From Publishers Weekly: As a developmental psychologist (Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications), Crain is deeply concerned that a societal emphasis on pushing children too hard to succeed is robbing them of creative, joyful childhoods. The widespread parental obsession, for example, with getting their children into good colleges has, in part, led to an educational system that promotes mastering academic skills and test-taking at the expense of the arts. Drawing on current research and the developmental theories of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Maria Montessori, John Dewey, Noam Chomsky and others, Crain convincingly argues that children have a natural affinity for drama, nature, art and poetry-all of which are necessary to their development and should be encouraged by a “child-centered” rather than an “adult-directed” approach to raising children.
To read more, please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Reclaiming-Childhood-Letting-Children-Achievement-Oriented/dp/0805075135
In an article in the New York Times, Robin Marantz Henig writes: “Stuart Brown, president of the National Institute for Play, was speaking at the New York Public Library’s main branch on 42nd Street…. Brown called play part of the ‘‘developmental sequencing of becoming a human primate…. Parents bobble between a nostalgia-infused yearning for their children to play and fear that time spent playing is time lost to more practical pursuits. Alarming headlines about U.S. students falling behind other countries in science and math, combined with the ever-more-intense competition to get kids into college, make parents rush to sign up their children for piano lessons and test-prep courses instead of just leaving them to improvise on their own; playtime versus résumé building.”
To read the entire article, please go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/magazine/17play.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin
The website of Simon and Schuster state:“Few parents and educators stop to consider that computers, used incorrectly, may do far more harm than good to a child’s growing brain and social/emotional development. In this comprehensive and practical guide to kids and computers, Jane M. Healy, Ph.D., author of the groundbreaking bestseller Endangered Minds, examines the advantages and drawbacks of computer use for kids at home and school, exploring its effects on their health, mental development, and creativity.”
To read more, please go to:
In NPR’s Morning Edition (Feb 21, 2008), the host, Steve Inskeep shares: “Shifts in play alter children’s imagination, even the way their minds develop.”
To listen to this 8 min. audio clip (click on LISTEN NOW), please go to:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514
In SeattlePI, Paul Nyhan writes: “Parents these days are willing to try almost anything to give their toddlers an educational edge: Mozart, baby DVDs, even flash cards. It turns out that blocks may make their toddlers smarter. Children who played with blocks scored on average 15 percent higher on language tests — an early indicator of cognitive development — than their peers who didn’t get a chance to stack and pile, according to research released Monday by the Seattle Children’s Hospital Research Institute… It is a bit of old school knowledge for today’s hyper-involved parent, who is inundated with electronic interactive toys. Sometimes lost in this crowded toy marketplace is the fact that parent-child interaction is the best way for toddlers to learn.”
To read the entire article, please go to:
