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Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children In A Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World (2009)

by Rafe Esquith(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0670021083 (ISBN13: 9780670021086)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Viking Adult

review 1: Tragedy is not merely a sad ending; it is a sad ending that should have been wonderful.So says Rafe Esquith of all students who are not given access to a true education, and he’s not talking merely math and grammar. In his little experimental classroom in an urban school in California, he has been shaping the lives of young people for decades. The world has stood up to notice. How, with the usual limited resources of an impoverished district, is he able to take ordinary, underperforming students and transform them not only into scholars, but into exemplary human beings in only one year?In Lighting Their Fires, he reveals how to encourage kids to use their time wisely (who wouldn’t want to get the most possible fun out of a precious weekend?); turn off their TVs; wri... morete their own personal code of conduct that sets them apart from the crowd (and how to manage that curious lonely feeling that often results); treat consequences as rare learning opportunities; learn and read for pleasure, not to merely “rent knowledge” for a test; and take pride in everything they do as servants to the greater good of humanity.Like other leaders in the teaching field, he challenges the No Child Left Behind standards and grading practices, citing the lack of consequences for poor performance or disrespectful behavior as the unintended creator of an entitlement mentality that will ultimately fail students in all they endeavor in life, from relationships to career. He insists we are not doing kids a favor, for their self-esteem or otherwise, by passing them when they are only getting 10 percent correct on tests. He also confronts schools’ contracts with publishers who censor out rival companies’ books from the classrooms, putting teachers in the difficult position of secretly reading great world literature to their students like smugglers.If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results, then we need to make a major change in how we do this school thing. Districts, students, parents, and teachers must face who truly benefits from our current system and be willing to unplug the flow of money for the sake of our kids’ futures. This process will require energy, courage, and a willingness to be unpopular. He urges us to raise children, and I dare say, ourselves, to be fine people in order to change the world.As an anonymous philosopher once said, “If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.”
review 2: Written by an award winning teacher. The book is written for parents. He talked about such things as teaching kids: time management, following through with things, importance of learning a musical instrument, the evils of watching too much tv, not being selfish, being humble etc. Many good things to think about. But with all of his "ideas" for parents I did often wonder if he has children of his own not just his students. That's all I'll say about that. Lol. He gave many ideas of movies and books that can be used as teaching tools for kids. Although I didn't agree with the age appropriateness of some of them (Example: Saving Private Ryan for 5th graders), there are many that I will watch with my kids. There aren't any new concepts in this book, but sometimes it is nice to have reminders of all the things we need to be doing and teaching our kids. Even if it is overwhelming. Wish there was more techniques and a wee bit less bragging on students. less

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