Natural Childhood: A Practical Guide to the First Seven Years

This practical guide supports parents in their quest for their child's smooth transition from baby to child. It gives parents the skills to establish a close relationship with their child, and sets a pattern for productive co-operation. This creates a sound base from which children develop at their optimum pace, emotionally and intellectually, learning from both play and the natural world. This book helps parents to listen to themselves, in order to find from within the answers to the question, "What does my child need?" It encourages parents to realize that children, too, have their own answers within them. By learning how to listen, parents can help children find their own path to development. The authors of the book all share a holistic view of a child's development. Throughout it, Rudolf Steiner's vision of what it is to be truly human enables the reader to ackowledge the real abilities and needs of children. The book presents a new way of looking at the emerging personality of newborn to seven year olds, acknowledging them as fully creative beings. Games and activities for the whole family introduce the natural world, and present a deeper understanding of the rhythms of the seasons and their influence in our everyday lives. Projects in creative and co-operative play help to stimulate the imagination of the unfolding child. The ideas of Rudolf Steiner, John Holt and Carl Rogers provide new insights into the internal development of the child.