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@ REVIEWS WHY AMERICA'S CHILDREN CAN'T come the seeming growing literacy chal- THINK: Creating Independent Minds lenges, we need to understand how the brain for the 21st Century learns to read text and decode the "mystery by Peter Kline and miracle of language". Inner Ocean Publishing, USA, 2002 Why America's Children Can't Think is an ISBN 1-930722-10-9 (385pp tpb) educational excursion into exciting new pos- Availability: Inner Ocean Publishing, sibilities for teachers, parents and children. website http:/Avww.innerocean.com . Ps Kline deserves praise for making MOTHERS: PREVENT YOUR several points just in his introduction. DAUGHTERS FROM GETTING Firstly, he laments that teachers are restrict- BREAST CANCER ed from using their wisdom as their life by Sherrill Sellman GetWell International, USA, 2002 ISBN 0-9750487-0-8 (359pp tpb) Peter Kline Availability: GetWell International, web- site http://www.ssellman.com Wh y¥y [ her new book, women's health advocate, = ¥. educator and author Sherrill Sellman A merica 5 (Hormone Heresy) explains that breast can- y cer is a preventable disease. One of her Children focuses here is to address the growing rate Ca n of of breast cancer in young women in their 20s and 30s and explore what could be Th i in kay responsible for this rise. The real-life stories she presents are extremely poignant. Sherrill writes at length about the endocrine disrupters and oestrogen mimics ride abl Lat LLL that have found their way into the environ- lan the 24al Senlery ar . ment and living creatures (including us) and . : their carcinogenic and genetic effects. She experience tells them it should be used—and examines the risk factors associated with if you know any talented teachers restricted synthetic hormones including oestrogen and by the system, you'd know what he means. progestin—now regarded by the US EPA as Secondly, he stresses the importance of hav- —_carcinogens—and laments that young ing a sense of history—in science, mathe- teenage girls are being prescribed the Pill matics, the arts—yet points out that because just to treat acne. Her list of vitamin/miner- history changes as new discoveries an al imbalances the Pill causes—let alone its interpretations are made, we must be wary environmental effects—is an eye-opener. about making false assumptions. This chemical sea that has flooded our daily Our postmodern society is changing to the fives is implicated in the growing rates of point where anything you learn will be out birth defects in boys and "precocious puber- of date by the time you learn it. Your best ty" in girls as young as seven—and, again, bet, according to Kline, is to chart your own —_ more heartfelt case studies strike home that unique path through the information jungle we really have major problems on our hands while being able to develop a meaningful — that require urgent remedial action. relationship with it—to be free to explore it While the book's title is aimed at mothers in a subjective manner. This attitude is fun- and their daughters, the information is still damental to Peter Kline's philosophy about yelevant for fathers and sons. We can do the education of children today—and we much to make our bodies and our environ- adults can find inspiration in this, too. If ments healthy enough so as to reduce cancer you ever entertained a really big idea as a susceptibility, and Sherrill gives great advice little kid and yet strangely have never for- on removing toxins from the home, sugar gotten it, indeed have striven to achieve ut from the diet and synthetic hormones from over the years, then that idea/feeling/passion the medicine chest —and replacing these should be nurtured. Likewise, such creative toxic substances with safe alternatives. spark needs to be kindled in children. Sherrill encourages mothers to keep a Kline, who has over 30 years’ experience check on their own and their daughters hor- as a teacher and learning skills specialist, monal and breast health. Intrinsic to this argues that reading not just for comprehen- motivation, though, is that women and girls sion but in the light of personal interpreta- appreciate the female body as a vessel of tion is one of the keys to encouraging chil- wisdom and menstruation as a powerful con- dren to have the creative: independent minds nection with the body's natural rhythms. that will be demanded of them in tomorrow s Sherrill herself is a font of knowledge and information age. And if we're going to over- 5, dom, and her book is a must-read. WHY AMERICA'S CHILDREN CAN'T THINK: Creating Independent Minds for the 21st Century by Peter Kline Inner Ocean Publishing, USA, 2002 ISBN 1-930722-10-9 (385pp tpb) Availability: Inner Ocean Publishing, website http://www.innerocean.com ‘ter Kline deserves praise for making several points just in his introduction. Firstly, he laments that teachers are restrict- ed from using their wisdom as their life Peter Kline Why America’s Children Can't Think™ ay‘ cy experience tells them it should be used—and if you know any talented teachers restricted by the system, you'd know what he means. Secondly, he stresses the importance of hav- ing a sense of history—in science, mathe- matics, the arts—yet points out that because history changes as new discoveries and interpretations are made, we must be wary about making false assumptions. Our postmodern society is changing to the point where anything you learn will be out of date by the time you learn it. Your best bet, according to Kline, is to chart your own unique path through the information jungle while being able to develop a meaningful relationship with it—to be free to explore it in a subjective manner. This attitude is fun- damental to Peter Kline's philosophy about the education of children today—and we adults can find inspiration in this, too. If you ever entertained a really big idea as a little kid and yet strangely have never for- gotten it, indeed have striven to achieve it over the years, then that idea/feeling/passion should be nurtured. Likewise, such creative spark needs to be kindled in children. Kline, who has over 30 years' experience as a teacher and learning skills specialist, argues that reading not just for comprehen- sion but in the light of personal interpreta- tion is one of the keys to encouraging chil- dren to have the creative, independent minds that will be demanded of them in tomorrow's information age. And if we're going to over- JUNE — JULY 2003 NEXUS 71 www.nexusmagazine.com