The Missing Alphabet: A Parents' Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids

As we are all well aware, the world our children are growing up in today is much different than the world we grew up in and even more so from that of our parents. Technology has changed changed what and how our children is exposed to sensory input--changing the way children learn and even what children need to learn. Unfortunately, what is emphasized as important in school has remained constant, while reading, writing and arithmetic are still vitally important--children today need to learn how to think more creatively in order to process all the sensory input and cope with the fast changing world and parents need to be the ones to help their children learn in this arena. Thankfully, Susan Marcus, Susie Monday and Cynthia Herbert, PhD (founders of the New World Kids Program) have put together a step-by-step guide to help parents out, with the release of their book on October 23, 2012 called, The Missing Alphabet: A Parents' Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids (Greenleaf Book Group Press).

Here is the synopsis of The Missing Alphabet, taken from the back of the Advanced Reader's Copy of the book I received:

Growing Up Capable and CreativeHow to Equip Children with 21st Century Thinking Skills 

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO EQUIP OUR CHILDREN to cope with an unknown future? Where will they get the creative thinking skills that build effective innovators? The Missing Alphabet provides a practical guide that helps solve these problems. 

The book introduces the Sensory Alphabet, basic building blocks that are as powerful for developing 21st century literacies as the ABCs are for reading--and missing from schools today.  The expert educator team also offers foundational knowledge, current research, and a pragmatic path for parents to learn about the individual strengths that will help their children to learn productively in the future.  To turn these ideas into action, there is a Field Guide of activities for parents adn kids to explore together at home, in museums, and around the neighborhood. 

This tried-and-true approach engages children with the creative thinking process, the capacity to invent with many media, the ability to think across disciplines, and the reliance on (and joy in) the imagination. Over the past forty years, the authors have developed highly successful programs fro both in- and out-of-school settings based on the concepts in this book.  Now, they offer parents a comprehensive guide to building the confidence and creative thinking skills their children will need to thrive in the new millennium.

I found The Missing Alphabet to be very comprehensive and informative, yet fairly easy to understand and put into action. I really liked all the activities that they have included--for the most part, they were activities that are easy for parents to complete with their children. I really liked the "field guide" to the 9 elements that make up the Sensory Alphabet, it really helped me fully understand things better and I found the section where they help you discover how you own child thinks and perceives information to be invaluable. Having a better understanding of how my son thinks helps me help him learn to the best of his ability--whether in the realm of creative thinking or even in traditional academics. I found The Missing Alphabet: A Parents' Guide to Developing Creative Thinking in Kids to be an invaluable resource for me as a parent and I have only just begun to implement my new knowledge!

 Thank you to pr by the book for my sample used in this review, opinions are honest.  Review by Michelle.

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