FOREIGN RIGHTS
C A T A L O G U E 2020
www.tongucakademi.com
LETTERS FROM ARISTOTLE Setting out with the motto “Philosophy is intergenerational correspondence”, prepared with expert pedagogue and psychiatry counseling, designed with the concept of “letters from the philosopher”, and composed of letters by 40 philosophers; here is the first of the series of our “Letters of Philosophy for Children”: Letters from Aristotle! Author Kaan Demirdöven, who has been studying philosophy for many years, has written 12 works of essays, stories and novels. He has also contributed to dozens of books. www.kaandemirdoven.com Tonguç Publications, which have been preparing junior and high school students for exams for many years and have a strong educational staff and knowhow with 100% success rate of children and young people, started to produce cultural publications for readers of the same age as of 2019. www.tongucakademi.com Objectives of the Letters of Philosophy series: 1. To be able to present the course of thought to children within the scope of original philosophy by remaining within the discipline, apart from fairy tales and storytelling. 2. To contribute to their social development 3. To support their ability of free thinking 4. To lead the way to the refinement of their thinking Aristotle writes three separate letters to children in the age group of 8-12 under three different titles. First letter: About Being
Second letter: About Nature Third letter: About Soul
FIRST LETTER (About Being) So, what does philosophy mean? Philosophy is an ancient Greek word… a combination of the words Philo and Sophos: Philo: Love Sophos: Knowledge, wisdom, wise Philosophy means loving wisdom… If we go deeper a little more, in my opinion, philosophy is to know something by thinking about it in every aspect. Thinking is through reason. Asking questions and looking for answers to the question is through thinking. For example, asking “What is this?” to the object (glass) that I draw here is a step towards knowledge. By the way, I have just remembered that I am thirsty. Don’t forget to drink lots of water during the day… Water is very useful, as Thales, my first philosopher friend in history says, water is life and life begins with water...
— What is this — This is a glass.
— What kind of glass is it? — It is a round glass.
— What colour is it? — It’s a white glass.
— Where is it? — It is on the table…
I call these questions Instruments of Reason (in ancient Greek Organon). If I can ask 10 questions like these to an object and answer them, then I can achieve the knowledge of that thing. Now, of course, you are going to ask why we need philosophy. You are right. Let me answer at once. For example, we need mathematics to count things, we need the knowledge of climate and geography to cultivate the land, we need architecture to make buildings and engineering to make roads, don’t we? Likewise, we need philosophy to understand. In other words, we need to think and ask questions and then think about their answers.
SECOND LETTER (About Nature) When I tell you to show me the acorn tree, you can point it with your hand and say here it is! Or when I tell you to show me the butterfly (yes, it will be difficult to show while it is flying), you can show it when it lands on a daisy! If I tell you to show me Morchella or St. George’s mushrooms, you can show them right away. By the way, I love mushrooms. Since I have done research on almost everything, I have done research on mushrooms, too. I have learnt that they have a very important function in the world… The mushrooms found in the roots provide the necessary nutrients to the trees, and in return, they obtain sugar from the trees. Although this may seem like a simple natural event, these mushrooms make connections between trees and share food. For example, they transfer the nutrients from a sick and dying tree to other trees and make them stronger. THIRD LETTER (About Soul) So, I ask you my question: We can see the body but not the soul, can we? However, we can feel it. Likewise, I can see this tree in front of me. Yet, can you see the essence that makes it a tree and separates it from other objects? You can understand that essence only with your mind. Now, that is what I call knowledge. Here is my other question: Is happiness also unhappiness? Let’s look for answers to this question together. Many things can make me happy: eating, doing sports, dealing with art, buying things I love, being successful, and seeing my loved ones… All of this makes me happy, but I am unhappy when I cannot do them. Then, what makes me happy can also make me unhappy. Is it correct? Did you see? The existence of all these things makes me happy and their absence makes me unhappy because they are changing, they are transforming. But if I understand what remains unchanged in their essence, then I will be able to fix my happiness.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kaan Demirdöven lives in Ankara. He had been a manager on media and marketing in private sector (Era Medya, Adinteractive, Mastercard - istanbul.com). He now lives his life as an author, screenwriter, editor, screenwriter consultant and an educator. He also works as a consultant and an educator in ADS Consulting Group regarding Customer Experience Management and editing design. Because of his curiosity on human life and life in general, he does research on philoshophy, literature, psychology, ancient teachings. Mr. Demirdöven has also written other books on on philosophy and cinema as well as novels, essays and plays. In his work, it can be seen that philosophers from Anatolia throughout the history affected him deeply. Kaan Demirdöven’s book Letters from Aristotle is the first book of Letters of Philosophy for Children. Next letters will be coming from Al-Farabi, Kanada, Al-Kindi and Proclus.
ACTIVE LEARNING SERIES Written and illustrated by Özgü Güler Education systems all over the world is going through a transformation; teacher centered classes and memorization time is up! Knowledge is power but because of the information pollution sourced by the Internet and social media, there needs to be a compilation of what is actually useful. As a Turkish educator, Güler has devoted herself to contribute to this change. This study has been designed for inspiring students and empowering their learning skills in the classroom and outside of the class. Active Learning Series booklets have been designed for any student who wants to be happy and successful during their transformative years at school. Learning is not just about saving the moment and studying for short term goals but rather it’s about learning the right habits that will lead one’s life. Students usually struggle with their studies because of their old bad habits and experiences about studying, negative point of view and lack of discipline. We started this journey to lead students with encouraging and beneficial methods. We gathered the most influential ideas together. The only thing left is for a student to apply these methods and improve their studying habits based on these methods. At this point, we prepared this document to work together with teachers and other educational authorities because you are the ones who do the heavy lifting on teaching students to study better. We act with the philosophy of “Every student has their own genius inside of them. Anyone can do anything but in a personal way. Every student deserves the opportunity to discover their own, unique way.” and we are presenting them for you. When you provide your students these booklets, don’t ignore and do try for yourselves as well. Related learning outcomes: Learning to learn, active student model, effective preparation for tests, gaining strategic point of view, integrating right habits into life, time management, gaining personal studying discipline, increasing productivity while studying, success on higher learning test taking. 1st Booklet: Ç.A.Y. (Study But Don’t Get Tired) TECHNIQUE This is a method of time management that will meet the expectations of students in today’s fast-paced world. We wanted to present an alternative and modifiable time management method that will meet every student’s individual needs. Psychological tactics as well as time management techniques are able to motivate students and they help students avoid negative and procrastinating thoughts. *The name of the technique has cultural importance. ÇAY, which is the traditional drink of many countries is a significant figure in Turkish culture. For most people break times represent a convenient moment to drink a glass of Turkish tea. 2nd Booklet: MULTI - STRATEGY TECHNIQUE High expectations in an unteachable environment bring students to a deadlock and affect their psychology negatively. To bring a solution to the problem of memorizing information in long-term and learning anything in the best way possible, this technique steers students into better learning and make learning easier.
3rd Booklet: STUDY - BUDDY TECHNIQUE It is possible to make studying fun as well as increase its productiveness. Being social while studying is a huge advantage to learning process. With this technique, you will find the ways to strengthen the learning while learning how to study in stronger discipline with a friend.
4th Booklet: NOTTI AND DNA TECHNIQUES
Once we turn taking notes into a habit, it’s not really a tiring job anymore. And what happens when we discover the best ways to keeping notes? That is how studying becomes the most methodical to increase productivity. This technique which gathers the useful tips for note taking and personalizing them is a collection of most current and most effective alternatives for note taking.
5rd Booklet: STUDY - BUDDY TECHNIQUE
“Are there tips for test taking? Or guessing correctly even though I don’t know the correct answer? And how do I complete tests faster?” We put out a technique that will answer every question of a student who takes multiple tests through their education. Even though tests are general and similar to each other, every student is special in their own way. This technique makes sure that a student approaches a test more technical and psychologically strategic while considering the student’s personal characteristics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Özgü Güler was born in Istanbul in 1982. She took ÖSS which was a national university admission test in Turkey and was in 457th place nationally in 2000. She took her bachelor’s degree from Istanbul University on English Literature in 2004 while completing her pedagogical formation education. She worked in every stage of educational system from kindergardens to universities. Through the longest period of her career, she realized that there is a desperate need for psychological support as well as academic information and because of that, she took series of educational courses from Livcon International such as “Certified Coach” and “Trainers Training”. She joined Melik Duyar’s Speed Reading Training. There, she met Mind Maps. Taking Enneagram Personality Types Training during this time became a huge step towards understanding the students and their point of views better. Because Güler thought that wisdom cannot be contained in certificates and it should be shared with others, her neverending thirst for learning opened a new door for her and she started working as an education coach in 2010. As well as coaching, Özgü Güler worked for three years in Gifted Children Center starting in 2012. She took her master’s degree from Sakarya University on sociology. Later, Güler took training on “Learning how to Learn” from Barbara Oakley. Now, while she continues her services for personal educational counselling, she is also giving seminars on learning at schools. She also gives Learning to Learn and Enneagram trainings. Özgü Güler has two daughters and she lives with her family in Florya, İstanbul. Class Activities:
1. Work on a technique every week in a group session and evaluate the outcomes. 2. Work on your favourite technique personally and evaluate the outcomes.
3. While working on the technique, discover multiple ways to personalize the techniques. Explain it on paper and express it verbally. 4. Work on Study-Buddy Technique and evaluate the outcomes. 5. Make your own studying technique.
6. Summarize the subject that you aim to learn based on Notti Technique. 7. Prepare a concept map for the subject that you aim to learn.
8. Choose a topic to learn with Multi Strategy Technique, plan it as a project.
9. Designate a specific school subject that students fail to learn more frequently and design a common learning process for the said subject. 10. Determine which subject can be learned with ÇAY Technique and study with this technique for a week.
THE LIFE STORY OF ISAAC NEWTON The Man Who Changed The World Look at the world around you. The world is filled with technological wonders that make our lives easier. Cars, planes, computers, smartphones… Everywhere around the world, science serves humanity. But would technology and science be like this if Sir Isaac Newton wasn’t even born? No. If Newton didn’t exist, science couldn’t develop that much and this quickly. For example, in 1969, people wouldn’t land on the Moon. Some historians even say that Isaac Newton is the founder of modern science. Meaning, if he wasn’t born, we would have to wait for modern science to be founded for a little while longer. Newton was interested in science as much as he was with philosophy and religion which is why he studied philosophy and religion as well. Do you instantly think of falling apple when you think of Isaac Newton? Don’t. Because no apple ever fell on Newton’s head. Or maybe it did, we could never know. But one thing’s certain: Newton didn’t find the law of gravity thanks to a falling apple. His success was not depended on luck but years of hard work and studying. In fact, his life was filled with more bad luck than good luck. And hardships were there before he was even born. Sir Isaac Newton lost his father before he was born. And when he was born, he was a weak and sickly baby. His childhood was lived in a farm far away from science and learning. His mother didn’t want him to study either. Newton had to struggle with his mother as much as he struggled with financial hardships. There would be even contagious diseases that were going to follow him. But what happened after all the hardships? You know the answer to this question very well. Because one of the biggest scientists in the world found himself and his footing in the world. This scientist affects our lives even now. This book tells us how his discoveries affect our daily lives and even further scientific discoveries for humanity. Are you excited? You should be. Because you’re about to meet a great man. In this book, you will find the story of Sir Isaac Newton who was one of the biggest scientist in world’s history. We are telling the story of undeniable genius of Isaac Newton who lost his father before he was even born, yet did not lost his love for learning against all odds and boundaries, such as financial difficulties, plague and even civil war. Are you ready? Would you like to see how a love for natural sciences and learning can overcome any kind of obstacle? Then, read The Life Story of Isaac Newton and make your own lessons from his own story! What are you waiting for?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Erdem Demir Bilge is a pen name for a well-known Turkish sociologist and historian of science. The Life Story of Isaac Newton is the first book in The History of Science for Kids series. Next books will be on other great scientists and thinkers that shaped the history of science.
GENIUS During a shiny day of June when the weather was only washed with sun, my mother and I were chatting in the kitchen. Of course, mom never faltered in giving me advices between random chats. Right now, she said “If you put your mind into a task, there is no way that you couldn’t do it.” And I put a book that I was holding on top of my head, lovingly winded her up by saying “Look, mom! I put it onto my head, but it’s still not working.” My mom was always quick to response “The slipper will follow you, you know.” Slipper was a real threat in Turkish culture. Sometimes, mothers would throw one of their slippers to their kids and hit them with it. But, my mom always everloving, was just teasing me. My family always that trying my best counts the most. They focus on my efforts and what I learned rather than my grades. But I’m not really sure… I feel like if I did get low grades, I’d make them unhappy. Even though I’m excited for the upcoming summer how I will enjoy myself, I can’t help but get worried about the high school entrance exam that I will have to take next year as well. I feel like I’m caught between two feelings. Should I put my summer time to good use and start preparing for the exam three months early or should I wear take my grandfather’s advice? My grandfather always says that there is an appointed time for everything. I mean, I agree… I should’ve enjoyed my summer and play around. Since I would have no choice but to study once the school started, this was the most logical thing to do. But here’s my problem: Will my parents, especially my mother, let me to be the “grasshopper” during this summer? Although since I know now that when the winter comes, all grasshopper goes away, I may not want to be a grasshopper after all. We as a family will talk about this at some point anyway. I can just take it easy until then. Hooray for the holiday! Hooray for sleeping in! Wait for me, summer! ALYA is coming! Genius tells the story of Alya who is the daughter of a Japanese mother and Turkish father. In this book, you will find memories within you, from people around you and real life. Alya who is getting prepared for high school entrance exam not only gives us lessons about acing tests as well as acing life but her story also gives us different perspectives with its multi-layered characters. This book and its characters have a close relationship with reality. So it’s not a figment of an imagination. All similarities between imaginary characters and events are purely coincidental.
Story of Genius starts just like any 8th grader’s in Turkey who starts to get prepared for high school entrance exam. But Alya’s story is different because while her character is culturally unique, it is also universal. Alya is happy that 7th grade ended. But her heart and her mind constantly are in a fight with each other. Should she already start preparing for high school entrance exam, or should she enjoy the summer months that she sees as a last chance to enjoy freedom? Sometimes, preparing for a test does not mean studying. Sometimes, our time with ourselves and our loved ones are just as influential on our success. Alya whose appearance is a source of interest because of her different looks thanks to her Japanese mother and Turkish father, meets people who will be lifelong friends and experiences new things that will change her point of view on life. When 8th grade starts, Alya is ready for it. Ready for the year and ready for studying really hard. But during that year, she learns unteachable lessons unless you personally lived them yourself. Sometimes there are different problems behind an annoying façade of a person. And sometimes the best way to deal with grief is to acknowledge the grief and not run away from it. There will be other truths and realities that Alya will see because of her friends. She will learn that studying hard does not necessarily mean studying well. And what counts the most is to be persistent, patient and to adapt lifelong habits that will lead to a successful and happy person. Also, sometimes small mistakes that has been made with one second of inconsideration can lead to greater effects on a person’s life. Within itself, Genius has small stories, fairytales and legends that serve the main plot of Alya’s story. It also has random test questions which are somehow still linked to the plot. This is the biggest reason that Genius is not just a story, but it’s also a guiding book for students who feel the pressure of test taking. Genius which any parent can read with their kids doesn’t have a foreword but you will be the one to have the last word. Come on, GENIUS! What are YOU still waiting for?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mete Or who tells people that counselling books can be more than books that only preach and talk about studying methods, also creates content for school books and videos for Social Sciences and History Department in Tonguç Akademi. Genius is the second counselling book that Mete Or has written so far, which is also linked to “Come on! Motivation and Planning Guide” that he has written. Genius has already been a successful reference book for any student who feels the stress of exams in their lives and wants to escape to a bit more glossy world than they live in.
