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 okay not to kiss grandma, Ban homework in elementary school, Safety second, andDon'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 Shumaker 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.
About the Author :
Heather Shumaker is a national speaker on parenting and early childhood topics and is the author of It's OK Not to Share. She is an advocate for free, unstructured play in homes and schools.
Laurel Lefkow is an accomplished radio actress and winner of several AudioFile Earphones Awards for audiobook narration. Her many theater credits include Look Back in Anger, Little Foxes, The Heiress, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Boy Next Door. On television she can be seen in A Class Act, Small Metal Jacket, and The Perfect Family.
Review :
"In her thought-provoking new book, Shumaker challenges some of our assumptions as parents and teachers. She shows us clearly and candidly what kids truly need. This is a helpful and inspiring read."
-- "Michael Gurian, author of The Wonder of Boys and The Wonder of Girls"
"Shumaker makes the reader think about what children really need when it comes to safety, homework, technology, and interpersonal interactions. She'll provoke you to think afresh in places where you didn't even think there was a choice."
-- "Lawrence J. Cohen, PhD, author of Playful Parenting"
"What narrator Laurel Lefkow does best is thoroughly express the author's appealing wisdom and homespun respect for the challenges of being a parent. She clearly enjoys reading this material and connecting with her listeners. Not your traditional parenting advice, it's a softly argued manifesto that shows parents how to avoid overcontrolling risks and complying blindly with prevailing cultural norms...Lefkow's spontaneous reading makes it sound appropriate and worth considering. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award."
-- "AudioFile"
