Parents and teachers today face a swirl of conflicting theories about child rearing and educational practice. Indeed, current guides are contradictory, oversimplified, and at odds with current scientific knowledge. Now, in Awakening Children's Minds, Laura Berk cuts through the confusion of competing theories, offering a new way of thinking about the roles of parents and teachers and how they can make a difference in children's lives. This is the first book to bring to a general a...

Since the publication of Vygotsky’s Thought and Language in the United States, a number of North American and European investigators have conducted systematic observations of children’s spontaneous private speech, giving substantial support to Vygotsky’s major hypotheses — particularly those regarding the social origins of higher psychological functions. However, there still remain many vital questions about the origins, significance, and functions of private speech: How can socia...

We are robbing young children of play time at home and school in an effort to give them a head start on academic skills like reading and mathematics. Yet the scientific evidence suggests that eliminating play from the lives of children is taking preschool education in the wrong direction. This brief but compelling book provides a strong counterargument to the rising tide of didactic instruction on preschool classrooms. The authors present scientific evidence in support of three points: 1) ...

Parents and teachers today face a swirl of conflicting theories about child rearing and educational practice. Indeed, current guides are contradictory, oversimplified, and at odds with current scientific knowledge. Now, in Awakening Children's Minds, Laura Berk cuts through the confusion of competing theories, offering a new way of thinking about the roles of parents and teachers and how they can make a difference in children's lives. This is the first book to bring to a general a...

We are robbing young children of play time at home and school in an effort to give them a head start on academic skills like reading and mathematics. Yet the scientific evidence suggests that eliminating play from the lives of children is taking preschool education in the wrong direction. This brief but compelling book provides a strong counterargument to the rising tide of didactic instruction on preschool classrooms. The authors present scientific evidence in support of three points: 1) ...

This study examined relationships between married couples and couples communication patterns and theories on interpersonal communication. One hundred seventy-eight students from Washington, DC, metropolitan campuses of Strayer University participated in the study. Couples Pre-Counseling Inventory, a validated instrument, was used to examine the participants communication patterns; results were analyzed using SPSS. Variables studied were demographic data, communication patterns, happiness, ...

Humanism is considered by many to be the foundation for the values and practices of counseling. This book explores and presents current counseling issues from a humanistic perspective, providing a valuable resource for counselors and therapists seeking effective approaches, founded on humanistic principles, to use in their practice. Each chapter describes the significance of a specific counseling issue, reviews the humanistic literature on this issue, discusses the theoretical model provid...

Theories in Educational Psychology’s purpose is to introduce readers to the pioneering educational psychology theories that continue to shape our understanding of the classroom learning environment, present support for the theories from perspectives in the current research literature, and share how these theoretical traditions have translated into effective teaching methods. Each chapter will be infused with practical teaching examples, classroom vignettes, and instructional strategies so ...

Interviews comprise the majority of professionals' interactions with children. In order to conduct effective interviews, professionals must possess effective communication skills, as well as knowledge of growth and developmental issues, data collection, and analysis.Though this is an important area of study, there has yet to be a book that effectively addresses this topic. In most cases, students studying to become clinicians are forced to rely on the observations of practicing pro...

Teachers are often told that new teaching methods and materials are 'based on the latest research'. But what does this mean in practice? This book introduces you to some of the language acquisition research that will help you not just to evaluate existing materials, but also to adapt and use them in a way that fits what we currently understand about how languages are learned.

This unique and ground-breaking book is the result of 15 years research and synthesises over 800 meta-analyses on the influences on achievement in school-aged students. It builds a story about the power of teachers, feedback, and a model of learning and understanding. The research involves many millions of students and represents the largest ever evidence based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning. Areas covered include the influence of the student, home, school...

Research-based advice for people who care for someone with dementiaNearly half of U.S. citizens over the age of 85 are suffering from some kind of dementia and require care. Loving Someone Who Has Dementia is a new kind of caregiving book. It's not about the usual techniques, but about how to manage on-going stress and grief. The book is for caregivers, family members, friends, neighbors as well as educators and professionals—anyone touched by the epidemic...