It is always interesting to me to see what books other moms are reading. It is one of the best ways to find new books to try. With that in mind I thought I would share the books I am either currently reading or starting soon. 
Educating The WholeHearted Child – This classic by Clay Clarkson and his wife Sally has just been revised. The original 252 pages grew to 384 pages and I’m trying to savor this one a little bit at a time.
A Mind at a Time – Suggested to me by a homeschooling friend and former teacher, this book is the work of Mel Levine, M.D.. It describes eight fundamental brain systems of learning and how each child’s mind may be strong or weak in those areas – which affects learning and just about everything else! I’ve already found a wonderful quote that I’m pondering from this one, so I’m going to share it:
“It’s taken for granted in adult society that we cannot all be generalists skilled in every area of learning and mastery. Nevertheless, we apply tremendous pressure on our children to be good at everything. Every day they are expected to shine in math, reading, writing, speaking, spelling, memorization, comprehension, problem solving, socialization, athletics, and following verbal directions. Few if any children can master all of these “trades.” And none of us adults can. In one way of another, all minds have their specialties and their frailties.”
(A Mind at a Time p. 23 by Dr. Mel Levine)
How true is that? Seriously! I’m fascinated with this book because I have so many unique little minds in my children. While not every thing will apply to each child, I will most likely see just about every area weak or strong between all my children.
The rest of these books I have yet to begin, and as you’ll see, several are by Dr. Mel Levine.
All Kinds of Minds – By Dr. Levine. This book is written for young students and tells the story of five children with a variety of learning strengths and weaknesses based on the information in the previously mentioned book. It can be read to or by the student, or by the parent.
Keeping a Head in School – By Dr. Levine. This book aims primarily to help slightly older children than the prior book children gain a realistic insight into their personal strengths and weaknesses and how to make the most of or compensate for those.
Educational Care – This textbook is also by Dr. Levine, and what I appreciate in all his books is that his focus is on observing your child and identifying strengths and weaknesses, which you then can specifically support, strengthen, or praise them in. The focus is NOT on labeling a child, which is something that happens far too much in our society today, and it is NOT on medicating a child for the God-given way their brains work. 
Organizing the Disorganized Child - by Martin Kutscher & Marcella Moran. This has practical strategies to implement with a child who is organizationally challenged. I have at least one of those. 
As you can see, I’m in a nonfiction phase. It will swing back around to pleasure reading in a few weeks most likely.
So what’s on your reading list right now?
5 comments:
I am currently reading The Myth of Laziness. I haven't read it from cover to cover but have been scanning here and there and it seems very interesting. Did not realize he had so many other books.
I am also reading The Core. This book is about classical education. You have a list of very interesting books. I am considering adding them to my list of books to read.
I'm currently reading The Promises of Dr. Sigmundus book one The Hollow People. I don't have the second book yet, so I'll be starting Non Campus Mentis next, but it's interesting enough that I imagine I'll get the whole series from the library soon.
Tristan,
This is definitely an area that hasn't gotten much attention from me; reading books to strengthen my mind. I've had Educating the Wholehearted Child on my bookshelf for years (almost nine) and have never read it all the way through as well as The Ministry of Motherhood. There are a few others, but I am determined to read some "mommy books" this new school year which starts next week. Wholehearted and Read for the Heart are two I want to read soon, but for now I may do well w/not making a list and just reading one book at a time and waiting to see what direction my new knowledge leads me.
I really like that quote.My oldest tends to get discouraged when he isnt perfect. I try to point out that none of us are perfect and that we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
Christina
I am in a fiction phase....reading "The Hunger Games" and I am hooked!
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