It's ok to go up the slide : renegade rules for raising confident and creative kids

It's ok to go up the slide Renegade rules for raising confident and creative kids

Heather Shumaker

Book - 2016

"When it comes to parenting, sometimes you have to trust your gut. With her first book, It's OK Not to Share, Heather Shumaker overturned all the conventional rules of parenting with her "renegade rules" for raising competent and compassionate kids. In It's Ok To Go Up the Slide, Shumaker takes on new hot-button issues with renegade rules such as: - Recess Is A Right - It's Ok Not To Kiss Grandma - Ban Homework in Elementary School - Safety Second - Don't Force Participation Shumaker also offers broader guidance on how parents can control their own fears and move from an overscheduled life to one of more free play. Parenting can too often be reduced to shuttling kids between enrichment classes, but Shumake...r challenges parents to reevaluate how they're spending their precious family time. This book helps parents help their kids develop important life skills in an age-appropriate way. Most important, parents must model these skills, whether it's technology use, confronting conflict, or coping emotionally with setbacks. Sometimes being a good parent means breaking all the rules"--

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Subjects
Child rearing.
Parenting.
Child development.
Education > Parent participation.
Confidence in children.
Creative ability in children.
Published
New York : Tarcher [2016]
Language
English
Main Author
Heather Shumaker (author)
Physical Description
xvii, 363 pages ; 23 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9780399172007
  • Introduction
  • Section I. Risk and Independence
  • Rule 1. Safety Second
  • Rule 2. It's OK Not to Kiss Grandma
  • Rule 3. Model Mistakes
  • Rule 4. It's OK to Talk to Strangers
  • Section II. Navigating Technology
  • Rule 5. Embrace Amish iPads
  • Rule 6. Discipline Your Phone
  • Section III. Children's Rights at School
  • Rule 7. Recess Is a Right
  • Rule 8. Ban Elementary Homework
  • Rule 9. Opt Out of Harmful Homework
  • Rule 10. Don't Sign Here
  • Section IV. More Rights at School
  • Rule 11. Reconfigure Kindergarten
  • Rule 12. Banish Calendars at Circle Time
  • Rule 13. Don't Force Participation
  • Section V. Sorrow, Empathy, and Disaster
  • Rule 14. Don't Remove Ogres from Books
  • Rule 15. Deal with News Disasters
  • Rule 16. Share Unfair History
  • Section VI. Mean Words and Princess Power
  • Rule 17. Princesses Are Powerful
  • Rule 18. Mean Words Matter
  • Rule 19. Give Whiners R-E-S-P-E-C-T
  • Section VII. Renegade Rules in the Real World
  • Rule 20. Families Are Not Entertainment Centers
  • Rule 21. Relax
  • Appendix
  • Resources
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

Shumaker (It's OK Not to Share, 2012) is known for parenting advice that goes against typical expectations, but for good reason. Her latest presents a series of 21 renegade rules for parents, covering a variety of topics, including risk-taking, screen time, homework, and coping with tragedies. Though the focus is on children in the K-5 range, parents and caregivers of both older and younger children will find useful guidance. Shumaker is a staunch defender of children's leisure time and advocates for recess and for an end to homework in both primary and middle school stances that she backs up with peer-reviewed research from reputable sources and many of her rules touch on the importance of self-directed creative play. An appendix includes sample letters to use with teachers and school principals to begin conversations about elementary-level homework and recess. Some of Shumaker's ideas are simple common sense, and she can be repetitive, especially in discussions of topics she's particularly passionate about. However, her approach is practical, and she provides a wealth of resources for parents interested in making these rules part of their parenting strategy.--Donohue, Nanette Copyright 2016 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Journalist Shumaker takes up where she left off with It's OK Not to Share, this time addressing "tricky topics" relating to school-age kids. Shumaker advocates taking a close look at the expectations attached to such practices as kindergarten (it's not mandatory under U.S. law), recess (it should never be used as punishment), and homework, urging parents to bend (and possibly break) the rules according to what works best for their particular family. Shumaker, for instance, has banned homework for her two elementary-aged sons, based on research showing it doesn't benefit children. She also weighs in on parents "signing off" on school papers, asserting that this practice degrades trust and places parents in the role of cop. Should teachers prove resistant to her suggestions, she suggests modeling "respectful disagreement" and provides a collection of sample letters and scripts parents can use. Interspersing her own experiences with advice from experts, Shumaker also presents a convincing case for letting kids take reasonable risks in order to build confidence and independence. Though "going up the slide" (i.e., bucking the system) may be more difficult in some school districts than others, Shumaker does a thorough job of arming parents with the facts they'll need to begin their ascent. Agent: Joëlle Delbourgo, Joëlle Delbourgo Associates. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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