Designed to help parents avoid the miseducation of youngchildren. Dr. Elkind shows us the very real difference between themind of a pre-school child and that of a school age child.
Does assigning fifty math problems accomplish any more thanassigning five? Is memorizing word lists the best way to increasevocabulary—especially when it takes away from reading time? Andwhat is the real purpose behind those devilish dioramas? The time our children spend doing homework has skyrocketed inrecent years. Parents spend countless hours cajoling their kids tocomplete such assignments—often without considering whether or notthey serve any worthwhile purpose. Even many teachers are in thedark: Only one of the hundreds the authors interviewed and surveyedhad ever taken a course specifically on homework duringtraining. The truth, according to Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish, is thatthere is almost no evidence that homework helps elementary schoolstudents achieve academic success and little evidence that it helpsolder students. Yet the nightly burden is taking a serious toll onAmerica’s families. It robs children of the sleep, play, andexercise time they need for prop
Part diary and part reportage, The Soccer War is aremarkable chronicle of war in the late twentieth century. Between1958 and 1980, working primarily for the Polish Press Agency,Kapuscinski covered twenty-seven revolutions and coups in Africa,Latin America, and the Middle East. Here, with characteristiccogency and emotional immediacy, he recounts the stories behind hisofficial press dispatches—searing firsthand accounts of thefrightening, grotesque, and comically absurd aspects of life duringwar. The Soccer War is a singular work of journalism.
Every spring thousands of middle-class and lower-incomehigh-school seniors learn that they have been rejected by America’smost exclusive colleges. What they may never learn is how manycandidates like themselves have been passed over in favor ofwealthy white students with lesser credentials—children of alumni,big donors, or celebrities. In this explosive book, the Pulitzer Prize–winning reporterDaniel Golden argues that America, the so-called land ofopportunity, is rapidly becoming an aristocracy in which America’srichest families receive special access to elite highereducation—enabling them to give their children even more of a headstart. Based on two years of investigative reporting and hundredsof interviews with students, parents, school administrators, andadmissions personnel—some of whom risked their jobs to speak to theauthor—The Price of Admission exposes the corrupt admissionspractices that favor the wealthy, the powerful, and thefamous. In The Price of Admission, Golde
Mind-opening writing on what kids need from school, from oneof education’s most outspoken voices Arguing that our schools are currently in the grip of a “cult ofrigor”—a confusion of harder with better that threatens to banishboth joy and meaningful intellectual inquiry from ourclassrooms—Alfie Kohn issues a stirring call to rethink ourpriorities and reconsider our practices. Kohn’s latest wide-ranging collection of writings will add to hisreputation as one of the most incisive thinkers in the field, whoquestions the assumptions too often taken for granted indiscussions about education and human behavior. In nineteen recently published essays—and in a substantiveintroduction, new for this volume—Kohn repeatedly invites us tothink more deeply about the conventional wisdom. Is self-disciplinealways desirable? he asks, citing surprising evidence to thecontrary. Does academic cheating necessarily indicate a moralfailing? Might inspirational posters commonly found on school
A New York Times Notable Book A Time Magazine “Best Comix of the Year” A San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times Best-seller Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’smemoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Inpowerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells thestory of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years thatsaw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the IslamicRevolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. Theintelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and thegreat-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bearswitness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of hercountry. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iranand of the bewildering contradictions between home life and publiclife. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors,state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows usto learn as s
