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Click HERE to return to the Bookstore The Sun's Not Broken, A Cloud's
Just in the Way:
FIRST SHORT, SNAPPY REVIEWS; BELOW ARE SOME LONGER ONES . . . very good, moving, and useful. ÷ Jonathan Kozol . . . It expresses in a lovely, meaningful
way what working with young children is all about, as well as what
young children are all about. . . . a model [for my student teachers]
of how a teacher uses her theories/practices, hopes/fears and successes/failures
to self-reflectively grow each day. . . . I hope this book finds its way into many hearts. It has the potential to change the world. ÷ Marcia Berman Harlene Galen, reviewing in Young Children, September 1985 Clemens provides outstanding illustrations of daily occurrences in prekindergarten classrooms. Her examples support research evidence that participation in high quality preschool programs results in significant and lasting differences in children's subsequent school and life performance. Her work presents practical, effective, and creative solutions to typical challenges teachers of young children face. The solutions would be equally valuable for pre-service and in-service teachers, support staff and parents. Clemens explores three major themes: the interrelationship of feeling and learning, the role of the senses in skill development, and the influence of the cyclic nature of the school year upon the teacher's goals. The crucial importance of the adult's awareness of each child's developmental level, learning style, and affective needs is emphasized. In her easy-to-read personal style, the author shares specific techniques, strategies and ideas collected during 12 years of teaching inner-city 4-year-olds. One of the book's many strengths is the explanation of logging as a means to more effective teaching. The author outlines the procedure for developing this skill, analyzes the reasons for its success, and uses excerpts from her logs as examples. Another strong point is her detailed discussion of teaching reading to her prekindergarteners. Clemens justifies its nontraditional inclusion in the early childhood curriculum by describing how her modified Ashton-Warner Key Reading Scheme supports each child's developmental level. Another defense she gives is parental reaction: "Teaching children to read helps them gain the respect of their parents . . . .When I teach reading, parents allow me a lot of latitude for a play curriculum because it seems to them that I must know what I'm doing." While Clemens' strong biases about public school education today surface occasionally throughout the text, they are afforded front and center attention in her "Perspective" pieces at the end of each major section. She is dissatisfied with the lack of clear standards for evaluating teachers and is convinced that public schools in inner cities are failures. Her recommendations for overcoming these problems will elicit applause from some, defensiveness from others. One minor irritant to some readers may be the memoir-like form of the book. The index will help identify key ideas but a little extra effort will be required to extract all the gems from the anecdotes and vignettes. From Donna Couchenour, then at Stephen F. Austin University, TX, now at Shippensburg University, PA, writing in Dimensions, the Journal of the Southern Association of Children Under Six, July 1985 Early childhood educators desire and praise child-centered techniques, methods and curricula. Until Sydney Clemens shared her experiences and made this philosophy come alive, problems have existed with the definition, interpretation, and implementation fo the process of child-centered teaching. This book is the first to illustrate, so graphically, methods of employing an effective child-centered philosophy in the classroom. The author presents her picture of teaching as she lives it. The first section of the book, "Feelings and Learning," deals with the affective aspects of teaching. Clemens' theme that "schools defeat learning by emphasizing intellectual work at the expense of emotional clarity" (p.8) echoes throughout this section. The characteristics of honesty trust, and respect are essential foci for child-centered teaching . . . . The author does not ignore the difficult, sensitive topics in the classroom, but handles them forthrightly with intellectual honesty. She offers examples about handling mistakes, children's feelings of pare and powerlessness, and race relations. "Senses and skills," the second section of the book, addresses specific curriculum areas: reading, math, movement, language, listening, sensory preference, and sex education . . . Sex education is covered sufficiently and sensitively in less than two pages. The last section, "The Rhythm of the Year," details processes beginning with the intake interview through appropriate preschool graduation activities. Clemens shares her stories, her children, her colleagues, and much of herself in this final section of the book. She discusses room arrangements that are time-saving for teachers, rules for buying children's materials, and the best way for teachers to grow professionally. the author favors teaching "what you are" as opposed to focussing on a narrow range of subject matter. Additionally, she provides detailed examples of the logging system that she uses in her search for "a better way." George Morrison has stated that Sydney Clemens has challenged us to put children first. This book may well be the critical follow-up to books such as The Hurried Child by David Elkind and The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman. A child-centered philosophy in the classroom can be an antidote for the phenomenon of stress during the early years of childhood. The Sun's Not Broken, A Cloud's Just in the Way provides both philosophy and concrete information for the implementation of child-centered teaching in early childhood education. By Judith Dighe in Co-operatively Speaking, Winter, 1985 From the first page it becomes obvious to the reader that this is the work of a master teacher and one who both understands and respects children. More of a memoir than a textbook, this recounting of one teacher's experience serves as a model for child-centered teaching. The reader's interest is held as she/he comes to know and care about the individual children in Ms. Clemens' class. Ms. Clemens' first concern as a teacher is for children's feelings and individual styles, but she does not neglect their cognitive needs as well. There are more than a few practical ideas for discipline, dealing with children's emotions, and peer relations. There is also an excellent discussion of children learning to read through writing and strategies for getting children to use more language. The author shares her strong personal opinions concerning education with readers in an appendix. she does not shy away from controversy as she presents a dismal view of public schools in the cities and a negative judgment of teachers' unions Ö to name just two. The reader may well disagree with Ms. Clemens on certain topics (as does this reviewer.) This in no way minimizes the value of the book, however, as a practical and inspiring presentation of a humane and effective teaching style. By Lori Freeman, author of It's My Body, Loving Touches and A Kid's Guide to First Aid, in the California Association for the Education of Young Children Newsletter, Spring, 1996 This book is a warm intermingling of philosophy and practical advice on child-centered teaching. The many anecdotes offer both specific techniques and inspiration. Parents, teachers-to-be and veteran teachers all will find something that particularly touches their heart. The enticing chapters range from plan food and fancy theory: "On Eating in the Classroom" to "May I Give You a Hug Ö Sex Education" to a political perspective on empowering parents. Any adult who wishes their interaction with children to reflect love and respect will enjoy The Sun's Not Broken, A Cloud's Just in the Way. Excerpted from a Review in Day Care and Early Education, Winter, 1986, by Amy Laura Dombro . . . .Ms. Clemens provides an excellent model of a teacher who has a rationale for why she does what she does in her classroom. Ms Clemens is comfortable enough to share the cloudy times as well as those when the sun is shining. She shares her questions and doubts as well as her successes. For Ms. Clemens, saying "I don't know" reflects a position of strength rather than weakness. She stresses the value of keeping a classroom log to help answer questions ÷ or at least to help focus them. The log also helps see how children and adults have grown over time ÷ something that isn't always easy to see in the course of day by day classroom life. The Epilog titled "How This Book Came to Be Written" should not be missed. In it, the author tells of her dread of writing. Though she knew she had something she wanted to say, thoughts of putting her ideas on paper stopped her. And then a friend offered encouragement. Ms. Clemens closes her book offering encouragement to readers who also have something to say but dread writing. " . . . non-writers like ourselves have things to say, and can find ways to say them, with help from our friends." She continues urging people to try writing and invites them to share what they come up with. Of all the valuable ideas readers may take from this book, perhaps this is the most important of all. Like Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, many teachers of young children have experiences worth sharing. As teachers, we have much to learn from one another. [Note: when she wrote this review, Amy Laura Dombro had not written any books. Now she has. I can wholeheartedly recommend her The Ordinary is Extraordinary: How Children Under Three Learn, Simon & Shuster, 1988. When I typed this review into the Web Page, it was with delight that perhaps my encouragement had helped.] Excerpted from a letter (to the publisher of The Sun's Not Broken ) from Lois Brokering , director of Crossways Child & Family Program . . . . Long live the Sydney Clemens of the world who respect their students as individuals and as human beings with rights to learn what they are ready to learn in the way they can best learn it. She sees her responsibility to the children rather than to the institution of education itself. She makes an attempt to learn to know each child as an individual with unique gifts, family situations, backgrounds, and intelligence. Every child is a learner in Ms. Clemens' classroom, and we can all well afford to take a lesson from her responsive style of teaching. |
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E-mail: sydney@eceteacher.org, www.eceteacher.org • (C) Sydney Gurewitz Clemens, 2007 PERMISSION TO REPRINT
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