Schools and Instruction Books

I own both the paper-pack & hard-pack versions of this wonderful book. I was introduced to it by my PhotoReading instructor/co-developer, Patricia Danielson from New England, MA, during the early nineties. It is pertinent to mention that 'The Everyday Genius' is synonymous with PhotoReading, as far as the ultimate application is concerned. In fact, Peter Kline has contributed quite substantially to the early development of PhotoReading, according to the principal developer of the technology, Paul Scheele.

From my personal perspective, the principal theme is nurturing learners in the world. As such, it has great relevancy to parents (the primary audience) as well as to teachers & employers/bosses/managers in the workplace.

The author, a true learner himself, has an amazing gamut of practical ideas for developing & nurturing learners at home & in the workplace.

During the years I have owned a small bookstore from the early nineties up to mid-2004, this book happens to be one of my anchor books. I often recommend it to visiting parents to my store as well as to managers/bosses who are responsible for many people working under them. The feedback from them has always been tremendously positive. Many have returned to buy further copies to be given away as gifts.

There is an everyday genius in all of us. Sometimes, we need to rub the Aladdin lamp rigourously to get the genie out. This book, packed with insights, games, activities & exercises, can serve that purpose.

Yes, I must add that the book can be intellectually quite intense for some people to read. Neverthelesss, I strongly recommend reading it.

Let me conclude this review by recapitulating an observation made by John Naisbitt, a futurist/thought leader, many years ago, "In a world that is constantly changing, there is no one subject, or set of subjects, that can serve us for the foreseeable future, let alone for the rest of our lives. The most important thing for us is to learn, unlearn & relearn." I maintain that this book can definitely help to pave the way for all readers in the quest for learning.

[To Parents/Teachers who want more specific tools & strategies to help their kids/students in attaining school success, please get hold of the author's 'School Success: An Inside Story'. To Managers/Professionals, please get hold of the author's 'Ten Steps to a Learning Organisation.' These are excellent & insightful productions!

What an absolutely dreadful, boring, useless book. I bought it based on the reviews above, and boy am I mad that I did. As a teacher, I thought I would take away something, anything, from this book. Instead, my mind is slightly more numb because of it. This author says the same thing 800 different times in only slightly different ways. He could have pared the whole thing down to one inspiring quote. Instead, his repetitive rambling takes all inspiration out of his words. Truly, I love any book that inspires me or gives me ideas for working with children, but this book was AWFUL. The author also spends a lot of time tooting his own horn. I tend to roll my eyes when he does, because he makes ridiculous claims like, "I spoke with this child for ten minutes and he went from a high-school dropout to a brilliant doctor." I made that up, but that's the gist. He's full of it. Save yourself time & money and leave this book alone.

I sometimes forget to slow my life down enough to pay attention to the lessons that children can teach me about how to live my life. Every child that is born into this world is a laughing, singing, creative and powerful individual. Often it seems that by the time we reach adulthood we have lost the ability to laugh and sing. Peter Kline seriously addresses the process of learning from all angles. Extremely instructive to adults!!!

Some favorite passages:

"Creativity is a function of our whole personality and its interaction with the world, not something we turn on or off. The more we see ourselves as innovative and original thinkers, the more creative we tend to be"..."So whatever else we may say about creativity, these three things are essential to it: we must value our uniqueness, we must trust the worth of our experience, and we must be able to draw freely and widely on the full range of that experience, which is the content of our memory." P 190

"Experiencing disharmony between what we say and what we feel leads to a vague sense of anxiety and not being at home in the world - a sense that some philosophers assume is an inescapable part of the human condition. However, the origin of this anxiety is not human nature, it is in our withholding or even becoming unaware of what we really feel - in failing to live our lives fully. Accepting emotions helps us get beneath the surface in order to discover the rich and wonderful process of being." P 219

"Whenever you feel you are learning nothing from the person you are with, or the situation you are in, it is time to return again to whatever springs inspire in you the development of new learning skills, and drink as deeply as you can. Then you will be better able to discover that each person you meet has a fund of experinece so rich that no matter what thier differences in worldly accomplishments may be from yours, you can learn from them and they from you. Some of my own finest learning experiences have come from those who had lived long lives without the advantage of education or even literacy. Experience of any kind is always richly and uniquely instructive." P 252

As a student, I was assigned this reading. I found the latter half of the book to be the most useful. However, I thought that the first eleven chapters could have been revised to approximately three chapters. The most impressive part of this book is Kline's examples of his learning philosophies. These examples include games, activities, and exercises that are applicable in the home and classroom. Overall this read was intelligent and insightful. Kline has some truly amazing ideas.

I purchased this book after enjoying an exhibit of Hudson River School paintings. While the premise of the book is an interesting one, I couldn't get past the conservative politics! It was Newt Gingrich's quote & the mention of Lynne Cheney as a harbinger of moral change that pushed me over the edge. I was hoping to gain a further appreciation of the genre, but found myself too iritated by the modern day political commentary to keep reading. If you have BOTH an appreciation of the school & a conservative political outlook--this is probably the book for you. However, if you find conservative definitions of morality and cultural standards off-putting, don't bother with this one!

Anyone alarmed by the loss of cultural standards in America today will find this book fascinating. Mr. Cooper clearly demonstrates the relationship between culture and art. We are reminded of a time in our nations youth when the arts served to lift up and inspire, when truth, virtue and beauty were not doubted but sought after because they represented the very best of what we could be. Today much of our art points in the opposite direction, not celebrating what we aspire to be but pointing out the worst of what we are. As an artist in todays culture I can attest to the accuracy of Mr.Coopers observations concerning the role modern art has played in our cultural decline.I can also confirm the great hunger for art that lifts the spirit and inspires our hopes and dreams. I highly recommend this book for its insight into the importance of our creative endeavors and how we direct them. I hope it serves as an inspiration to all artists seeking to better the world through their gifts.

"Knights of the Brush" is a fascinating book on the Hudson River School landscape painters, but it is not (repeat not) by the novelist James Fenimore Cooper! The author, a distinguished art historian, is James F. Cooper and unlike the novelist is very much alive! That said, I find the book a little strange. Mr. Cooper analyses and discusses a wide range of Hudson River landscape paintings by painters such as Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, and Jasper Cropsey -- stressing their moral and religious intent and content in a way that should increase appreciation of their merit. The book is filled with attractive color reproductions of their works. But this is coupled with a sometimes repetitious jeremiad against current "post-modern" culture and ethics and apparently everything else to do with contemporary American culture. Somehow the art history and appreciation and the political pamphlet do not live happily with each other. Readers and art lovers can enjoy and appreciate "Knights of the Brush," and the author's passion for art, without necessarily accepting all his passion for turning back the cultural clock.

This is a book that post-modernists and deconstructionists can easily pass over. However, if you accept even a glimmer of Keats' insight:

Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Ode on a Grecian Urn

Then you will find this a worthwhile book. Cooper begins with the argument that the aesthetic is the most highly developed aspect of a society. Once the aesthetic sense begins to fray, then society is on a slippery slope where the moral vision begins to lose focus and eventually, may collapse.

This is a classic story of decline and fall, and Cooper puts the Golden Age with the Hudson River School of American art. The book takes the moral values of the early 19th Century Americans, natives like Cropsey as well as immigrants like Thomas Cole, and illustrates their beliefs with representative, breathtaking paintings. Some of the strongest points are made in contrasting the moral vision which informs the Hudson River School with the altogether bleak view of the human condition which is seen in representative works from 20th century painters like Hopper and Andrew Wyeth.

Cooper does effectively demolish the canard that these artists were little more than shills for the new capitalist order. Given the view which these men held, that to truely view nature is the glimpse the hand of God on earth, if they had painted mills and factories, they would have clearly been less than worshipful of their subject.

However, Cooper's thesis becomes a little repetitive as each chapter keeps coming back to the same theme with slightly different wording.

In the end, the art is stunning, the commentary is thoughtful, but slightly tighter writing style would have won a fifth star.

Luker's structure for understanding the debate on sex in America (it's in the subtitle) is extremely limited. It's overwhelmingly (altho not exclusively) white, heterocentric (that is pretty much exclusively) and suburban/small town. If I thought she understood there was a problem with not discussing the treatment of homosexuality when discussing sex education in America (because she mostly ignores it), it might bother me less, but she's so focused on understanding the different gender roles, she's locked into the conservatives duality. As usual, as a sociologist, her lack of historical perspective undermines her argument. Worse, her assertion about the "original" definition of "hierarchy" is just wrong, and in bending over backwards to avoid words like "patriarchy" and "oppression", she signs off on previous generations' enforcement of cultural norms at the expense of minorities and other groups with little power.

If I thought I could trust the rest of the work, these might be issues I could work around. But there are instances of circular argument; she quotes conservative activists repeatedly without acknowledging bias without doing the same for liberals; she repeatedly misrepresents "sexual liberals" and persists in misunderstanding what her interviewees were telling her.

Her background and credentials suggests she's doing this to "prove" that she's being "fair" to the conservatives. In practice, I kept thinking that she'd be a conservative herself, except for the niggling little problem that she'd have to give up her position unless she could also magically become a man (because doing it through surgery would surely be unacceptable to the conservatives!).

I wish I knew of a better book on the topic.

I was pleasantly surprised by the generally fair presentation by Dr. Luker in "When Sex Goes to School". Given that she is a feminist sociologist at UC Berkeley, I had expected a very biased treatment of those holding traditional views of sexuality. However, she demonstrated a real understanding of the issues, particularly in how conservatives are not "anti-sex" (the typical liberal claim) but in actuality value sex very highly as something sacred. The whole battle stems from the two sides holding fundamentally different views of sexuality: something "natural" vs. something sacred.

The one thing that annoyed me about the book was Dr. Luker's stereotypes about conservative women. She portrays them all as less interested in education & career and believers in patriarchy. We may be traditional in certain areas, but that doesn't mean we're traditional in *everything*. We may be bright & ambitious, feel that men & women are equal (although not identical), and still hold that the proper place for sex is between a husband & wife.

Kristin Luker has chosen a curious method to produce a strange amalgam of a book: she talks to local extremists so she can use sex education as a prism for understanding sex in America.

While the political battles over sex education might deserve a book unto themselves, and while sex education certainly can't be divorced from our culture's shifting notions about sexuality, Luker's method leaves one wondering how much one has actually learned about either from reading the book.

As Luker acknowledges in passing, her method of choosing subjects to interview leaves out the entire sensible center, if such there be, on debates about sex education. And as she makes clear, passionate extremists on both sides of the fights generally have difficulty articulating their reasons clearly, and they generally don't understand each other very well. Luker provides on her interviewees' behalfs the articulation they can't provide for themselves. Curious research method, don't you think?

Luker offers that the warring camps fall into the "sacralists" versus the "secularists." I suspect readers will differ on how adequate they find these grossly simplified generalizations. I find some value, in sort of a quick-sketch-on-the-back-of-a-napkin sense, in drawing the contrasts as Luker draws them.

But I'm not entirely enthusiastic about Luker's belief that she's found a good prism for viewing sex in America. Local extremists all worked up about school curricula may not be the most representative sample on the broader issue of sex in our society.

This was an engaging book to read and it was also well researched. I had Kristen Luker as a professor and true to form, she is fair in her research and portrays both sides of an issue so that each makes sense to the reader. She is a very talented sociologist and unlike some sociologists, she's also manages to write an interesting book. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the debate over sex education.

Archaic and Classical Greek Art is good supplementary reading if you're into art history or classics that focus on ancient Greece. While the text isn't too exciting, the pretty pictures make up for it; if ever you need to make a presentation on the reading, you can do what I did and talk about how pretty the pictures were. And while the text is a bit boring, it's simple and concise, which would be lifesaving attributes if you're reading it 5 minutes before class. It's an ideal introduction into the subject matter; the content is easy enough to understand and the pictures make it enticing enough to pursue.

On a more general scale, why 4 stars? Because to a classics nerd, it's vastly exciting delving into the world of ancient Greece when it's completely unrelated to school. So I read it after we were tested on it and found it all the more enjoyable.

Well, once you get past Osborne's pedantic writing, it's an informative treatment of the subject. But, doesn't most academic writing suffer from the "write-like-it's-a-lecture" syndrome? I guess I'll always be a scientist at heart, never a humanist.

This book gave me a new look into greek art. I have read a lot of books about this period and I found that Robin Osborne added new viewpoints. I liked his style of writing, it invited me to read on.

I felt I should write this review after seeing the bad wrap it got from another reviewer. I am doing my thesis on classroom discipline and out of all the books I've read on the subject, this one gave me the best insight and critique of the history of discipline research as well as great ideas for teachers on how to go about creating their own classroom management plan. This book touched on all areas important to successful classroom management; I have not found everything covered here in any other single source. This book is a must for all new teachers who really want to succeed!

I was required to purchase this book for a class I am currently taking. While the content of the book could be useful, the manner in which it is written is laden with ridiculous run-on ideas that could be communicated much more clearly. Here is an example from page 28:

"Regardless of the extent to which teachers decide to adapt to the norms and parenting styles of their student's culture or systematically assists students in learning to adapt while maintaining their cultural values, the point is that as educators we are willing to examine our own beliefs and way of working with students in light of the contextual variables existing in the classroom, school and community."

To students who may be required to read this text: Good luck. Perhaps you can change classes before it is too late.

To professors who may add this book to their required reading list: Please, please, please pass on this text and choose something more relevant and tangible for your students.

To educators who may choose this book to answer questions or add to their professional library: choose something else. This book is useless. My advice is your time will be better spent going to talk to teachers who have been in the field rather than reading this book.

I had to buy and read this book for a classroom management class. It is a great book for comparing the most recent research available. However, you usually need to read five to ten pages of what could have been stated in a paragraph. I do feel that I really understand the material by the time I finish reading the book. I have also used many of the ideas in my classroom to try and improve my classroom management in my student teaching experience.

Ordered the Book and CD together, received the book, but now over one month later am still waiting for the CD. It would be nice if could have had the CD with the music book.

Part of the Suzuki Method relies on hearing the music about 8000 times before the child graduates the particular "book". If you (and your child) do the method properly, you will have this entire cd memorised and may even be sick of it by then. It is well done, nicely clear for advanced beginners and has a clear piano part.

We own this cd and, well, one can hardly comment on the music without 1st having experienced working with the Suzuki method of helping their child learn to play an instrument and read music.
The cd is most useful and my child learned very quickly by listening to this cd. There are other versions of the Suzuki books on cd and when your child advances you can see and hear the differences of each. The way your child plays, once having worked long enough, can reflect the style in which the artist plays. My son took to playing violin very quickly. And could choose which cd he wanted by book 3.
He still listens to the old cd,s (he added the music to his ipod, btw) for refreshing his memory and improving his critique of music. He is 16 and loves all music.
If you are considering this method for someone you love, remember musical literacy is a lifelong treasure and pleasure no matter what your talent level. You can't go wrong even if you just want to listen. Get the book if interested, because even if you want this for yourself you can read along and definitely help your own musical literacy skills.
It's a whole other language and nothing can beat hearing the language of music.

In this book Mike Farris tells a legally accurate and gripping story about the potential harm the U.N. can do if it improperly performs its role in the world. This book is a masterpiece of storytelling that holds your interest throughout the plot and contains refreshing views on society and the state of our world.

An intriguing story with a powerful message. What could have been a very complex and dreary subject--legal proceedings over the U.N. attempting to enforce a treaty regarding children supreceding the laws of the United States--is made alive and interesting. The author captures the real feel and attitudes of the kinds of people who are committed spiritually to Christian values while showing that the threat goes far beyond such people. The subplots are engaging and essential to humanize the characters. The role of the internet and chat rooms is both amusing and enlightening. The ultimate message of the book comes through vividly: there is a genuine and serious threat to American sovereignty by ratifying treaties that invade the personal lives of Americans.

Is there a way to give zero stars?

The good: a creative basic premise (a Supreme Court fight about the rights of children v. parents).

The bad:

1. Badly written. The prose itself is clunky. There appear to be about four completely unrelated books that were somehow glued together to make this monster.

2. Too preachy. I don't mind a message, but beating people over the head with your moralistic message makes for bad reading.

3. Stilted dialogue. I'm sorry, people just don't talk like this.

4. Cardboard characters. The bad guys are "all bad" and have no legitimate reasons for their point of view. The good guys are the beloved of God, and everything they do is for a righteous reason. These characters are one dimensional.

5. Long. Did I mention 450+ pages of this?

This is the book that inspired me to professionally side step the test-prep classroom environment of dull grade level anthologies and drill and kill worksheets in lieu of in-depth studies of engaging fiction and non-fiction texts and trade books.

Our recent foray into Island of the Blue Dolphins definitely revealed that my students' overall text comprehension, command of new and unique vocabulary, grasp of overlying literature themes, identification of major and minor plot lines, and awareness of the ever changing character traits of the individuals within the story was significantly enhance simply by my refreshed way of teaching.

Please refrain from purchasing this book simply to place it on your shelf of notable professional books, as How to Align Literacy Instruction, Assessment, and Standards deserves to be read, dog-eared, margin noted, and implemented daily into your classroom.

This book is a great book as it provokes thoughts that allow you to organize your instruction to a higer level. It allows to you examine what you do and why you do it. I believe the author really understands what a teacher goes through and makes the monster more efficient. The book offers information as well as practical support for all teachers.

Another school administrator writing a book about how to teach. No studies or research support any of the methods espoused in this book. It's all opinion based on anecdotal observations. She offers no statistical data to support her methods. I seriously doubted the efficacy of her methods and searched the California Department of Education's web pages to read test scores at the elementary school where she is the principal. Her school's reading test scores have gone consistently South since she's been the principal. I'm not hating on the writer; I'd just like to see curriculum based on research - not opinion.

I went through every page in this book twice, and believe it or not could not find a single things that I thought I would ever use. It was advertised as a book for grades 1-8, but I couldn't imagine ever using it with students older than, maybe, grade 5.

Even with my elementary kids, I couldn't imagine using this book. Most of the activities were either things I could have thought of myself, and/or just seemed plain "goofy." Actually, the book struck me (although it was not advertised this way) as a guide for substitutes who had little music background and didn't really know what to do when teaching a music class. Since that is not my situation, I found it vitually useless.

I use this a lot. Have not used eveything yet. It does not give a resource for recordings

If you don't already have this book, you need to get it! It has activities for special days throughout the year (even days you might have never known about). The material is well suited to any age and is well liked by the upper grades (which can sometimes be hard to find). The activities are easy to set up and usually fill up one class period. I highly reccommend investing in this book. It saved me my first year of teaching and I plan to use it for as many years as they'll let me teach

I attended Juilliard for one year and all I can say about this book is that every word is true. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a primer for any young person contemplating auditioning for Juilliard. It is not a place for the faint hearted.

This is NOT the best written book I've read. The style is actually a bit trite and tired. However, the information in this book is very informative and interesting. I think this book is essential reading for anyone interested in going to Juilliard, either for a degree or as part of their pre-college division. It's also a great read for people just interested in learning the "behind the scenes" of the school.

This description of life at one of the world's most famous music schools is remarkably accurate. The author explores the good and the bad, the wonderfully exciting and the surprisingly mundane, from entrance auditions to graduation juries. A great choice for those who really wish to know what Juilliard is like.