Category: Parent/Teacher Collection

This category includes all parenting and education materials.

camping manual cover

Camp for Christian Girls

Department of God, Parent/Teacher Collection 4 comments

Camping Manual – Camping Along Missions Trails
Tully
1970

Initially, I was unclear who the intended audience was for this book. There is actually very little camping info aside from a few activities. This book is for church groups or others looking to set up a Christian themed girls camp. Fair enough. I thought it would be more comprehensive with curriculum and schedules, but it is pretty light on the details. We have a few crafts and activities, but none of the hardcore skills that were mentioned in the introduction. A good chunk is devoted to finding the right staff. They even have a sample application!

Again, the info is light. While they insist on giving lots of training to camp counselors (good idea!), there isn’t much on HOW to do it. It reads more like a nice outline and lacks any of the detail that matters. I guess this is what the phrase “God is in the details” means.

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When I Was Young I Loved School cover

Dropping Out-Hanging In

Parent/Teacher Collection 5 comments

When I was Young I Loved School: Dropping Out and Hanging In
By Children’s Express
Edited by Sheffield and Frankel
1988

Submitter: What is this book, even?! Just a compendium of conversations between teenage editors of Children’s Express and randomly selected teens about dropping out. Even in 1988, did “eavesdropping” on kids’ conversations tell us much about why kids drop out? And did teens in 1988 talk in complete sentences with proper grammar and punctuation, as rendered here?

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Social Psychology of Education cover

Trippy Textbook

Parent/Teacher Collection 5 comments

Social Psychology of Education
Guskin
1970

Submitter: The groovy 1970s cover caught my eye on the weeding cart! But the shabby condition and outdated content meant it had to go. See the index for Outdated Term for People of Color as well as Outdated Term for People with Intellectual Disabilities.

Holly: It’s definitely outdated! Such an odd cover, too. It breathes some life into a serious academic tome. But, the Guskins (unclear if they’re related) are well-respected scholars and the book was positively reviewed (50 years ago). It’s clearly time to weed it now for all but the most historically-centered collections.

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Dinosaurs

Evil Dinosaurs

Department of God, Parent/Teacher Collection 23 comments

Dinosaurs
The Bible, Barney, and Beyond
Phillips
1994

Phillips is an author of another book on this site, Saturday Morning Mind Control, in which the author asserts that Saturday morning cartoons are the gateway to evil. This book is more of the same. Dinosaurs, in particular Barney and Jurassic Park, are dissected for the apparent evil that lurks within these shows. He seems to have gathered that a big purple dinosaur with an annoying song about love is anti-Christian. As a mother of kids in the early 1990s, Barney wasn’t my favorite either, but I hardly would call him evil.

Based on the themes of his books, this guy is a giant killjoy. As one 7 year-old told me, “the library always needs more dinosaur books.” Amen, kid.

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Spelling Reform cover

Spelling Reform

Parent/Teacher Collection 8 comments

Spelling Reform: A New Approach
Lindgren
1969

Submitter: I found this Australian spelling reform book in an American Public Library. The problematic cover notwithstanding, this book discusses the author’s unique approach to teaching spelling, by removing some vowels. There is a wiki page all about this – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR1

Holly: Seems like an odd choice for an American public library for sure. That cover is an absolute abomination! White man’s magic?? The actual spelling reform idea is interesting, though – said becomes sed, ready becomes redy, heifer becomes hefer, friend becomes frend…spelling in English would be a lot easier to both learn and teach this way! The author would have to give up favourite for favorit, though.

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Children in Distress cover

Children in Distress

Parent/Teacher Collection 8 comments

Children in Distress
Clegg and Megson
1979

Submitter: This book may have been a good choice back in 1979- maybe in England – but today the information is totally out of date. The financial information is in British Pounds and not very helpful to the American library where this book was found.
What really makes this awful is this yellowed, brittle, and out of date book was sent to the bindery recently instead of getting weeded!

Holly: I’m sure it was fine…in England…in 1979…but it’s weed-worthy now for sure! Not just weed-worthy, actually, but never really suited to an American public library in the first place. This item was selected, acquired, cataloged, processed, shelved, and possibly even checked out by patrons expecting something more relevant before it was weeded OVER 40 YEARS LATER! Remember, collection management isn’t just selection and weeding. Every stage I just mentioned was an opportunity for someone – anyone, in possibly multiple departments – to question its validity.

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Parent Alone cover

A Parent Alone

Parent/Teacher Collection 6 comments

A Parent Alone
Bosco
1978

Submitter: This was an excellent choice for this public library, which is settled in a very Catholic neighborhood. But that was 40+ years ago and its days are over. Most of the financial advice and information is way out of date. Some of the terminology is no longer accurate. It may not be awful, but the subject is topical, and we need to keep these sections of our library up to date, something this book can no longer do.

Holly: Nice cover. Single parenting is a walk in the park! Or, apparently it was 40+ years ago.

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