Product Description

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 achieve a satisfied, motivated, healthy, and self-confident adulthood. But if, as a parent, you demand more than what you find in any traditional parenting guide, then you will need Natural Childhood, the first holistic book that guides parents from the birth of their child through age seven.

Natural Childhood offers:

• Practical exercises in listening which open the channels for good communication between parent and child

• Games and activities for the whole family which introduce the natural world, presenting a deeper understanding of the rhythms of the seasons and their influence in our everyday live

• Projects in creative and cooperative play which help to stimulate the imagination of the growing child

The ideas of enlightened thinkers such as Rudolf Steiner, John Holt, and Carl Rogers provide new insights into the internal development of the child. By weaving together the work of leading psychologists, educators, counselors, and doctors, Natural Childhood explores a wealth of new ideas as well as the more traditional aspects of relationships, education, health, creativity, and play.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #350448 in Books
• Published on: 1995-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 350 pages

Customer Reviews

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.

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.

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.