As for Me and My House: Education Is Important

Author: Rose Marie Whiteside
ISBN: 978-0615455839
Self Published by Author
Purchase Link: As For Me And My House: Education Is Important
Source: Author Review Request
Reviewer: Maggie Schlarman

As a parent, one of the most important things you can do for your children is to make sure they understand the value of a good education and set a good example for them. Unfortunately, here in the United States, many parents get too caught up in society’s “demands” to keep this as a top priority. As a result, many people have the view that both education and discipline are solely the job of teachers and take it out on the education system if their children do not succeed or keep getting in trouble. In addition, it has ultimately caused the drop-out rate in schools to continue increasing and for the government (where a majority of people are not educational experts) to mandate ridiculous guidelines for educators to “teach” children and demonstrate that those children are “learning”.

Rose Marie Whiteside stresses the importance of parents playing a direct role in their children’s education in the book As for Me and My House. A child’s parent(s) should be their first and last teacher. Ms. Whiteside does a great job using both fact and personal opinion to lay out methods to better the American education system. In order for children to get the most out of education, parents need to make sure it is a priority in their family and get involved with the school. Since Ms. Whitehead does include a lot of her own opinions on how to handle these situations, not everyone may agree with all of it. There were some issues/suggestions that I do not agree with in the book; however, the overall concept should be universally agreed upon: parents HAVE to be involved in their children’s lives and set good examples for them in order for them to get the most out of the education system in this country and for them to grow and make the choice to continue pursuing and education.

As both a parent and a child of two parents who devoted 31 years of their lives as teachers in the public school system, I find this book very refreshing to read. As she mentions in her book, “education is empowering.” Without a good education, you cannot go very far in this world and life can be very hard. I highly recommend this book to people with children or that plan to have children. Overall, I actually feel this book would be valuable for anyone to read because it provides great facts and opinions on why supporting education is not only beneficial for an individual, but for society as a whole.

Maggie

The Parent’s Guide to Facebook: Tips and strategies to protect your children on the world’s largest social network.

Kathryn Rose
ISBN: 978-1453834558
Publisher: CreateSpace
Source: Reviewed for BookPleasures


"Your children are playing in an international playground with more than 500 million strangers. Over 9 million U.S. children between the ages of 13 and 17 are registered Facebook users. Just as you wouldn’t leave them alone on a physical playground, you need to watch and guide them on the virtual one too."

The above paragraph is taken directly from the back of The Parent’s Guide to Facebook and aside from the startling numbers I don’t think it quite does the book justice in regards to its importance for parents. I have been on many playgrounds, in many malls, and other areas where children roam free without the watch of a guardian and it’s dangerous and reckless. Leaving your children unguarded and unwatched on the virtual playground of social networks in many ways can be more devastating with crippling effects. Kathryn brings these points across in the pages of this wonderful guide. As parents we protect our kids from germs and diseases, bullies and criminals, and many other potentially harmful threats to their physical being, but are you prepared for the age of the cyber-crime, cyber-bully, and potential threats to their lives and careers before the opportunity is given for them to start? The Parent’s Guide to Facebook is a comprehensive, updated, step by step guide to Facebook designed to fully inform parents of the opportunities as well as the threats their children are exposed too on the world’s largest social network.

If you are a parent this book should be in your hands. If you are an adult and you’re not familiar with Facebook but you have an account or want an account this book should be in your hands. It is full of practical and updated information for Facebook users. I have been using social networks for years and I still learned a few things from this book. Social networks don’t send messages to each user explaining in easy terms the updates they make on a constant basis. The information is there for users if they opt to find it, but would the average user search out this information or understand it completely? Most likely not, this is where The Parent’s Guide to Facebook comes in handy! Regardless of your status as a parent, this book is full of valuable information explained so that anyone can understand. It is equipped with screen shots (examples) and step by step guidance to help you protect yourself on the internet. This book is especially important for parents of young Facebook users who may or may not fully understand the implications of privacy threats. Simple things can easily fall into the wrong hands and ruin a life forever. Facebook is a great tool and meant for fun and enjoyment. It is easy to do both of those things once you protect yourself and your family from possible harm. It’s as simple as locking the door when you leave the house or go to bed, the guide is a wonderful tool that is easy to use and understand.

In this guide you will find information on the following items:
• How to set up a Facebook profile and other basics to getting started.
• Walk through of account settings complete with explanations and recommendations.
• Explanations of security settings along with risk and issues that could arise with identity theft, how to protect your children as well as yourself!
• Updated information for new features of Facebook (example: Facebook Places new as of August 2010)
• Screen shots, examples and step by step guidance for each section. A “how-to” guide.
• How to protect your child from cyber-bullying.
• Information on laws and other important internet knowledge in regards to social-networks.
• Information on “The Wall and News Feed”, Friend list, Friend request, games and reputation monitoring.
• Guidance on the topic of talking to your children and educating them about appropriate posting.
• Protection on privacy issues often hidden due to joining a group or playing a game.
• The value of Facebook! Fun, Friendship and social engagement for those prepared to use the site safely and wisely.
• Family Facebook Contract

I could not recommend this book enough. It is well written and easy to understand. I feel it covered every topic needed and as I previously stated, I learned a few things myself and made updates and changes to my account. I firmly believe this is a book that will help parents who may or may not know much about social networking. It is a book that can help multiple age groups and should not be written off because it is marketed to parents. It is important to know that this guide is not endorsed by or associated with Facebook Corporation. It is written by Kathryn Rose, a Certified Social Media Strategist and Trainer. She specializes in many areas that make her extremely qualified to write this book.