I would like to share with you great news. My book, The Five Star Program™ – A Step-by-Step Teacher’s Guide to Innovative Classroom Strategies that Awaken Students’ Unique Potential is available on Createspace and Amazon. Soon it will be available in your local bookstores. I would love you to read it and let me know what you think. Here is some background material for those of you who do not know what the program is about.
My work with children is inspired by luminaries that you may be familiar with, Rudolf Steiner and Maria Montessori, and one that you may never have heard about – Janusz Korczak from Poland.
When we first learn about Janusz Korczak, here in the US, we look for books about him. The first one we normally read is his beautiful biography written by Betty Lifton, The King of Children. And if we have time, we reach for When I am Little Again and The Child’s Right to Respect. These were written by Korczak in 1920s and were translated by by E.P. Kulawiec in 1992. Since I speak Polish, I also read Korczak’s How to Love a Child. While reading these books I became acutely aware of the chasm between what Korczak described as ideal environment for children to grow in and what I was meeting in everyday life. For years I was looking for ways to bridge that chasm and one day, I figured out one way to help children gain a voice in their learning process, both in their classrooms and at home while doing homework. It is called the Five Star Program™ and it has been around for over 10 years. Our volunteers and I bring it to schools, universities, afterschool programs, camps and homes. We bring it anyplace where adults will listen and will allow a child to take some responsibility for their learning. And now the Five Star Program™ is available in a book form.
The book introduces the ideas in a simple, step-by-step way so you can try it for yourself. Of course, there is no substitute for attending a workshop but the book provides the basic principles.
You can learn more about the Five Star Program™ on my website at:
To order the book, you can pick it up from my home office, or go to:
or
Let me know what you think and let others know – teachers, parents and anybody who needs to calm her/his mind, focus better and learn with ease.
peace, mariola
