Talking Bear's Talking Circles


Book Description




Touching Spirit Bear


Book Description

In his Nautilus Award-winning classic Touching Spirit Bear, author Ben Mikaelson delivers a powerful coming-of-age story of a boy who must overcome the effects that violence has had on his life. After severely injuring Peter Driscal in an empty parking lot, mischief-maker Cole Matthews is in major trouble. But instead of jail time, Cole is given another option: attend Circle Justice, an alternative program that sends juvenile offenders to a remote Alaskan Island to focus on changing their ways. Desperate to avoid prison, Cole fakes humility and agrees to go. While there, Cole is mauled by a mysterious white bear and left for dead. Thoughts of his abusive parents, helpless Peter, and his own anger cause him to examine his actions and seek redemption—from the spirit bear that attacked him, from his victims, and, most importantly, from himself. Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots of his anger without absolving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. Touching Spirit Bear is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing. A strong choice for independent reading, sharing in the classroom, homeschooling, and book groups.




Peacemaking Circles


Book Description




Creative Circle Time Lessons for the Early Years


Book Description

Includes CD-rom! This creative book uses music, song, poetry and a host of practical ideas to engage children in Circle Time Activities. The publication stems from Yvonne′s own work in schools where 26 alphabetical themes have been centralised around a lovable bear character. There are four strands in the book which are linked to the Social Skills curriculum. - Self esteem - Relationships - Communications - Spiritual and Moral Development These strands are developed through the 26 themes from ′Adorable′ bear to ′Zig Zag′ bear with a weekly introduction of a new rhythm to accompany the poem. For each theme there are comprehensive notes for teachers with lots of ideas on the content of each theme. The DVD- ROM contains all 26 poems and songs, recited or sung by the children. The DVD-Rom also includes printable posters and positive thought sheets. As an experienced teacher Yvonne offers not only a comprehensive practical resource that all teachers will find useful and time saving, but she also provides links to Citizenship, planning sheets for PSHE, lesson objectives and full lesson notes, providing all the support busy teachers need. A very exciting practical resource, easy to use and built on a very solid foundation of many years of expertise and practice.




Female Faith Practices


Book Description

This book explores female faith practices, drawing on qualitative research to consider how women navigate and create spiritual and religious practices. The chapters cover Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist contexts as well as newer spiritual movements. The contributors examine prayer and ritual practices and familial, educational and ritual spaces and relationships in a variety of cultural settings. The volume reflects on the ways in which women subvert traditional or patriarchal religious practices and spaces, both problematising and expanding existing notions of ‘religious practice’. It also touches on research itself as a form of spiritual and academic practice, considering ways in which women challenge androcentric modes of research as well as ways in which the subject of research – in this case, female faith – may challenge the researcher’s convictions and practice. Blending case studies with empirical research, this book will be an outstanding resource to theologians and researchers interested in Practical Theology, Gender Studies, Sociology of Religion and Anthropology.




Early Years Handbook


Book Description

With a double-page spread for every letter of the alphabet, this handbook gives guidance on introducing each lower case letter, how to write it correctly, how to pronounce each letter sound and how to explain the corresponding capital letter shape. It also shows how to introduce the new Letterland characters in a simple and fun way.




The Cherokee Full Circle


Book Description

A comprehensive overview of Native American spiritual principles and their application for personal spirit-healing. • Includes traditional sacred exercises, teaching tales, case studies, and suggested rituals for individual and group healing. • Outlines the core principals of Native American traditional values and teaches how to apply them to the contemporary path of wellness and healing. • Publication to coincide with annual Full Circle gathering in September 2002 The Four Directions, the four seasons, and the four elements that make up the sacred hoop of the full circle must be in right relationship with one another or disharmony will result. Native American ritual has always emphasized the restoration of balance through ceremonies that provide a forum for learning, transition, and expressions of personal growth. Now Cherokee authors J. T. and Michael Garrett share Native American traditions to explore interrelationships as a tool for growth and transformation. The Cherokee Full Circle gathers techniques representing Native American cultures from across America--stories, exercises, and individual and group rituals--to teach the inherent dynamics of right relationship and apply them to the healing path. The authors provide a comprehensive overview of Native American spiritual principles and traditions and demonstrate how these ideas and methods can be applied universally to deal with life's situations--from depression and grieving to finding purpose and establishing positive relationships.




The Restorative Classroom


Book Description

Restorative approaches are about more than just repairing relationships when things go wrong, they are also about making and maintaining relationships and they inform a style of teaching just as much as they do an approach to problem solving and conflict resolution. By giving everyone a voice, considering everyone's thoughts, feelings and needs and believing in people's ability to find solutions to their own problems by working together, young people will develop the language and skills they need to properly engage with their peers. The Restorative Classroom invites classroom teachers and teaching assistants to reflect on themselves, on their role, their purpose and their intention in the classroom and on their current style of engagement with their students. It combines a focus on the making, maintaining and repairing of relationships in the classroom with the development of social responsibility and a mutually supportive learning community in that classroom.




Speaking of Bears


Book Description

As majestic as they are dangerous, and as timeless as they are current, bears continue to captivate readers. Speaking of Bears is not your average collection of stories. Rather it is the history, compiled from interviews with over 100 individuals, of how Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks, all in California’s Sierra Nevada, created a human-bear problem so bad that there were eventually over 2,000 incidents in a single year. It then describes the pivotal moments during which park employees used trial-and-error, conducted research, invented devices, collaborated with other parks, and found funding to get the crisis back under control. Speaking of Bears is for bear lovers, national park buffs, historians, wildlife managers, biologists, policy and grant-makers, and anyone who wants to know the who, what, where, when, and why of what once was a serious human-bear problem, and the path these parks took to correct it. Although these Sierran parks had some of the worst black bear problems in the country, hosted much of the research, and invented the bulk of the technological solutions, they were not the only ones. For that reason, intertwining stories from several other parks including Yellowstone, the Great Smoky Mountains, and Banff-Canada are included. For anyone seeking solutions to human-wildlife conflicts throughout the world, the lessons-learned are invaluable and widely applicable.