by Kathy Paterson
Pembroke Publishers, 2010
ISBN 978-1-55138-254-8
$24.95, 128 pp, index, all grade levels
www.pembrokepublishers.com
Even naturally optimistic people can have a hard time keeping a positive outlook in this era of a shrinking global community and ubiquitous mass communication. We can hardly help being increasingly aware of social and environmental troubles both close to home and far away. And even young students are not immune from the pressure of awareness, which can lead to fear, anger and a feeling of helplessness. This resource was written to help teachers deal with their own issues around the problems of the modern world, and to help them help their students express their worries and find hope. We can’t make things all better, but we can provide an atmosphere in which children feel safe and understood, and in which positive thinking and actions can have an impact on our students’ mental health and behaviour. Providing motivators and practical activities in each chapter, the author discusses such topics as reasonable and unreasonable fears, violence both domestic and international, Internet use, self awareness and socializing, bullying, family dynamics and grief. Book lists (Good Reads) offer suggestions of relevant titles that can be used in the classroom.
This review is from Canadian Teacher Magazine’s November 2010 issue.