Rahima Baldwin Dancy is internationally known as a Waldorf early childhood and parenting educator, following a career as a midwife and childbirth activist. She was a Waldorf kindergarten teacher, a founding board member of LifeWays North America and co-director of Rainbow Bridge LifeWays Program. Rahima and her husband, Agaf, have raised four adult children and enjoy five grandchildren; they live in a cohousing community in Boulder, Colorado. She currently provides online courses for parents and childcare providers through LifeWaysNorthAmerica.org.
Description
C O N T E N T S:
Preface to the Revised Edition
Acknowledgments
1. You Are Your Child’s First Teacher
A Unique Opportunity • Parents’ Dilemma Today • Cultural Dilemmas • Lack of Support for Mothering • A Way of Seeing Children’s Development: Children Are Not Little Adults! • The Child’s Changing Consciousness • The Role of the Child’s Individuality • How Children Learn in the First Seven Years • Our Task as First Teachers • Trusting Ourselves • Recommended Resources
2. Home Life as the Basis for All Learning
Home Life Is Undervalued in Our Culture • Why Is It So Difficult to Be Home with Children Today? • Consciously Creating a Home • Four Levels of Home Life • Home Life as the Curriculum for the Young Child • Recommended Resources
3. Giving Birth and Being Born
What Was Birth Like for Your Baby? • Gentle Birth Choices • What if There are Complications during Labor or Birth? • Why the Choices You Make are Important • The Transition for the New Mother • Recommended Resources
4. Birth to Three: Growing Down and Waking Up
Growing into the Body • What Is Your Baby Like between Six Weeks and Eight Months of Age? • Learning to Walk • The Second Year: Mastering Language • The Emergence of Thinking • The Young Child’s Senses • The Emerging Sense of Self • Recommended Resources
5.Helping Your Baby’s Development
Stimulating and Protecting the Sensitivity of the Newborn • What Is It Like Being with a Newborn? • What Is It Like from Months 2 to 12? • Physical Development • The Development of Intelligence • Emotional Development • Language Development • Toys for the First Year • Recommended Resources
6. Helping Your Toddler’s Development
Encouraging Balanced Development • Dealing with Negative
Behavior • Encouraging the Development of Language and Understanding • The Beginnings of Imaginative Play • Providing a Rich Environment for Your Toddler • Toys and Equipment • Recommended Resources
7. Rhythm in Home Life
Creating Rhythm in Daily Life • The Rhythm of the Week • Celebrating Festivals and the Rhythm of the Year • Celebrating Birthdays • Recommended Resources
8. Discipline and Other Parenting Issues
The Question of Discipline • Why Does Parenting Take So Much Energy? • Can You Work toward Rhythm with an Infant? • What About Weaning? • Crying Babies • What About Going Back to Work? • How Long Do Children’s Senses Need Protecting? • Toilet Training • Separation Anxiety and “Helicopter Parenting” • Cabin Fever • Other Parenting Issues • Recommended Resources
9. Nourishing Your Child’s Imagination and Creative Play
Three Stages of Play • Experiencing the World through Play • The Importance of Play in Intellectual Development • Ways to Encourage Your Child’s Creative Play • Nourishing Your Child’s Imaginative Play through Stories • Recommended Resources
10. Developing Your Child’s Artistic Ability
Understanding Children’s Drawings and Development • The Experience of Color • Watercolor Painting with Young Children • Metamorphosis in Later Stages of Life • Modeling with Beeswax • Making Things with Your Children • Freeing Your Own Inner Artist • Recommended Resources
11. Encouraging Your Child’s Musical Ability
Make a Joyful Noise • Music and Cognitive Development • Singing with Your Child • Movement Games and Fingerplays • Pentatonic Music and the “Mood of the Fifth” • What About Music and Dance Lessons? • Recommended Resources
12. Cognitive Development and Early Childhood Education
Academic vs. Play-Based Learning • Why Not Introduce Academics Early? • The Value of Preschool • Evaluating Early Childhood Programs • LifeWays and Waldorf Early Childhood Programs • LifeWays and Waldorf in the Home • The Value of Mixed-Age Programs • When Is Your Child Ready for First Grade? • What Happens around Age Seven? • Beginning Academic Work: The Waldorf Approach • What About the Advanced or Gifted Child? • Recommended Resources
13. Common Questions from Parents about Screen Time, Smart Phones and More
Preparation for Life • Computers • Balanced Development • Screen Time • Toys • Video Games • Self-Discipline with Your Phone • Fever and Illness • What Makes Children So Different from One Another? • Religion and Young Children • Recommended Resources
14. Help for the Journey
Conscious Parenting Is a Process • In Conclusion
Appendix: Rudolf Steiner and Waldorf Education
Notes
Bibliography
Index
“Here is an extraordinary work for those who want to develop a truly intelligent child and, in the process, unlock new levels of their own intelligence and spirit.”
— Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Magical Child and Evolutions End
“This is a terrific book, packed with commonsense advice on the real basics of healthy mental and emotional development. Rahima is a wise and knowledgeable guide for parents struggling to raise good kids in a challenging world. Someday your children will than you for reading this book!”
— Jane M. Healy, PhD, author of Different Learners and Your Child’s Growing Mind