Ghostwriter
by Majorspot - buy from the Apple App store
$1.99

Ghostwriter Notes 3.0 is an easy-to-use application that is perfect for note taking, whether the user is in the boardroom, classroom, or wherever the need for note taking arises. Its efficient design combines the familiarity of old-school paper-and-pen function with the environmentally friendly concept of paperless communication in one user-friendly iPad application.

How to be Sick at School: Every day ways to Enjoy and Succeed at School
by Lee Jackson
ISBN 0956754201 RRP£10.99 from the publishers

Are you aged 14-19 (ish)? Do you go to school or college? Or are you a parent or teacher of a 14-19 year old? Then this is the book for you. It is a unique book to help teenagers be their best.
It’s full of easy to understand and practical tips to help you or your young adult enjoy and succeed at school and college.

Nothing complicated or boring, just the good stuff to help you or your young adult, to be your/their best. This book looks at school and college as a whole.
Why that title and what does “sick” mean?
“Sick” is a common word used by young people in the UK and USA – the new version of “sick” means something like…“crazy, cool” “Now used as the newest word to replace cool” e.g. ”That skateboard is sick!”“An adjective similar to cool referring to something that is great”.

School Bugs & Other nasties
by Guardian Pharmacies
Free - exclusively at Guardian Pharmacies

This guide is designed for parents, grandparents and carers of primary school-children as the ultimate guide on how to survive all the bugs that are often associated with the start of the new school year. It's user-friendly and provides details on how to diagnose, monitor and treat a range of children's health concerns. Clearly illustrated with simple explanations this guide allows you to quickly and easily identify symptoms of common ailments like chickenpox, allergies, fevers, head lice, worms and more. "It's a fantastic resource to equip parents and children with tips on how to keep healthy and happy at school", said Angie Moore, marketing manager at Guardian Pharmacies.

Good Morning Gorgeous Children
by Sue Pertile
published by Strategic Publishing Group
ISBN 9781609762940

Society has changed and adults have changed. We seems to have lost our way because so many children are not being nutured. The time has come to take a good look at ourselves and understand that adults are responsible for the way children grow and develop.
Materialism does not make a happy child, nor does neglect. Children need to feel nutured and and know they are loved unconditionally. Good Morning Gorgeous Children is about balance and connectedness in lives.

Meditation Capsules
by Janet Etty-Leal
published by meditationcapsules.com
ISBN 9780646535012 RRP$36.95 (inc p&p)

The author works with a number of schools teaching children meditation. Some of the recent tragedies we have seen in the media Janet sees as a perfect example of a total lack of self-awareness on the part of the aggressors, such as bullying, cyber bullying and low self-worth. Unchecked they spread and manifest in adulthood with unchecked anger, depression, workplace bullying, dysfunctional relationships etc. The chapters or capsules in this book cover relaxation, meditation, awareness of breath, stress, the senses, the mind - learning to observe thought, visualisation and imagery, the benefits of meditation and more.

Executive Function in Education: From Theory to Practice REVIEWED by Mary Mountstephen
Edited by Lynn Meltzer - ISBN 97816062336468
published by The Guildford Press. RRP - UK £16.95

Lynn Meltzer PhD is co-founder and co-director of the Institutes for Learning and Development (ILD and Research ILD) in Lexington, Massachussetts. She is the author of extensive publications and professional presentations including articles, chapters and books on the assessment and treatment of learning difficulties. She has placed an emphasis on concepts such as flexibility, self-concept and resilience and she has written for parents as well as professionals. The contributors to this book include Howard Gardner and Kurt Fischer of the Harvard School of Education and experts from many other institutes and centres in the U.S.

In the preface, processes such as goal setting, planning, organising, prioritizing and memorizing are identified as some of the executive function processes. The book is then divided into three main sections. In the first section the contributors look at executive function in terms of theoretical and conceptual frameworks. This includes a chapter penned by Gardner and Moran in which executive function is examined from a multiple intelligences perspective and a developmental perspective. They identify that executive function relates to the ability to regulate behaviour within a ‘fluctuating and unpredictable environment’ and entailing an integration of what someone wants to achieve (goal), how they can do it (skill) and the drive to make it work.

In the second section of the book, the authors look at executive function in relation to learning difficulties such as autistic spectrum disorder and in the final section theory is related to practice in the classroom. This is a very useful book for specialists working with children and adolescents as it brings together research and practice in a readable format.

Executive Skills in Children and Adolescents:
A Practical Guide to Assessment and Intervention (2nd edition) REVIEWED by Mary Mountstephen
By Peg Dawson and Richard Guare - ISBN 978160623571
published by The Guildford Press. RRP - UK £24.00

Peg Dawson is a staff psychologist and director of the Center for Learning and Attention Disorders at Seacoast Mental Health Center and Richard Guare is a neuropsychologist who is also a director of the centre.The authors are well-known for their best-selling guide: ‘Smart but Scattered: The Revolutionary ‘Executive Skills’ Approach to helping Kids Reach Their Potential’.
This book opens with an overview of executive skills including, for example, planning, organisation, time management, working memory and metacognition (the ability to stand back and : ‘How am I doing? / ‘How did I do?’) Dawson and Guare set out in this book to develop the reader’s understanding of how these skills develop and improve through childhood and into early adulthood.
In the subsequent chapters assessment and intervention are discussed in detail and a chapter is devoted to 19 specific teaching routines to promote executive skill development. These include subjects such as ‘Learning to Manage Anxiety’ and ‘Learning to Solve Problems’. For each of these, the executive skills addressed are explicit and then activities are outlined to support the teacher.
Interventions for specific executive skills domains include ways to improve working memory, how to establish emotional control and how to build up sustained attention are informative and supportive and would be of value both to class teachers and to those working in 1:1 or small group situations.
Further chapters are devoted to specific populations and executive skills and coaching strategies.The Appendix to this book includes any useful checklists and planners to help teachers and students to structure their days and to maximise learning opportunities.

This is an exceptionally useful book which I highly recommend.

What causes ADHD: Understanding what goes wrong and why REVIEWED by Mary Mountstephen
by Joel T Nigg - ISBN 97816066233528
published by The Guildford Press. RRP - UK £18.00

Joel T. Nigg is a clinical psychologist working in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. His stated aims in this book are two-fold. Firstly he sets out to describe the ‘present state of knowledge about ‘what’s wrong’ in children with ADHD and his second aim is to map a direction forward in terms of a multipath way model of ADHD, looking then towards strategies to generate breakthroughs in understanding and ‘meaningful prevention’.

Nigg begins by providing information about the prevalence, treatment and concept of ADHD and he raises the issue of the medicalisation of behaviour in children. He gives a useful overview of frequently asked questions about ADHD and then goes on to look in detail at the ways in which the brains of people with ADHD may be different and to look at why ADHD occurs. Questions such as ‘Why is my son so clumsy? Is that part of his ADHD or something else? ‘are explored and Nigg makes the reader aware that children with a diagnosis of ADHD can present with many other symptoms and learning profiles. He details the factors which can contribute towards ADHD such as the genetic and environmental influences and provides statistical evidence, whilst also recognising that this needs to be treated with caution.

Information about risk factors such as low birth weight are referred to as well as pre-natal alcohol exposure and nicotine exposure. Nigg also looks at the evidence that environmental toxins/ contaminants might cause ADHD and he draws very interesting conclusions about possible risk factors.

This is a very well researched text which provides much information based on recent research. It is a good reference text for student and practitioners working in the fields of psychology and special education.