Product Description

Here's the first book in an exciting new series offering information about schooling which promotes the strong intellectual, social and ethical development of children, grades K-8. The Responsive Classroom Series will include writings about classroom and school-wide practice as well as relevant theory and research.

Off to a Good Start collects nine of the most frequently requested reprints from Responsive Classroom: A Newsletter for Teachers offering strategies for building a strong foundation for the school year.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #557520 in Books
• Published on: 1997-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 62 pages

About the Author
Marlynn K. Clayton, co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children, is currently NEFC's director of Professional Development. She has run her own preschool, taught in primary grades, and has worked with teachers nationwide through workshops and consulting. She created the videotape, Places to Start: Implementing the Developmental Classroom and co-authored A Notebook for Teachers.

Mary Beth Forton has taught in grades kindergarten through eight, has run a summer camp for elementary school children and has worked with children with special needs. She currently works in the Publishing Division at Northeast Foundation for Children.

Ruth Sidney Charney, author of Teaching Children to Care and Habits of Goodness: Case Studies in the Social Curriculum, has taught grades kindergarten through eight and has worked as a teacher educator as well. Ruth is a co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children and currently teaches grades seven and eight.

Chip Wood, author of Yardsticks: Children in the Classroom Ages 4-14, is a co-founder of Northeast Foundation for Children. He has worked for over 25 years as a classroom teacher, teaching principal and teacher educator. Currently he directs NEFC's Consulting Teachers.

Customer Reviews

Build a solid foundation in the first few weeks of school
This is a very easy to read book filled with lots of tidbits of information for establishing rules, building a sense of community among students, introducing materials through guided discovery and creating a healthy partnership between schools and parents. Teachers will learn the three R's of proactive disipline: Reinforce, Remind and Redirect. The exerpts come from The Responsive Classroom Newsletter which is a free publication printed three times a year and available through Northest Foundation for Children. Their address can be found in the book. I strongly recommend this book especially for beginning teachers.

Help for a first-year teacher
I purchased this book, along with two others from the Responsive Classroom series ("The First Six Weeks of School" and "The Morning Meeting Book"). This book was easy to read--it consists of several short articles on various topics that teachers address at the beginning of the school year. As a first-year teacher, I had no experience setting up a classroom. This book gave me lots of background knowledge about the issues I'd face, so I felt much more prepared when I met my parents at Open House night and my students on the first day of school. The book also fits in very nicely with the other two books I purchased from the series. Very helpful!!