Beyond The Tiger Mom { Review }

I am always doing some sort of "professional development" as an ongoing, long time homeschooling mom and educationalist.  What can I say, it's fun and doubles as an awesome hobby.  I love cycling through ideas to keep me fresh, motivated, and learned.  So recently when I was presented with an opportunity to read 'Beyond The Tiger Mom' I snatched it up as quick as possible.  I KNEW it was something I'd be totally interested in.

The book is written by Maya Thiagarajan.  She has lived and worked in India, Singapore and the United States.  Maya has a BA in English from Middlebury College and a Masters in Education Policy from Harvard University.   The length of the book is 224 pages.  Easily read and digested.  It is filled with facts and figures, interviews, and tips to help you go Beyond the Tiger Mom.

{ What's the Book About }

Essentially the book examines the cultural and academic views of Asians and then sometimes compares them with the West.  I have often wondered how the other half live and think about academics, and here Maya gives us her very own personal accounts and thoughts, responses from her own students, and interviews with other mothers.

It is truly an interesting way of exploring how the other half of the world views academics.

{ Contents }

Introduction

The book starts out with her background in education and how she got to where she is.  Being born in one country, moving to another, and then re-establishing herself in yet a third country.  Surrounded by an Asian culture, both at work and socially.

Part One is divided up into 3 chapters mainly discussing 'Academics'; Math, Reading, and Other things Asians love.  

In the first chapter she talks about Asians and Math.  Such an awesome insight for us in the Western world.  Why are they doing it?  How long are they doing it?  How important is it?  What about early learning?  

The second chapter discusses 'Reading', and here we see her travel across the ocean for a western ideal.  

Thirdly we jump into topics such as memorization, exams, and other things that Asians love.  

Additionally, there are inserts of interviews from other mothers featured prominently in each chapter.  At the end of each chapter is a generous helping of TIPS for the topic just spoken on.  

And then suddenly we are in Part Two.  This is where Maya takes a shift in her examination and moves into 'Achieving Balance'.  There's obviously two very extremes with Asian academics compared with the West.

Chapter 4 talks about Asian schedules.  If you've ever wondered about how long the average Asian child spends doing academics - wonder no more - she gives us full day schedules - which I found to be very fascinating.  What was just as intriguing is the amount of students accessing tuition outside of the school day.  What do they do on the weekends?  And I bet you'd love to know what Asian mothers say about play as well, but you'll have to read the book to find out.

Chapter 5 leads us very soberly to discuss the terrible F word:  Failure.  It happens, but what does that mean for an Asian child?  How does all the pressure affect the child?  A sobering look at suicide is also presented.

Spending the afternoon propped up on the lounge we encounter Part Three.

Chapter: 6 and the key words 'Filial Piety'.  When was the last time you saw a phrase like that fleshed out?  Well, surprise - those Asians still have it and they live it every day.  I fear that we have mostly lost it here in the West.

As we near the end in chapter 7 we touch on the world as we know it, full of technology, and not only that, but technology in a global world.  How big is this competing stage?  Is this the core fundamental essence to what is driving them?

Conclusion and Looking Forward.

{ What I Thought About It }

I loved how it resonated closely to my own philosophy on education.  I may not imitate it to any great length at this point, but it is there in my mind, and part practice.  Many of it's thoughts would fit lovely into one of the main curriculum's that I also use on occasion.

I love how they do not shy away from early math, in fact , they run to it. There's no time to waste in this competing and short lived world.   STEM subjects should be given more consideration and action here in the Western world.

I am currently feeling all sorts of validation with this book.

To be honest though, I was entirely shocked at how many hours Asians have their children doing academic work and extracurricular activities.  Yes, I was very shocked.  

Family structure plays so much importance; filial piety - an almost forgotten necessity.  I am sure to be thinking about this concept for quite some time.

Lastly, a fantastic read.  It will also cause you to examine your own reasons and methods for teaching, the time you allocate to your own students to study, and for what end purpose.

{ Connecting with Maya online }

Facebook

Twitter

or just to learn more about the book and the author

Maya Thiagarajan

{ How Much Does It Cost }

The book currently retails on Amazon for the KINDLE version for less than $10, but I'd be quick with that, it is definitely an on sale price sure to go back to it's normal retail cost at any time.

If you want a book and pages in the hand, I found it for less than $20 Australian on Book Depository.

Reading Kingdom { Review }

     One of the things that I've really loved about homeschooling is being able to teach reading.  It has always been a keen interest of mine.  I have learnt so much over the last 20 years in this field, and even though I have a pretty good grasp at it, I'm always interested to see what other methods and programs are available.

So, for the past several weeks we've been using Reading Kingdom. 

{ About the Product }

     Reading Kingdom is an online subscription based program for children 4 - 10 years old that is designed to teach your child reading and writing up to the third grade level.

The program lists 6 different areas that it uses:

• sequencing
• writing
• sounds
• meaning
• grammar
• comprehension

It starts everything off with an introduction assessment - to see whether Seeing Sequences or Letter Land are required.
- Seeing Sequences
- Letter Land

The children had a choice to use either a mouse or the keyboard.

Then they do a Skills Survey - to determine where to start the reader.

     Finally they begin with the reading and writing.  There are quite a number of activities and words to practice, so it takes a while.  Each lesson is short though at about 15 mins.  Long enough to make some progress, but not too long where the child gets tired.

     One of the neat things about the program is that it keeps track of where your child is up to in the program, and will send you an email once the child has completed each level.  It will even tell you the last time that your child logged in.  

     Reading Kingdom recommends that it be used as a supplement to already existing curriculum.

{ How We Used It }

     Reading Kingdom were very generous and gave me 3 full subscriptions.   So I had Chloe { 8 }, Phebe { 6 }, and Hannah { 4 } all start the program.  

     Once the subscriptions were available, all we had to do was log in. Each child had their own separate account. The program would remember where they were at their last log in, and just continue on with the next lesson.

     The first couple of weeks required the girls to get to know the keyboard on the computer.  So they were doing a lot of work with that.

     My 6 and 8 year olds tired quickly of the novelty.  The 4 year old continued on with the program.  Chloe managed to get through to level 1.  Phebe almost to level 1.  Hannah is well into level 1 as well.

     Hannah { 4 }  As far as Hannah is concerned it was ALL fun and games.  I think she'd like to continue with it.  If I view it from a game only perspective, we could possibly continue to use it.  

     { a sample page - using the keyboard with a mouse to click the correct letter }

{ What I Thought: }

     They have cute graphics, and the program is interactive. The girls DID get very familiar with the keyboard on the computer. Even if it was via a mouse. It captures the child's attention without any problem.

     There is NO explicit phonics instruction within the reading program.  Your child will be asked to spell the word "bird" by typing b - i - r - d, not b-ir-d.  There isn't any sounding out in the sense of phonics, even though they do state that they use "sounds" in the program, what they presented would be more under the heading of name that letter.  Their method and philosophy, as it turns out, is very contrary to my 20 years of homeschooling knowledge and experience.

     There was a considerable delayed / dawdling computer time between each question and section.  This meant that the child does not get taught to focus for any length of time.  In fact, it breaks their concentration.  It reminded me very much of what a TV does to a child's mind. 

     Very early on in the program they would do an activity where you had to make a word based on a loosely jumbled selection.  This really worried me, and sent up alarm bells ringing, because I do not believe that this is good teaching.  If you want a child to write a word correctly, you should have them see it correctly.  They shouldn't be messing around with incorrect spelling examples.  Why imprint incorrect spelling on a child's mind? 

{ example }

Edited AGAIN - for like the 3rd time.

As some of you know, I did actually have quite a bit more added to this review, but it was mostly focused on how the company presented the program, but I have removed it.  I felt that some of the company's presentation was misleading, if not leaning upon dishonesty.  I don't really want to speak negatively about a company, particularly one so generous in giving us subscriptions to their program.  So I've tossed to and fro with this for a few weeks now.  What to say, what not to say.  What should I say, what should I not say?  Writing reviews are much harder to do than I originally thought.  So difficult that I've actually quit doing reviews.  This is my last one.

My main concern is that if you are a visual person and you go to their website and you look it over, it will look awesome.  That's what I did, and how I felt about it in the beginning.  However, I failed to read ALL the really small fine print very closely  { I briefly perused it but thought it was all good }.  I relied more upon what I was seeing on the website.  I'm a visual person.

Now, my point is, that somewhere, someplace, another parent is going to go to Reading Kingdom and do exactly as I did.  Perhaps she'll even go there on recommendation from another parent.  Then she'll pay for a subscription.  Still all good because the children will probably love it.  What won't be good is that there isn't ANY phonics in it.  She may feel, as I did, that she was misled, even if it was in a small way.  And that won't leave good feelings.  Especially if you've paid for a subscription.

This program was not for us.

{ How much it costs: }

     There is a 30 day free trial - if you'd like to try it out, just to see what you think.

     One may purchase a monthly subscription for $19.99 for the first child, or $199.99 per year.  You can add additional readers for $9.99 a month, or yearly for $99.99.

     As always, thank you so much for visiting, and don't forget to visit Reading Kingdom for additional information, because after all, this is only my point of view, and is only ONE persons point of view - at that.  

     Oh, and please do check out some of the other awesome reviews done by my fellow crew members as well.  Yes, you really should.  :o)  

Three Decades of Fertility { Review }

     What happens when you put 10 veteran mothers together to talk about their fertility and faith, and then you open up an avenue to share about how it has affected their family life?  Yep, you get an awesome book full of Godly encouragement.

Today I am very happy to present to you:

Three Decades of Fertility

     Brought to you by Natalie Klejwa from Visionary Womanhood. Don't miss this brand new, must read book; launch date: 29th July, 2013. This book is a beautiful offering on the realities of life and fertility.  Imagine being able to peek into the life of another, spanning 30 years of time.  What would we see?  What would we hear?  These ladies have been so gracious to share some of their triumphs, and some of their sadness with us too.

{ What's the Book About }

"What would happen if a married woman gave the best years of her life to her Creator? Could He be trusted? Would her life be wasted? Ten women did just that and joyfully discovered that the God of LIFE was faithful."

     And with that in mind, you'll meet ten awesome women and hear their personal testimonies.  There is such a blessing to hear from those who have gone before us, that we may benefit from their knowledge and life experience.

A quick snipet taken from the contents page:

1. Progressive Revelation by Carmon Friedrich, age 51
2. Tracing God’s Hand by Jeanette Paulson, age 55
3. Eternal Treasure by Natalie Klejwa, age 46
4. Just Another Mother in Love by Stacy McDonald, age 46
5. God Changed My Heart by Molly Evert, age 43
6. Not Our Plan,Yet Not Unplanned by Ruth Einfeld, age 49
7. The Lord Directs Our Steps by Terry Covey, age 52
8. God’s Faithfulness in Life and Death by Heather Olsson, age 46
9. Embracing His Plan by Sue Liesmake, age 45
10. Through Children’s Children by Yvonne Harink, age 46

Followed by an additional bonus chapter called: A Body Built for Baby Building by Dr. Regina Brott.

And a final chapter on nutrition by Donielle Baker.

As you can see they have a lot of years, and therefore many life experiences to share about fertility.  

At the end of each chapter, each of the women answer a questionnaire of eleven questions on issues such as:

• matters on miscarriage, infant loss, birth defects
• having older children and small babies in the house at the same time
• ethical issues on repeated miscarriages 
• physical recovery - especially over the age of 40
• how they deal with extended family members and the community in regard to their family size
• about being 'older' parents
• how they share miscarriage with older children
• how having babies in their 40's affected their relationships with their husbands
• specific tips for specific pregnancy related problems
• general thoughts on pregnancy in ones 40's - statistics and odds
• hindsight 20/20 - do they have any regrets, what would they have done differently

     If you've ever wanted to hear from women share about these types of things, now's your chance. You can read all about them in this 171 page book.  There is so much information shared.

{ What I thought of About It }

     I was very quickly drawn to this book because of my own fertility issues.  I've been on a mummy { I'm Australian - so I'll sometimes insert Australian spelling } journey for almost 25 years. I've given birth to 8 living children, and lost a few babies along the way. We've had 7 years of IN-fertility { in the middle } due to a vasectomy included in the mix as well.  But God IS good, and truly faithful.  He not only restored our fertility, but has blessed us with the 4 little girls that you so often hear me talking about on this blog { that's why there's a big gap between our older children and the younger ones}.  As I approach my older years, I'm 43 now, I see how the hand of God has truly blessed us.  I have been most blessed when I finally trusted God with my own fertility, and surrendered myself to His hand.

     In regard to the book:  I love how each lady develops a personal testimony on her journey through life as they came to each step of the way.  As a mother I really enjoyed the birth stories.  I loved how each lady shares private thoughts and family issues so candidly with the world.  That type of openness is so friendly.  I would that I knew each of them in real life.  It was very interesting how life just has a way of happening, with or without our planning, but more importantly how God manifests his hands and heart in each of their lives.

For any woman who has ever thought about having a child.

Don't forget to have a quick peek at their introductory video.  

{ How Much Does it Cost? }

The book is available in several different formats.  

• Paperback through Amazon is $14.99
• PDF download from Visionary Womanhood { instant } $6.99 - discounted for launch day to $4.99
• Nook and Kindle versions for $8.99

If you're over at Amazon, you can pick up the beginning of the book for free as a sample.  

If you've ever wondered about any of the issues listed from the book, perhaps you have a natural curiosity about how the other half live, maybe you've even felt God speak to you about your own fertility, then this book is for you. 

Could you trust God with not only your life, but your fertility as well? 

Circle Time { Review }

     A couple of days ago I mentioned about how I've been trying to teach my children to sit using a purposeful sit time, and casually added that I had been using Circle Time. Today I want to talk about a neat little ebook that I got given to review that can help you set up a circle time too. The book comes from Preschoolers and Peace, and is written by a lady called: Kendra Fletcher.  The e-book is called: Circle Time.



{ About the Book }

     The book comes as a pdf download.  It's a quick and easy read, and has 33 pages.  There are a number of photos within the book as examples to inspire and encourage you.  At the end of the book are some printables to help you plan out a circle time too. Even though the book is only 33 pages, it will spark your imagination into quick action.

     Circle Time is all about having interactive group time. While the name Preschoolers and Peace leads you to think that it's just for preschoolers, you'll find that the book is actually geared for the whole family.  It's focus is for "group time" to get to all those little things that mean a lot to you that you might not get to otherwise.  It can be anywhere from 20 mins to 2 hours, depending on what you want to do.

     The book briefly looks at planning, strategies, getting your children on board, questions from other mums, words of wisdom, resources and ideas.

     Kendra uses her Circle Time to do all sorts of things. Including normal school subjects. She has some great ideas in there for a memory box. So much so, that she rotates them on different days. She also has some great christian ideas to implement too.

{ How We Used It }

     After reading the book I was certainly now armed with a couple of ideas to run with, so here's what I ended up doing.  Oh, and while it's called circle time, it LOOKS like straight line time in my house.

     For those who are following on from my other post the other day: here are the chairs that I have the girls sit on.  Cute, hey?

     The girls - Chloe 8, Hannah 4, Phebe 6, and Charlotte nearly 2. Yes, I include Charlotte as well.  She doesn't really pull it off, but the chair is there for her so that she can feel like she's part of the group.  I just usually let her wander around the room for the most part though.  To be fair, she does like to sit in for short periods of time.

     To begin, I first had to think about what I wanted from our Circle Time. I figured that we needed a review time for vocabulary, skip counting, and bits and pieces. So I opted to make it all about Memory Work, with a short reading thrown in on History or Science, depending on what was scheduled for the day. 

     Additionally, I also wasn't sure if I should start off with a memory box or a folder, what to choose?  In the end the display folder won out.  It meant that I could keep a LOT of stuff in the folder itself behind other things.  Which in turn meant that it was going to make it easier to swap in and out when the time came.  I also picked the folder due to it's size. I can put a lot of stuff on one page, at a reasonable font, and they'd all be able to see it from their seats.

So, let's do some show and tell.  :o)

What my folder looks like.  Just a plain A4 plastic folder on the outside with about 20 plastic see through sleeves on the inside.

When I open it up I have a nice little title page so we all know what the folder is for.  I also made nice title pages for each of my subject areas too.

The first thing, each time we sit, is that I want to tackle is some skip counting. At the moment we are doing several different levels.  Here is my 2 x skip counting chart.  We just chant through them a couple of times.

We have also started some Latin, so reviewing the vocabulary is also included.  What's not here is a photo of the next lesson's words - the're also in the folder but, we'll, there's only so many photos one needs for a show and tell right?

For Bible I have a memory verse for us all to recite.  It's super nice hearing them all reading and counting together.

Days of the Week, and Months of the Year.  Some of us need a quick revision, while others are just coming to it and need to learn it whole.

Yep, I even have a little Art section.  We usually pause long enough for me to pull the pictures out and let the girls have a close up look.  I want them to know who the artist is.

Also in the folder is a character definition.  We have a bit of a read through, and sometimes discuss the character trait.  What is great about being in a folder is that I can have the remainder of the set already printed and sitting the back waiting for us for when we need to swap it out and get a new character to start looking at.

Another page of the folder. I keep additional language work like Greek.

And then, some more skip counting.  I keep thinking to myself that I want to re-organize the folder a little so that I can keep all the same stuff in the right order, but I just haven't gotten there, yet.  I've just been adding things after all the other stuff as I want to include them.

Don't you love the cute little frogs?

I also found an alphabet of bible verses for the children that I thought would work awesome for this type of get together.  We just recite the verses as we go through.

     Whew~!!  Yeah, so that is what I have in the folder at the moment. After this, we usually do a little reading.  I'll read Life of Fred, and then a History or Science reading to extend the time.  I want to use this time to help teach the girls to SIT and focus on the front.

     Now that I've sort of got my hands a bit wet with the concept, I am sure that I can bend and adapt it to include many other things.

{ So, How Much Does It Cost? }

The e-book comes as a pdf instant download, and costs $4.99. 

     So, tell me, do you do Circle Time?  What do you do?  Please share your thoughts and ideas.  I would love to hear about them, just in case they might work for us too. :o)  

     As always, thank you so much for visiting, and don't forget to visit Preschoolers and Peace for additional information about Circle Time.  Oh, and please do check out some of the other awesome reviews done by my fellow crew members as well. 

Homeschoool Programming TeenCoder C# { Review }

Today I've got a review about a product for the highschoolers in your home!  For the last 8 weeks we've had the awesome opportunity to check out some computer programming for the big boys in the house.  Every teenager that I know loves computers.  Many want to know how it works, and some even want to know how to program as well.

What about Computer Science?  This is where this great company can help you as a parent.  Outsourcing can make all the difference with a subject.  Particularly when needing help to teach those difficult and technical subjects as the senior years approach. Definitely a subject that I'd need help with.  So it was great to find out about Homeschool Programming Inc.  They have several different courses that teach children how to write programs, games, and Android applications.  Today I'll be sharing all about their TeenCoder C# course.  Designed for 9-12th Grade.

The TeenCoder C# series includes two semesters of work.  The first semester is for the Windows Programming, the second semester is for the Game Programming.  My 16 year old son needed to start out with the Windows Programming, since the Games programming needs pre-requisite information laid down in the Windows programming course, so that is what he worked on.

The course requires Windows and a CD ROM to run.  

The information on the website says that it isn't necessary to have any programming background before beginning the course.  They will teach programming skills from the ground up.  So I thought, ok, we can do this.

Included are useful videos to help get your child up and running.  Perfect for visual learners too, I might add.

Topics Covered in the Windows Programming Course:

• Introduction to the C# programming language
• Creating graphical Windows screens
• Using dialog controls
• C# data types and variables
• User input and flow control
• Math functions and string operations
• C# debugging and exception handling
• Object-oriented programming concepts
• Classes, inheritance, and polymorphism
• Collections, sorting, and recursion
• File Input / Output

Topics Covered in the Games Programming Course:

• Introduction to the XNA Game Studio
• Game design, game engines, and timer loops
• Screen coordinates and color concepts
• Drawing, scaling, and rotating images
• Handling keyboard, mouse, and XBox 360 Gamepad controller inputs
• Creating Sprite objects
• Collision detection
• 2D animation techniques
• Playing music and sound effects
• Game physics
• Maze generation and solution algorithms
• Menus, overlays, and deployment models
• Multi-player scrolling games
• Game artificial intelligence (AI)

Those lists and topics look terribly scary to me, but don't worry mum or dad if you can't do the work, or have any interest whatsoever in the material yourself - like me.  The course is totally set up for your child to work through by themselves.  Well, that's the plan anyway.  :o)

Additionally - if your child does need any help at all with the course, there is always help available through the website.  I highly recommend using their service.  It's there to help make your course successful.

{ What my son thought of it }

Installation was straight forward and easy.   The following is from an interview I did with him about the course. 

What did you get to do the course with?

We had 2 pdf's and 2 programs, { installation files } one for the Windows programming, and one for the Games programming.  This is how I knew what to do the work from.  There was also a web based link to instructional videos - one for each piece of software.

Why did you want to try out programming?

I initially thought that it would help me to work out how to do programming for the games that I play.

Have you had any computing or programming background?

No, not really, just a little bit from playing roblox.  But I liked the idea of it.

Were the materials in the course easy to follow?

In the beginning it was easy to follow, but then I got up to a part that I couldn't work out, so I stopped.

What did you learn in the course?

I learnt how to make window pop up boxes.  So that was a good start.

Overall, how did you find the course?

I found that it didn't keep me interested long enough to finish it.  The pdf was easy to read though.

Would you recommend the course for other homeschoolers?

It's real school work, so I don't want to.  This course would be great if you really liked doing school, and wanted to learn about programming.  I was really interested in it, but then I realised it was real work.  Hey, I'm only 16, I'm a geek, not a nerd.  { Apparently there is a difference:  geek = plays computer / games, nerd = knows about computer / games. }

* * * * * * *

As the mum, I thought that it was a great little course.  Certainly something that I would want my upper highschoolers to at least try.    Especially in our computer driven age.   

I do think that he would of done more of the work, and had more success with it if dad or I had sat with him.   I'm totally out of my league with programming, but at least the thought was there. 

I guess some children would be better at this subject than others.  I think that it really just depends upon personal drive and interest.  

{ How much does it cost? }

If you're interested in the course:


TeenCoder: Windows Programming { Course Only } $ 75.00

TeenCoder: Windows Programming { Course & Video } $90.00

TeenCoder: Windows Programming { Video only } $ 20.00



TeenCoder: Games Programming { Course only } $75.00 

TeenCoder: Games Programming { Course & Video } $90.00

TeenCoder: Games Programming { Video only } $20.00


All together the FULL YEAR course is:


TeenCoder: C# Year Pack { Course only } $ 130.00

TeenCoder: C# Year Pack { Course & Videos } $155.00

TeenCoder: C# Year Pack { Videos only } $30.00



Thanks so much for visiting, and don't forget to visit Homeschool Programming Inc. for additional information about their TeenCoder C# course and other products that are also available.  Oh, and please do check out some of the other awesome reviews done by my fellow crew members as well.

25 Truths - Ed Douglas Publications { Review }

There are many needful things in life, and good character is one of them.

Having materials that help parents, managers, and leaders teach good character is always a welcome and much needed resource in our modern, decadent, and broken world.  So without further ado, please allow me introduce to you a simple, easy beginners guide called '25 Truths: Life Principles of the Happiest and Most Successful Among Us' by Ed Douglas Publications.

{ About the book }

We received a copy of the book in pdf format, but believe that the book is only available in paperback.  There are 150 pages in the print version of the book. It is presented in a clean and uncluttered, and pleasing manner.

Click to see the contents of the book:

Each chapter follows this format:

• is clearly numbered
• is titled in nice big print
• provides a pithy quote
• includes an article of about 3 - 4 pages
• includes a succinct summary
• provides questions for consideration and discussion

I really like how each of the chapters are wrapped up in a succinct summary.  This is a considerable help with which to keep the focus of the topic.  The questions that follow are clearly designed that you have to spend quality time examining yourself in light of the "truth".   You will find that most of the questions have different levels of examination.  They don't just want you to answer yes or no about something.  They want you to know the why, and how you can change it.  The author really wants you to build a DEPTH with your understanding of the character.

{ Who and How we used it: }

A quick perusal through the book gave me the solid impression that this would not be a book that I could give to the girls, they are only 4, 6, and 8.  The simple fact is that they wouldn't be able to relate to much of it.  Short story long, I teamed the book up with my 16, and 17 year olds instead.  This, in turn, meant that I could simply print off each chapter, on any given day, and leave them to it.  It worked very well as a personal development subject.

In the few short weeks that we have had the ebook, my sons have covered most of the 25 Truths presented in the book.

It was particularly eye opening to read my boys answers to each of the questions.  This really helped open up opportunities for discussion.  However, I also noticed a reluctance to share personal testimony and depth in each of the topics.  The book really wants you to examine each truth TRUTHFULLY.  It can be confronting, and it will certainly lead you to self examination in a new and provoking way.

The book could easily be used for youth groups, or small group work, as it provides a lot of ideas for discussion and life application.  If you are not a Bible reader, this would certainly be a reasonable substitute for the short term, particularly for the unchurched.  
I also think that it would make a great gift idea for families that are struggling with day to day living.

I think that while the truths in themselves can be used for all people, including children, I really feel that this book is much more suited to teenagers and adults.  So if you need a resource to help you have some quality time with your teenagers, this would be a great book to start with.

{ How much does it cost? }

The book normally retails for $15.50 on the website, but is currently on offer at a discounted rate of $12.50.

I do recommend the book as a personal development tool.

Thanks so much for visiting, and don't forget to visit Ed Douglas Publications for additional information about 25 Truths -  Life Principles of the Happiest and Most Successful Among Us' and other products that he has available.  Oh, and please do check out some of the other awesome reviews done by my fellow crew members on 25 Truths as well.