The Adventures of BIG DOG: Troubles and Triumph
Story teaches children about patience, responsibility and reward
dog. Answer: No. No. No. But, as good neighbors, they agree to host BIG DOG for a few days. This illustrated story unfolds in five chapters -- 74 pages – and holds reader’s and listener’s attention throughout.Troubles mount, putting stresses on family relationships. One hour before BIG DOG is to return to his own home, he performs an extraordinary feat – a kind of miracle. The family reconciles and explores smaller dog options. A very satisfying, happy ending! (Important life values are reinforced in this BIG DOG story.)
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Retirement Straight Talk: Stories and Wisdom from Educators
All challenges and options in retirement are fully addressed in this 200-page book (second edition). Over 350 interviews with retirees yield alternatives, insight, and wisdom for current and future retirees. Every chapter ends with conclusions and discussion questions to discuss with spouse, family, or friend, or ponder personally.
To Order: www.youronlinepublicist.com
Kindle electronic: $3.99 Paperback: $10.99
POWERFUL POTENTIAL OF PARENTS: A Child’s First Best and Only Lifelong Teacher
Parental relationships with offspring change throughout all the decades of life, as children leave the nest and
move forward in life. Each of these transitions poses challenges in parental relationships which are successively laid out in this 61-page handbook. The Appendix includes questions for post-secondary education decision-making. Relationships with grandchildren are also covered. Final chapters address sensitive and important inheritance matters and legal issues at the end of life. Every chapter in this 61-page handbook includes suggestions and recommendations for parent consideration, as well as discussion questions for readers to ponder, discuss, and to act upon in accord with their own preferences, values, and standards.
To Order: www.youronlinepublicist.com
Kindle electronic: $3.99 Paperback: $8.99
POWERFUL POTENTIAL OF PARENTS: Critical Influences, Ages 0 to 5, Extending into K-12
This 25-page in color handbook, second edition, is a quick and easy read about parent influences in the first years of a child’s life, drawing upon scientific research and practical experience. “School” does not begin in kindergarten, but in the home/neighborhood setting – greatly impacting the child’s brain development –
cognitively and social-behavior. In turn, this early childhood development greatly impacts learning progress K-12 -- and life thereafter too.
Recommendations for parents are provided for every age child, age 0 to Kindergarten, including the critical importance of good nutrition, reading, singing, playing, and positive interactions throughout, which yield a solid, positive foundation. Normal progression standards, ages 0 to 5, are also provided for comparison purposes.
Three final pages are informative, too. One summarizes major themes from this abridged handbook. The second cites our 21st Century society challenge to reduce poverty which underscores “opportunity gaps” and “left behind” children. The third page serves as a FAMILY KEEPSAKE/HEIRLOOM, one side to record names of books read to the child ages 0 to 4 and the other side to record names of books the child reads to parents prior to kindergarten.
To order: www.Xlibris.com
Kindle electronic copy $3.99; Kindle, Color Paperback $12.99
GRANDPA’S LETTERS: Reminiscences, Reflections, and Reactions from Lifetime Experiences
GRANDPA’S LETTERS put my reminiscences, reflections, and reactions from life experiences on paper for my own grandchildren and their posterity, so they can go to this book, when curiosity so motivates, and we can no longer speak face-to-face. A local newspaper invited me to share one letter per month with local readership. This continued for several years.
Each “letter” is two pages in length and includes a corresponding, relevant picture. A total of 124 “letters” are included. Many readers in the public at large suggested they be called “wisdom letters”, but such a title has the ring of hubris.
What becomes very plain is that my early childhood experiences on the farm impacted my life significantly for the last seventy-five years while traveling the world, raising children, living in metropolitan cities, and working as an educator.
One of my life’s regrets is not debriefing my own grandparents and parents more fully – to capture their own words, experiences, and life insights. Reading this book may encourage the reader to debrief loved ones on a timely basis and record stories worthy of passing on to future generations.
To Order: Published locally by author – limited copies available Call: 952-594-2488 or e-mail: dondraayer@comcast.net $10 each, plus postage
GRANDPA'S PRAYERS FOR SPECIAL OCCASIONS
My shortest and most frequent prayer is “Help” when I am in the middle of human dilemmas. On other special occasions, I write and/or say prayers that range from praise to petition and from joy to sorrow. I marvel at prayers said by others that capture just what I want and need to say for myself.
However, I find that my own prayers compel me to admit my brokenness; they better enable me to receive forgiveness, acceptance, and encouragement that come from an all-knowing, ever-present, Almighty God who made me, continues to mold me, and loves me.
This book opens with ten personal prayers such as “Fleeing Melancholy”, “Living in Winter Season”, and “Restoring Soul”. Twelve special holiday prayers follow in section two, which were offered in group settings. The third section includes ten prayers for close family members, followed by five prayers for those who grieve.
The final section includes public prayers in organizational settings such as Rotary Club, Commissioning Ceremonies, and Special Purpose Meetings.
King David in Psalms is my best model, for he spoke so plainly with and to God – in thanksgiving, anger, wonderment, and sorrow.
To Order: Published locally by author – limited copies available Call: 952-594-2488 or e-mail: dondraayer@comcast.net $10 each, plus postage
CONSULATIVE HANDBOOK FOR HUMAN COMMUNICATIONS IN THE MARKETPACES OF LIFE
This handbook was written in 2019 for use with an 11th grade high school student in the Minnetonka School
District who I met with once a month as his mentor. He was enrolled in the VANTAGE Program, a two-hour block of time in which student teams studied marketing challenges presented by private businesses in the marketing of their products.
Each student team was given a different assignment, generated possible options to pursue to meet the challenge, and selected the one they determined would best serve the company’s needs. Then they practiced their sales presentation in front of community members, received constructive feedback, made modifications accordingly and proceeded to recommend (sell) the solution to the company CEO and top management personnel.
Published locally by author – limited copies available Call: 952-594-2488 or e-mail: dondraayer@comcast.net $10 each, plus postage
The Minnetonka School Story 1971 - 1995 (out of print)
The Minnetonka 276 School District story is like a movie with a cast of thousands. Skipper students and all District 276 stakeholders bring unique personalities, ideas, energies, hopes, and dreams to the script of preparing youth for adulthood. The story line revolves around one ideal: striving for excellence in teaching and learning. It includes no magic wand, no shining star, no outside benefactor, and no one internal hero or heroine. This is classic community theater in the real world of keeping one’s eyes on the prize for every student.
This book is out of print. One or more copies in the nine Minnetonka School Buildings, Excelsior Historical Society, and Hennepin County Library System.
Autobiography: A Journey of Thanksgiving: Lifetime of Learning, Loving, Leading and Looking Back
My life story is an example of the American dream fulfilled. Born in poverty, raised on a vegetable farm in southern Minnesota, encouraged by community (the “village”), and educated in public schools, I grew up with astrong sense of values, which were then applied in all aspects of my life.
My chosen career was education, which opened the door to teaching and administration in six distinct settings: elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, district superintendent positions, senior fellow in higher education, and private business. The last ten years of my life are not included this life record. The past decade has largely been spent advocating for preschool children with special focus on children living in homes and neighborhoods in poverty.
This book is out of print. The author has two loan copies. Call 952-594-2488.
RESPECTFUL BEHAVIORS IN DISTRICT 5950 ROTARY CLUBS (UNABRIDGED) BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE REPORT + COMPENDIUM
In 2006, the Rotary Governor of District 5950 appointed an eight-member task force with me as chair to set forth respectful behavior guidelines within Rotary Club operations and inter-personal relationships for some 60 local Rotary Clubs, as warranted by societal changes within the first hundred years of Rotary’s existence. The one year-long effort by a diverse committee (both sexes, sexual orientations, varied religions, different political orientations) deliberated for twelve months, resulting in a unified report -- a 31-page (double-sided) report with a shorter compendium of 11 pages (double-sided). It was approved 100% by the District Governor and his District Cabinet and distributed as guidelines to local Rotary Clubs for implementation.
Author has one additional copy of these guidelines. $35 will cover copying cost and postage. To order, call 952-942-2488.
Ten Lessons I've Learned About Investments
I hope these ten lessons will be instructive in your own investment experience. Just as there are different
teaching and learning styles in the classroom, there are many approaches to financial planning and investments. I do not suggest herein one “best way” or one “best person” to follow. Rather, certain lessons or principles have become much plainer to me – in retrospect, following retirement – which I share with you as a fellow educator and friend. I also invite you to complete the pre-post “test” on the final page.
Author has one additional copy of these guidelines. $18 will cover copying cost and postage. To order, call 952-942-2488.
Measurements say I am 235 acres in size, about a mile in width, and approximately 66 feet at my deepest points. My life story begins about 16,000 years ago when in God’s own time a mile-deep glacier blanketed the Great Lakes area. Its tremendous weight crushed rocks and pushed soil and sand, which created high hills and deep ravines. Also left behind were shallow depressions for wetlands and wide holes of every design that filled with water as the ice receded and melted, creating what is called “lake country”. North of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. This book is out of print.
Learning and Living: How Asset Building for Youth Can Unify a School’s Mission
Extensive research by the Search Institute of Minneapolis shows dramatically different behavior in children and youth when positive influences (developmental assets) are put into their lives. The correlation is abundantly
clear that healthy, positive choices go up and harmful, negative choices go down when adults in every setting consciously and deliberately reinforce developmental assets.
This book challenges schools to address the whole child: mind, body, and heart. The mind learns knowledge and develops skills and abilities, which gives power to act, but it is the heart sets the direction and provides motivation to shape the future.
I served as Keynoter/Workshop Leader for 150 assignments in 27 states and Canada.
Originally written by Donald Draayer and Eugene C Roehlkepartain and published by the Search Institute of Minneapolis.
