Natural Childhood: The First Practical and Holistic Guide for Parents of the Developing Child

by John B. Thomson

Book Overview

As a parent, you naturally want to give your children the best possible childhood, to bring out their positive, individual qualities, and to acknowledge them as fully creative beings, so that they may... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020207395
• ISBN13: 9780020207399
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 350 Pages
• Weight: 2.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.7" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction to childhood

This book was passed along to me when I was pregnant with my first son. I wasn't really interested at that time, so I put it away and forgot about it. Over time, I realized how frustrated my son was in a world of plastic toys that broke easily, or didn't stay together to begin with. He was much more content to collect leaves in the park than to play with an action hero. When I became pregnant with my second son, I re-discovered this book and really looked at it. It seemed to validate much of what I was feeling, and I could see that my son had naturally gravitated to this lifestyle as well. This book helped us come up with other ways to make our lives more natural. This book is not strictly Waldorf type. For example, Legos are suggested as a good open-ended toy in the book, where in a Waldorf setting, tree-blocks might be used instead because the Legos have a cold, sterile feel. This book is a combination of Waldorf/Steiner, Montessori and other "whole child" methods. It is a great starting point if you want to give your children the best start to life.

MY #1 PARENTING RESOURCE

I'll make it short. This book has been a great resource for me. I think it's wrong for people to write a review if they have apparently never read it. It covers so many different philosophies (Montessori,...) not just Waldorf.

A beautiful and practical guide to holistic parenting.

I give this book as a gift to all my expectant and new mother friends. It has chapters on child development, imagination and play, health, and education all from an integrated, holistic perspective. It is filled with beautiful color photographs and illustrations, practical advice and how-to information on making toys, children's games to play, etc. As a student of Waldorf Education, I recommend this book to all parents of young children who are interested in learning more about the Waldorf philosophy. Helpfully, the author of the chapter on education compares different educational philosophies including Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf), Piaget, John Dewey, Maria Montessori and others. A valuable and enlightening resource -- highly recommended.

Odds are you'll love this book

First, readers of these reviews should be aware that Dan Dugan has made a profession of his near-fanatical opposition to Waldorf education. If he had read this book, he would have found that it integrates many educational perspectives, including Montessori, Paul Goodman, Carl Rogers, Robert Cole, John Holt, Rahima Baldwin, parent-teacher coops, home-schooling, etc. One of the contributors to the book is the editor of the Educational Review. In my opinion this book is exquisitely designed, full of heart, and manifestly dedicated to opening a ground where adults and children can meet and learn from each other.