The following books were carefully chosen as a guide to help you navigate some of the issues you will face raising your children in present times.
In trying to understand why children no longer revere their parents the way my parent's generation revered theirs, I turned to Neufeld and Mate's book, Hold On to Your Kids.
Part of the answer lies within the pages of this book and will give you an idea of how to protect the bond between you and your children.
The authors delineate a societal problem that every parent must understand, yet the solutions offered in the book, with all due respect, seem a little naiive.
2. Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning
by Dorothy Sayers
This is not a book but a famous essay by Dorothy Sayer's. Her essay is replete with the wit and brilliant insight that distinguished her writing. While it’s an entertaining essay, it will also give you some insight into what children used to be taught when our educational standards were still high. Being familiar with this essay will help you understand what’s possible for your child and why you don’t want to settle for less.
3. The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman
Neil Postman was a social critic who made the argument that childhood was disappearing. The reason for the disappearance, according to Postman, was because we have opened the door to the adult world through exposure to multi-media.
With the loss of childhood also comes the loss of adulthood, which is obvious to any honest observer as many adults today seem to be struggling to grow up. Adulting is a new word in vogue which is used to describe an adults who is behaving like an adult!
4. Gwynne's Latin by N. M. Gwynne - The Introduction
Latin used to be a core subject of a Western education.Unless you knew Latin, you weren’t considered educated. In the introduction to Gwynne’s Latin, Mr Gwynne makes a sound argument for why your children should study Latin.
5. The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto
Gatto's opus work tells the story of how our sub-standard modern education came to be, and why you must understand it's origins in order to make better decisions for your children’s education.
I prefer Gatto's original work over the newly revised work of the same title. Buy a copy of the older book, if you can. His newer version was written during his last years and intended as a three-volume set, but, sadly, he passed before he could finish it.
6. The Platonic Tradition by Peter Kreeft
You may be wondering why I included this title? It's vital to Western civilization that we understand the ideas upon which our civilization was built.
Without an effort to preserve and protect these ideas, our civil liberties are at risk, and that’s a frightening thought.
7. Glow Kids by Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D.
A ground-breaking book that exposes the technology industry for what it is, and the harm it's inflicting on our children during their most vulnerable years. Protect your child by reading this book and passing it on to your friends to read. We need a no-tech revolution, at least no tech in the lives of children.
The other day my son was making the argument that it would be impossible to raise serious readers today because of all the technology in kid’s lives. I reminded him that he was a serious reader, and he replied, “Yes, that’s because I had no technology growing up.”
Exactly.
It’s not the only reason he’s an excellent reader, but getting rid of technology is a good place to start if you want to raise serious readers.
8. Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto
Dumbing Us Down is an easy-to-read book about modern education and why you might want to consider alternatives such as homeschooling.
Either way, you should understand the system’s design, so you can help your child navigate it if you decide to put him or her into school.
9. The Leipzig Connection by Paolo Lionni
In this book, you’ll discover the crux of the problem with education today. You will learn how modern psychology removed the soul from the study of psychology and then coupled their new behavioral science with the department of modern education.
Think Pavlov’s dogs and you’ll get a sense of the impact behaviorism has had on the education of children.
Some of these books are inexpensive, some are more expensive, but they are all worth reading.
☞ Disclaimer: This is not a politically-correct blog.
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Elizabeth Y. Hanson is an Educator, Homeschool Emerita, Writer, and a Love and Leadership Certified Parenting Coach with 20+ years of experience working in children’s education.
Utilizing her unusual skill set, Elizabeth has developed a comprehensive understanding of how to raise and educate a child. She devotes her time to helping parents to get it right.
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