Rate this book

Off To Class: Incredible And Unusual Schools Around The World (2011)

by Susan Hughes(Favorite Author)

4.35 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

1926818865 (ISBN13: 9781926818863)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Owlkids Books

review 1: Most of you reading this will have gone to school the traditional way-public or private schools with classrooms and teachers and tests and clocks. What if you lived in the middle of the rainforest or in the mountains of Nepal? What if your school was washed away by a hurricane or crumbled by an earthquake. How would you learn? This book, by highlighting 23 different schools in 14 countries, shows in beautiful pictures and words how very different cultures live and look at life and learning.A few of the most unusual schools were the boat school in Bangladesh (the school travels to them during monsoon season), the solar school in the middle of the Amazon rain forest where there was no electricity or phones and access takes 40 hours by speedboat, the green school in Canad... morea that does produce any waste that doesn’t go in the compost, the four child school in Iran, and the traveling school that teaches the Evenks in Siberia as they are constantly on the move herding reindeer.The schools are interesting, but the inspiration behind these schools is what sets this book apart. Most of these schools were set up by someone who saw a need, a person just like you or me, and then found the funding and local help to make it happen. These schools are there because people believe that everyone, no matter what caste, gender, or location deserves an education. One university student saw a need for street kids in Columbia to learn so he set up cart schools to take to the kids where they lived and earned a living. One student’s vision led to countless forgotten kids learning how to read, add, and take care of their bodies.The layout really adds to the enjoyment of the book. Each school has a two page spread, with lots of pictures, details, and facts about students around the world. I think this would be perfect for any library and for any student who complains about going to school. Recommended for ages 8 and older, but I was completely captivated by it.
review 2: Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World by Susan Hughes Writing engaging, fun-to-read non-fiction for kids is one of the more daunting tasks to pull off successfully, and it is one that Canadian children's book author Susan Hughes has been doing for many years. Hughes''s style is always graceful, gently humorous, confident, and knowledgeable. To recognize those writing strengths, the TD Book Awards recently awarded Susan Hughes the 2011 Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction for her wonderful book Case Closed? Nine Mysteries Unlocked by Modern Science. It is a well-deserved honor.Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World, just out from Owlkids Books, qualifies as another stellar entry into Hughes's pantheon of non-fiction wonders. The book is an amazing amalgam of child voices from around the world, stunning images, and fascinating facts. One senses what a labor of love this book is. The author has said that, if not for the existence of the Internet and email, orchestrating a book of this nature would have been almost impossible. We have the experience of what it's like for the kids to go to an unorthodox school from the kids themselves.In gathering the information, from around the world, Hughes has sought to answer a fundamental question: given that (according to UNICEF) there are more than 100 million children around the world who have never been to school, 'What kind of schools do we need to create so these kids, living here in these conditions, can learn?' The schools are amazing (from tree house to boat to portable bamboo schools), but even more amazing are the kids who joyfully jump at the chance to attend classes, no matter the circumstances or the conditions and hearing about their experiences, in their own words, is icing on the cake. It truly makes the book sing. Off to Class gives the reader a glimpse into 23 different schools in 14 different countries. It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend that every school library own a copy. If kids in North America could see how children who would otherwise not have the opportunity covet learning, going to school would take on an entirely different hue. less

Download links for: Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World

Advertising