Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Educational Reform: Why It Fails
Chapter 2: The Big Picture
Chapter 3: The Learning Skills Cycle
Chapter 4: Motivation/Grit
Chapter 5: Attentiveness
Chapter 6: Organization
Chapter 7: Understanding/Synthesis
Chapter 8: Memory
Chapter 9: Analytical Thinking/Problem Solving/Creativity
Epilogue
About the Author
Dr. W. R. (Bill) Klemm is a Professor of Neuroscience at Texas A&M University who has studied basic and applied research on learning and memory and has published 19 books, many of them for lay audiences. He is a regular writer on learning and memory for Psychology Today, maintains a blog site ("Improve Your Learning and Memory," thankyoubrain.blogspot.com), and provides teachers with lectures and workshops on learning skills.
Dr. Klemm provides teachers and students alike with a
well-researched and solidly-documented resource that not only
shines light on many popular misconceptions in the science of
teaching and learning, but also gives profound insights into how
true learning occurs and how a teacher or parent can help their
struggling students transform into the confident achievers that
they want to be.
*Dan Hendrix, veterinarian, home-school dad*
Highly recommended! Instead of another book reinforcing what young
students should know, William Klemm challenges the status quo of
educating children by uncovering a plan to teach students
analytical skills, problem-solving, and creative skills. He
considers the whole student with an in-depth discussion about what
motivates students. The Learning Skills Cycle will appeal to
parents and educators who want to move beyond teaching to the test.
This book, with its common sense advice coupled with scientific
acuity, will help anyone foster a sense of wonder in students and
also help them guide students on a journey to becoming lifelong
learners. As an author of many books for children, I have a keen
understanding that children need creative approaches to learning
information. I believe that Klemm’s book will assist educators as
they seek to develop creative, nimble-minded students, ready to
solve problems and face life’s challenges.
*Molly Blaisdell, Author, “Rembrandt” and “The Boy Who Drew Dogs”
and 30 more informative books for children*
This book emphasizes a crucial but little-known aspect of
education: to succeed in school students must learn to execute
basic skills effortlessly and automatically. Speed is needed
because short-term memory lasts only a few seconds; students must
retain in memory large amounts of information in order to
understand. Of the six components of the "Learning Skills Cycle" in
this book, the emphasis on memory is especially novel and valuable.
Schools may spend time on tasks that may be fun but that may not
prepare students to deal with complex information effortlessly.
Every parent should understand these learning needs and demand
accountability from teachers and schools. My educational work in
lower-income countries leads me to believe that the ideas in Dr.
Klemm's book could have world-changing implications.
*Helen Abadzi, University of Texas at Arlington, World Bank Senior
Education Specialist (Retired)*
What can I add to my arsenal of knowledge?" "Arsenal" is the
operative word. Knowledge is power.’ As a classroom teacher for 10
years and as a homeschooling mom, I found this book to truly be an
arsenal of information to help teachers and parents gain the
learning strategies and tactics to empower students to become
academically successful. Teach Your Kids How to Learn walks the
reader through the strategies necessary for superior academic
achievement. The strategies are presented in an easy to learn
dialogue and apply at any academic level. Using these methods,
backed by years of experience and research, anyone can help the
children in their life become more effective learners. Teach Your
Kids How to Learn approaches learning from a holistic perspective
of a "learning skills cycle" that incorporates many capabilities
that are often never taught or learned. These include motivation,
curiosity, emotional control, self-discipline, ability to study
effectively, remember, and critical thinking. This book will change
the way you think about “learning skills” and will give you the
tools you need to help students learn how to learn rather than
simply what to learn.
*Sherry Rosedahl, Middle-school teacher and homeschool mom*
Dr. Klemm asserts that if children aren't taught how to learn,
they'll develop ineffective and rigid study routines that last a
lifetime. Teaching children how to learn may be taught formally in
classrooms and informally at home. Cursive writing, high-stakes
testing, learned helplessness, meditation, Common Core, and other
topics that relate to children's learning how to learn are
addressed. Dr. Klemm's citing of research studies and personal
experiences helps readers see how children should not be taught to
learn to pass tests, but should be taught to love learning. I wish
this book had been available when I was teaching. I would have
become a better teacher by helping my students become better
learners!
*Mary Sue Ribardo, Retired high school history teacher*
As both a teacher and as parent of school-aged children, I found
this book to be extremely enlightening and helpful. The goal of
every teacher is to develop the love of learning in his or her
students. In other words, teachers need to develop life-long
learners. That is such an elusive thing to try to teach. We are all
told to do it, but how do we do it? We are so caught up in teaching
the mandated curriculum-the “what”-that we often fail to teach how
to learn and how to take pleasure in learning. We also face the
challenge of holding students’ attention in a world that has so
many distractions. Dr. Klemm’s Learning Skills Cycle takes this
challenging task and organizes it into easily understandable
stages. From motivation, to memory, to problem solving, Dr. Klemm
delves into what it takes to help a child become a lifelong
learner, even helping them to develop better habits such as grit,
confidence, and attention. As a parent of a child who has such
trouble getting homework done, my “aha moment” was reading about
how self-doubt is the root cause of procrastination. Every page of
this book has valuable information for both teachers and parents. I
know that I will use it as a reference to help me become both a
better teacher and a better parent.
*Michele Ward, Middle school science teacher*
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