Just
because Spanking is an "opps, I lost
it" response to unwanted behavior, I'll never
agree to making it a crime warranting the police
getting involved.
But
I am excited about conversation that supports parenting
alternatives to spanking.
My
friend, Patrick Peterson of the Jefferson Club of
Silicon Valley sent me a wealth of info to post
on line on parenting. I wish I had seen this
material when my boys were young. It
can be a very stressful job if you lack experience
and mentors. Thanks for sharing Patrick, and
happy parenting!
Parenting
with Love and Logic by Foster Cline and Jim Fay.
Also see their website: www.loveandlogic.com for
great extra materials (Newsletters, CDs!!!, classes,
speaking info.)
You should LOVE this group, since their main purpose
is to teach self responsibility!!!!!
How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids
will Talk by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish -
the classic!
The Psychology of Freedom by Peter Breggin - this
one is quite radical!
Children Who are Not Yet Peaceful by Donna Bryant
Goertz - quirky style, which was offputting at first
for me, but which I grew to like more and more as
I finished it. Written from a Montessori teacher
perspective.
Since your kids are college age, you and they might
be interested in this other project I'm working
on:
www.collegeunitedstates.org
I've known the founder/Team leader, Marsha Enright,
for over 20 years. She's really a great person.
EDUCATION
RESOURCES:
To evaluate the quality
of teachers, and other important criteria for a quality
school, go to the Education
for Democracy Web site.
What can you cause your district to do
to improve low quality in your school? Questions
to ask. Steps to take.
Greatschools.net can help you to evaluate test
scores, teacher quality and to comparison shop for
a school in your area or in an area you are considering
moving to. Or if you want to move and you want to
find a district with better schools than where your
children are presently enrolled.
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It's been my biggest
challenge and also my biggest commitment.
Read
to your children, early (as soon as six months).
They are learning the sounds and words of your language
from the start. Their brains double in size
in their first 12 months.
Don't
read books that you don't find engaging and amusing.
There is a lot of garbage that passes for children's
books. If it's painful to sit through, because
it's dumb, or superficial or shallow, it's not good
enough for your children either. There are
wonderful books for even for the early stages.
Some books that come immediately to mind,
because they were favorites of my children, Where
the Wild Things Are, The Little Engine that Could,
Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Frederick
(the poet mouse), Ricky Tiki Tavi, all the Frog
and Toad, condensed picture book versions of Marguerite
Henry's Misty of Chincoteague are just a few that
come to mind. There are so many. more
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