Want to read a good parenting book? Pick up a copy of Carl Honore's Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood From The Culture Of Hyper-Parenting. If you are a teacher, it is also very useful.
Here is the lead-up to the purchase of the book.
Iain and I listened to Carl Honore being interviewed on CBC a few weeks ago where he talked about how great the Finnish school system model is. I have heard this before - apparently the curriculum guide for students from grades 1 - 12 is less than an inch thick. If we stacked all the curriculum guides for grade 1 -12 in New Brunswick, I would be willing to bet I would have to get a chair to place the last one on top. Anyway, different approaches (I don't really want to get fired first thing Monday morning)...
I had already read another book of by Honore called, In Praise Of Slow and quite enjoyed it. He is a smart Canadian guy who now lives in Britain and his writing style is appealing without being overwhelming, boring and condescending. I would strongly recommend both books.
Fast forward a few weeks and Iain and I are strolling through Toys R Us, debating whether we should buy Nate some sort of activity table. He loves standing up and I was hoping this would encourage him to start pulling himself up. We looked at a couple but were not overly impressed by what it had to offer so we decided to think some more about it and headed down to Chapters where I picked up the book I am ranting about.
I stated reading it when I got home and before I was done the first chapter, I was so glad I had not succumbed to the activity table. This book pretty much reinforces what you know about raising your kids when you have your head on straight - which can be hard to do as you stroll through a kids store that is constantly screaming at you to buy, buy, buy so your child can learn and be tech savvy before he is even smart enough to know to stop shitting in his pants. I don't think there is any parent who hasn't stared at the overwhelming amount of options out there to "educate and stimulate" and not felt some guilt over either buying or not buying into it.
Read this book for a reminder of things we already know - he covers topics such as electronic toys (he isn't a Luddite) , preschool, homework, extracurricular activities and sports.
Sometimes I really need to keep in mind that Nathaniel's favourite toy for the past week has been a 97 cent toothbrush and stuffing as many pieces of dead grass and leaves into his mouth as humanly possible.
Go buy it, read it and let me know what you thought about it.
2 comments:
I'll have to read this one. I have one that I read when Madeline was two "Making the Terrible Twos Terrific" and the author had section on TV and toys....he basically said if a toy was in production before 1955 its a great toy...everything else is trying to reinvent the wheel and too much fuss...and not allowing kids to use their creativity. So thanks for the reminder...I was just about to go buy Madeline the Leapster gameboy thingy..... ha!! Deprivation is ok...afteralll..I turned out ok. HA!
Hey...if you want another interesting book...it's called The Epidemic about the downfall of the NorthAmerican Family. A little "old school"...but there is a lot to be said for that. The new age thinking about no consequences for children seems to be creating some uncontrollable and disrespectful kids. No one wants to be accountable. Anyways...since you're a reader...I've always wanted to discuss this one! Although it has been two years and I'd need to read again!!!
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