Simplicity Parenting
Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids
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3.7 • 117 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
A revised and updated edition of the classic, inspiring guide to raising calm and secure kids in a frenetic world, featuring a new chapter to address the modern parent’s concerns over setting limits and coping with social media
“Brilliant, wise, informative, innovative, entertaining, and urgently needed . . . a godsend for all who love children, and for children themselves.”—Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness
Today’s busier, faster society is waging an undeclared war on childhood. With too much stuff, too many choices, and too little time, children can become anxious, have trouble with friends and school, or even be diagnosed with behavioral problems. Internationally renowned family consultant Kim John Payne helps parents reclaim for their children the space and freedom that all kids need for their attention to deepen and their individuality to flourish. Accessible and thoughtful, Simplicity Parenting offers inspiration, ideas, and a blueprint for change:
• Streamline your home environment. Reduce the amount of toys, books, and clutter—as well as the lights, sounds, and general sensory overload.
• Establish rhythms and rituals. Discover ways to ease daily tensions, create battle-free mealtimes and bedtimes, and tell if your child is overwhelmed.
• Schedule a break in the schedule. Establish intervals of calm and connection in your child’s daily torrent of constant doing.
• Scale back on media and parental involvement. Manage your children’s “screen time” to limit the endless deluge of information and stimulation.
• Cultivate a values-centric family culture instead of a child-centric culture. Model your authority, not your authoritarianism.
A manifesto for protecting the grace of childhood, Simplicity Parenting is an eloquent guide to bringing new rhythms to bear on the lifelong art of raising children.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Waldorf educator and consultant Payne teams up with writer Ross to present an antidote for children who are overscheduled and overwhelmed by too much information and a fast-paced consumer culture that threatens the pace and playful essence of childhood. Payne claims that a protective filter should surround childhood, rather than the competitive, stressful adult world that has encroached on childhood's boundaries, preventing kids from developing resiliency with a sense of ease and well-being. But Payne is not a doomsayer: he presents a wealth of practical ideas for reclaiming childhood and establishing family harmony. In chapters covering four levels of simplification environment, rhythm, schedules and "Filtering Out the Adult World" Payne explains how parents can tackle extraneous stuff and stimulation by reducing the "mountain" of toys, limiting scheduled activities, providing valuable downtime and employing such "pressure valves" as storytelling and periods of quiet. According to the authors, limiting choices and activities will lead to kids who are more secure and less stressed, and to parents whose days are calmer. With fewer choices, Payne explains, families have the freedom to "appreciate things and one another more deeply." Though "simplicity parenting" may seem a stretch for some, others will find that Payne's program for restoring creative play, order and balance is long overdue.
Customer Reviews
Already working
My 3 kids are already noticeably calmer and I've only put a couple of theories in to place. Saw a documentary about the number of kids medicated in the US these days - if only some of the parents had read this book first, I'm sure it would have made a difference.