Parent/Teacher Collection Archives

how can I understand my kids? book cover

I don’t understand my kids

July 1, 2020 Mary Kelly Department of God, Parent/Teacher Collection 7 comments

How can I understand my kids?
Bridging the generation gap
Wagemaker
1978

Short answer: you can’t.

I have decided that one of the most popular subsets of parenting books is the understanding/I want to kill my teenager books. Parenting books are kind of a Hail Mary for surviving the drama of teens. Every generation goes through this. The themes are similar, kids don’t listen to parents and all their abundant advice/demands/standards. Kids complain that parents are basically clueless. Both sides are correct. Can this be solved with some scripture and this book? I doubt it.

Although a Christian themed book, it wasn’t overly judgmental and it did put much of the burden of communication on the parents. The examples are interesting, but again assume white, upwardly mobile families with lots of resources and choices. How can they be real problems if you have resources and choices?

Teacher Test

June 23, 2020 Mary Kelly Parent/Teacher Collection 4 comments

Michigan Test for Teacher Certification
REA Editors
2005

Test preparation materials are extremely popular at every library I have worked at. I have been amazed at the vast subjects that need test preparation. Libraries are often the only places to get this type of information. The cost of prep materials, as well as prep courses are often outside a student’s budget. In Michigan, teachers are required to be certified before student teaching. I am not up on the latest details of the test, but I have seen my fair share of students looking for this material and other test preparation items.

Taking Care of Your Child

May 20, 2020 Mary Kelly Health and Safety, Parent/Teacher Collection, Swedish Death Cleaning 6 comments

Taking Care of Your Child
A Parent’s Guide to Medical Care
Pantell, Fries, and Vickery
1992

Yet another entry from my Swedish Death Cleaning project.

Since it has a 1992 publishing date, it has to be when I changed pediatricians and went to a new practice. Old pediatrician yelled at me for not breast feeding enough, even though I told him that I hadn’t had a shower in a month and was walking around topless trying to feed the baby all the time. I wasn’t making enough milk to feed my kid and was tired of crying every time I went to see this guy. I don’t like anyone who is sanctimonious about breastfeeding, but I really didn’t like this guy (yes, a guy) tell me how I just needed to try harder or I would hurt my baby.

When I joined the new practice evidently they gave me this book. (I stayed with that practice until my kids were teens.) No one yelled at me during well baby visits. New pediatrician told me to do bottle feeding and get some sleep. That moment totally changed my life.

As far as the book goes, its okay. I don’t remember using it much. It probably made me feel better to have it around though. Since my kids are grown up, I don’t think I am going to need a baby care book from the early 1990s. Circular file it is!

Library Skills for the Kids

April 20, 2020 Mary Kelly Librarian's Choice, Parent/Teacher Collection 4 comments

Teacher’s Portfolios of Library Skills
Weisburg and Toor
1985

Happy National Library Week, everyone. Over the years, we here at the ALB home office like to use NLW as an annual reminder about professional collections. Yes, I realize most of us are sequestered due to COVID-19, so take a note for when we get back to the books and patrons.

This little gem is from 1985. It was weeded in February 2020. If this is something you are using in 2020, I think it might be time to update your lesson plans. For those of us of a certain age, this is a nice nostalgic visit to libraries of yore. Note the entire chapter on those fun card catalogs.

Old School Finger Plays

March 10, 2020 Mary Kelly Librarian's Choice, Parent/Teacher Collection 11 comments

Let’s Do Finger Plays
Grayson
1962

A colleague was cleaning out the youth storytime collection when she ran across this little blast from the past. Of course we both knew immediately that we were looking at an antique given the “attractive” library binding. I recognized quite a few rhymes that are still going strong at storytimes. It’s a weeder since the librarian who found it buried in the collection had been here 12 years and was sure no one had needed it (or even knew it existed). Despite having a few redeeming qualities, it just needed to go for the casual racism and rather crunchy pages.

“The Kids Are Alright”

January 17, 2020 Mary Kelly Parent/Teacher Collection 5 comments

Who cares for the baby?
Choices in Child Care
Glickman and Springer
1978

This was still in a collection as of this writing. Of course it is outdated and weed worthy for a public library. Since it is more academic than practical, it might have a place in some archive or academic library. This topic really chaps me personally, since I struggled with working and parenting decades ago. It is even more awful that this situation hasn’t improved. Sadder still, it hasn’t really changed since this book was published. Since the authors include research on the USSR and China in this book, I am sure that any success would be discounted since we are talking about Communists.

Scolding Techniques

December 16, 2019 Mary Kelly Parent/Teacher Collection 6 comments

The One Minute Scolding
The Amazingly Effective New Approach to Child Discipline
Nelson
1984

In the world of nonfiction, many book titles fall under the category of “wishful thinking” or maybe “never going to happen”. Many books fall into this group: diet books, employee engagement, how to have an effective meeting, any get rich book, any books with the word “secret” in the title, cat training, cute maternity clothes, and last but not least, parenting. You will notice that many of these books are featured quite often on ALB.

Dyslexia

October 9, 2019 Mary Kelly Parent/Teacher Collection 4 comments

Dyslexia
The Problem of Reading Retardation
Hepworth
1971

Reading and learning to read are fascinating subjects. Holly and I both had undergraduate degrees in education and we have quite a few lively discussions on techniques and child development. We have come a long way in understanding how the developing child learns to read. For the most part, teachers during my time were breaking students into 2 groups: regular and special: there was no room for nuance. Toward the end of the 1980s and in the 1990s, there was real progress in diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia. In addition, accommodation to students with learning issues were very much a part of mainstream schooling.