education

Anyone who has a child in the school system knows that the educational process does not allow for one-on-one assessment of a child's learning abilities. A child either keeps pace or in many cases, falls behind. The author has written an excellent book on what a child needs in order to grow, learn, and develop his or her full potential.

It would be wonderful if all children learned at the same rate and possessed the same aptitude for learning; however, each child is a unique individual. The educational system today does not structure its learning process around that fundamental fact. A good many of the behavioural problems we see surfacing today stem from the fact a child becomes frustrated, bored, overwhelmingly challenged, or discouraged by the educational process, and their actions are often a result of what is lacking in the education system. Some parents, as well, do not take that fact into consideration and often expect Mary to keep up with brother John, because John seems to excel in everything, while Mary struggles to achieve.

There are a variety of topics to be found in the book, including development of memory, language, and motor skills. If you are an educator or have a child who is experiencing difficulties in this area, this book provides excellent resource material. It is one parents and individuals with the authority to make changes in the system should read and take to heart. The book contains a valuable message, is well researched, and is equally as well written.

Mel Levine's A Mind at a Time is an excellent resource for any parent of a school age child. His book clearly explains his theories on the many different areas a child's mind develops as he or she grows up, and what happens if certain areas lag behind. He offers advice (although I wish there were a little more) on what to do if your child needs a little boost in any particular area. This theory behind this book reminded me very much of the Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligences theory--but I found Levine's much more practical and accessible. Levine breaks down mental development into about 6 different categories, such as memory, language, focus and social development. Each one of these categories has its own chapter and in each chapter each category is then further broken down. Levine gives you ways to recognize if and to what degree a particular child may need help in a particular subcategory and explains that in each category, particular children may be very strong in some areas and much weaker in others. (For instance, a child's memory may be strong in only in the long term, but not the short term--it's not always consistent). Levine also devotes a few chapters to an introduction to his theories and application in schools and in the home. This book is not, of course, the answer to everything--but it will direct parents to where they need to find additional answers with respect to their individual children. Levine's approach to childhood development is refreshing. He rejects labeling children (as ADD, ADHD, etc.) for the most part as overgeneralizing and negative. He reminds us that while some children may need help in certain areas, all children have their own strenghths and that we ought to focus on those in helping them develop. He provides many anecdotal evidence of how his theories have helped particular children. I recommend this book for all parents. I think it will help them to better understand, and help, their children.

Mel Levine, MD has created a valuable resource for parents, teachers, administrators, and clinicians in his most recent work, A Mind At A Time. As the title suggests, this book provides us with tools for recognizing and educating "different kinds of minds". Instead of labeling students, he advocates using keen observation techniques to accurately describe a student's learning strengths and weaknesses. To assist educators with this difficult task, he identifies eight neurodevelopmental categories and explains these through vivid descriptions of students and parents he has learned from in his clinical practice. In addition, he provides practical suggestions for fostering strengths while respectfully addressing areas of weaknesses. As Dr. Levine proclaims, "Insight is liberating - and forgiving". I found his honest and insightful premise, that not every child can do well in every type of learning, liberating in our current educational climate of high stakes testing. Parents and educators will gain useful information from this book to support learning for all kinds of minds.