Raising Thinkers: Preparing Your Child for the Journey of Life


Book Description

The skills in shortest supply for the future workplace are not technical, but behavioural – creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking. Raising Thinkers begins with an exploration of this skills gap in developed countries across the East and West from a national, corporate and educational perspective. In Asia there is growing unhappiness with a school system that is too narrowly focused on rote learning and teaching to test. In the West there is much debate about the efficacy of school systems that either cater largely to the lowest levels of ability or that too blindly strive to top global education rankings. Raising Thinkers provides insight into the future that today’s children will inhabit as adults and what public school systems are currently serving up. It covers the mechanics of high-level, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision making and proposes a curiosity-based approach to problems that should be taught right from school-going years. School reform will always lag behind the ever evolving needs of the corporate world. For current scholars and parents, change will come too late – therefore Raising Thinkers is also a guide aimed at helping parents and caregivers bridge the skills gap in fun, useful and practical ways.




Prepared


Book Description

A blueprint for how parents can stop worrying about their children’s future and start helping them prepare for it, from the cofounder and CEO of one of America’s most innovative public-school networks “A treasure trove of deeply practical wisdom that accords with everything I know about how children thrive.”—Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit In 2003, Diane Tavenner cofounded the first school in what would soon become one of America’s most innovative public-school networks. Summit Public Schools has since won national recognition for its exceptional outcomes: Ninety-nine percent of students are accepted to a four-year college, and they graduate from college at twice the national average. But in a radical departure from the environments created by the college admissions arms race, Summit students aren’t focused on competing with their classmates for rankings or test scores. Instead, students spend their days solving real-world problems and developing the skills of self-direction, collaboration, and reflection, all of which prepare them to succeed in college, thrive in today’s workplace, and lead a secure and fulfilled life. Through personal stories and hard-earned lessons from Summit’s exceptional team of educators and diverse students, Tavenner shares the learning philosophies underlying the Summit model and offers a blueprint for any parent who wants to stop worrying about their children’s future—and start helping them prepare for it. At a time when many students are struggling to regain educational and developmental ground lost to the disruptions of the pandemic, Prepared is more urgent and necessary than ever.




Raising Men


Book Description

After Eric Davis spent over 16 years in the military, including a decade in the SEAL Teams, his family was more than used to his absence on deployments and secret missions that could obscure his whereabouts for months at a time. Without a father figure in his own life since the age of fifteen, Eric was desperate to maintain the bonds he’d fought so hard to forge when his children were young—particularly with his son, Jason, because he knew how difficult it was to face the challenge of becoming a man on one’s own. Unfortunately, Eric learned the hard way that Quality Time doesn’t always show up in Quantity Time. Facebook, television, phones, video games, school, jobs, friends—they all got in the way of a real, meaningful father-son relationship. It was time to take action. As a SEAL, Eric learned to innovate and push boundaries, allowing him to function at levels beyond what was expected, comfortable, ordinary, and even imaginable, and he knew that as a father he needed to do the same with his son. Meeting extreme with extreme was the only answer. Using a unique blend of discipline, leadership, adventure, and grace, Eric and his SEAL brothers will teach you how to connect, and reconnect, with your sons and learn how to raise real men—the Navy SEAL way.




I Choose Brave


Book Description

What if fear is the new brave? That's the question that you need answered if you are living afraid. Finding courage begins with fear itself--fear of the Lord. I Choose Brave reveals a countercultural plan to help you where you are--knee-deep in fears of parenting, the future, your marriage, and a world that feels unstable. When you're feeling fearful, the last thing you need is a social-media meme telling you to simply "power through" your fears. In I Choose Brave, Katie Westenberg digs deep into Scripture and shows that finding the courage to overcome our fears must start with fear of the Lord. Hundreds of passages speak to this foundational truth, yet we have somehow relegated them to antiquity. In sharing her own compelling story of facing her worst fear, Katie serves up theological truth with relatable application. In this book, you will · discover a fresh take on an old truth that displaces fear once and for all · understand why the culture's idea of "fearlessness" is a farce · access the holy courage you were made for With this new knowledge comes tremendous freedom. Hidden in the cleft of the Rock, the One truly worthy of our fear, you will begin to understand the only path to real courage.




Designing Your Life


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • At last, a book that shows you how to build—design—a life you can thrive in, at any age or stage • “Life has questions. They have answers.” —The New York Times Designers create worlds and solve problems using design thinking. Look around your office or home—at the tablet or smartphone you may be holding or the chair you are sitting in. Everything in our lives was designed by someone. And every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve. In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life, a life of fulfillment and joy, constantly creative and productive, one that always holds the possibility of surprise.




Mindstorms


Book Description

In this revolutionary book, a renowned computer scientist explains the importance of teaching children the basics of computing and how it can prepare them to succeed in the ever-evolving tech world. Computers have completely changed the way we teach children. We have Mindstorms to thank for that. In this book, pioneering computer scientist Seymour Papert uses the invention of LOGO, the first child-friendly programming language, to make the case for the value of teaching children with computers. Papert argues that children are more than capable of mastering computers, and that teaching computational processes like de-bugging in the classroom can change the way we learn everything else. He also shows that schools saturated with technology can actually improve socialization and interaction among students and between students and teachers. Technology changes every day, but the basic ways that computers can help us learn remain. For thousands of teachers and parents who have sought creative ways to help children learn with computers, Mindstorms is their bible.




Raising Critical Thinkers


Book Description

A guide for parents to help children of all ages process the onslaught of unfiltered information in the digital age. Education is not solely about acquiring information and skills across subject areas, but also about understanding how and why we believe what we do. At a time when online media has created a virtual firehose of information and opinions, parents and teachers worry how students will interpret what they read and see. Amid the noise, it has become increasingly important to examine different perspectives with both curiosity and discernment. But how do parents teach these skills to their children? Drawing on more than twenty years’ experience homeschooling and developing curricula, Julie Bogart offers practical tools to help children at every stage of development to grow in their ability to explore the world around them, examine how their loyalties and biases affect their beliefs, and generate fresh insight rather than simply recycling what they’ve been taught. Full of accessible stories and activities for children of all ages, Raising Critical Thinkers helps parents to nurture passionate learners with thoughtful minds and empathetic hearts.




How to Raise an Adult


Book Description

New York Times Bestseller "Julie Lythcott-Haims is a national treasure. . . . A must-read for every parent who senses that there is a healthier and saner way to raise our children." -Madeline Levine, author of the New York Times bestsellers The Price of Privilege and Teach Your Children Well "For parents who want to foster hearty self-reliance instead of hollow self-esteem, How to Raise an Adult is the right book at the right time." -Daniel H. Pink, author of the New York Times bestsellers Drive and A Whole New Mind A provocative manifesto that exposes the harms of helicopter parenting and sets forth an alternate philosophy for raising preteens and teens to self-sufficient young adulthood In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research, on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. While empathizing with the parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Lythcott-Haims offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success. Relevant to parents of toddlers as well as of twentysomethings-and of special value to parents of teens-this book is a rallying cry for those who wish to ensure that the next generation can take charge of their own lives with competence and confidence.




Raising Global Children


Book Description

Today’s children need to develop a global mindset – an indispensable tool for success. Together, as parents and educators, we must instill in our children an interest in learning about the world early on. Raising Global Children provides the rationale and concrete steps you can take to open up the world to young people – and to do so in a fun and entertaining way without spending a whole lot of money. Packed with practical information, hundreds of tips and dozens of real-life stories, this combination parenting-educational advocacy book is the first of its kind to detail what raising global children means, why global awareness is important and how to develop a global mindset. Inside the pages of Raising Global Children, the authors make a strong case for the importance of both small and big ways that adults can influence and shape the development of a global mindset in children, including: Encouraging curiosity, empathy, flexibility and independence Supporting learning a second language as early as possible Exploring culture through books, food, music and friends Expanding a child’s world through travel at home and abroad Helping teens to spread their own global wings Advocating for teaching global education in schools Enthusiastically praised by parents and professionals alike, Raising Global Children is filled with inspiring advice that will change the way you think about raising and educating children. Raising Global Children is published by The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), which is dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. Find out more at www.actfl.org. PRAISE: “In the increasingly interconnected and competitive world that our young people find themselves in, Stacie and Mike Berdan’s Raising Global Children is one sure fire way for today’s busy parents to help give their kids a step up and get ahead.” —Curtis S. Chin, former U.S. Ambassador and international business executive "Raising Global Children is an essential guide for preparing our children for a successful future in a globally competitive and interconnected world, one that is far different than the world we grew up in." —Diane Gulyas, President of DuPont Performance Polymers "Raising Global Children is a book for parents who know the world is changing and want their children to experience it, embrace it and benefit from it. It is a must have guide for bringing up globally aware kids." —Carolyn Tieger, President of entrePReneur Communications, LLC “The Berdans have done an excellent job of outlining how adults can influence and shape the development of a global mindset among children. Raising Global Children clearly illustrates how parents and educators can open up the world to the young people in their lives by developing the necessary skills and attitude to fully embrace it!” —Marty Abbott, Executive Director, American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages




Grown and Flown


Book Description

PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.