Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 288 pages
• Published by: Holt Paperbacks February 1, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0805075135
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0805075137
• Book Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 9.6 ounces

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society (Hardcover) One of the great strengths of this book is that it reminds the reader of what it really was like to be a child: how imaginative, artistic, and connected to nature kids are naturally. It's hard for me to remember now, but there was a time when my favorite activity was hanging out in the backyard and just looking at leaves and under rocks, sitting quietly, and thinking things over. I could do this for hours. It also made me recall the year I spent conducting research in preschool classrooms. I visited many wonderful preschools, but I remember being particularly struck by the atmosphere in the Montessori classroom I visited. There was a sense of calm there that I have never seen anywhere else. At first it seemed eerie; surely these kids were being coerced into behaving so quietly and going about their business in such an orderly graceful way. I remember in particular the child who was bringing around a tray of nuts that he had shelled and offering them graciously to the other children. But the longer I stayed, the more I realized that this deep sense of peacefulness originated from the kids' satisfaction in being allowed to choose their own tasks at their own pace. William Crain reminds us of some of the charateristics of children's development that have fallen by the wayside as the push for academic achievement (as measured by standardized tests) has become stronger and stronger. The child's desire to be connected with nature, to use her imagination, and to produce art and poetry is valued so much less in our schools than the three R's. As a result they are in danger of disappearing from the curriculum completely, especially in schools with limited resources. Yet these activities are precisely what researchers in the last two centuries have observed to be at the very heart of childhood. The assumption that our children's future is more important than childhood itself has become so commonplace that it is difficult to shake it even for parents who are committed to a parenting style that is child-centered. This book challenges the assumption that academic achievement is a goal unto itself, rather than a by-product of kids who are happy, well-loved, and allowed to grow at their own pace. It will remain a powerful reminder for parents committed to a child-centered parenting style of what childhood is for in the first place. Comment | | (Report this)