ing your child to the topLet’s face it: not every child is a happy, self – motivated, eager learner. If you’ve already tried every motivational technique under the sun to no avail and the approach of a new school year fills you with parental guilt and dread, Empowering Underachievers: How to Guide Failing Kids (8 – 18) to Personal Excellence is a must read. By “underachiever,” authors Peter A. Spevak, Ph.D., and Maryann Karinch mean a student who has a problem with attitude not ability. Four types of underachievers – Distant, Passive, Dependent and Defiant – are defined, and methods for understanding, coping with and motivating each type are discussed in separate chapters. Spevak and Karinch encourage parents to be aware of their own attitudes about life and learning. They advocate setting a living example of the motto “life is what you make it.”Linda Stankard has been a public school teacher and a homeschooling parent. She currently teaches at a community college in Tennessee.

ing the most from schoolOf course, no matter how confident you are in your parenting skills, “letting go” of your child for the first time can be an event faced with trepidation and angst. If you or someone you know needs some comforting advice before the big day, an excellent book for your backpack is Ready, Start, School! Nurturing and Guiding Your Child Through Preschool and Kindergarten by Sandra F. Rief. This practical, “plain – language” handbook addresses topics of critical concern to parents with small children. Chapter titles include such subjects as “Enrolling Your Child in Kindergarten or Waiting Another Year” and “Protecting and Influencing Your Impressionable Young Child.” Rief also offers strategies for getting your little one off to a good start in the important areas of reading, writing and math, and advice about what to do if you suspect your child has a developmental delay or disability. If you need a little nurturing of your own as you prepare to launch your child into the academic world, this is a good book to have in your information arsenal.With your own backpack full of new books to learn from, you’ll be ready and able to set the pace.Linda Stankard has been a public school teacher and a homeschooling parent. She currently teaches at a community college in Tennessee.

ate yourself before school starts: books to help you help your childA new school year is a lot like New Year’s Day; it offers the chance to wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start, the chance to move ahead in new and productive ways and the chance to work harder and do better than you did the year before. If you’ve made a new school year “resolution” to help your child succeed in school this fall, you’ll need to do some homework.Michael Gurian’s Boys and Girls Learn Differently! explains the biological factors behind male/female learning, what these differences consist of at various developmental stages and most importantly, how this information can be used to build a student’s self – esteem and facilitate learning. Gurian points out that there are no hard and fast “gender rules,” but that brain – based research indicates certain tendencies. For example, he writes, “Boys tend to be deductive in their conceptualizations . . . girls tend to favor inductive thinking.” Gurian outlines what he calls the “ultimate” learning environment for both boys and girls from preschool through high school. He reminds us what it is like to be a sensitive nine – year – old or a turbulent teen and points out that by understanding what our children are going through at different stages in their lives, adults can more effectively help them achieve in school.Linda Stankard has been a public school teacher and a homeschooling parent. She currently teaches at a community college in Tennessee.