LIFE book educates adults about teens
by Kayla Elder © cherokeetribune.com 2016
02.03.16 – 09:19 pm
Retired local high school teacher Beth Carey has taken on a new title as author. Her first book of a planned trilogy, “LIFE: Learning Information for Everyday,” was released in December.
The book is for educating adults on what teenagers do not know. In turn, Carey hopes adults will learn how to educate teenagers on the common unknowns. The book’s subtitle is “Challenge Your Teen’s Basic Knowledge.”
“I became more and more aware of what adults did not know about what kids did not know. I became more aware about basic life knowledge we need to be teaching our teens. It is not in a curriculum anywhere anymore and it is obviously not happening at home,” Carey said.
Carey, 53, earned an undergraduate degree in marketing education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from Georgia State University in vocational leadership. She taught high school in various states during her 30-year tenure and was awarded Georgia Marketing Teacher of the Year in 2006 and voted by her peers to receive Teacher of the Year at Sequoyah High School in 2011.
She spent 23 years at Sequoyah High School teaching marketing, entrepreneurship, fashion marketing and work-based learning to students.
“I started in 1990 when the Sequoyah opened …love the kids, love the challenge, love the staff and community,” Carey said. “Because I always had a real heavy concentration in my classroom with problem solving and real-life application, I had the opportunity that a lot of teachers in different curriculum areas don’t have; I got to talk to the kids and teach the kids about what it is really going to be like post high school.”
Her students earned multiple awards on the regional, state and international level of competition through their involvement in the Association of Marketing Students under her leadership.
“I took marketing when I was in high school and I was in DECA, I loved it. To me it was real life stuff,” Carey said. “What I started to find out in asking these kids to apply skills was that I was unaware of what they did not know. I had a lot of assumptions about things that they should know at the age of 17; it was astonishing sometimes, so I started to write some things down.”
Her target audience includes parents, grandparents, teachers, administrators, homeschoolers, community organizations, church teen groups and adults who want to ensure their teen(s) have the knowledge and skills to enter the next phase of their lives — adulthood.
“They didn’t know how to use a landline, how to read an analog clock, etiquette, what side of the envelope a stamp went on and creating resumes,” Carey said. “It became more apparent that there were gaps. My own children, now 22 and 26 years old, provided a lot of content for the book. There are a lot of life skills and stories in the book.”
Her book addresses these areas of life skills often overlooked by adults as common sense.
“The goal of making sure adolescents have these skills and knowledge is to eliminate embarrassment, consequences and faux pas for “not knowing” … which builds confidence and success,” Carey said.
While teenagers have immense electronic communication and social media skills, they may be lacking in fundamental life skills. Carey said the book is a “check/test” for a teen’s life comprehension knowledge.
“You have to have a working knowledge so at least you have a starting point for these life topics,” Carey said. “I do not want it to be an extension of school, I am just trying to encourage adults to talk to teens and be their mentors, advisers and help them learn more about life.”
Readers will find the conversational text easy to read and benefit from the “Truth and Consequence” sections illustrating relevance of each topic. The “Story” sections are true, insightful and provide on-going humor while “Let It Go” suggests one less thing to fight about with teenagers.
She invites readers to “Challenge Your Teen’s Basic Knowledge” in Book 1 where topics include “Warm-Up,” “Home Life,” “Community,” “General Government” and “Study Habits.”
Book 2 has a projected release date in the summer and Book 3 is expected in 2017, which will cover social skills and independence readiness.
The first LIFE book is available through Trail Ahead Publishing and both the paperback and eBook version is for sale through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and select brick and mortar stores. It can be purchased locally at Books-A-Million in Canton, Book Browsers in Woodstock and Three Sisters Gifts and Home Accents in Hickory Flat.
“I have gotten very positive feedback. I keep hearing the same thing that this is so needed,” Carey said. “It is an easy read, you can pick it up and put it down. The eBook is interactive. I tried to write it unlike a textbook, it is very conversational.”
Three Sisters will be hosting Carey Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. for a book signing. She will also have a book signing at Book Browsers March 5.
“Because Three Sisters is in Hickory Flat, right next to Sequoyah and I love to shop there, I am very excited,” Carey said.
For speaking engagements and quantity orders for groups, contact Carey at beth@learninginforforeverday.com. For more information visitwww.learninginfoforeveryday.com or the Facebook page at learninginfoforeveryday.