It's OK to Go Up the Slide: Renegade Rules for Raising Confident and Creative Kids

by Heather Shumaker, Laurel Lefkow (Narrated by)

Overview

Heather Shumaker has sparked much discussion with her 'renegade rules for raising competent and compassionate kids.' In this follow-up book, she takes on new hot-button issues like banning homework, technology use, and skipping kindergarten. Shumaker offers broader guidance on how parents can control their own anger and move from an overscheduled life to one of more free play. Parenting can too often be reduced to shuttling kids between enrichment classes, but Shumaker challenges parents to reevaluate how they're spending their precious family time. This book helps parents help their kids develop important life skills in an age-appropriate way. Sometimes being a good parent means breaking the rules.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781520002453
Publisher:	Dreamscape Media
Publication date:	03/22/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	6.04(w) x 5.04(h) x 1.13(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

HEATHER SHUMAKER is a journalist whose writing has appeared in Parenting, Pregnancy, and other publications. An advocate of free, unstructured play in homes and schools, she lives in northern Michigan with her husband and two children.

Laurel Lefkow is an award winning American actress, audiobook reader and voice-over artist. She has voiced major advertising campaigns, cartoon series, corporates and audiobooks. Laurel is also a regular voice on BBC Radio 4.

Editorial Reviews

"A refreshing change from the usual admonitions, Shumaker’s Renegade Rules are based on what children really need.

Lawrence J. Cohen

12/21/2015
Journalist Shumaker takes up where she left off with It’s OK Not to Share, this time addressing “tricky topics” relating to school-age kids. Shumaker advocates taking a close look at the expectations attached to such practices as kindergarten (it’s not mandatory under U.S. law), recess (it should never be used as punishment), and homework, urging parents to bend (and possibly break) the rules according to what works best for their particular family. Shumaker, for instance, has banned homework for her two elementary-aged sons, based on research showing it doesn’t benefit children. She also weighs in on parents “signing off” on school papers, asserting that this practice degrades trust and places parents in the role of cop. Should teachers prove resistant to her suggestions, she suggests modeling “respectful disagreement” and provides a collection of sample letters and scripts parents can use. Interspersing her own experiences with advice from experts, Shumaker also presents a convincing case for letting kids take reasonable risks in order to build confidence and independence. Though “going up the slide” (i.e., bucking the system) may be more difficult in some school districts than others, Shumaker does a thorough job of arming parents with the facts they’ll need to begin their ascent. Agent: Joëlle Delbourgo, Joëlle Delbourgo Associates. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

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