A Sympathetic Understanding of the Child: Birth to Sixteen (3rd Edition)

I first encountered this book as an asigned text in graduate school. It was the first book that explained to me (by inference) why so many kids are really ready to drop out of school by fifth grade. Children are concrete learners being taught by abstract methods in primary grades and middle school. Indeed, only about 1/4 of Freshmen in high school are truly capable of abstract reasoning, let alone the younger children. This book is wonderful to help teachers and parents better understand the children in their lives and be of real help to their growing and learning through childhood.