In this book, you will find a wide selection of creative ideas and projects, including working with clay, with detailed instructions and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations especially designed for children in the early grades.Often using natural materials, these crafts help develop basic fine motor skills as well as an artistic sense.

Oak Meadow Guide to Teaching the Early Grades is designed to give you some important information about the learning process and the art of teaching. We've drawn on the vast and varied experience of Oak Meadow's teachers in creating this guide.

The Heart of Learning provides heart-centered guidance and essential information for teaching young children and for creating a nurturing and effective learning environment.Written by Lawrence Williams, Oak Meadow's co-founder and a pioneer in homeschooling and distance learning.

Engage your child in active learning with First Grade Essentials. This workbook covers these skills: -vocabulary -consonant and vowel sounds -addition -subtraction -counting money -telling time Packed with fun practice pages, this workbook helps first graders develop skills for success in today’s classroom. Help your child learn how to apply classroom learning to everyday life with First Grade Essentials. This workbook encourages children to have fun while learning key skills in these areas: -basic skills -reading -math Filled with grade-appropriate activities and practice, First Grade Essentials offers opportunities for active learning and supports the skills children need to think critically and communicate effectively. By focusing on important school skills, the Essentials series for prekindergarten to second grades helps build a strong foundation for your child’s success, this year and the next. Each practice page features a “One Step Further” activity to help your child apply the skill to real-world experiences. The books also include fun puzzles and mazes in a bonus “Games and Activities” section. Essentials is a complete resource to help your child develop twenty-first century skills!

Chronicles the history of the world from 1600 to 1850; discussing important events and prominent figures. Includes maps and illustrations.

“A readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture” from a world-renowned Sumerian scholar (American Journal of Archaeology). The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. “An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity.” —Library Journal

What is the secret of talent? How do we unlock it? This groundbreaking work provides readers with tools they can use to maximize potential in themselves and others. Whether you’re coaching soccer or teaching a child to play the piano, writing a novel or trying to improve your golf swing, this revolutionary book shows you how to grow talent by tapping into a newly discovered brain mechanism. Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds—from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York—Coyle identifies the three key elements that will allow you to develop your gifts and optimize your performance in sports, art, music, math, or just about anything. • Deep Practice Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice. • Ignition We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment—call it passion—born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development. • Master Coaching What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students. These three elements work together within your brain to form myelin, a microscopic neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movements and thoughts. Scientists have discovered that myelin might just be the holy grail: the foundation of all forms of greatness, from Michelangelo’s to Michael Jordan’s. The good news about myelin is that it isn’t fixed at birth; to the contrary, it grows, and like anything that grows, it can be cultivated and nourished. Combining revelatory analysis with illuminating examples of regular people who have achieved greatness, this book will not only change the way you think about talent, but equip you to reach your own highest potential.

This book presents findings of a 1993 study of how design in the curriculum helps students achieve national educational objectives. It also explores opportunities for expanding the role design can play in students' academic lives. Results of the 1993 study reveal how the use of design experiences in classrooms provides teachers and students with a learning construct for the next century. The book summarizes descriptive research that makes qualitative statements regarding current classroom practice and identifies effective models for using design in classrooms. The research tapped three primary sources of data: (1) a review of the literature; (2) a national qualitative survey of teachers; and (3) site visits to 10 schools. Also, the researchers conducted qualitative interviews with principals, curriculum coordinators, other school or district administrators, teachers, teachers' aides, students, and parents. The six chapters include: (1) "Learning Through Design"; (2) "Lifelong Learning"; (3) "A Strategy for Excellent Teaching"; (4) "Design in the Curriculum"; (5) "Opportunities and Challenges for Schools"; and (6) "Conclusions and Recommendations." Three appendices, a bibliography, and information about the authors, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development conclude the document. (EH)

This complete curriculum workbook provides hundreds of fun pages for practicing all the skills your child needs to succeed in the second grade.