Help! Somebody Get Me Out of Fourth Grade (Hank Zipzer)

Presenting major advances in understanding learning disabilities (LDs) and describing effective educational practices, this authoritative volume has been significantly revised and expanded with more than 70% new material. Foremost LD experts identify effective principles of assessment and instruction within the framework of multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). With a focus on what works in the classroom, the book explores the full range of reading, mathematics, and writing disabilities. It synthesizes knowledge from neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and special and general education. Illustrations include eight color plates. As a special supplement, a chapter on the history of the LD field from the first edition is provided at the companion website.

New to This Edition
*Heightened emphasis on intervention, including significant new developments in reading comprehension and math.
*Chapter on principles of effective instruction and MTSS.
*Chapter on automaticity in reading, math, and writing.
*Chapter on challenges in real-world implementation of evidence-based practices.
*Chapter on the validity of the LD construct.

In Raising Cain, Dan Kindlon, Ph.D., and Michael Thompson, Ph.D., two of the country’s leading child psychologists, share what they have learned in more than thirty-five years of combined experience working with boys and their families. They reveal a nation of boys who are hurting—sad, afraid, angry, and silent. Kindlon and Thompson set out to answer this basic, crucial question: What do boys need that they’re not getting? They illuminate the forces that threaten our boys, teaching them to believe that “cool” equals macho strength and stoicism. Cutting through outdated theories of “mother blame,” “boy biology,” and “testosterone,” the authors shed light on the destructive emotional training our boys receive—the emotional miseducation of boys.

This practical and compassionate guidebook enables parents to sharpen any child’s social skills by pinpointing the child’s particular social strengths and difficulties. Each chapter — from “The Shy Child” to “The Little Adult,” from “The Short-Fused Child” to “The Sensitive Soul” — uses case studies that focus on the specific social conventions that certain children don’t “get,” and offers drills that parents and teachers can use to help children understand the unspoken underpinnings of social situations, the knowledge essential to building, sustaining, and repairing relationships.

Zipper, is a bright, well-intentioned fifth-grader whose impulsive behavior gets him into trouble at home and at school. He speaks before he thinks, making it hard to keep friends; he forgets to do his homework; and although he’s a talented pitcher, he misses a key baseball game. Follow Zipper as he discovers a newfound talent and learns to manage his Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Today’s parents are increasingly concerned about the reading and spelling skills taught in schools and are taking charge of their children’s education. Full of ideas and suggestions — from innovative preschool exercises to techniques that older children can use to increase reading speed and comprehension — Straight Talk About Reading will instantly help any parent lay a solid foundation for their child’s formative educational years.

This book takes the reader step-by-step through an understanding of the research on reading and ways in which parents and educators can make a difference in the learning ability of every student in our nation’s schools.