The Art of Teaching Children All I Learned from a Lifetime in the Classroom

An essential guide for teachers and parents that’s destined to become a classic, The Art of Teaching Children is one of those rare and masterful books that not only defines a craft but offers a magical reading experience.

After more than thirty years in the classroom, award-winning teacher Phil Done decided that it was time to retire. His days of teaching schoolchildren may have come to an end, but a teacher’s job is never truly done, and he set out to write the greatest lesson of his career: a book for educators and parents that would pass along everything he learned about working with kids. The result is this delightful and insightful teaching bible, The Art of Teaching Children. From the first-day-of-school jitters to the last day’s tears, Done writes about the teacher’s craft, classrooms and curriculums, the challenges of the profession, and the reason all teachers do it—the children.

Drawing upon decades of experience, Done shares sound guidance, time-tested tips, and sage advice: Real learning is messy, not linear. Greeting children in the morning as they enter school is one of the most important parts of the school day. If a student is having trouble, look at what you can do differently before pointing the finger at the child. Ask yourself: Would I want to be a student in my class? When children watch you, they are learning how to be people, and one of the most important things we can do for our students is to model the kind of people we would like them to be.

Done tackles topics you won’t find in any other teaching book, including Back to School Night nerves, teacher pride, lessons that bomb, the Sunday Blues, Pinterest envy, teacher guilt, and the things they never warn you about in “teacher school” but should, like how to survive lunch supervision, recess duty, and field trips. Done also addresses some of the most important issues schools face today: bullying, excessive screen time, unsupportive administrators, the system’s obsession with testing, teacher burnout, and the ever-increasing demands of meeting the diverse learning needs of students.

With great wit and wisdom, first-rate storytelling, and boundless compassion, The Art of Teaching Children is the definitive guide to educating today’s young learners and the perfect resource for teachers and parents everywhere.

Phillip Done taught elementary school for thirty-three years and was the recipient of the prestigious Charles Schwab Distinguished Teacher Award, a Teacher of the Year in California, and a nominee for Disney’s Teacher of the Year. He has taught in public and private schools in the United States and internationally. He has also served as an educational consultant around the world. Additionally, he Done has worked as an on-set teacher for child actors in television and film. Done’s writing about education has appeared in Real Simple, Instructor, Parent, NEA Today, and Reader’s Digest. He lives in Budapest, Hungary.