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In Defense of Childhood
The pressures of modern life are increasingly squeezing the adventure, the wonder, the physicality-the juice -out of children's lives. Virtually every arena of kids' experience is now subject to some form of outside control, and this is a serious threat to the unique spark that animates every child. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of p...more
Paperback, 224 pages
Published
August 1st 2007
by Beacon
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I picked this up at our local library while browsing the shelves and found it to be a very interesting read. I have a great appreciation for our librarians now that I have started visiting there more often because this is not the first time I've found something really good there that I would never have known about if not for my visits there.
The premise of the book is that modern childhood is overscheduled and overprotective and that children nowadays do not have enough freedom to exp...more
The premise of the book is that modern childhood is overscheduled and overprotective and that children nowadays do not have enough freedom to exp...more
This book is fascinating, very readable and well-written. the author has very radical progressive views on education and he's extremely persuasive. it makes you think a lot about your own childhood and start to see how the early influences played out in your own life for better or worse.
It's not that this is a bad book, it's just not gripping me like the last child development books I read. I've read all of this stuff before, so I found myself skimming a lot. The gist of it: it's important for children's development that they get time to play. Real play. Not structured adult versions of play, but running around the backyard playing imaginative silly kids games. He calls it "inner wildness". It's a fairly anti-school book because kids mostly sit at desks all day ...more
Miriam Axel-lute
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
parents, grandparents, teachers, day care workers
Shelves:
parenting,
formative-non-fiction
Chris makes a convincing argument that our obsession with safety for our kids is having serious negative side effects -- basically that it's destroying their ability to become self-motivated adults. He walks us through how this shows up in a range of areas, from school to access to nature to the disappearance of meaningful work for children.
This can be an uncomfortable book sometimes for us parents. It's hard enough to let go in smaller ways than what Chris is suggesting. But I also ...more
This can be an uncomfortable book sometimes for us parents. It's hard enough to let go in smaller ways than what Chris is suggesting. But I also ...more
So far I love this book.
He's preaching to the choir here, so for me little of what he said was new, but it is always good to be reminded of why we do some of the things that we do differently. He's view about the inner wildness is unique, but his arguments protecting it are points that I already agree wholeheartedly with. It is a reinvigorating read, he writes well enough, and his stories are interesting.
Mercogliano always has a refreshing perspective on child development and education. I don't always agree, but I enjoy reading his books and learning from his school and viewpoint.
Fantastic and thoroughly interesting book. Must-read for all teachers.
Just started reading this. So far, so good.
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