Curriculum Books

This is a great book for science teachers (and parents of kids). The three main sections, "Children's ideas about life and living processes," "...about materials and their properties," and "...about physical processes" are well researched and documented. The book examines the models that children develop in their structuring of the world, then addresses how educators can support those pieces that are correct and work to re-structure those that are incorrect.

This book should accompany any science text book because it is a reality check for teachers. The research is clear and comprehensive - no holds barred! After reading it from cover to cover I immediately modified my teaching practice. I reassessed my assumptions about what students know and can do then and changed course. I have a greater appreciation for my students' views and misconceptions and now my job is to steer them straight - or better still, to coach them to construct their own science knowledge and skills.

This book should accompany any science text book because it is a reality check for teachers. The research is clear and comprehensive - no holds barred! After reading it from cover to cover I immediately modified my teaching practice. I reassessed my assumptions about what students know and can do then and changed course. I have a greater appreciation for my students' views and misconceptions and now my job is to steer them straight - or better still, to coach them to construct their own science knowledge and skills.

By the year 2025, the World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 billion women will be age 50 or over, and an unprecedented number of these women can expect to live for several decades after menopause. Healthcare providers from every discipline must be prepared to care for this rapidly growing population - many of whom still do not understand menopause or its effects on their overall health. Offering accurate information and educating women at midlife and beyond about their health is essential to providing optimal care.

This resource represents the single most up-to-date and comprehensive compilation of the existing state of knowledge on peri- and postmenopause. Those charged with providing care for women at midlife and beyond will find this resource beneficial. It is also a valuable resource for those involved in teaching programs and as a review for those preparing for the NAMS Menopause Practitioner competency examination. Its contents are scientifically valid, unbiased, and current, and each section has a thorough bibliography. I highly recommend this text to fellow healthcare providers and students.

Wulf H. Utian, MD, PhD
Arthur H. Bill Professor Emeritus of Reproductive Biology, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Case Western Reserve School of Medicine
Consultant in Women's Health, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Executive Director, The North American Menopause Society

Although the Menopause Core Curriculum Study Guide was originally created to assist those taking competency examinations (Menopause Clinician/Educator examinations offered by NAMS and the National Certification Corporation in 2000 and 2001, and the NAMS Menopause Practitioner examination offered by NAMS beginning October 2002), it has evolved into one of the most comprehensive overviews of the field of menopause.

The information in this second edition has been updated and expanded to cover a wider range of menopause issues. It includes sections on terminology and demographics, physiology (eg, stages of reproductive aging), pathology (eg, pelvic pathology and premature, induced, and temporary menopause), and clinical evaluation of women in midlife and beyond. The section on demographics, for example, provides what is probably the most in-depth estimate of US women who are postmenopausal (nearly 40 million in 2000) and how many reach menopause each year (1.35 million).

I highly recommend the Study Guide to clinicians in the United States and Canada who are interested in enhancing patient care, although I know that others will also find it worthwhile.

With approximately 5,000 baby-boomer females becomming menopausal daily in the United States, health care providers from every discipline need to be prepared to care for this rapidly growing population. The Menopause Core Curriculum Study Guide is a product of a multidisciplinary panel of experts of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS) which designed it to serve as a resource guide to help standardize practices and thereby result in the optimal health and well-being of this population. Since 1989 NAMS has served as a forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the care of perimenopausal and menopausal women among physicians (including gynecologists, internists, psychiatrists, and cardiologists), physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, psychotherapists, nutritionists, and other specialists, including researchers.

Although not designed to be a complete review of the perimenopause and menopause, it represents the singular most comprehensive compilation of the existing state of knowledge on the subject matter when it was [initially] published. In my almost 3 decades of experience counseling and caring for perimenopausal and menopausal patients, I have been looking for a resource such as this and am very satisfied that the contents are scientifically valid, unbiased and current. Each section has a thorough bibliography. I highly recommend this text to fellow healthcare providers and students.

It was also designed to help prepare individual healthcare providers opting to take the competency examinations for the Menopause Clinician and Menopause Educator Certificates of Added Qualification, offered between NAMS and the National Certification Corporation for the Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing Specialties (NCC).

Within its [...] pages the learner will be exposed to all aspects of perimenopause and menopause including epidemilogy, physiology, patient clinical evaluation, therapeutic options including prescription and complimentary and alternative (CAM) therapies, management strategies and counseling issues.

The best testimony that I can provide for the value of this quality study guide is that it enabled me to easily pass the Menopause Educator examination and that I consider myself a better informed clinician because of the quality and comprehensiveness of its outstanding content.

This review refers to the first edition, published July, 2000.

This is an impressive history book! It is a tome to be sure, even a bit intimidating for the younger grades, but it is easily adaptable to a wide range of age and ability levels. My 8-year-old son enjoys history, so he loves it, but I think the activities are interesting enough to engage less enthusiastic students, as well. It is also appropriate for much older students; the author, in fact, recommends going through the book in its entirety at different stages of a student's development. If you're looking for a great history series (this volume covers A.D. 29 through the Middle Ages)written from a Biblical worldview, you'd be hard-pressed to do better than this!

When I was looking for a history program to use with my son, I asked several families what program they used. Nine out of ten told me Mystery of History. When I asked why, I received a number of answers, but all said because it was so enjoyable and had such easy but interesting activities for elementary, middle school and high school students. My son never complains about history now. He looks forward to our daily reading and the easy activity that we do with it. We decided on making history cards rather than a timeline, which he can do on his own. He even looks forward to the tests and pretests at the end and beginning of each section. Everything that we need in one text, including maps.

I went through Volume I with my 7th & 4th graders and found it to be interesting, thorough enough without being overwhelming, and offering the opportunity to do as much or as little as you want on a daily basis with the addition of extra activities and projects. This volume surpasses the first volume, which was great.

My favorite aspect of her history courses are the pre- and post- tests scattered throughout the book. Never before have I seen a subject reviewed so constantly in such a fun way. My girls love to do the tests together as a form of competition to see who can remember the answer first in the post-tests and who can guess what the answer might be in the pre-tests. She whets their appetites for what is to come and keeps what has been fresh on their minds. In fact, the post-tests keep the subjects so fresh that by the end of the last topic in the book they still remember the first topic they studied. They are short and fun but require them to remember past lessons. What a joy!

My own complaint is that Volume 3 is not ready yet!! I will need it next year!!!

This book provides an important perspective for educators implementing technology into their curriculum. The "Big Twelve" categories provide a rich context to connect subject content & skills to developmentally appropriate learning (Chapter 2). The categories also limit the infinite ways to think about connecting web and classroom and this is critical when Technology is used as a teaching tool. The content examples are extensive and span science, social studies, art, music, language arts, and mathematics.

A must read when thinking about Standards and the Technology.

The first three or so chapters of this book contain great step by step information on all of the basics that a teacher needs to use the Internet for Project Based Learning. The following chapters are a collection of 100 or more tried and true online projects. Some of them are ongoing and can be joined, but most of them serve as an example for someone wanting to integrated this kind of instruction. I haven't seen a more helpful book.

In my work, I try to help teachers imagine how
they might use the Internet in their classes.
This is the first resource that I believe
will make that possible. It is inviting
and easy to use. I'm buying copies for
my favorite clients.

Excellent overview of new literacies and compelling case studies. What I especially like are the description of the method for the case studies and the prose of the case studies. The concept of new literacies is a fuzzy one, but Kist does an excellent of laying out his criteria for selection of his cases. I've used it as a starting point for discussions with teachers and teacher educators. Though there are points that I would disagree with, his candor and transparency (the good kind) make this an engaging read. The cases embody what he considers 'new literacies in action' from a variety of schools and classrooms (jr high to hs). Reading, reflecting, agreeing, and disagreeing with them is an extremely useful way to develop your own framework for looking at new literacies.

I recently was able to meet Dr. William Kist at the NCTE conference in Indianapolis. After sitting in on his presentation, I decided to buy his book to get some ideas for my classroom. I must say that his book is a true inspiration to any teacher who is trying to incorporate new ideas into the classroom to boost student excitement about learning. A must read for any teacher who loves teaching!

I recently attended a workshop at which William Kist was a presenter. I was intrigued by his thoughts on alternative literacies, so I bought this book. I have not been disappointed. Dr. Kist has been very thorough in his research, and his ideas are revolutionary in their simplicity. William Kist's prescriptions for using multi--media techniques in literacy education are perfect for students of all abilities. I have already begun to implement some new literacy projects in my own classroom, and I am thrilled with the excitement that the students are exhibiting toward the art of language. This book is an important addition to any instructor's library. I recommend it very highly.

I'm learning French from CDs, and I'm finding this book indispensable. Every word I've needed to look up so far I've been able to find quickly, with minimal back-and-forth page flipping. It has many helpful stub entries pointing to main entries. Some common, core words have expanded entries. The authors have left out distracting information that would be relevant only to experts, and used the space for useful stuff for beginners like me. It's great. UPDATE: This dictionary is becoming less useful to me as a reference as I progress. It is a *starter* dictionary after all. It's still useful though.

I was so thrilled to find this book! I just wish I'd had it in college, but - oh, well, now I'm going to catch up on what I missed in college! This book is a must-have for beginners learning French! Obviously, it has only the vocabulary you would need for the first two or so years of French, but all the confusing, tricky things are beautifully and clearly explained, to get you over the first hurdles! The entries are listed in both French and English, with examples of usage. I even bought the Oxford Starter German Dictionary as well, because I had so many false starts and difficulties trying to learn German. I feel confident that I will now sort out the problems I had with these languages. This is a great concept!!!

This French-English and English-French dictionary is very well-designed and easy to use. Keywords are highlighted, which makes you find what you need very fast. The translations don't have any confusing grammar-specific abbreviations, all the information is very clear. Special symbols show the points to pay attention to. Thematic boxes are dedicated to the often used words and everyday topics (talking about time, numbers, aches and pains etc.). The book doesn't cover all the French words and cannot be used as a grammar reference, but it has everything the good dictionary should contain. A must have for those learning French from scratch.

Cute book, nice rhyming, good moral lesson (don't take other people's stuff), overall a nice addition to my daughter's bookshelf. My daughter chants along by the time we reach the end.

After taking this book out of the library regularly my son asked that we buy it as a donation for his school library. We all love this colorful tale of a greedy bird and the life lesson that he learns!Plus it is a fun read!

My 6 year old son is obsessed with this book. We originally took it out from the library. He insisted reading it every night until he could memorize it. He loved it so much we bought it for his birthday. He loves the rythm of the book, all the fruit and colors. He can read it on his own now and wants to take it to school to share with his class. It is also available in Spanish - I think I'd like to read that version as well.

My son's pre-school uses these books and worksheets to teach reading. The books are awesome! My 4 year old is reading so well and has moved on to the second series. I recommend these books to anyone with a pre-schooler eager to begin reading..

Excellent books to help children with long vowel sounds and blends. Once they have completed Set 1 they will be ready to take on the challenges these books have to offer. No really hard words that the child will need help with, allowing the child to build his/her confidence on their own. Great choice for more advanced beginning readers.

These are the easiest way to teach children to read. The books are ordered in sets and groups, so each concept is mastered before another is presented. Our son learned to read at a private school using these books, so we are now using them to teach our daughter. The illustrations do look dated, as they were published over a decade ago, but nonetheless, they are wonderful books!

This book is a very good book for many children. There are many details and I recommend this book to any teacher that has a small library in their classroom.

It's a great book and I'm MAD about Geography. The more info I can get the better.

This book was recommended by "The Well Trained Mind" as a second grade earth science textbook. It is the perfect "starter" volume to begin a study of the earth. Each topic has two pages, with a lot of illustrations and explanations, to whet the appetite, and encourage follow-up reading and study. Major topics include the land, water, weather, landscapes, and conservation.

This 77-page booklet is jam-packed with full-color photographs and drawings including many fascinating cut-aways detailing Pompeiian architecture. The author covers a lot of territory, discussing in brief, easy-to-read text many historical aspects including: the disaster resulting from Vesuvius' eruption, discovery and excavation, streets and water supply, the people and their homes, public and private baths, commercial life (bakers, bars, taverns, etc.) and much more. The detail is extraordinary. Recommended for all ages.

Being an (adult)artist, I have found that children's books are far more informative when you're looking for new info. I've been reading alot about Pompeii and Herculaneum for a year, and Peter Connelly's book lit the fire. I have since purchased all of his other books when I can find them. The detail is fascinating and easy to understand; and the drawings are in great detail.

I own a lot of books on the subject and a lot of them are mainly text with a few pictures of actual objects here and there, so when I decided to build a miniature scale of an ancient roman home I knew I needed more visuals and especially reconstruction images. This book is perfect for that. It has basic descriptions on what, where and how for people looking to understand the basics on ancient roman life and lots of great drawings to illustrate the different sections.

I recommend this book for children and adults alike since it is well organized, easy to understand and the visuals will help anyone get interested in the subject or add to an already knowledgeable audience.