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jenmangler's review
3.0
The ideas in this book get a rating of 5, but the book itself gets a 2 from me, so I'll settle for a 3-star rating overall. The ideas presented are thought-provoking and backed up by evidence, and while I was reading it really made me excited about education in a way few books about education have been able to do. But my god, the repetition is insufferable and made me want to tear my hair out. In fact, it almost turned me off the book. That's not the way to convince people of your point! If the authors had a better structure, so the points weren't repeated in chapter after chapter, and it was about half its current length, I think it would get a lot more traction with parents and teachers (and policy makers, ideally).
morgan_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
3 ⭐ due to some serious redundancy of information in the middle of the book, but 5⭐ for thought-provoking, highly-compelling information on the needs of children and the nature of schools today. Overall: 4 ⭐
The last three chapters of this book in particular are worth reading for the sake of finding hopeful ways to improve our own education system. My kids ended up listening to parts of this book and heard the examples of other schools around the world and asked "mom, is that real? Do some kids really go to schools like that?" They couldn't believe it. And my kids love school already, but it made me realize how much more they could love it.
This book made me imagine what it could be like if all kids came to school excited, not only because it was their safe place, or because they got to see their friends, or they knew we had food, but also because they knew the learning they were going to do would be geared toward their needs, that it would be heavily play-based and geared toward their interests. I highly recommend this to all educators as a much-needed reality check on our current practices and guidance on how we can build a better future for us and our students.
The last three chapters of this book in particular are worth reading for the sake of finding hopeful ways to improve our own education system. My kids ended up listening to parts of this book and heard the examples of other schools around the world and asked "mom, is that real? Do some kids really go to schools like that?" They couldn't believe it. And my kids love school already, but it made me realize how much more they could love it.
This book made me imagine what it could be like if all kids came to school excited, not only because it was their safe place, or because they got to see their friends, or they knew we had food, but also because they knew the learning they were going to do would be geared toward their needs, that it would be heavily play-based and geared toward their interests. I highly recommend this to all educators as a much-needed reality check on our current practices and guidance on how we can build a better future for us and our students.
kemanuel's review against another edition
3.0
This books has a great message, however there is a great deal of repetition of the same point throughout the book. This books is in great need of proper editing as there are a great number of grammatical errors throughout the book including improper word usage.
b_lownds127's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
woof_woof's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.0
I feel like it said that same thing over and over and over?
emily_otter's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars - I think this book is so important - for educators certainly, but also for anybody - play is so important and so often pushed aside, and this book highlights the benefits and the ways in which play is one of the best "educators" for a child to have.
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