Schools for All Kinds of Minds

I like the possibility to help a child or adult to find your personal learning styles!

The notion that all kids learn differently is not new to those of us in the classroom and allied professions. What is new, and what this book brings home in a cogent, yet powerful and plain-spoken way, is how to appreciate these differences, understand them from a learning science standpoint, and then address them in ways that are not labor intensive for the teacher. The authors advocate a systemic approach that acknowledges the realities of school change while still embracing hope for the possibilities that such change could engender. The stories that are told about individual successes make these possibilities very vivid. I can see using this book with my faculty as a book study over the course of this year, as we learn about the different learning systems that all children use to do the work of school, how we can hone our observation skills to be aware of the clues, and how we can modify our intervention model to first ask why a child is struggling before we throw interventions at the problem. This will fit in well as we move forward with RTI in all its "scientifically-based" glory, so that we can stop blaming the child or the teacher when an intervention is not successful, but rather be reflective in our undestanding of the child's learning from the outset.

This is a good text, or pre-read, if you are going to consider paying for the training, and very expensive materials, and your staff has the required time to make this program operational in your school.It has many valid, very time consuming, approaches to evaluating student functioning in the classroom. Might be practical for evaluating a small number of students.A bit laborious to read. When I finally got to page 204 I was impressed with the approach taken by Wasatch Academy. I went to their website and discerned they were a very nice residential private school. Unfortunately not the paradigm most teachers find themselves in.I do not think this is a solution that could be implemented in the typical cash strapped and understaffed school. Unfortunately being overworked and cash strapped is the situation in which most teachers and administrators find themselves. I have to wonder just how many teachers have the time to "develop a neurodevelopmental profile for a student" as mentioned by Penny (a reviewer who gave the book 4 stars).Sam (a reviewer who gave the book 5 stars) says that the book presents ways to "address them in ways that are not labor intensive for the teacher". I believe Sam may have better skills than I in quickly developing a neurodevelopmental profile for a student. I also get the sense that the book may be designed for individuals working with students that have an IEP, but I could be wrong.I bought the book because teachers in a local school district were reading the book. After reading the book I felt I had wasted my time as it seems to me to be a book marketing the training and expensive materials needed to implement the concepts presented, not something an untrained teacher or parent could implement.With all the money our government spends on testing, and the Gates foundation spends on paradigms that most schools can not afford, you would think that someone would fund a low cost K- 8 language arts and math curriculum that would work. Unfortunately the oligarchy that controls both major political parties and corporate thinking are determined to make our students last in the industrialized world and they are succeeding. One would be hard pressed to conclude that anyone in power actually wants to have results that work.

Educators need to look at how students learn - this book provides a way to look at how students learn and to develop a learning profile for students. Once a teacher understands a learning profile of a student (Strengths and struggles), lessons can be developed making sure that the learning needs of the student are met. If the learning needs of a student are met - success and achievement will be assured. The all kinds of minds approach to learning should be adapted in all classrooms.

I bought the Kindle version and found that the layout of the book was difficult to read. If the tables could be zoomed in, then they were difficult to understand because the information was on several different pages. The tables that couldn't be zoomed in and that fit on one page, just looked like a grey smudge and I couldn't read them even with glasses and a magnifying glass.Then when I was half way through reading the book I got a message that the book could no longer be accessed. Amazon Customer Support was very helpful but after several attempts to fix the problem (one was to delete it, tell me I was getting a refund and that I needed to buy a new copy) they gave up and said the problem couldn't be fixed. I'm not sure if I am the only one who has had this problem.I have the latest version of the Kindle (not the Kindle Touch or Fire).I am waiting for the paperback version of this book.

This is more than a book about differentiation. It takes a hard look at how we educate students today. It challenges us to meet individual needs, and to relook at how and why we "do school". It asks difficult questions about the roles of teachers and learners and begs us to fix what is wrong with the status quo of educational institutions today.

This material was should be provided to all teacher education programs and to all current teachers in the country! It only makes sense that educators should understand the science of learning. Schools/teachers/parents that believe there is only one way to teach and assume there is only one way to learn, unfortunaley miss the learning needs of a large population of students. Everyone learns differently.

Every teacher should read this book. just in time for Professional development and book clubs.

I found this book informative with lots of examples of successful application of it's theorys. It took me a while to be able to digest each section before moving on and I had to re-read quite a bit to gleen info I might be able to use.

Interesting but very american