Reddit mentions: The best children education books

Sorry, I forgot to respond to this! I tried to pick out books that are fairly accessible & not loaded with anthropological jargon or the like.

• If you want a really concise overview of Native American history, I recommend North American Indians: A Very Short Introduction. Theda Purdue and Michael Green are/were (Green recently passed away) very important historians in Native American history. (Plus it's adorable that they're married.)
  
  
• One of my favorites is Tiya Miles's Ties That Bind: The Story of an Afro-Cherokee Family in Slavery and Freedom. I like how it shows how race played out in the South in much more complicated ways if we include Native Americans. It reads like a story more than a history book.
  
  
• Tiya Miles also wrote The House on Diamond Hill: A Cherokee Plantation Story. I haven't read it, but I've heard it's good.
  
  
• Nancy Shoemaker's A Strange Likeness: Becoming Red and White in Eighteenth-Century North America is an undergraduate-level analysis of the ways that both Europeans and Natives constructed their identities in opposition to each other. Each chapter covers a specific topic.
  
  
• While I haven't read it, Daniel K. Richter's Facing East From Indian Country: A Native History of Early America is a commonly assigned book in undergrad classes. It places Native Americans at the center of American history, rather than focusing on Europeans.
  
  
• Another commonly assigned book for undergrads that I haven't read: Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.
  
  
• Linford D. Fisher's The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the SHaping of Native Cultures in Early America is a bit more academic due to the topic, but I think it's still pretty accessible. If you're interested in learning about how Native American religions adapted & blended with Christianity, it's a good account.
  
  
• A really important book is Kathleen DuVal's The Native Ground: Indians and Colonists in the Heart of the Continent. Like Fisher's book, it's a little more academic, but it talks about how Native Americans controlled interactions with Europeans in the Mississippi/Arkansas River Valley areas. Instead of Europeans destroying Native cultures, there was a period when Europeans had to adapt to Natives' demands.
  
  
• I find the Red Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s fascinating, but the books & articles I've read are organizational histories and wouldn't be that appealing to a non-specialist. Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee is the most popular book about that movement, but I've never read it.
  
  Sorry for so many suggestions, but I thought I would give a bunch so that you can see what might appeal to you based on your own interests. All the above books are important because they help change our understandings of Native American and American history. Natives are not passive subjects in the books but are active in shaping their own lives.

I know you said your not a fan of "puzzles" but in particular there is a very interesting one I liked as an math undergraduate that I think is very accessible understanding wise to non-stem majors and gives a hint about what the field of topology looks like. We has a sub in one of my math classes cover this once when he didn't properly get the material he was suppose to teach sent to him.

The Bridges of Königsberg it's puzzling at first but with the right guidance, I feel that even someone who has no background in math can grasp the answer and understand how it works as well as how it's solution is found.

Touching on some math history is also a possibility. The history of how numbers developed can be interesting and applies to everyone since everyone learns about and uses numbers in their life. Seeing the natural progression from natural numbers to integers to rationals and finally to reals throughout history is really cool if you ask me. And learning about some of the "crazy smart" math people in history can really make math feel every so slightly more relevant and relatable because you realize that it was real people who invented this abstract "math stuff" in a sense.

There is also the applications of number theory and modulo arithmetic stuff to encryption. At first doesn't seem super relatable to non-stem people but I've run across two more relatable problems in my classes. The first was the Luhn algorithm which can be used to check if certain identifying numbers like credit cards or social security numbers are indeed actual credit card or social security numbers.

The second (which I don't know if it is actually how it works in real life) is the idea of using modular arithmetic to preserve CD/DVD information despite scratches. If your CD for example has the numbers 101 and you get a scratch through the "" part of the cd, how does the cd player know what was there? Well you can add up those three digits and take them mod 2 and add the answer to the end of your string as a 4th digit. So 101 becomes 1010 because 1+1=2=0 mod 2. Now if the cd is scratched the cd player can check the 4th number and go "Oh ok, all three numbers have to add to 0, so my lost digit must be 0!" and your cd still works!

Those are a couple of random interesting problems/topics I've run into in my higher level math courses that I think are accessible for non-math majors and interesting.

EDIT - I also just remembered that I've been reading a lot of books about the importance of understanding math and statistics lately (Proofiness and Innumeracy if your interested) and I think it's a very important skill for anyone who is not so inclined towards math. Being able to understand numbers in a real world sense and be skeptical about data we see in the real world, is a powerful skill for building knowledge and avoiding biased information.

>it's just surreal that the natives of this land only gained the right to vote in it less than one century ago and it's kind of sickening to think about how archaic this time is.

I don't want to look like I'm forming a pity party, but the Civil Rights Movement didn't really help out Indian Country. We had to have our own round of protests and fighting in the 1970s. Check out the American Indian Movement, the Occupation of Alcatraz Island and especially the Alcatraz Proclamation, among others. What really stunning is that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act didn't come about until 1978, let alone the fact that they had to pass it at all!

>Are there any books, movies, or another form of media that are true stories or realistic fiction that depict American Indians in a way that you find to be interesting and faithful?

Anything by Vine Deloria, Jr. is awesome, although he is more historian and scientist than he is story-teller. A short list of my favorites:

• Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
  
• God Is Red: A Native View of Religion
  
• Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact
  
  If you want to read some great fiction that depicts American Indians accurately, start with Sherman Alexie:
  
  
• Smoke Signals
  
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
  
  Outside of those authors, some popular picks are Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
  
  As far as movies go, any self-respecting Indian has seen the movie Smoke Signals dozens of times. Powwow Highway is a favorite of mine, and Dance Me Outside is movie gold, although it doesn't get enough attention.
  
  >I'm thinking - why hasn't HBO or some big network done a drama that focuses on American Indians? This could be a very interesting book, as well... Or is this idea something even somewhat appealing to you as a young American Indian?
  
  I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I have my own ideas. I'd like to see a series that focuses on a single reservation for each episode, and details the hardships that the people of that reservation deal with on a daily basis. Call it a pity party, but there are children in the United States right now that live in houses with dirt floors and sleep on pallets and go to school on 30-year-old school buses on unkempt dirt roads (and sometimes off-road) where they learn a curriculum outdated for a decade or more........ I can go on and on. Get in your car and drive to Pine Ridge Reservation RIGHT NOW, you'll be convinced that you walked into a third world country in the middle of a war. Its not pretty. The corruption in the tribal government needs to be put in the spotlight, and the part that the Federal and State governments have played in this tragedy need to be righted. That's the facts.

That's fine, report away; I believe in the system. I'm confident I'll be exonerated as I know I have never done anything of the sort.

You'd have a hard time explaining why I wouldn't manipulate the 1, or I think at most 2, posts that are downvoted. You'd also have a hard time explaining why some of my most upvoted comments contain other regular users thanking me for a post. Yeah, you've a real penchant for interpreting empirical evidence.

It couldn't possibly be that, aside from these types of exchanges, many of my posts are informative, thoughtful, well researched, and scientifically accurate. Nah, people would never upvote posts like that. I know that idea really irks you. I will gladly concede that once it's evident to me during an exchange the other party is very clearly in the wrong, I will use more stern and harsh language with them, like in this case with you. You should have seen that I have never sworn, and while I probably come dangerously close to crossing a line, I don't actually cross it.

Anyways, no, it's not another attempt at insulting you. I made that explicitly clear when I said, "I'm actually trying to establish a foundation for a productive exchange". You genuinely cannot read.

So, this can no longer be a productive exchange as you don't appear to understand the words I write. You lack the mental acuity to understand the points I make, so we are "speaking" at each other. I offered to use a medium of communication where this will not be the case, and you have refused. Not only can you not read, but you are a coward. I have the courage to stand by my statements in a format where there is less room for ambiguity, and you do not. My offer stands whenever you're ready.

With that, I wish you good luck in achieving grade school level reading abilities. Maybe then you'll have the confidence to hash it out verbally. If you happen to have a P.O. box, or you feel comfortable in send me your mailing address, I will literally send you a gift to get you started. Again, good luck.

Mom of a severely speech delayed toddler here.

It's never a bad idea to bring up concerns you have with your child's doctor. If you're concerned, schedule an appointment and ask for input from the medical types.

In addition, if you're in the US there's a national program called Early Intervention whose sole mission is to locate children under age 3 who are developmentally delayed, evaluate them, and provide therapy or other needed services so they're as caught-up as possible before starting school. Evaluations are free of charge and most services are also at no cost. You don't need a doctor's referral. Google (your state) Early Intervention for contact info.
(Whoops, just saw you're in Ireland so the above doesn't apply, but I'm going to leave it there in case it can help anyone else!)

That all said,
2 words (mama & dada) at 14 months is in the range of normal. The fact that he understands so much is also fantastic and points to him being developmentally appropriate. I don't recommend you freak out. :)

Narrating everything is perfect.
Definitely keep answering him when he talks. One thing my kid's speech therapist really encourages us to do is to have conversations with him even if it's all in babble. Baring his teeth and going "nar nar nar nar nar" means something - I have no idea what, but something - to my son these days so when he says that to me I say it right back and we have a pretty funny conversation about nar nar nar nar nar. It reinforces the back & forth of a regular conversation and gives the child confidence that they're participating the right way.
We use a lot of picture books like these with my 2yo both in therapy & at home. We either say the word while pointing to a picture or ask him "where's the ball?" and wait for him to point it out.
Really, just keep talking to him, and talking to other people while he's around!

The British thing you're talking about is Cockney Rhyming Slang.

Not about words exactly, but I recently started playing Animal Mineral Vegetable with my HFA 5 year old, and it's been great for getting him thinking about what words actually mean and getting him to use them in a directed and critical way (instead of enjoying them for the lovely sounds they make-- I've got a jr. Dr. Seuss over here). We do play lots of rhyming games, make up new words to kids' songs, etc. Most of these games are just improvised though. And lately I've been trying to find him fun poetry. We read Ogden Nash all through dinner tonight.

If you just want a cool, weird, silly word book, I recommend Ounce Dice Trice. This book is gonna be like crack to my son, so I'm holding out a little longer before giving it to him.

First things first. The child will be undergoing a huge transition and ya'll ought to have some therapy/counseling for her all set up and ready to go when she comes into your home. It will help all of you get started on a good note.

Because she has been told things that are not true about her dad, she will be very confused and will likely act out as she settles in.

I have seen a lot of great advice on here for adoptive/foster parents and you guys would benefit from reading some material geared towards that parenting group as well. One thing I have heard a lot of for adoptive parents of older children (I know you're not adopting, I just think the principle applies here) is to meet your child's every need.

No, really. Meet her every. Need. If you have family over visiting and she asks for a glass of water, you or your SO should be the ones getting up and doing it, even if family offers. If she needs help on the potty, falls down and hurts herself, needs her hair brushed, whatever it is. During the transition process it is critical for her to bond positively with you guys and for her to learn that you guys are a source of trust and security.

As for getting her up to speed on things like colors and numbers, fortunately there's plenty of books out there to help! My son LOVES these:

http://www.amazon.com/First-100-Words-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312510780

http://www.amazon.com/Numbers-Colors-Shapes-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312510810/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_y

http://www.amazon.com/First-100-Animals-Roger-Priddy/dp/0312510799/ref=pd_sim_b_5?ie=UTF8&refRID=0NMAK9FW4ZKEBP3GCB05

Sorry I don't know how to make shorter links on Reddit. They might be too young for your "Stepdaughter", but my son learned all of his colors shapes and numbers by reading these books. he is 2 1/2.

He also has shape toys. I like "melissa and doug" toys. This one is my son's favorite:

http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Wooden-Shape-Sorting/dp/B000GKATU0

Because of this clock puzzle, my son knows what a fucking rhombus and octagon is.

We don't sit him down and drill him. We invite him to play with these toys and materials and simply talk about them as we go along. Children are sponges, and they learn all on their own. They simply need the invitation, and a patient adult willing to open up this world to them.

edit

on that note, we take what we learn in the books and reinforce it in every day life.

"Wow, is that your YELLOW ball?"

"Look honey, do you see that silly cartoon cat? He is PINK! That's so funny, isn't it! Why is that silly kitty cat PINK? Cats aren't pink, are they?"

"Okay when the light is red, that means daddy has to stop! Let's wait for the light to turn green! Keep watching, tell me when it turns GREEN! Green means we can GO!"

Etc etc. Most of this stuff will come naturally to you as you get into the groove. You find all kinds of opportunities to reinforce concepts as you go about your day.

I've always been good at math, logical and analytical thinking. I think it's partially doing my homework, extra math stuff my grandparents did with me (including contests and stuff like that), as well as hobbies that require such thinking being encouraged (card games, chess, dominoes, board games, etc.).

All I do is look at numbers and see numbers as well. Finding patterns in numbers, or systems, or whatever isn't something that comes natural to most people, even those who are competent at math. Being able to come up with predictions, patterns, and models is among the most difficult tasks we have, which is why we have professional scientists rather than a growing body of knowledge entirely done by hobbyists and amateurs. The point being that training your mind to do these tasks isn't some terrible character flaw you have, in fact most people who try struggle with it.

The Khan academy is a commonly suggested, and excellent, resource for most basic math topics. What I think you're asking for, specifically, is applying math and analytical thinking to day-to-day scenarios in order to make sense of the world around you. That skill actually has a name: "numeracy", the name given by some mathematicians as they believe it is as fundamental a skill as literacy. I do think that it's a crucial skill, but don't get discouraged by the comparison at something as "basic" as literacy. For one because there is an overwhelming amount of people who are not numerically literate, and also literacy itself is not trivial, while we learn the basics of reading at a very young age typically there is a more advanced comprehension requirement and we are not considered "literate" until about the 10th or 11th grade (and a standardized test usually determines this).

I can't think of any activities to build numeracy skills, but to get started John Paulos' Innumeracy is a good resource. It shows common pitfalls, why they are wrong, reasons as to why they occur, and the correct way to think about the suggested problems. If you feel confident after reading it a good way to practice the skill is to find news articles, and see if any of the numbers are misleading.

Critical thinking courses (typically listed as a philosophy course, I believe?) are also a great way to improve logical and analytical reasoning. This is the rather pricy textbooks I used, I linked to the Canadian site because Amazon Canada lists the complete table of contents, so you can search around for other books that cover the topics, if you wish. You could also find courses online, for example khan academy (to be honest, I don't like the topics as presented because it spends a lot of time on fallacies, but doesn't even cover inductive reasoning), or on Coursera.

What about getting her a journal? That can be a great way to process trauma, but it's also a fun gift that she might really enjoy. There are some cool ones that even come with a lock, like this one (blank) or this one (with prompts). Get some nice gel pens to go with it. Or Wreck This Journal is a fun alternative if she's not into writing!

There is some statistics in K-12 math in North America, but it's pretty rudimentary and basic (i.e. it's mostly simple probability, and doesn't get into samples vs. populations and so on). Things like "If a bag has 1 red marble, 2 blue marbles, 3 green marble, and 4 yellow marbles, and you reach in and pick a marble at random, what is the probability you'll get a green marble?"

I picked up a little book a long time ago called Innumeracy - Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences by John Allen Paulos, a math professor at Temple University. In that book (updated in 2001), he talks about the problems people have when they aren't very "numerate", and most of the topics he covers have to do with statistics.

Actually, in his preface to the updated 2001 edition (use Amazon's "Look Inside" feature), Paulos also talks about mathematical pedagogy. He discusses: 5 key misconceptions:

1. "Mathematics is nothing more than computation" - False - "our mathematical problems result more from insufficient exposure to mathematics as a way of thinking ... than from an inability to compute."
   
2. "Math is a completely hierarchical subject" - False - "There is a cumulative aspect to certain parts of mathematics, to be sure, but it is frequently less important than many realize...."
   
3. "Storytelling is as effective an educational tool in mathematics as it is in other domains, and belief to the contrary is the third misconception. ... I've always been very sensitive to the way stories, parables, vignettes, and sometimes even jokes help put formal mathematics into context, illustrate its limitations, and emphasize what should be a truism: that numbers and statistics always require interpretation."
   
4. "Math is only for the few" - False - "Almost everybody can devevlop a workable understanding of numbers and probabilities, of relationships and arguments, of graphs and rates of change and of the ubiquitous role these notions play in everyday life."
   
5. "Math numbs us or limits our freedom in some way" - False - "Too many people cling to the usually unarticulated belief that one must choose between life and love on the one hand and numbers and details on the other. ... Balderdash."
   
   Anyhow. Sorry for the long post, but I think it's worthwhile. Read Paulos' preface in its entirety.

I loved looking at picture books and asking my son to point at different things, colors, etc. It gives good insight into what they understand without them needing to talk. The My First books (like this: First 100 Words) were great for this - labeled pictures with no story.

I absolutely loved doing sign language with my son. I highly recommend the Baby Signing Time videos - I think you can find them on YouTube. They also have a preschool series called Signing Time. Songs are cute and help kids with vocabulary and early reading, in addition to learning sign language.

One of my favorite memories was when my son, about 1yo at the time, heard a garbage truck early on the morning. He was obsessed with garbage trucks, and he sat up and started excitedly signing truck in bed. I thought it was so cool that at such an early age, he could 1) identify what he heard, 2) communicate what it was to me, and 3) express how excited he was.

Bright Baby books are my son's favorite!

First 100 Words (Bright Baby) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312495412/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_n-RYAb86G655C

His first one was chewed up during teething (it happens) so I bought a new one to replace it on Amazon (link above.) He often gets it out of his room to "read" instead of watching Moana or Chuggington for the millionth time lol. I love them, too!

They offer a great selection of different themes like numbers, animals, colors and letters. I have bought every book in the collection, but he still prefers the 1st 100 Words book the most. He points at the pictures and says the word or I will ask him, "Where is the car? Can you find the shoes?" He will find the picture. It is really an awesome book! He learned so many words for the real-life items as well. He learned "truck" and "shoes" first lol.

10/10 highly recommend this series

Note: He is turning 2 in June.

I felt the exact same when I was an almost-13-year-old! I've always loved cursive and calligraphy. My 8th grade English teacher used to assign handwritten journal entries every week for our reading logs (do you still do reading logs?)

Anyways, I taught myself cursive and used the entries as practice. I haven't gone back since! If you ever want to teach yourself, look into getting a cursive workbook from Amazon! They're super inexpensive. Here's their best seller if you're interested.

And your handwriting is great btw :)

You've gotten some good suggestions for fiction and biographies, but I'd actually recommend getting her a book aimed at kids about how to write. Try Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter, or one of Gail Carson Levine's books: Writing Magic or Writer to Writer.

Kids' writing books are great because they're empowering - they'll have specific writing advice, encouraging words, and activities to help kick-start her writing. I remember receiving a similar writing guide when I was that age, and it made me feel like a real professional.

(Also, I've read the Stephen King and Ursula Le Guin writing guides that other users suggested, and I wouldn't recommend those for a child at all - the advice is definitely more advanced, including complex grammar concepts, and Stephen King is brutally honest about his view that most writers will never make it. Much too discouraging for a kid.)

These books are the best
Every kid I’ve worked with loves them
Best part is they’re reusable and kids love to wipe them clean
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312521839/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gRhQDbCNV5R4Q

The Tzimisce Teacher:

​

Carl Sagan warned of a world of scientific ignorance where illogical superstitions like the anti-vaccine movement and religious tribalism increasingly took hold.

​

John Allen Paulos warned of a world of mathematical illiteracy where pyramid schemes and predatory lotteries increasingly took hold, reflected perhaps even in the popularity of the non-mathematical D&D5e and v5 VTM tabletop games.

​

In an increasingly hostile environment for the Kindred, where through the ages, not only a secretive cabal of academic vampire mages attack the clan, but a zealot-led Second Inquisition and a beckoning spell to remove former leaders, the Tzimisce have to be more intelligent and clever than the huge population of psychotic, self-serving, technologically-adjacent humans to preserve the clan's secret affairs, and excel mentally beyond the ranks of the enemy clans and factions in order to ensure survival.

​

In countries across the world, the populace are encouraged through effective emotional manipulation to become mindless, passive consumers, docile, disposable workers, and uninformed citizens, an inclination infecting even the most vaunted of intelligentsia, so while a prospective candidate member for the clan (even among the revenant families) may be admired for certain strengths of personality and courage or a unique perspective or fetishistic abberance, such individuals still remain the product of successive centuries of refulgent anti-intellectualism, and as such, must be taught or destroyed if not able to meet the challenges of membership.

​

To this end, The Tzimisce teacher dedicates their unlife to a calling of judgement. The teacher pays visits to members of the clan one can find with auspex through the world (a personal specialty from the teacher's experience), and tests them and corrects holes in their understanding of the kindred or the world or political ensnarement. If the Kindred is receptive and willing to improve and shows reasonable progress they are allowed to live, and if they are intellectually stagnant, recalcitrant, or umasterful to a degree beyond redemption, then they are executed, along with any sires or packmates or regional Sabbat leaders that attempt to stop this from happening.

​

There are some Tzimisce that completely remove themselves from the reach of other clans through adapting their bodies to hostile environments far beneath the Earth, within the oceans, or even outer space (to still contend with other supernatural creatures), but for those that remain at risk among the humans, The Teacher has culled a huge number (perhaps thousands or tens of thousands) of unacceptable clan-mates. The Teacher has not been previously spoken of much through clan histories because many fail to live to tell of meeting The Teacher.

Consider the massacre at Wounded Knee, December 29, 1890. There is no argument that men, women, and children were slaughtered that day cruelly.

At the time, there were medals of honor given to many of the men who fought there:

http://www.history.army.mil/moh/indianwars.html

As time went on, a popular poet, Stephen Vincent Benets, mentioned Wounded Knee in his popular poem "American Names" in 1927:

http://www.whatsoproudlywehail.org/30days30poets-stephen-vincent-benets-american-names

The phrase from this poem was used by Dee Brown in the title of his excellent, ground breaking, and culture shifting work, "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" in 1970:

http://www.amazon.com/Bury-My-Heart-Wounded-Knee/dp/0805086846

What is notable in regards to your question above, is that this work is extremely critical of the American Government's behavior towards Native Americans, yet remains almost required reading in many American High Schools.

However, it remains that those medals of honor still stand. But there are recent rumblings to have those medals rescinded:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/massacre-wounded-knee-medals-honor-rescinded

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-huffhannon/wounded-knee-medal-of-honor_b_2664709.html

http://blog.woundedkneemuseum.org/p/rescission-of-medals-of-honor.html

So it is a shifting, evolving truth.

Western nations tend to have greater commitments to free speech, official censorship channels do not have the same power here as in other countries like Russia and Turkey. Therefore, there isn't a "Western historians do not accept" type situation as you suggest because a truly critical eye can dominate in the academia of the West over official pronouncements on sensitive topics. While elsewhere, official pronouncements cannot be criticized without fear of punishment or censure.

This doesn't mean the West has fully addressed past national crimes, it just means critical speech and dissent is more tolerated than in other nations on sensitive topics, generally speaking.

Edited for grammar

I taught handwriting a lot in my classes because students with severe autism have difficulties with fine motor and handwriting.

The number one thing I always told my aides is think of someone's handwriting as their personalized font. Does it have to be perfect? No. Does it have to be legible? Yes. Do they need to be forming letters correctly? Hopefully 80% of the time.

One of the things that a lot of people skip when they look at handwriting is pencil grip. Correct pencil grasp is key. If you cannot control the pencil, you can't write legible. Period. Most kids need help. Most common issues are not holding pencil correctly or holding the pencil in the right place. If you place a piece of masking tape on the pencil, it can signal where they need to hold the pencil. Another cheap hack is called the pom pom method here. I've used erasers, tokens, counting bears, etc.

Another issue is that kids sometimes press too hard on paper. They just rip the shit out of the paper. Get them gel pens. If they push too hard, it won't write. Some don't press hard at all. If you get one of those long cylindrical fishing weights and duct tape them to a pencil. Bam. Pencil weight.

This is an awesome book. It goes through letter formation and the prewriting strokes for each letter family. Fucking awesome. I used it exclusively and extensively.

Printing Wacky Sentences. There is a book lower and a book higher. I own all 3 and used them a lot. Why write boring sentences for practice when you can write fun ones?

If you want anymore tips, let me know.

-Former self-contained severe autism teacher.

edited to say, please don't teach them circle and sticks. This is the laziest and sloppiest way to write. And and an 8 isn't two circles.

I will definitely check those out, thanks! I'm a big fan of the beauty of Spencerian so something that comes close but is good at speed means I'm definitely interested. I may wind up switching from...whatever it is that I'm learning.

Hi, I have spent the past few years of my life advocating for critical thinking, and giving training on the topic. Many people have talked about listening to and reading both sides on any topic which is an important point - I like to say that critical thinking is a team sport. I also recommend that your first step should always be to read the Wikipedia article on any new topic that you encounter. You should not trust information on Wikipedia 100%, but this step will help you to get an overall understanding of the topic and a sense of how experts think on it.

I also recommend the following books, and I have put them in order from shortest/easiest to longest/hardest so I recommend reading them in this order:

An Illustrated Book of Bad Argumentshttps://bookofbadarguments.com/

Innumeracyhttps://www.amazon.ca/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

Critical Thinkinghttps://www.criticalthinking.org/store/products/critical-thinking-tools-for-taking-charge-of-your-learning-amp-your-life-3rd-edition/143

Some free resources:

https://youarenotsosmart.com/

https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/tools/lp/Bo/LogicalFallacies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

And I am currently working on a free multiplayer game where you learn the logical fallacies by trying to fool your friends with deceptive famous quotes. It should be ready in a few months so I will take note of your username and DM you the link when it is ready.

Suggestion: Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and its Consequences

Not directly related to engineering, but still very good.

I also like books about design, especially opinionated design (I think design and engineering go hand in hand). One good one I've read lately is The Compact Culture.

I know it sounds weird, but I improved my handwriting by using those workbooks from 1st and 2nd grade where you trace the letter and then write it on your own like ten times after that. Plus I've found writing in all capital letters helps improve my handwriting. You just gotta practice and find what works best for you. I actually get compliments on my handwriting these days, when back in high school I used to get hell for how shitty my handwriting was.
Edit: workbooks like this, then you can upgrade to higher level ones

You're welcome :)

I also use this handbook for my Grade 10 English class. (I teach English in an International Section in France) https://www.amazon.com/Warriners-Handbook-Introductory-Course-Mechanics/dp/0030986265/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=warriner%27s+handbook&qid=1563871748&s=books&sr=1-11

It says "Grade 6," but it's actually pretty advanced, and the examples are more mature than a grade 6 book.

There are things like this which your aunt may really appreciate, given her age. There's lots of different types, but they're books that you fill in pages of memories you've had with her, or what makes her special to you, etc. Each page is prompted. If you have siblings who can offer, it could be a nice joint gift to include all of your memories/thoughts/love.

https://www.amazon.com/Love-That-Youre-Aunt-Because/dp/1700210092/ref=sr_1_50?keywords=My+Aunt+fill+in&qid=1572755701&s=books&sr=1-50

I feel really lucky to live in a time when there are so many awesome Star Wars-themed tools for teaching kids the basics. Phonics, more phonics, math and a whole series of books that leads them from very very basic with Ep. IV and gets progressively more sophisticated as you move through the original series. It is, indeed, a great time to be a dad.

Anything by Simon Singh is worth reading. In addition to what others have recommended, these books are good:

[The man who loved only numbers](http://www.amazon.com/MAN-WHO-LOVED-ONLY-NUMBERS/dp/0786884061/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254333710&sr=8-1
)

Flatland

Prisoner's Dilemma

A mathematician reads the newspaper

A mathematician plays the stock market

Innumeracy: mathematical illiteracy and its consequences

Also, while not exactly about Maths:

Surely you are joking, Mr Feynman

What do you care what other people think?

The Art of Computer Programming

As for books, the best I could find on Amazon (based on ratings) was Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. http://www.oberlin.edu/faculty/gkornbl/H325F09/ is a syllabus I found for a Native American History course that could have some good resources.

Also check out this IamA which may provide some perspective and/or resources or you could PM them.

IAmA Native American who lives on a reservation. AMA

Also there is r/NativeAmerican if you want to ask over there.

Nix The Giving Tree -- it's for older kids, and really, for adults.

For the 4-year-old, Flat Stanley is a fun early chapter book series that his parents can read him (there are more books than in the linked boxed set).

Richard Scarry is good for the numerous things to look at. If you only get one, buy Cars, and Trucks and Things that Go. Check the book dimensions first. You want at least a 10 to 12 inch Richard Scarry book, the bigger the better.

There are a ton of pictures books on the market. Go to a good bookstore. Choose ones that have more than a few words per page (because only a few words indicates it's probably a baby book read by a parent). Definitely no board books.

The 9-year-old is probably asking for non-fiction books when he says educational books.

1. Best of Mad Libs is a huge one that will last him a while.
   
   
2. Animal Encyclopedia. There's a whole range of hardcover books like this, lots of color photos with factoids about the subject matter.
   
   Do you know if the 4-year-old is reading yet, or what either of their interests are outside of books? What other types of gifts did they ask for? That might give you a clue. For example, if either of them mention Star Wars, books about Star Wars may get them really excited about reading, or maybe a non-fiction book about space flight, etc.
   

Ha! I find myself reluctant to tell you - I keep thinking, but I wanted to gift that! AllOfTimeAndSpace should get this book. It is one of my son's all time favorites. He systematically points at each picture with the demand that I say the word, and now we've finally gotten to the point I can ask him to point to stuff - he surprises me every day with how fast his vocabulary is growing!

Paulos is pretty good. He has some other good books too.

I've read and can recommend Innumeracy and AMPtSM as quick bedtime reading or to mathematical laymen.

Like I said. A 1 year old won't remember. Won't really know what's going on. It will be more for you than anything. I little $5 item is fine.

A quick check on amazon has a bunch of stuff. I found a book that would be great. Only $3 something. And it will help your child immensely to read to her/him daily.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312510780/ref=mp_s_a_1_8/192-1078523-6739854?qid=1458074671&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=best+gifts+for+1+year+old+girls&dpPl=1&dpID=51dxds64%2ByL&ref=plSrch

This is an excellent read on Native American history and their relation to white Americans – a true classic.

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

[Under $4] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0312510780/ref=aw_ls__6?colid=2AM7TAQQA7P2I&coliid=I35U7SHGRVNUKV)

[Under $3] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0307021343/ref=aw_ls__5?colid=2AM7TAQQA7P2I&coliid=I1XA4R3BFFGRLS)

I don't have anything under $2 except for digital, which I CANNOT SEE THE PRICE OF ON MOBILE because Amazon hates me.

These are both books for my niece. I want her to be a reader like me. So far, she LOVES books.

Thanks for the contest!!

it has been done.

the most interesting was a test for a disease that has a 98% accuracy rate for a disease that only 1 out of 200 have and if you test positive you have only a 20% chance of having the disease. google Bayes Therom.
if you like math read it.

Key word is thorough. Prob and stat is actually very intuitive, the issue is that that intuition must be built from the ground up. Most university courses fail in this respect.

Let me recommend some good, useful, and fun to read books for you: Innumeracy, Beyond Numeracy, and probably most importantly A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper all by John Allen Paulos. He's sort of a pop-math author I would consider analogous to Carl Sagan for numbers.

Granted, I teach 5th graders so take whatever I say with a grain of salt with 11th graders. This book about writer's notebooks really helped see the benefit of having one. This focuses more on having a free space to write whatever they want that can snowball into a larger idea.

I say grading or looking through them every 2 weeks or so should be good but I think checking them may be hard if they're using it for notes or planning. Perhaps having a multi subject notebook or a writers notebook and a binder for notes and such could help with all the uses you want from it?

Sorry this was a little scattered (#onemoreweekofschool) but let me know if you have any questions!

>98.44%/99.9%

That should be 98.44-99.9%

>being european.

Actually, it's "something other than NA"...

>So yeah, between naught and fuckall percent native American

Again, I'm going to need a numerical value for "fuckall".. Because "naught" means zero, so I'd have to assume fuckall means "more than zero"...

Innumeracy can be overcome with the proper desire and effort. This might be a good place to start...

Don't forget about books for the toddler years too! They're grabby and will rip paper because they don't know how to manipulate it yet, so you want board books that can stand up to them. Because my daughter, at least, can't stand when we're reading her something that she can't flip through, and teaching gentle touch is a slow process.

Aside from all the kid's books rendered into board book form, I love books that are full of labelled pictures of things, like this. I point at words to teach her them and I can see her vocab expanding as she points at pictures when I call them out to her.

>everyone however, needs to know how to file taxes, how to get a job, how to cook.

Nope. I'm curious why you think everyone needs to know how to cook.

If I had to choose a world where everyone could cook, or everyone had a good sense of statistics, I'd easily choose the latter. We'd all be happier and more successful.

There is a cute book called "Girls like spaghetti" that illustrates the difference between sentences based on the use of apostrophes. It helps for some students to see it in a picture.

https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Like-Spaghetti-without-Apostrophes/dp/0399247068/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469975200&sr=1-1&keywords=girls+like+spaghetti

Dawkins is a great author and thinker, and he would benefit a lot from taking a look at this.

With the mentality of the current GOP I could see it. It's an interesting book though. Wish politicians read things like that and this.

I've been reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. The collection of short stories is so truly depressing. The native americans in general were very trusting and desired a meaningful relationship with the white settlers. In the end, however, land disputes gave way to hostilities over and over again.

For Mommy

For Baby!

Thanks for the contest. :)

those meddling kids

For those interested, I highly recommend reading Russell Means' autobiography, "Where White Men Fear to Tread."

And, of course, all Americans should read Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee."

Heh. Funny.

It's sure easy to confirm one's bias when you make stuff up.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Lie-Statistics-Darrell-Huff-dp-0393310728/dp/0393310728/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1554384269

Also, maybe even more significantly:

https://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences-dp-0809058405/dp/0809058405/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1554384368

> Mathematical literacy is more important than the typical person things.

The way you phrased that reminded me of Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos, which is a great book on these types of things.

Here's a tool to help with checking your reality :)

Innumeracy

Don't cut yourself short, man. Maybe try easier things, like this. Or maybe this.

I really liked Innumeracy by John Allen Paulos.

Some suggestions:

Oral History/Stories

• The Sons of the Wind: The Sacred Stories of the Lakota - Dooling
  
  
• American Indian Myths and Legends - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  
• American Indian Trickster Tales - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  Historical/Educational material
  
  
• Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Contitions of North American Indian; Vol. I & II - Catlin
  
  
• Major Problems in American Indian History - Hertado, Iverson
  
  
• We are Still Here: American Indians in the Twentieth Century - Iverson
  
  
• American Indian Politics and the American Political System - Wilkins, Stark
  
  Native Authors
  
  
• Custer Died For Your Sins - Vine Deloria Jr.
  
  
• Standing in the Light - Young Bear, Theisz
  
  
• The Way to Rainy Mountain - Momaday
  
  
• Prayers of Smoke
  
  
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West - Brown
  
  Non-Native Authors
  
  
• Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Nerburn
  
  
• The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows - Nerburn
  
  
  Region Specific
  
  
• Lakota Society - Walker
  
  
• The Lakota and The Black Hills - Ostler
  
  
• Black Elk Speaks - Neihardt
  
  And just for fun, a Movie
  
  
• Dreamkeeper - Steve Barron
  
  Feel free to point out any mistakes, I'll add more should I think of them.
  
  These are just suggestions.

He literally said, and I quote:

> Right now if I miss my flight they put me on the next one free of charge. If they made it so when you buy a seat it's yours no matter what then there would be no standby. If you get caught in traffic and miss your flight you'd have to pay for a new ticket.

He's literally stating that, right now, if he gets stuck in traffic and misses his flight, he can fly standby on the next flight, for free.

Nobody is talking about flight delays or cancellations. Please give this product a whirl before further commenting. Thanks.

Check out Prof John Allen Paulos' work. 'Innumeracy' comes to mind. I'm on mobile, so I won't try to link.

EDIT: Found a Real Computer, here's a link

Here's his website.

Disclaimer: I had Prof Paulos for a class before I dropped out of Uni. :)

I taking a wild guess that you have read this book Innumeracy

Even if you haven't it is a very interesting read.

For clarification, the book details the broad scope of the horrors of Manifest Destiny in the United States with stories from across the continent. It is beautifully written and one of the few for which I searched out a first edition.

This will help you

If I had enough $$, I'd buy myself a new laptop on Black Friday... preferably one WITHOUT Windows 8 because seriously, FTS.

I would love the Best of Mad Libs book from my default WL. My hubby and I do a TON of Mad Libs during the cold months.

Thanks for the contest!!

I think the best overall account is Elliott West's The Last Indian War I also really enjoyed Merril Beal's I Will Fight No More Forever, which draws heavily on personal accounts of the conflict. And finally, if you haven't read Dee Brown's Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, you absolutely must. He writes a broad history of American/Indian relations (and it's not a pretty one), and talks about the Nez Perce War.

[This] (http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405) is a great book - and actually a lot more fun than it sounds at first -

John Allen Paulos - Innumeracy

|Why do even well-educated people understand so little about mathematics? And what are the costs of our innumeracy? John Allen Paulos, in his celebrated bestseller first published in 1988, argues that our inability to deal rationally with very large numbers and the probabilities associated with them results in misinformed governmental policies, confused personal decisions, and an increased susceptibility to pseudoscience of all kinds. Innumeracy lets us know what we're missing, and how we can do something about it|

There's a whole book written about the subject, Innumeracy. Lots and lots of people don't understand numbers and how to interpret them, leading to all sorts of weird things.

A good read, from cover to cover.

If you had trouble with any of those words, Here's a fantastic program just for you!.

Maybe something like this or this. They're not strictly Science, per se, but they can open up a conversation that leans that way.

There's another one I read alot growing up, it was called [Girls Like Spaghetti] (https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Like-Spaghetti-without-Apostrophes/dp/0399247068) which is Eats shoots and leaves but with apostrophes

I've heard great things about John Allen Paulos' Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences but haven't read it myself yet so I don't know how much it covers about probability.

You want to read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

This is relevant.

innumeracy I know you didn't mention math, but this book completely changed the way I think about the subject.

http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

http://www.amazon.ca/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

I didn't even realize that was a perception. I guess people in this sub may find this book illuminating.

Technically I don't think it's an "official" word. I got it from this guy.

n.b. -- here is that book:

https://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

https://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

http://www.amazon.com/Handwriting-Printing-Workbook-Brighter-Grades/dp/1483816427/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1452878088&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

The book Innumeracy answers a very similar question about air. The conclusion Paolos comes to is that there's a 90% chance that the breath you just took contains an atom from Julius Caesar's dying utterance of "et tu Brute." Or any other breath by any other person more than a couple hundred years ago--conservative estimate of time needed for complete missing of the atmosphere.

A good book about how people are generally bad with quantitative intuition is Innumeracy, by John Paulos http://www.amazon.com/Innumeracy-Mathematical-Illiteracy-Its-Consequences/dp/0809058405

My son is flipping obsessed with these books and also this one.

Honestly, mathematical illiteracy is prevalent within the general public and I'd argue it's a fairly harmful problem that no one talks about or is even aware of. There's a really good short book about it called Innumeracy.

As far as this sub is concerned though I particularly find certain people's very angry reactions to polling and Nate Silver to be hilarious.

• Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences
  
  By: John Allen Paulos

Louis Hartz: The Liberal Tradition in America

Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies (both volumes)

Eric Fromm's Escape from Freedom

Chalmers Johnson: The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic


Hanah Arendt: Origins of Totalitarianism and On Violence

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers

Capitalism and Slavery

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America

INSIDE THE COMPANY: CIA DIARY

Empire's Workshop: Latin America, the United States, and the Rise of the New Imperialism

The Underground History of American Education: A School Teacher's Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling

I can also cherry-pick statistics to make them fit my paradigm.

Where do you think the saying...

"Lies, Lies, and Damn Statistics" comes from.

That is the problem with statistics, and why scientists sometimes arrive at bad conclusions.

It is very hard to be completely objective when trying to evaluate social phenomenon clear of preconceived notions.

I recommend this book, Innumerancy.

Even though we disagree, it is a good read.

I blame the average Joe's inability to do some simple math when considering the world he lives in. If you're not getting regular raises, you're effectively getting regular pay cuts because of inflation. If the general public wasn't so innumerate we'd have riots.

I think it was a bad idea to use American narration. It gives the false impression that these "white saviors" really cared. We don't see them narrating shit like this

Native Indians

http://www.amazon.com/Bury-My-Heart-Wounded-Knee/dp/0805086846/

Blacks

http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Another-Name-Re-Enslavement-Americans/dp/0385722702/

Cambodia

http://www.amazon.com/Sideshow-Kissinger-Nixon-Destruction-Cambodia/dp/0671835254/

Laos

Hiding America’s War Crimes in Laos | http://thiscantbehappening.net/node/2715

Vietnam

● http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Anything-That-Moves-American/dp/1250045061/
● http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Program-Americas-Forbidden-Bookshelf-ebook/dp/B00KGMIW6Q/

Korea

http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-History-Korean-1950-1951-Nonconformist/dp/0316817708/

Philippines

http://www.amazon.com/Benevolent-Assimilation-American-Philippines-1899-1903/dp/0300030819/

China

● China’s Rise, Fall, and Re-Emergence as a Global Power | http://dissidentvoice.org/2012/03/chinas-rise-fall-and-re-emergence-as-a-global-power/

● USA’s warfare against China ½ | http://www.voltairenet.org/article177063.html

India

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/apr/23/british-empire-crimes-ignore-atrocities

I personally feel the reason is that so many elementary school teacher's have a hard time understanding math, or aren't really math oriented, that they teach it without showing off the "beauty" of it. They teach it as a process or a set of rules or a bunch of steps. Also kids are REALLY perceptive, so if a teacher struggles with answering some curious kid's question, the kid will think "damn if this ADULT can't understand it, how am I ever going to understand it". So from there on out, kids just assume math is some hard esoteric memorization discipline, and by the time they get to high school, that's kind of stuck unless a parent, or other adult showed them what math is actually like.

this is a very good book about the subject. My biggest pet peeve is when people are sort of "proud" to be bad at math. You never see anyone going around proclaiming "damn I can't read"

The overwhelming majority of historians not only believe genocide was committed, but that the genocide against Indigenous peoples of the Americas by Europeans is the worst genocide in human history. Here's some of the thousands of published books on the subject.

The fact that the genocide wasn't 100% effective in wiping out every single Indigenous person in the Americas doesn't mean it wasn't genocide. Here's the legal definition of genocide. And many ethnic groups were completely killed, notably the Selknam people who were hunted for sport well into the 20th century.

Bison aren't endangered now but they certainly were in the late 19th century. The US government hired private contractors to slaughter as many bison as possible as a means of forcing Plains tribes onto reservations and into submission. Here's an Indian Country Today article on the subject. The Red River War of 1874-5 is the one war in US history where people fought the US government to protect another species, i.e. the last free-roaming herd of bison.

If you are lecturing and trying to educate the public, it behooves you to read up more on the subject. Dee Brown's classic Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is a good place to start.

> I own 1000 acres of farmland that I use to grow corn.

So you cannot use rain water to grow that corn? You are forced to cover those acres in plastic, so the rainwater flows downhill, instead of watering your corn?

If you use a 1000 acres of land to grow corn, you are using all the water that rains on that field, then why cannot you store any of that water?

> Every time it rains, I divert the stream into my water tower because I am allowed to collect rain water.

Does your water tower grow bigger and bigger every time it rains?

You see, if you have a planted field in your farm you ARE using rainwater, much much more rainwater than you could ever collect.

Imagine one inch of rain falling on one acre of land. That's 25,000 gallons of water. Over one acre. It's a big amount of water, but only 0.1% of the total that fell on those 1000 acres of farmland. So, if your farmer owns 1000 acres of land and builds a one-acre rainwater collector, he's storing 0.1% of the rainwater that falls on his property. Do you call that being greedy?

If the farmer has a thousand acres of land, he gets 25 million gallons of water for every inch it rains on his property. There's no way he could ever store any significant part of all that water.

The sad reality is that most people cannot do the simplest math. And, unfortunately, those people are allowed to vote. This is what makes people vote for law like those restricting the collection of rain water. They only see the COMMERCIAL and GREEDY catchwords there, without ever stopping to do some simple math and think, does this make any sense?