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Title: A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine ISBN: 0-7432-0222-8 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: March, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.47 (55 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: EXCELLENT BOOK ON CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Comment: 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.
Rating: 4
Summary: How to make the very best use of your mind.
Comment: Mel Levine has written a most inspiring book for parents and teachers. So many of us focus on weaknesses instead of the unique talents and abilities of our children. As a parent dedicated to supporting the best interests of my children, I must recommend another book here called Optimal Thinking: How To Be Your Best Self by Rosalene Glickman PhD. Dr. Glickman, who was a school teacher for many years, understands from first-hand daily experience how children learn best. She teaches you how to use Optimal Thinking to be your best, make the most of your own thinking, and the thinking, special talents,abilities, and learning experiences of our children. Optimal Thinking is simple immediately useful, and life-optimizing.
Rating: 5
Summary: Significant, enlightening, and a good read too
Comment: Other reviewers have discussed the pros and cons of Dr. Levine's theories in depth, so I won't go into those; in the field of cognitive psychology, I'm an interested (and, I think, fairly well-read) amateur rather than a professional.
That said, I feel that this is an important book for both parents and educators. The child's "job" of learning how to function in the world, and mastering the many tasks set for him/her by the educational system, isn't an easy one. The human mind is complex and multifaceted, but our schools tend to think of "intelligence" as a narrowly defined set of skills, and anyone who doesn't do well in those must be either stupid or lazy. (Levine notes that the moral implications of such judgments, e.g., that a student "doesn't try hard enough" or is "unmotivated," can be devastating to a child, and are often grossly unfair.) The irony is that -- as Levine points out -- the abilities that enable a child to succeed in school aren't necessarily those that conduce to success in later life; so, by rewarding performance only in certain areas, we doom many children to a low opinion of their abilities and ignore a wide spectrum of human potential.
Although the subject isn't exactly lightweight, I found the book appealing and highly readable. Dr. Levine clearly has great respect and affection for his young subjects, so his anecdotes are engaging and (often) amusing. I was especially tickled when he urged a young client not to let his teachers "catch him doing something right" because from then on they'd hold it against him. In school, I was a "divergent thinker" to the max: if a subject interested me, I'd do a brilliant job, but if not I'd blow it off. So my occasional successes turned into threats: "See how well you can do if you just TRY hard enough." Trying hard had nothing to do with it! (When I got into college and graduate school, where I could study the subjects that interested me, my GPA soared.)
Although Levine's work is often compared with Howard Gardner's, in fact they're complementary. Levine deals with cognitive skills (such as learning to filter stimuli), while Gardner deals with innate abilities or faculties in various subject areas (such as affinity for music). A child's learning difficulties could result from either one -- for example, problems with math might mean that the child can't focus on details, or has little math ability -- or they could be caused by something totally unrelated to intelligence, such as eye problems. As Levine memorably points out, every child's mind is different, and "one size fits all" solutions rarely address the real problem.
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Title: The Myth of Laziness by Mel Levine ISBN: 074321367X Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: All Kinds of Minds: A Young Student's Book About Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders by Melvin D. Levine, Melvine Levine ISBN: 0838820905 Publisher: Educators Pub Service Pub. Date: June, 1992 List Price(USD): $27.30 |
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Title: Keeping a Head in School: A Student's Book About Learning Abilities and Learning Disorders by Mel Levine, Melvin D. Levine, Ann Jennings, Anne Lord ISBN: 0838820697 Publisher: Educators Pub Service Pub. Date: July, 1991 List Price(USD): $27.30 |
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Title: Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-Based Program for Overcoming Reading Problems at Any Level by SALLY MD SHAYWITZ ISBN: 0375400125 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: Smart Kids With School Problems: Things to Know and Ways to Help by Priscilla L. Vail, Patricia Vail ISBN: 0452262429 Publisher: New American Library Pub. Date: August, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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