Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Peter Gray, $21.00

In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that in order to foster children who will thrive in today's constantly changing world, we must entrust them to steer their own learning and development. Drawing on evidence from anthropology, psychology, and history, he demonstrates that free play is the primary means by which children learn to control their lives, solve problems, get along with peers, and become emotionally resilient.

A brave, counterintuitive proposal for freeing our children from the shackles of the curiosity-killing institution we call school, Free to Learn suggests that it's time to stop asking what's wrong with our children, and start asking what's wrong with the system. It shows how we can act — both as parents and as members of society — to improve children's lives and to promote their happiness and learning. 

The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. Jessica Lahey, $33.50

Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of overprotectiveness — parents now rush to school to deliver forgotten assignments, challenge teachers on report card disappointments, mastermind children's friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher, journalist, and parent Jessica Lahey explains, even though these parents see themselves as being highly responsive to their children's well-being, they aren't giving them the chance to experience failure — or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems.

Everywhere she turned, Lahey saw an obvious and startling fear of failure, in both her students and in her own children. This fear has the potential to undermine children's autonomy, competence, motivation, and their relationships with the adults in their lives. Providing a clear path toward solutions, Lahey lays out a blueprint with targeted advice for handling homework, report cards, social dynamics, and sports. Most important, she sets forth a plan to help parents learn to step back and embrace their children's setbacks along with their successes.

Empathetic and wise, The Gift of Failure is essential reading for parents, educators, and psychologists nationwide who want to help children thrive — and grow into independent, confident adults.

How Your Child Learns Best: Brain-Friendly Strategies You Can Use to Ignite Your Child's Learning and Increase School Success. Judy Willis, $27.99

HOW YOUR CHILD LEARNS BEST shows you not only how to help your child learn schoolwork, but also how to capitalize on the way your child's brain learns best in order to enrich education wherever you are, from the grocery store to the car - a necessity in today's "teach to the test" world. By using everyday household items and enjoyable activities, parents of children ages three to twelve can apply targeted strategies (based on age and learning strength) in key academic areas. Discover how to help your child increase academic focus and success, lower test stress while increasing test scores, increase class participation, foster creativity, and improve attention span, memory, and higher-level thinking.

In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's Personal Learning Style. Thomas Armstrong, $17.50

Children learn in multiple ways, and educator Thomas Armstrong has shown hundreds of thousands of parents and teachers how to locate those unique areas in each of our children where learning and creativity seem to flow with special vigor. In this fully updated classic on multiple intelligences, Armstrong sheds new light on the "eight ways to bloom," or the eight kinds of "multiple intelligences." While everyone possesses all eight intelligences, Armstrong delineates how to discover your child's particular areas of strength among them. Filled with resources for the home and classroom, this new edition of IN THEIR OWN WAY offers inspiration for every learning situation.

Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count. Richard Nisbett, $29.50

Intelligence and How to Get It asserts that intellect is not primarily genetic but is principally determined by societal influences. Nisbett's commanding argument, superb marshaling of evidence and fearless discussions of the controversial carve out new and exciting terrain in this hotly debated field.

The Leader in Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. Stephen Covey, $28.99

Parents around the world know that the traditional three R's — reading, writing, and arithmetic — are necessary, but not enough. Today’s children need to become far more responsible, creative, and tolerant of differences. They need to increase their ability to think for themselves, take initiative, get along with others, and solve problems. The best way to prepare the next generation for the future is to emphasize the value of communication, cooperation, initiative, and unique, individual talent. Whether in the classroom or at home, it is never too early to start applying leadership skills to everyday life. Drawing on the many techniques and examples that have already seen incredible success around the world, THE LEADER IN ME shows how easy it is to incorporate these skills into daily life.

Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children. Rafe Esquith, $18.50

In Lighting Their Fires, educator Rafe Esquith shows that children aren’t born extraordinary; they become that way as a result of parents and teachers who instill values that serve them not just for school, but for the rest of their lives.

Whether he is highlighting the importance of time management or offering a step-by-step discussion of how children can become good decision makers, Esquith shows how parents can equip their kids with all the tools they need to find success and have fun in the process. Using examples from classic films and great books, he stresses the value of sacrifice, the importance of staying true to oneself, and the danger that television can pose to growing young minds. Lighting Their Fires explains not just how to make our children great students, but how to make them thoughtful and honorable people.

Making Makers: Kids, Tools, and the Future of Innovation. AnnMarie Thomas, $27.95

This is a book for parents and educators — both formal and informal, who are curious about the intersections of learning and making. Through stories, research, and data, it builds the case for why it is crucial to encourage today’s youth to be makers — to see the world as something they are actively helping to create. For those who are new to the Maker Movement, some history and introduction is given as well as practical advice for getting kids started in making. For those who are already familiar with the Maker Movement, this book provides biographical information about many of the “big names” and unsung heroes of the Maker Movement while also highlighting many of the attributes that make this a movement that so many people are passionate about.

Meet the Teacher: How to Help Your Child Navigate Elementary School, a Common Sense Guide for Parents. Betty Borowski & Laura Mayne, $19.95

Practical advice parents need to help their child thrive at school.

Not in Our Classrooms: Why Intelligent Design is Wrong for Our Schools. Eugenie Scott & Glenn Branch, $17.95

Where did the concept of intelligent design originate? How does it connect with, and conflict with, various religious beliefs? Should we teach the controversy itself in our science classrooms? In clear and lively essays, a team of experts answers these questions and many more, describing the history of the intelligent design movement and the lack of scientific support for its claims. Most importantly, the contributors speak specifically to teachers and parents about the need to defend the integrity of science education by keeping intelligent design out of science curriculums. A concluding chapter offers concrete advice for those seeking to defend the teaching of evolution in their own communities.

The Organized Student: Teaching Children the Skills for Success in School and Beyond. Donna Goldberg, $18.99

Hands-on strategies for teaching your disorganized child how to organize for school success!

The Parent Backpack for Kindergarten through Grade 5: How to Support Your Child’s Education, End Homework Meltdowns, and Build Parent-Teacher Connections. ML Nichols, $17.95

Finally, a book that gives parents the insights and strategies they need to build positive relationships with teachers and connect to their children’s learning in productive ways. How do you ensure your child gets the best education? Decades of research confirm that when parents engage with their children’s learning, kids do better in school — and life. This straight-talking guide helps you:

• understand the critical role you play in your child’s education
• connect with educators in respectful ways
• encourage a love of reading in your kids
• minimize homework meltdowns and disorganization
• support students who struggle academically
• help children navigate social situations and bullying
• fuel your child’s mind and body for learning

The Schools Our Children Deserve: Moving Beyond Traditional Classrooms and 'Tougher Standards'. Alfie Kohn, $18.95

Alfie Kohn builds a powerful argument against the “back to basics” philosophy of teaching and simplistic demands to “raise the bar.” Drawing on stories from real classrooms and extensive research, Kohn shows parents, educators, and others interested in the debate how schools can help students explore ideas rather than filling them with forgettable facts and preparing them for standardized tests. Here at last is a book that challenges the two dominant forces in American education: an aggressive nostalgia for traditional teaching, and a heavy-handed push for tougher standards.

Based on psychologist Howard Gardner's pioneering theory of "multiple intelligences," the original edition of 7 KINDS OF SMART identified seven distinct ways of being smart, including "word smart," "music smart," "logic smart," and "people smart." Now, with the addition of two new kinds of intelligence, Armstrong offers even more interesting information about how the human psyche functions. Complete with checklists for determining one's strongest and weakest intelligences, exercises, practical tips for developing each type of smart, a revised bibliography for further reading, and a guide to related Internet sites, this book continues to be an essential resource, offering cutting-edge research for general consumption.

Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All In Your Head, 2nd Edition. Carla Hannaford, $19.95

Neurophysiologist and educator Dr. Carla Hannaford brings the latest insights from scientific research to questions that affect learners of all ages. Examining the body's role in learning, from infancy through adulthood she presents the mounting scientific evidence that movement is crucial to learning. Dr. Hannaford offers clear alternatives and remedies that people can put into practice right away to make a real difference in their ability to learn. She advocates more enlightened educational practices for homes and schools including: a more holistic view of each learner; less emphasis on rote learning; more experiential, active instruction; less labeling of learning disabilities; more physical movement; more personal expression through arts, sports and music; less prescribing of Ritalin and other drugs whose long term effects are uncertain.

The Smarter Preschooler: Unlocking Your Child’s Intellectual Potential. Renee Mosiman & Mike Mosiman, $16.95

The Smarter Preschooler will show you how to develop an intellectually stimulating environment for your child while preserving the innocence of childhood.

What Every Parent Should Know About School. Michael Reist, $19.99

School is our children's second home. They will spend more time there than anywhere else in their formative years. We all need to talk honestly about the nature of this environment, how it works, and how it doesn't work. Our kids are depending on us to create a school system where they can learn as well as feel happy. The more we know about how school works, the better we will be able to navigate our way through "the system" and help our children do the same. WHAT EVERY PARENT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT SCHOOL is an honest, positive, thought-provoking look at what schools are today and what they could be in the future.

What to Look for in a Classroom...and Other Essays. Alfie Kohn, $27.99

Through his writings and speeches, Alfie Kohn has been stirring up controversy for years, demonstrating how the conventional wisdom about education often isn't supported by the available research, and illuminating gaps between our long-term goals for students and what actually goes on in schools. From self-esteem to school uniforms, from grade inflation to character education, Kohn raises a series of provocative questions about the status quo in this collection of incisive essays. He challenges us to reconsider some of our most basic assumptions about children and education:

• Can good values really be instilled in students?
• What, if anything, lies behind the label of attention deficit disorder?
• Are there solid data to support our skepticism about watching TV?
• Might such allegedly enlightened practices as authentic assessment, logical consequences, and Total Quality education turn out to be detrimental?

Whether he is explaining why cooperative learning can be so threatening or why de-tracking is so fiercely opposed, Kohn offers a fresh, informed, and frequently disconcerting perspective on the major issues in education

What's Math Got to Do with It? Jo Boaler, $19.00

A critical read for teachers and parents who want to improve children’s mathematics learning, What’s Math Got to Do with It is “an inspiring resource” (Publishers Weekly). Featuring all the important advice and suggestions in the original edition, this revised edition is now updated with new research on the brain and mathematics that is revolutionizing scientists’ understanding of learning and potential.

As always, Jo Boaler presents research findings through practical ideas that can be used in classrooms and homes. The new What’s Math Got to Do with It prepares teachers and parents for the Common Core, shares Boaler’s work on ways to teach mathematics for a “growth mindset,” and includes a range of advice to inspire teachers and parents to give their students the best mathematical experience possible.

Whole Child Education. John Miller, $23.95

Public education is often viewed as dominated by an emphasis on test scores and narrowly defined parameters of performance and achievement. By contrast, John Miller's Whole Child Education fosters relationships between various forms of thinking, links body and mind, and recognizes the inner life of the child.

Addressing issues of teaching, curriculum, the school, and teacher wellness, Miller presents three basic approaches (transmission, transaction, and transformation) that facilitate a connection with the whole student. Practical examples from teachers who have incorporated Miller's ideas into their own classrooms and descriptions of Toronto's Whole Child School (founded in 2009) illustrate how the 'Whole Curriculum' can be implemented on both the small and large scale. Inspired by the powerful vision of Martin Luther King and his concept of the Beloved Community, Whole Child Education is a vehicle for building community through holistic education.

Why Don’t Students Like School? A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions about How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom. Daniel Willingham, $23.95

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham focuses his acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.

• Nine, easy-to-understand principles with clear applications for the learning
• Includes surprising findings, such as that intelligence is malleable, and that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts
• How an understanding of the brain's workings can help teachers hone their teaching skills