Other Resources

Recommended books & resources for child development

Gesell Institute books & news

The Gesell Institute of Child Development website and bookstore www.gesellinstitute.org

Parenting advice

Payne, Kim John, with Lisa M. Ross Simplicity Parenting Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure kids. (Ballantine Books Trade Paperbacks, New York, 2009) Or their website for books, news and newsletter www.simplicityparenting.com

Biddulph, Steve, 10 Things Girls Needs Most and Raising Boys

For general well researched mainstream advice on parenting see the website Raising Children .

On protection of childhood

For research and downloadable resources the protection of childhood, the importance of play, developmental readiness for reading, the effects of new technologies on children and more go to the Alliance for Childhood website: www.allianceforchildhood.org

For pregnancy and early childhood

www.consciousparentingguide.com by Julie Le Gal Brodeur for a practical quick reference guide to pregnancy, birth and early childhood based on Steiner Waldorf principles.

For sexual health and sex education

For understanding fertility health and natural contraception methods Natural Fertility Management website www.nfmcontraception.com

Weschler, Toni Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen’s Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body (HarperCollins, New York, 2006) a book for teens on understanding women’s fertility and health.

For a better understanding of healthy sexual boundaries and talking about pornography with children see the Maltz Hierarchy Model of Sexual Interaction at: http://healthysex.com/self-help-articles/the-maltz-hierarchy-of-sexual-interaction/

On sexual abuse and keeping children safe

A quick introduction to this can be found in an excellent, fact filled talk by Freda Briggs on YouTube titled Protect your children with disability from sexual abuse in 6 parts (found athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnK4m4c_EYM as long as this link remains viable). This talk refers particularly to the increased risk for children with disabilities but is an informative introduction for everyone. Emeritus Professor Freda Briggs is an international expert on child protection and co-author of Teaching children to protect themselves (Freda Briggs and Michael McVeity, Allen and Unwin 2000) – I highly recommended this book for those wanting more information on this subject. For those with Internet access a search for ‘indicators of sexual abuse in children’ will bring up many sources of helpful information. In Australia, government websites are good places to start.

For celebrating festivals with children

There are many books which provide stories, songs, activity ideas and food recipes for different celebrations including multicultural festivals. There are also books about making daily rhythms more special. Many are published by Floris Books and Hawthorn Books–a search of their websites will show you what is available. Festivals Family and Food by Diana Carey & Judy Large (Hawthorn Press, 1983) is an old favourite to begin with. Their books are available from Steiner/Waldorf book stores and the usual online bookstores. Do a search under ‘festivals’. In Australia try www.rudolfsteinerbookcentre.com.au

Healing stories for children & story writing

Susan Perrow Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour (Hawthorn Press, Stroud, 2008) and Therapeutic Storytelling. 101 Healing Stories for Children (Hawthorn Press, Stroud 2012) Also see Susan Perrow’s website for all her books at www.susanperrow.com Note: some of her books are already translated into Coatian, Portuguse, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese.

Also see ideas about using puppets in stories for children at the blog on Susan Down’s website Juniper Tree Puppets.

On the importance of music for children and babies

Music is important for children from their time in the womb on and initially the best source of music is you, your voice, your humming, your singing. Take courage here, even if you think you cannot sing.

For online inspiration and resources for sharing music and singing with your children see the work of Adriana von Runic at Babies Music School on her public Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/babiesmusicschool

Also see The Singing Day. A song book for singing with your children and The Singing Year by Candy Verney & Claudio Munoz (both from Hawthorn Press) For further sources of music with children and the family see the books of Judith Clingan, Songs of the Tree of Life Volumes 1 and 2, music collected for Waldorf Schools. These are all available from: http://www.rudolfsteinerbookcentre.com.au/

Bullying

See the work of Barbara Coloroso, including her very helpful, compassionate book The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander. The updated 2009 edition includes help on cyber-bullying. Her book on building self-esteem Kids are worth it! is also highly recommended.

Drugs

Current statistics on drug use by Australian children, with other useful current information on drugs and their effects, plus resources for parents, can be found on the Australian Drug Foundation website. http://www.adf.org.au/

Grief and death

The section on grief and death on my website largely addresses the needs of young children. For free on-line resources and training in grief support for older children see the website of the Coalition to Support Grieving Students at http://grievingstudents.scholastic.com/ While this website has been developed for teachers and schools particularly, parents can also gain insight from the website into what happens to children when they are grieving and what parents can ask of schools in support.

Media use recommendations

See the American Academy of Pediatrics’ recommendations on screen times for children and in particular their policy statement on Media Education which includes more specific information and links to the studies they refer to. (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/5/1012.full?sid=1b9a9302-baea-461f-a6a8-85366cdfe16d#sec-2)

Steiner Waldorf education

For links to Steiner Waldorf education information go to the Steiner Education Australia website

Parent-teacher relationships

A relatively new book (2014) on this theme, is Torin Finser’s A Second Classroom. Parent teacher relationships in a Waldorf School. (Steiner Books 2014) While he speaks from a Steiner Waldorf School perspective, conscious, more articulate, idealistic parents and teachers everywhere are facing new challenges within the parents-teacher relationship and could find this useful.

Other websites/ places of interest

The Rainbow Tree For organic & natural parenting products, toys, clothing, craft materials, Steiner school supplies in Australia www.rainbowtree.com.au

For Waldorf Steiner inspired toys, dolls and craft materials in South Australia see Head Heart & Hands in Nairne www.headheartandhands.com.au/