The Natural Child is the instruction manual that should have come with your child.

Jan Hunt’s The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart has a basic premise: Trust children. They may be small in size, but they deserve to have their needs taken seriously. She calls it empathic parenting: believing what we know in our heart to be true.

Peggy O’Mara, the publisher of Mothering magazine, writes in the foreword:

Jan tells it like it is. Children and adults are not different. We have the same feelings. Children who are disciplined with love respond lovingly…Children deserve to be treated with respect.

As a parent, we get conflicting messages about child-rearing. Our parents did it one way, child psychologists tell us different, school teachers have their opinion, the latest ideas in parenting are on TV, and they all disagree.

The Natural Child is golden. It offers age-old wisdom and practical tips, all with love and compassion. The skills taught in this book apply to all children, from newborns to teenagers and beyond.

Chapter titles include:

• Ten Reasons to Respond to a Crying Child
• Ten Ways to Grow a Happy Child
• Ten Ways We Misunderstand Children
• The Hidden Messages We Give Our Children
• Natural Grandparenting
• The Trouble with Rewards
• It Shouldn’t Hurt to be a Child
• Ten Alternatives to Punishment
• Should Homeschoolers be Tested?

This book makes a great gift for expecting parents, and can add to even a seasoned parent’s skills. I highly recommend it.

The Natural Child is available as an eBook download from EcoBrain. Save a tree and read it instantly!

More posts about parenting books:

• Back to School with EcoBrain: Green Up Your Bookshelf
• Labor of Love: 3 Essential Books to Read When Planning a Natural Birth
• Natural, Orgasmic Childbirth