creativity and learning are helpful. I used several of them before writing this review. I pinched my right nostril to get more oxygen to my creative, right brain. I cross-crawled (left elbow to right knee, right elbow to left knee) to improve my focus and concentration. I tapped my K 27 to increase the blood flow to my brain.

The book is targeted for teachers, parents and students wanting to improve performance. It is also designed for corporate HR personnel wanting to better understand how employees learn in the workplace. I recommend this book for anybody who has an interest in the human mind and its potential.

Every parent should have these books for the grade school children. It's a great way to know if your school and/or child are keeping up with your childrens grade level. I used the book in the summer, prior to my childen entering the grade to make sure they were ready for their next school year.

Every parent should buy these books for their children. We bought the Fourth grade, second grade and Kindergarten and they are all fabulous. The kids find them very interesting and my husband and I even enjoy them. They are packed full of terrific information. Highly recommend. This is a book your child has to have.

I have been very pleased with this book. I love to get ideas out of it for our homeschool.

This series is very good to my kid. It covers not only literature and math, but science, art, history, etc as well. Both my kid and I like it very much.

When I bought this book from Amazon, I knew it was a steal! My daughter has already been helped so much by its stories, activities, and short biographies of famous people. I plan to eventually buy all of the books in the Core Curriculum series. They're just like vitamins and vegetables, they're good for kids!

Ellie Kay does a masterful job helping families manage finances. In fact, the book should be titled, Family Guide to Finances, because she has the whole family involved! Having been raised by immigrant parents whose values helped me to become a responsible spender, saver, donator, Ellie's book still offers reasons to keep reading--from the eight money-saving/spending personalities (including, Love Ya Louie and Balanced Betty), resources for saving money online, keeping track of what we spend, to the Money Pyramid (starting with 10% FUN money). Most of all, her stories and digressions make this a real page-turner filled with valuable nuggets.

Written with light humor, this book on a serious subject is a delight to read. Ellie writes as if she is sitting across a cafe table, drinking coffee with you. What makes the book fun to read - and interesting so you keep turning those pages - is that Ellie uses experiences from her own life and turns them into lessons for readers.

The advice Ellie gives in her book is rock solid and makes perfect sense, and she doesn't just tell you what to do, she gives the reader steps on how to do it.

This book is not a "How to Get Rich" book. It does not delve into the dark mysterious sometimes boring world of the inner workings of stocks, bonds, banks or international finances. "A Woman's Guide to Family Finances" is a book that tells, step by step, what a woman can do to get herself out of debt and into the black in the most painless, easy to understand methods possible.

Chapters begin with interesting information, usually a personal experience Ellie has had. She then tells the lesson she learned from her experience. Then she lists the steps taken to correct the problem or make the success discussed.

I would recommend this book to any woman, no matter what stage of your life you are in. Young and just beginning to "I'm too old to change" (which I don't believe is ever true).

Only an absolute madman would give his wife the keys to the family finances!

Unfortunately, I had to learn this lesson the hard way. Growing up in a liberal democrat household, my parents told me all this nonsense about how men and women should co-pilot the marriage. When I did eventually get married, I carried out my parent's instructions. I told my wife she didn't have to change her last name, went to all her feminist happenings, and last but not least, I bestowed upon her the family wallet.

I was a complete rube!

Even though, being a man, I made almost twice as much as she did, she spent all the money! Whenever I would come home from a hard day's work, there would be bags from Bloomingdales, Macy's, Bath and Body Works, and every other store women frequent, all over the house! My wife spent me into the poor house.

If that wasn't bad enough, when she found out my money was gone she split! There I was alone and in debt thanks to my parents silly liberal ideals. I went to them and asked them how their marriage worked with such flawed thinking. Then they sprung it on me. "We never were married, son. We liberals have evolved past that archaic pastime." My father stated sternly.

"Then you never gave her control over the finances?" I asked naively, eyes wide with innocence.

"Me? Give your mother control over the money? You gotta be putting me on. That feminism stuff is fine on paper, but I wouldn't recommend actually trying it out." He walked away with a sadistic chuckle.

This book gives practical advice to any woman interested in getting control of family finances, whether she is married, single with kids or on her own.
It also includes help for financial recovery for the deeply in debt and for the suddenly unemployed.
Divided into two sections, Ellie Kay jumps into the hard truth with "Where Did All The Dough Go?"

Ms Kay's description of the America's normal family:
1. Married with two children
2. Modest home with a 30 year mortgage
3. $40,000 annual income
4. Savings account with less than $500 in it
5. $8,000 in credit card debt
6. Two car payments
7. No household budget
8. No long-term retirement account
9. They want their children to go to college


Where they hope to be One Fine Day
1, Paid off mortgage
2. Paid off credit cards
3. Nice savings account
4. IRAs
5. Kids sent to college
6. Retirement

And where they will actually be if they continue their financial habits shows a vast divide that hits all too close to home for many of us.

Ellie Kay asks, "What are you willing to do today in order to make your family's financial dreams cone true in the future?"

She goes on to show the different personalities and emotions that drive financial decisions. Chances are you will find yourself in one or more of these personalities as I did.
But, take heart, she gives practical ways to break free from the destructive spending cycles that accompany each of these personalities.

After facing the hard truth of who we are and how we spend, we get to take action in Section 2 "Money Management For Everyone"
In this section there are action steps such as Ten Tips to Save Ten Bucks in Ten Minutes (or less) and establishing a household budget, based on The Fifty Thousand Dollar Pyramid
This section is packed with useful information about everything from choosing a mortgage to garage sales and Ebay.

The last chapter brings home the spiritual reason for being financially secure. - So that we can give generously, in very practical ways, to those in need.
I enjoyed Ms Kay's entertaining sense of humor, which got me through even the painful areas of `self-recognition' and 'plastic (credit card) surgery'.

Do you dream of the day when . . .

. . . Your credit cards are paid off?

. . . You have a savings account and an IRA?

. . . You can take a once-in-a-lifetime family vacation?

Then A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is the book for you. Written in an entertaining, easy-to-read style, Ellie Kay will teach the reader how she took her family from over forty-thousand dollars in credit card debt, to being completely debt-free in two and a half years.

Ms. Kay shows in easy to understand chapters how to budget, how to save on essentials, how to go on a debt diet, and how to weather financial set-backs, including losing your job and looking for a new place of employment.

I don't usually like to read how-to books, but this book reads like a good novel. I had to keep reading. I learned some really valuable tips and relearned others that I'd forgotten and am looking forward to putting my new budget into operation.

A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book to read through once, but then come back to time and again as you are ready to make more financial changes. She advices you start small and build your way up so you don't go into shock and stop trying to save money. Whether you are a born spender or saver, A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO FAMILY FINANCES is a book for a keeper shelf to be read and studied over and over. I'd recommend having your teenagers read it too, especially if they are soon to be on their own.

=== reviewed by Laura V. Hilton for Christian Bookshelf

This book (and the entire series) is a great teaching tool for little ones. Often times, when my daughter needs a "reminder" about choosing her words carefully, we put this in our bedtime story rotation.

This is a great book to teach children that hands are not for hitting but rather helping. Another book that should be read by every parent and teacher of children 3-12 is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying.Parents and teachers can learn to create nurturing environments where children can get along;help children to express anger and use words to resolve conflict;teach social skills including friendship.... It should be on the shelf of every home and classroom.

Content of the book is great but the board pages of the book I received were bent and twisted.

I got this book for my son. He really enjoys it. It is simple enough that my toddler enjoys it also

Love this book. It's simple message is SO important, particularly for toddlers who are just learning how language can be helpful and hurtful. This book has great pictures and images, and a powerful message that should be reinforced in all toddlers (and parents, too!).

Easy to read and easy to apply. I have a whole new thought process for copy on our website and brochures. This is a can't miss book for rookies!

This book is for a non-writer who needs to write advertising or marketing for his company.

The material is comprehensive and includes many good tips. A couple things to note--

1. The focus is on style and construction of materials (e.g., how to put together a direct mail piece), not on grammar, style, and construction of words.

2. Most of the book covers B2C marketing, not B2B.

All the advice is tried-and-true. If you follow it, you can't go wrong.

I bought this book for a good friend of mine, a skilled creative writer, but with little experience in writing professional copy. Like most creative types, he was looking for a job to support his writing and other artistic habits. With the help of Kranz's book, he was able to land a well-paying job that makes use of his talents, suitably focused by the advice in Writing Copy for Dummies. If proof of the pudding is in the paycheck, I can vouch for the effectiveness of this author's approach and suggestions for aspiring professional writers.

Kranz opens with a brief and witty definition of copywriting: "[it] attempts to persuade you to do or believe something-usually in regard to the surrender of your cash," then he launches into an explanation of the different things copy can do-everything from direct mail to branding to sales support; an explanation of "the basics" that is exactly that; and a truly step-by-step guide to writing sales letters and brochures.

Sidebars chip in along the way, occasionally offering a true gem, like the real difference between website headlines and their printed counterparts. And Kranz tells you why you should never waste your time and effort on a MISSION STATEMENT.

Based on the number of notes in the margins of my copy, I've found the chapters on websites, collateral, problem solving and "looking for ideas" the most helpful. Kranz also gives a detailed breakdown of what goes into a direct mail package, that should be enough to get any beginning mailer off to a promising start.

There are many books written about copywriting, that are aimed at business owners or the unfortunate folks who get stuck writing copy for their company because they once correctly used "presume" in an email. The nice thing about this one-and "nice" is a good word, because Jonathan Kranz is nothing if not a nice guy-is that it's a book about copywriting that doesn't assume non-copywriters know all the copywriting jargon and secrets. It takes its "For Dummies" title seriously, and that's a good thing.

I've been a copywriter for 14 years, most of the time as a freelancer. I've also been a senior copywriter for an advertising agency and worked in the creative department for a major newspaper.

This is the first book on copywriting I've bought in several years, and I'm now the newest fan of Jonathan Kranz's "Writing Copy for Dummies." Mr. Kranz has written an excellent book for the novice or pro, providing a complete, common-sense guide that covers the full range of marketing communications (including PR). Whether business-to-consumer or business-to-business, direct-response or branding, print or online, for-profit or non-profit, it's all there in an engaging writing style and easy-to-digest format.

After being in the freelance trenches for many years, I know how far-flung assignments can be. It's invaluable to have an all-encompassing reference to reach for when I need knowledge in non-specialty areas. In fact, just last Friday I reviewed parts of Chapter 17 in preparation for a fundraising project with a major university.

Some of the material might be a refresher for veteran marketers. As for me, I'm glad to benefit from a fellow pro's perspective on marketing and copywriting topics. As I told Jonathan via email, "I'm glad you took the time to write this book."

I looked at many writing books for my child. A school teacher recommended this one to me. After we used it as the primary writing guide, my child's writing took off. It's so effective that his writing has jumped from average to outstanding in his class. Now the book is one of our two MUST-DOs every week (the other is Beestar online ELA and vocabulary exercises, a wonderful web site www.beestar.org). Writing is a life-long skill. We will continue use this guide to improve writing for a long time.

English teachers have it tough -- no matter how hard they try, they cannot avoid a degree of subjectivity when it comes to grading papers. This book, 6+1 TRAITS OF WRITING, will not make the process a totally objective one, but it will provide a definite structure that will be invaluable to both new and experienced teachers alike. In workmanlike fashion, Ruth Culham devotes chapters to the traits (ideas, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, organization, and conventions) PLUS one (presentation) with a series of indicators for teachers to assess each one.

It's a great primer in the technique, and the chapters all follow a similar pattern with definitions of the traits, a list of reasons on why students struggle with that trait, steps on how to assess the trait, and sample papers to practice assessing using the 6 + 1 method. Each sample paper is followed by the scores the author gave it, along with their reasoning. Finally, the chapters are nicely rounded out with a series of practical ideas on how you can TEACH each trait. Teachers trying to get a handle on grading papers will appreciate the practicality and the structure.

The caveats I have with the book are minor. First, the sample papers range from Grades 3 to 9, and it's often difficult to assess sample papers because elementary teachers may not know how far along a secondary student should be and secondary teachers may have no clue about what's expected from third-grade writers. The wide range in ages, in other words, creates a bit of extra confusion for teachers who are well-versed in their own age-group of students. Also, the extra batch of "practice papers" to assess at the back of the book are directly followed by the author's scores, meaning the papers and their scores often share the same page. It would have been more helpful to separate them so as to avoid accidentally seeing a score while trying to finish the paper.

Culham's book is a great start, but a lot more practice assessing will probably be necessary to successfully implement the program. Also, I found that I had many questions about judgment calls while assessing some of the indicators and, in a workshop type setting, could have used further explanation from an experienced hand. Alas, the book cannot provide anything like that, but still, it's a start -- and a good one. Recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I am excited about starting to use this method when school starts again. Teaching writing can be difficult, but how to give constructive feedback is even harder. I am optimistic that the ideas in this book will make it a whole lot easier to help my children.

I originally had to buy this book for a graduate level pedagogy course. I ended up using this book constantly to help teach 4th graders how to write. Ruth Culham explains each trait well and includes a handful of awesome lesson plan ideas for students to practice the trait. I'd recommend it as a resource for any writing teacher (Grades 3-12).

As a classroom teacher and workshop leader, I have found this book very useful. It includes sample student papers that can be used by teachers and students to hone their assessment skills. The ideas for teaching each of the traits are concrete ones that students enjoy. When I've read forty papers and have run out of new responses to give my students, there are even lists of responses for me to use. I recommend this book to both new and experienced teachers of writing.

I read this book 30 years ago when I was in elementary school. It was probably the first "chapter" book I read. The story is sweet and simple and innocent. It harkens back to a time when children played and acted as children and the family was truly a family. When the fears children had were things like first days of school and crossing the street, not terrorism and pedophiles. Children in the book were respectful and well behaved.Adults loved and cherished the children in their lives. I do not like the new covers for I feel the pictures are too modern looking. I think some children would really enjoy the old fashioned pictures and styles of when the book was truly written. They would probably get a laugh out of how things have changed.

I bought this book for my son with the anticipation of next buying the Besty and Billy book. He enjoys it and I liked it too. I'm sure it can be easily read by a beginner.

Carolyn Haywood wrote "B" is for Betsy in 1939, but this story of a young girl's first year at school is timeless.

Betsy is an only child who is not looking forward to the first grade because Old Ned, a hired hand on her grandfather's farm, has shared unpleasant memories of the school he attended in his youth. Betsy soon discovers, however, that her own experience will be quite unlike Old Ned's. Her teacher is kind and friendly, and the classroom has neither a switch nor a dunce cap. Betsy quickly befriends Ellen, a little girl in her class, and Mr. Kilpatrick, the police officer who helps the children cross a busy street on the way to school.

The children in Betsy's class build a model of a Native American village and watch tadpoles turn into frogs. The first graders assemble a Thanksgiving basket for a poor, elderly woman who makes her living by selling pretzels, and give a circus performance for the sixth graders, which is enlivened by a visit by an organ-grinder and his monkey.

Outside of the classroom, the adventures continue. Betsy saves her money to buy Ellen the perfect birthday present. She rescues a lost dog and is given a cocker spaniel puppy. When Betsy goes to her grandfather's farm for the summer, she is thrilled when Ellen joins her.

This gentle story is timeless, and only a few words betray the fact that it was written nearly seventy years ago---for example, the word "policeman" instead of "police officer" or "Indian" instead of "Native American".

The children are occasionally naughty, but their transgressions are mild and their contrition sincere. The adults do hold the children accountable for their misbehavior, but are helpful and understanding instead of harsh.

This is an excellent book for children who are ready for chapter books, but are too young or sensitive to handle books with frightening or disturbing themes.

Carolyn Haywood's books were written in the 40's and 50's, yet they are timeless in their appeal. The stories about a spunky little girl and her loving family, friends, and school life are great to read aloud and a equally good for a child starting longer chapter books. This is the first in a series of books about Betsy and her friends, so there is lots more fun to look forward to when you finish the last chapter!

I would recommend all of Carolyn Haywood's delightful Betsy books but only with their cute charming short dressed illustrations.