Coach's Notebook: Games and Strategies for Lactation Education

Rating:
Summary: Great for all levels of breastfeeding education
Review: If there is one flaw that I see in this book, it's that I can't find a way to integrate every game in this book. I love games and I love this book!

The activities in this book are suited for every education level, from an introduction to breastfeeding in a CBE series to a lactation counsellor program. There are ice-breakers, games to explore breastfeeding biases, and games to help you learn the chemistry, biology and physiology of breastfeeding.

The best thing of all - this book is timeless. While some information may require updating over time, the games will hold their own. If you teach breastfeeding in any capacity, you'll find this book helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Great resource for giving presentations about breastfeeding
Review: In the "Coach's Notebook: Games and Strategies for Lactation Education", Linda J. Smith has gathered games and advice for presenting breastfeeding classes. This is a source of inspiration and an aid for breastfeeding instructors. This book is a tool to use to help design and deliver professional-style presentations that are spiced up with games and activities in lieu of a straightforward lecture.

Smith feels that using games and activities adds an element of fun to the learning experience, increases the learners' attention span, and aids with the retention of the presented information. Smith has combined auditory, kinesthetic, and visual elements to appeal to the three different learning modalities.

Chapter one contains basic presentation skills combined with Smith's tips based on her many years of experience as an instructor and as a Lactation Consultant. Smith covers the structure, flow, and appropriate timing of each component of the presentation. (This information is pretty standard. If you already have read or learned the components of presentation skills this will be repetitious for you. If you have no training in presentation skills, this is useful information for you.) Discussion about the use of breastfeeding props, and the pro's and con's of using audio-visual equipment are included.

The challenge of deciding what to present is acknowledged as a common stumbling block. With all we know about breastfeeding, it can be hard to decide how to limit content to fit within a certain time frame. Smith provides good tips about how to pare down everything we want to present.

In Chapter Two, Smith provides five icebreaker activities to choose from. Later chapters contain six games for use with the general public and fourteen games for presenting specific topics or concepts in depth (such as to health care professionals or lay breastfeeding counselors who already know about breastfeeding). The last chapter contains ten games for any audience that contains "neat and nifty ideas from master teachers from around the world" which "convey the uniqueness of BF in creative and effective ways".

All of the games and activities in the book are well organized and easy to understand. Key information is easily scanned on the first page: the goal, the best audience for the game, the amount of time required to play, and how to play. Details such as trivia facts with source citations are included. Almost every game is complete and requires no research on the part of the presenter. However, thought must go into the planning of the presentation and some prep work with game pieces, game cards, etc. may need to be prepared ahead of time. Smith also recommends a practice run-through before the actual presentation.

Some examples of the activities are: learning the composition of breastmilk, really hearing what a mother is trying to communicate with sample statements, figuring out if a medication is compatible with breastfeeding, and how to evaluate research studies about breastfeeding. Games for the general public include a handful related to emotions such as exploring negative feeling related to feeding choices or past guilt about not breastfeeding. There is a breastfeeding trivia game complete with questions and answers. For games where the attendees discuss opinions or emotions, Smith includes the typical answers and details to elaborate on them. The games are categorized into trivia type games, multiple choice questions, and fill in the blank questions. Some games require the players to use breastfeeding references to look up answers and come to conclusions.

This book can save loads of prep time by giving all that is needed to play these creative and informative teaching games. Smith's years of experience in the field of lactation are obvious.

The only complaint one may have is that for the price, the reader may have wished for more presentations for different audiences. Meaning if you only want presentations for the general public you may wish there were more or if you only want presentations for breastfeeding counselors you may wish there were more. What is here is of high quality and very detailed, and still will save you loads of prep time.