Reclaiming Childhood: Letting
Children Be Children in Our
Achievement-Oriented Society by
William Crain
Everyone Should Read This Book
As our children are pushed harder than ever to perform so that they will
one day make the grade in the adult world, parents are beginning to
question the wisdom of scheduling childhoods basic pleasures. In
Reclaiming Childhood, William Crain argues that rather than trying to
control a young child, the best a parent can offer is a patient and
unobtrusive presence that gives the child the security and the freedom to
explore the world on her own. He examines how children find their way to
natural development through experiences with nature, art, and language,
and makes a strong case for child-centered education-a movement that
may be under fire, but that is very much alive.

Personal Review: Reclaiming Childhood: Letting Children Be
Children in Our Achievement-Oriented Society by William Crain
One of the great strengths of this book is that it reminds the reader of what
it really was like to be a child: how imaginative, artistic, and connected to
nature kids are naturally. It's hard for me to remember now, but there was
a time when my favorite activity was hanging out in the backyard and just
looking at leaves and under rocks, sitting quietly, and thinking things over.
I could do this for hours. It also made me recall the year I spent conducting
research in preschool classrooms. I visited many wonderful preschools,
but I remember being particularly struck by the atmosphere in the
Montessori classroom I visited. There was a sense of calm there that I
have never seen anywhere else. At first it seemed eerie; surely these kids
were being coerced into behaving so quietly and going about their
business in such an orderly graceful way. I remember in particular the child
who was bringing around a tray of nuts that he had shelled and offering
them graciously to the other children. But the longer I stayed, the more I
realized that this deep sense of peacefulness originated from the kids'
satisfaction in being allowed to choose their own tasks at their own pace.
William Crain reminds us of some of the charateristics of children's
development that have fallen by the wayside as the push for academic
achievement (as measured by standardized tests) has become stronger
and stronger. The child's desire to be connected with nature, to use her
imagination, and to produce art and poetry is valued so much less in our
schools than the three R's. As a result they are in danger of disappearing
from the curriculum completely, especially in schools with limited
resources. Yet these activities are precisely what researchers in the last
two centuries have observed to be at the very heart of childhood.
The assumption that our children's future is more important than childhood
itself has become so commonplace that it is difficult to shake it even for
parents who are committed to a parenting style that is child-centered. This
book challenges the assumption that academic achievement is a goal unto
itself, rather than a by-product of kids who are happy, well-loved, and
allowed to grow at their own pace. It will remain a powerful reminder for
parents committed to a child-centered parenting style of what childhood is
for in the first place.
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