Lighting Their Fires
How Parents and Teachers Can Raise Extraordinary Kids in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up,Shook-up World
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3.6 • 9 Ratings
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author of Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire shares his proven methods for creating compassionate children
During twenty-five years of teaching at Hobart Elementary School in inner city Los Angeles, Rafe Esquith has helped thousands of children maximize their potential—and became the only teacher in history to receive the president's National Medal of Arts. In Lighting Their Fires, Esquith translates the inspiring methods from Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire for parents. Using lessons framed by a class trip to a Dodgers game, he moves inning by inning through concepts that explain how to teach children to be thoughtful and honorable people—as well as successful students—and to have fun in the process.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his follow-up to Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, elementary school teacher Esquith focuses on financially disadvantaged but scholastically ambitious fifth-graders from Hobart Elementary School, located in the middle of a critically poor Los Angeles neighborhood. Directed primarily at parents, educators and administrators, this volume offers anecdotes and suggestions for inspiring and encouraging each child to live up to his or her tremendous promise. Framed by the story of a Dodgers baseball game to which he brings a small group of students, Esquith notes the values of his students in contrast to many of the adult ticket-holders: punctuality, focus, confidence, selflessness, humility, and others. He then probes the meaning of each value, like the way being on time reflects a belief in control over one's destiny, as well as a sense of responsibility. Celebrating his young students' everyday accomplishments, Esquith outlines the struggles and stakes that face them all, while making teaching (and learning) look easy.
Customer Reviews
Father of a 17m old
My up bringing was full of conflict and my direction was often left up to chance. My father did his best to keep us on the straight and narrow and my athletic success was my true saving grace. Music, theater, and reading were not at all a part of my childhood. I spent a lot of time observing the people around me - trying to relate their character and financial success. Something not often found together. Through 34 years and the recent birth of my first child, I now know there is a better, higher probability, way to help my daughter be confident and successful in the things that fulfill her. It's not easy but this book lays out some terrific principles that need to be a part of a kids foundation. My one criticism is that athletics is not a part of the journey... Which in my opinion is a big success and overall well being factor. All in all, I loved the book, thanks Rafe and Room 56
Required Reading
A wonderful book - it should be required reading for teachers and parents alike.