A Circle of Children

by Mary MacCracken

Clean copy. Bookstore stamp on first page.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Psychology, Mental Health, Education, Disability

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Marci Fredricks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an autobiographical story of a woman who teaches emotionally disturbed children. Her writing is very engaging, but what is most wonderful about this book is that the love she has for these unique and challenging children leaps right off the pages. It is a book that makes you truly want to cherish every child that you come in contact with!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so touching and memorable. I have reread it many times. It is one of the reasons I became a teacher.

[Sandi Stonebraker · Rating 5 out of 5]

i read this book so many years ago (like maybe 30?) it is one of the most memorable books i have read and i think of it so often when seeing children facing their individual challenges such as autism, etc.

[Wendy's Wanderings · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book that shows the challenges, struggles, and triumphs with working with children with emotional and behavioral issues. I recommend for anyone wanting to take a glimpse into the life of these unique children. Teachers, parents, and social workers of these children will greatly appreciate this book.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a woman who beomes a teacher for emotionally disturbed students. It is full of insight, sorrow, laughter, love, failure and success. I am so happy I read this book at this point in my career. I really needed to hear these stories.

[brie mckinney · Rating 4 out of 5]

amazing. i ate it up. i need a part two thank you.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for memoirs where the author has tried to draw out autistic or mentally ill children. I love seeing the techniques work and I always hope for the fairy-tale ending: that the teacher/mentor made a lasting difference.

This book explains how Mary MacCracken first got involved with these children. She's written a series of memoirs which (in my opinion) get progressively whiny, but in this book she's still full of optimism and hope. She became a teacher's aide in a school for emotionally handicapped children and eventually got her own class. I cheered for her students when they learned to dress themselves, use the toilet, and talk (even if the talking was mostly curse words).

The book was written in the 70s and many of the teaching techniques have changed. Apparently back then they were still blaming autism on birth trauma or emotionally withdrawn parents. But the teacher's love for her students shines through nonetheless.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fantastic, chronicling Mary MacCracken's teaching of emotionally disturbed children, starting as a volunteer and through the years as she worked in various rooms. I loved how the children were described; each child fleshed out and loved despite his flaws. MacCracken took her experiences over the years and fictionalized the settings and the names, but behind every word breathes authenticity. I don't think a teacher like her or Helga or Dan or even the director Doris would be allowed to teach today, but they did such a mighty work in bringing light to those lost children.

I'd have given this book five out of five stars, but MacCracken jumps back and forth between present and past tense. Many times, her jumping between tenses pulled me out of the story.

[Sally Hosford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book and Mary MacCracken. I've bought all her books that I could get my hands on. Wish I knew what happened to her. At the time I read this, I was running a little "mother's day out" program. I was so tired of hearing the platitudes - the children should clean up after themselves. They should be kind to each other and so on. OK. I knew those things but how did you make that happen? I was hungry for any books that give information on how to accomplish good things. Mary MacCracken (and also Tory Hyden) told interesting stories of their work and in them there were nuggets that a knew teacher could learn from.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was little I was obsessed with emotionally disturbed children. I watched this movie whenever it came on and years later I finally read the book.

I actually remember more about the movie than the book.

[Shirley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, an easy read. Although it is dated, 1973, it stays relative to today and the quest for reaching children with special needs. It is a heartfelt book and you can believe it to be real.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back when I was in high school or maybe even junior high. I had never heard of autism then, and the book was riveting. I empathized with the author, felt her exhaustion and frustration, and celebrated her triumphs. A very good read.

[Megan]

Emotionally disturbed kids

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible!

[Andrea Olley]

Excellette

[Susanann62 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I read in middle school that inspired me to work in special education. So happy to have found a copy recently! Still love this teacher.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago...around junior high time frame. It was inspirational at the time.

[White Tiger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and its sequel. I would love to find out what happens later in her life.

[Leeann · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the books that was pivotal in my choosing the career of Special Ed. Beautiful book, made into a TV movie.

[Patricia Kaniasty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember seeing this movie as a teenager and really liking it. It stuck with me for all these years. The book is better. It's a true story and very inspiring.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good read, taking on the issues of emotionally disturbed children, including the hassles of working with the bureaucratic hassles, odd personalities and clueless parents.

[Sandy Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books about helping children.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made a huge impact on me and was instrumental in my becoming a teacher.

[Marilyn Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in my classroom, an old paperback with brown and fragile pages. Written in 1973, it is an autobiographical account of a woman who started out volunteering in a special education classroom and who became an empathetic and staunch teacher and advocate for the children in her class. I can identify with some of the conditions she taught under. I taught under similar circumstances when I started in special education years ago. I started out in a classroom that had been a janitorial storage closet and into this, I had to wedge two students in wheelchairs along with three other students. We couldn't get the students in wheelchairs out of the room without evacuating the rest first--there was no room to turn the chairs or get around the others. This was considered an adequate space. I doubt the fire marshall was even aware of this broom closet classroom arrangement. I protested, using the fire marshall argument, until we were moved to a slightly larger space in which we could move around each other a bit. Finally, we got a room with windows! MacCracken's students were described as being "emotionally disturbed," a category that included those with autism, schizophrenia, and elective mutism, along with other disabilities. I could understand her anger in facing other teachers and people in public who felt "those kids" shouldn't be able to eat in the cafeteria with other children because of their noises and table manners. This also happened to me. The attitudes of the author were revolutionary for the time--giving students time and space to react and process information, learning large tasks incrementally, and establishing trust with her students before placing a lot of requirements on them. But she also said things that don't sound PC these days--describing one student who liked to kiss his male teacher as a "fairy" and insisting that her students acted in unusual ways because they were all "sick." One advantage my students and I had was that an administration that would cram us all in a broom closet didn't pay much attention to what we did with them all day and we took advantage of this benign neglect to pile them all in a van and go into the community for lessons in real life. We took them swimming, to the store, to the park and to the zoo. No field trip permission forms were required. We had parents sign a blanket permission form at the beginning of the year and that was that. MacCracken also had that kind of freedom and also made use of it. This kind of arrangement is unheard of these days, but at the time, it was exciting and offered so many moments for teaching and learning as well as letting the children have fun. MacCracken describes the bond teachers forge with each other in serving students with so many challenges--a bond that is somehow deeper than that between married people. In fact, a marriage can suffer when a teacher becomes so invested in her students that one's personal life seems pale by comparison. It is difficult for one's family to understand how all encompassing this kind of professional life can be, especially because the role of a teacher is still not valued. We have a lot of regulations now, many laws, requirements, curricula, lessons plans, and approved pedagogical practices but I sometimes wonder if as much learning is taking place as is described in MacCracken's book. We spend a lot of time planning and even more time documenting what we are doing, but are we doing as much as we could, if we didn't have such stringent rules regarding our teaching?

[D.H. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scouring my shelves, for something to read, the last was a dud, I came across this one. I don’t remember how I got it. It didn’t look quite like my sort of thing, but I thought I’d give it a go. Pretty quickly I was hooked. Partly by the direct quality of the writing, visual and descriptive, a first person narrative, and the feeling and emotion of the tale. This is autobiography, the story of a teacher of emotionally disturbed children. A tale of love among the very disturbed. Mary MacCracken learns on the job. Later she takes exams, but is sceptical of the professors and their lesson plans. The book dates from the mid 70s, but her attitudes are surprisingly modern.

The first four children she takes on, in a special school in New Jersey, are so disturbed that at 5 to 8 years old they are neither speaking nor toilet trained. She has only four, with just her wits to rely on and what she learned from Helga, a teacher who resigned when the Director insisted she take exams.

Mary must deal with insults and tantrums from the children in her care. How did they get this way? Is it the environment, the family, or a malfunctioning brain? The notes from the specialists are often contradictory, and she must do the best she can with the way they are. She must socialise her charges, teach them basic manners, and if she can to speak and to read. Later in the tale, she works with Dan, and they team teach eight children. The children are not ciphers but people with their quirks and fears. Like us but in extremis.

Mary and Dan take them swimming. In the first session, just getting used to the changing room, the other users and fear of the water, none of the children get to go in the water. Patience, attention, listening for clues, she and Dan do all they can. Some of the children develop enough to go on to state schools, but by no means all, some are so disturbed that Mary and Dan can improve them, but not enough for the insensitive world. Her wish, for all the children, is to keep them out of institutions where they could easily spend the rest of their lives.

A good, inspiring read.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profoundly moving.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember this book from my youth and it's quite possibly one of the reasons I went into teaching. So many great books, but I may revisit this one.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a teacher who worked with emotionally disturbed children. It’s not written from a Christian perspective - 3.5 stars because of the language and loose morals.

[janeelizabethdaulton]

Everyone involved in education should read this

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can this book be listed as 1 page?