As the director of marketing with a large company I came to understand that not every eager young recruit who looks terrific on paper measures up in the real world. When I looked around I also realized that a lot of other bright, educated people were not reaching their potential. Some also were failing in their personal relationships.
?How could this be?? I asked myself. These people ranked at the head of their classes at the best colleges and universities. They should have had everything going for them.

As I watched and listened, it gradually dawned on me that there is a critical ingredient for success which goes beyond academic achievement. That, I decided, is the capacity of human beings to internalize stimuli in positive ways. Internalizing in positive ways encourages people to persist and succeed. I realized negative responses are non-productive, and sometimes even destructive. A person who has developed an ?internal climate? that responds positively opens the door to successful experiences and happiness. I also decided that people could learn to respond positively. Positive responses to life experiences could actually be taught. For more than 25 years I have used this basic insight into human emotions as a tool in training and development courses for professionals in sales, marketing and human resources. For the last 15 years, I have taught it to children. Over time I am gratified that the children I have worked with have become successful adults. I remember three in particular.

A 13-year-old boy with discipline problems who stayed back twice is a prime example. With the help of the self-awareness program he found success and passed to the next grade level, finished high school and completed a demanding professional training course. Today he is a police officer.

Another child, a five-year-old girl, was so withdrawn she wouldn’t speak to her peers. She had few social skills until she went through the elementary-level course. As an adult she is a successful fashion model.

A nine-year-old boy refused to go to school because the other children made fun of his chubby frame and bullied him. He developed higher self-worth through the program. That changed his inner view of himself. He went back to school, his grades improved, and he actually became a popular social butterfly.

More confirmation of the need for positive emotional development comes from a recent best selling book, ?Emotional Intelligence,? by Daniel Goleman, Ph.D. Dr. Goleman maintains that developing one’s EQ is critical. A person’s emotional intelligence encompasses self-awareness, impulse control, persistence, self-motivation, empathy and social deftness.

He wrote that emotional intelligence is part of our thought processes and helps us with many tasks. According to Dr. Goleman, emotional intelligence is not fixed at birth, it can be nurtured, and it also can be damaged.
Media reports attest that more than a million home-schooled children are achieving excellent academic results. That tells me their parents are the caring, energetic, motivated and committed kind of educators who would make exceptional emotional development coaches.

For those dedicated parents I am introducing an affordable, easy to implement home study emotional development course for children ages 4-12. It comes complete with interactive videos, textbooks and parent manuals. If you would like to give your home-schooled children an EQ advantage, I’d be happy to provide additional information. Please phone the Bound Brook, N.J., headquarters of Motivation Plus at 1-732-469-6864 or visit our Website at www.motivationplus.net.

Calvert School has developed a new mathematics curriculum for grades 1 through 4. Kindergarten and grades 5 through 8 will be ready in spring 2001. This colorful series has delightful pictures drawn by both homeschooled children and Calvert Day School students. The level I reviewed was first grade. The 159 lessons are enhanced by warm-up activities and skill development exercises. Vocabulary words are defined and illustrated quite well.
This is a fairly typical curriculum that includes a worktext, practice and enrichment sheets, cardboard manipulatives, and colorful Cuisenaire rods. Calvert School also sends pencils, and an Advisory Teaching Service packet. The teacher’s manual includes well-laid out lesson plans and tests. It is assumed that the higher grade level teacher’s manuals include answer keys.

For the family looking for a traditional approach to mathematics that has a professional appearance and includes the necessary manipulatives, Calvert School is one of the best.

Recently I came across a terrific set of science experiment books published by, of all people, Terrific Science Press. These books are creative in their approach to teaching scientific concepts. The following three books were designed to be used by children in the elementary grades. Science equipment and materials are mostly easy to find.

Science Projects for Holidays Throughout the Year contains 23 chapters and 62 experiments. Traditional holidays are covered, but also birthdays, Grandparent’s Day, Autumn, Winter, Chinese New Year, Spring, Earth Day, April Fool’s Day, and Summer. Each chapter begins with the historical background and sometimes folklore for the special season or holiday. Then a terminology list is presented along with a time frame for setup, presentation, and cleanup. This is helpful when trying to determine when is the best time to conduct the experiment.

Part 1 includes a motivational aspect and bridging (what I call ‘linking’) previous knowledge to the new concept. Part 2 includes detailed instructions for the teacher in the areas of preparation, procedure, and scientific explanations. Part 3 is a thematic section. Language arts, art, music, mathematics, social studies, history, and nature are integrated with the lesson.

Classroom Science from A to Z is a creative science activity guide that contains 26 (of course!) lessons. It was designed to be used in conjunction with Science Night Family Fun from A to Z, another guide with 26 (again!) school or community family science events. The former has clearly defined lessons covering a variety of physics lessons, good teacher notes, answers to the student pages, assessment activities, in-depth science explanations, and thematic studies similar to the Holidays book.

The Science Night guide contains excellent detailed directions for hosting family science nights. Homeschool support groups would find it especially helpful to read the sections ‘Selecting a Location’, ‘Volunteers’, ‘Inviting Families’, ‘Selecting Activities’, Preparing and Transporting Materials’, ‘Structuring the Event’, and ‘Media Coverage’. The Terrific Science Press even includes a flyer that can be duplicated. I found the experiments to be quite comprehensive and scientifically accurate. It was also possible to use a thematic approach with them.

The final item in the Terrific Science Press material that was reviewed is the Colorful Chromatography Garden. This is one kit from the Science is My Bag series. Each of the kits includes most of the materials 30 children would need to complete the science experiment, a teacher’s guide, and a zippered tote bag with the phrase Science is My Bag imprinted on it. The lessons in each kit include a story to explain the scientific concept, activities to illustrate it, and cross—curricular activities to compliment it.

I found this kit to be less interesting than the three teacher’s science books described above, perhaps because it was for the early elementary-age child. Even though the kit had many items, it was much more basic in concept and contained information for just one type of experiment. The book chosen to accompany the concept, Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert, was appropriate for the subject. I would have enhanced the literary aspect by reading Dahlov Ipcar’s And the Cat Came Back.

The Terrific Science Press company has designed science activities that can be coordinated with any science text. The materials are equally good for support groups as well as individual families.

Editor’s Note: Terrific Science is developed by the Center for Chemical Education at Miami University Middletown, OH. For further information telephone: 513-727-3269 or visit their website: http://www.muohio.edu/~ccecwis

The following books by Janie Cheaney are excellent tools for teaching writing skills to students in grades 4 through 12. As it says in the introduction, ?The purpose of the course is to awaken students to the fascinating possibilities of language and imagination while they learn solid principles of writing structure, content and organization.? I must say that after reviewing these materials, I found myself applying Cheaney’s teachings. That should indicate how easily her principles are to pick up and use. The following titles and descriptions will help you more fully understand the levels, the teaching method, and the focus. Remember, grade levels are given as guides only. The teacher must determine each child’s level of skill and achievement and choose the appropriate books.

Wordsmith Apprentice - A Creative Writing Course for Young People is a self-directed writing program designed for students writing at grade levels 4 - 6 (ages 9 - 12). Tielman Cheaney, the author’s son, has done an excellent job of creating cartoon character, the Editor-in-Chief and others, to illustrate concepts. Each lesson is focused, presenting linking from the student’s previous activity to a new grammatical concept. Hence, the student has a modicum of comfort at the start of each lesson. The new lesson is presented, usually in one paragraph, and then the student has practice exercises. Most of the exercises have lines to write on, so the student who is reluctant to write knows where to put his answers. Teacher answers are in the back of the book.

Wordsmith - A Creative Writing Course for Young People was designed to teach creative writing to students in grades 7 and higher. There are three parts in the textbook: Word Games, Building Stronger Sentences, and Now We’re Writing! Be advised that Word Games is not filled with games, but rather implies that we can ‘play’ around with words and be in charge of the writing process.
The teacher’s book is superb in its presentation of the lessons. The course was planned out day by day, Monday through Thursday. Of course, the teacher has the option of breaking the lessons into as many days as needed for each student to learn and apply the skills being taught.

Wordsmith Craftsman was designed for students in grades 10 and up. It could also be used by college students who need to strengthen their writing skills. As Cheaney writes to the student, “Your responsibility is to take charge of the learning process.”
Some lessons take a brief time to cover and others must develop over weeks of work. This teaches students to take the time to think and develop their writing pieces. Lessons are organized by steps and answers are in the back of the book.
Part 1 covers taking notes, writing all types of letters, summarizing, and writing business reports. Part 2 covers paragraph structure and types, writing techniques, and developing a personal writing style. The final section covers writing four types of essays: descriptive, narrative, expository, and persuasive.

Editor’s Note: This series can be ordered from any Common Sense Publishing dealer. For a list of their dealers, visit their internet site: http://www.cspress.com or telephone: 352-475-5757. These items can also be ordered from Home Education & Family Services; phone: 207-657-2800.

The two series described below are great ways to teach grammar in a straightforward manner. The student books are flipbooks that are simple in design, yet provide comprehensive lessons to teach necessary skills.

The Great Editing Adventure Series was designed to be a 90-day to 180-day program to teach grammar and vocabulary development to students in grades 4 to 6. It can also be used as a review for students in grades 7 and 8. I found the lessons to be straightforward with the emphasis on teaching and not on ‘bulk’, an improvement on many grammar textbook programs available today. Students are drawn into the lessons by reading stories that grab their attention, yet don’t get them bogged down with grammatical descriptions that overwhelm.

Success is built into this series because each lesson involves reading brief passages (six sentences or less), correcting the sentences while copying them, using a thesaurus if necessary to write synonyms, and writing a definition for circled words in some of the assignments. This may involve using a dictionary.
The teacher’s book is clearly written, provides all answers, and includes a concise ‘how to’ for the series. This series will be a hit because it clearly and concisely presents grammar lessons which is an especial boon for the student who is insecure when it comes to grammar work.

The Great Explorations in Editing Series continues the process for students in grades 7 to 9. It can also be used as a review for students in high school. The two story lines are age-appropriate for the older student. I liked the magnifying glass icon which signified a ‘Special Exploration’ - a writing skill that will be employed when the student edits a passage. Individuality is encouraged when editing these passages. There are 90 lessons so one lesson could be completed each day or every two days.

Parents will appreciate the teacher’s book which contains answers to every student assignment.

Editor’s Note: This series can be ordered from any Common Sense Publishing dealer. For a list of dealers, visit their internet site: http://www.cspress.com or telephone: 352-475-5757. These items can also be ordered from Home Education & Family Services; phone: 207-657-2800.