Coloring Outside the Lines

About the Book

A myth shattering prescription for raising intellectually engaged, self-starting kids

"I am writing this book because I am horrified by what schools are doing to children."

So begins this controversial and enlightened book by Roger Schank, Ph.D., a world-renowned expert on teaming, who believes that every day of the school year our children are being failed by an academic system that does nothing to stir a lifelong passion for learning.

In this lively, sometimes alarming book, Schank shatters the myths about how children learn and offers candid advice for parents who want to raise kids with gumption, ambition, creativity, inquisitiveness, and analytic and verbal proficiency.

About the Author :
Roger Schank is the founder and director of Northwestern University's prestigious Institute for the Learning Sciences. Before joining the faculty of Northwestern, Schank was th director of the Yale University Artificial Intelligence Project. A prolific scholar in his field, he is also, as chairman and chief technology officer for Cognitive Arts Corporation, a respected consultant to many Fortune 500 companies and the U.S. government.

Review :
""Coloring Outside the Lines is provocative on a whole lot of levels: Roger Schank is demonstrating to professionals, academics--and parents!--how a theoretical framework can be applied to totally personal, everyday situations. Pick up a practical tip on interacting with your child, and come away with an all-inclusive philosophy of child rearing that will drastically change the way you see your child and his life."--Elliot Soloway, Ph.D."Eminent psychologist Roger Schank holds nothing back regarding his opinion of the state of education today. Just as forcefully, he offers advice to parents that is outrageously direct, easy to follow, and likely to be enormously useful."--Ellen Langer, Ph.D., author of "The Power of Mindful Learning"Schank provides a provocative look at today's educational system...Educators may find Schank's frank remarks disturbing, but parents concerned about raising smarter kids with a passion for learning will find this a helpful and eye-opening treatise on what they may already have suspected about formal education. Way outside the lines, this is a compelling and vital book for parents of school-age children."--" Publisher's Weekly "Using his ILS research and examples from his own experience as a father, he emphasizes the importance of retaining one's intellectual energy and learning from experience, failure and practice...Somewhat reminiscent of Arnold Skromme's "The 7-Ability Plan (1989) and complementary to Howard Gardener's" The Unschooled Mind (Basic Books, 1993), "Coloring Outside the Lines is a wake-up call to a society that is quick to label inquisitive children as having ADD. Recommended for all public libraries."-- "Library Journal"For three decades, Roger Schank has been fearlessly coloring outside the lines -- first in creating intelligent software and then in applying it to education. Now he is using these original ideas to advise parents on how they can take charge of their children's education, opposing the school system where necessary. With the current mania over standardized tests frustrating teachers and students alike, parents need to communicate to their children what true learning is about. This book shows the way."-- Jerome Feldman, Ph.D., professor, UC Berkeley and International Computer Science Institute"It takes a big mind...to question the educational system as thoroughly as it should be questioned, without regard for sentimental notions of childhood or the accumulated weight of meaningless academic traditions."-- "Chicago Tribune"