Free Downloads Their Name Is Today: Reclaiming Childhood In A Hostile World
There’s hope for childhood. Despite a perfect storm of hostile forces that are robbing children of a healthy childhood, courageous parents and teachers who know what’s best for children are turning the tide.Johann Christoph Arnold, whose books on education, parenting, and relationships have helped more than a million readers through life’s challenges, draws on the stories and voices of parents and educators on the ground, and a wealth of personal experience. He surveys the drastic changes in the lives of children, but also the groundswell of grassroots advocacy and action that he believes will lead to the triumph of common sense and time-tested wisdom.Arnold takes on technology, standardized testing, overstimulation, academic pressure, marketing to children, over-diagnosis and much more, calling on everyone who loves children to combat these threats to childhood and find creative ways to help children flourish. Every parent, teacher, and childcare provider has the power to make a difference, by giving children time to play, access to nature, and personal attention, and most of all, by defending their right to remain children.
Paperback: 189 pages
Publisher: Plough Publishing House (September 22, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0874866308
ISBN-13: 978-0874866308
Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.5 x 7.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #49,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #45 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Parenting > School-Age Children #52 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Education > Children & Teens #74 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Special Needs > Disabilities
Having raised six children of my own (with some still a work in progress), I thought I knew a thing or two about children. This book changed all that. The opening quote of the Action, Not Words chapter to which I turned stopped me in my tracks: “Don’t worry that your children never listen to you, worry that they are always watching you” - Robert Fulghum. In this book, Arnold brings together in a clear, concise fashion all the many stresses on children and parents. Academic pressure, material and commercial stimuli that subtly attack young minds, lack of clear parental guidance. All these are addressed, and each one had me looking at myself. Yes, we need to fear ISIS and Ebola, but closer to home, we have a battle too. Challenging, but full of gentle hope and encouragement, this book gave me hope and joy again. And it makes me love and cherish my own children, and look at all OUR children with new eyes.
This book is definitely worth reading. It is hopeful and encouraging. The pages are filled with real life stories that are easy to understand and thought provoking. As a father of four young children I especially appreciated Chapter 7 – Guidance to Grow. It gives practical advice on education in the home and classroom and on the importance of setting boundaries. The final chapter is titled Tomorrow Comes. In this chapter the author reminds parents of young children how important it is to give them the attention that they need. And that one of the best gifts we can give them for the future is to believe in them. All 10 chapters are an inspiration for the future. As the author writes in the preface it is time for a hopeful book about childhood - and this is it. Don’t miss the chance to read this book, you won’t regret it.
After reading the first few chapters of this book, one might think that it is aimed at the public school parent but on a more in-depth look one will see that it applies to all parents regardless of the educational placement of their children.As I read through the last three chapters of this book it became very apparent that this book appears to be a final desperate plea from the author to all parents. The author does not rain down fire and brimstone on the reader but implores them with sincere urgency to wake up and take action before it is too late. He spends a good amount of time discussing how computers, tablets, video games, TV, movies, and smart phones, part of our everyday life now, present real and present dangers when used in the developmental years of a child (birth through elementary school). He also spends a good amount of time discussing the dangers of Early Learning Centers and how the ever increasing pressures of academic performance at younger and younger ages is destroying the developmental years of the child. The author ties all of these forces together and presents the destructive outcomes as they have emerged over the past few decades.The author walks parents through the following chapters: The World Needs Children, Play Is a Child’s Work, Great Expectations, Screening Out, Material Child, Actions, Not Words, Guidance to grow, In Praise of Difficult Children, Discovering Reverence, and Tomorrow Comes.Parents should read this book with urgency and with open minds, ready to take action within their own families. If we lose the children, the future is lost.I received this book from Plough publishing to review for free.
Their Name is Today: Reclaiming Childhood in a Hostile World by Johann Christoph Arnold is a wake up call to parents, grandparents, and educators to "combat" the threats to childhood and "reclaim" it before it's too late. With anecdotes and personal stories, Johann Christoph Arnold writes in a heartfelt manner that is engrossing and thought-provoking. I came away from reading this book feeling inspired and looking at things from a new perspective in many ways.Though I do not agree with all of his points, I think Arnold's book is important and offers a much needed voice in the midst of all the clutter that surrounds us:"Unfortunately, many parents today lack a sense of what this [home] means. They are 'too busy' to spend time with their children. Some are so preoccupied with their jobs or their leisure activities that even when they do see their children at the end of a long day, they have no evergy to be with them. They may sit in the same room -- even on the same couch -- but their minds are elsewhere" (p. 64).As a former public school teacher, I especially relate to the issues raised in Their Name is Today, and I hope that it will find its way into the hands of other teachers and parents. Many homeschool parents are already aware of of the issues in this book, but with the rapid rate things are changing in our society, Their Name is Today will resonate.
HoaP would like to thank Johann Cristoph Arnold for giving us a copy of his book in exchange for an honest review. This review was first seen on Heart of a Philanthropist Blog.My son said to me the other day, "Mom, you are either on the computer or in bed." It struck a chord as I was already feeling a bit the same way myself. How much time do I as a parent spend on electronics and not with my child? How much time do my children spend on electronics and not with human interaction? How much time are we away at meetings? Or doing chores? Are these things as important as we believe they are?Johann Christoph Arnold reminds us that the children of today are the adults of tomorrow. Do we want our grandchildren raised the way our children are being raised? How much 'education' is enough, and are we hurting our children by requiring them to learn so much more than previous generations? We are raising a society of people who do not communicate, and that is not good. However,HoaP would like to thank Johann Christoph Arnold for giving us a copy of his book in exchange for an honest review. This review was first seen on Heart of a Philanthropist blog.Arnold does not condemn parents/caretakers in Their Name is Today, rather he encourages us to really adore our children and get to know them at their earliest ages.We need to not worry so much about testing and if our children are at the level they are suppose to be. These things can actually hinder our children. Instead we need to be more like children- getting on the floor solving problems through play. However, children do need parents to teach them respect, morals, and how to live as adults. Don't be too busy to teach them the importance of them! By showing our children the value of family and the roles we should play, we will teach them how to be strong confident loving adults.HoaP received Their Name is Today in exchange for an honest review. [...]
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