Remember when kids played organized sports for fun? America’s children are starting to play organized sports at a very young age and taking it entirely too seriously. Year-round travel teams? T-ball tournaments? Does everyone think their kid is the next Tiger Woods? Read Game On, 302.14 F245g 2008, and find out what’s going on.
In The Case for Make Believe, author Susan Linn discusses the need for children to be allowed to play and let their creativity flow. Linn believes that make believe play allows children to work through important issues and problems in their lives.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is a must read. It is a reflection on the life of the author, a terminally ill computer science professor. It is a lesson in humor, hope and inspiration.
In Children at Play, 305.23109 C559c 2007, author Howard Chudacoff examines childrens’ playing habits for the past 300 years. He draws many interesting connections between today’s kids lack of independent play and childhood obesity, learning disabilities and many other childhood problems.
In Standardized Childhood, 372.21 F965s 2007, author Bruce Fuller takes a close look at the push for state-run preschool programs. His question to the reader is: Should early childhood be standardized by the government and at what cost?
Finding a Good Grade School, for a Fee in the Sept. 10, 2007 issue of U.S. News & World Report discusses a growing trend of parents hiring education consultants to help find their children a spot in a good school. These consultants can help students from pre-school through high school gain admittance to the “right” schools.
Trying to find a new and fun way to teach kids about Mark Twain? Who Was Mark Twain, YA 818.4 P955w 2004, by April Jones Prince, is the perfect book for you….the story of his life is put forth in a easy to read format that can be enjoyed by all ages.
In The Last Normal Child, 362.2 D578L 2006, Dr. Lawrence Diller discusses the rampant use of psychiatric drugs on children. This is a continuation of his book Running on Ritalin and focuses on why so many children are almost automatically drugged for “abnormal behaviors”.
Children and Television, 302.23 L554c 2007, by Dafna Lemish “highlights the global perspective and balances the need to contextualize television in children’s lives in their unique cultural spaces.”
Here’s a helpful site for elementary teachers: nationalgeographic.com/kids. This site offers a wide range of games and activities as well as crafts, recipes and science experiments.