Childhood’ Walk-through
A curious approach to the parents-oriented books
Stevanne Auerbach, Smart Play Smart Toys: How to Raise a Child with a High PQ
Book’ Title:
Smart Play Smart Toys
How to raise a child with a high PQ – play quotient
Book’ Author:
Stevanne Auerbach (aka Dr. Toy), Ph.D
DrToy.com
Book’ Key Point:
“To assist your child in succeeding with skill-building, we will look at different ways your child uses toys, and you’ll become informed about finding the right toys, and skilled at helping child expand his or her PQ”
Have you ever tried to talk about upbringing as about an amazing game? As far as we are children games’ developers, we’ll try to do that way, defining “genres” of literature about upbringing and children development in own original and a little bit “digital” way…
Childhood: user-guide, FAQ, walkthrough
There’re some books for parents which similar to hardware or software manual or user’s guide: highly informative, precise, strict, comprehensive, and with a note of thank to the Dear Reader (Customer, Parent) at the first page. There’re also books which look like FAQ: more user-friendly, may be read from any page, useful in certain cases (but seem to be useless when readers ask more complicated questions than “How to pay for my account” or “How to calm the youngster down in the supermarket”).
And, there’re books which resemble role-played games’ walkthrough. It specifies frames, notices the characters and items you shouldn’t pass by, shows the secret doors – shortly, focuses on significant things you may disregard. You think you can do without a walkthrough… until you once have it.
Walkthrough’s main distinction from another “genres” is that it gives you a presence effect. It features everything without eliminating the magic, the atmosphere, the quintessence of the world described. That’s why we put Stevanne Auerbach’ “Smart Play Smart Toys” on our “walkthrough” bookshelf – among our own magic wand, mysterious box with everything-kids-need, and the sincerest and wisest books focused on children’ development.
Who’s the perfect reader?
Do you know who are you for your newborn child? You’re his or her… “Big Toy”! It’s you who attract child’ first attention, makes him or her smiling, serene, curious… Parents who’re not taken aback with such statement and who’re ready to climb down an adults’ mountain and to sit and play with their children on the floor – if there’re you, this book is for you.
Besides, there’s one more condition for successful reading. Parents who dare at exploring their children’ universe with “Smart Play Smart Toys,” should be ready to be fair with their self. They should be ready not only to their children’ knowledge but to self-exploring and self-education too. Small tip-block “Some questions to ask yourself about toys in your childhood” is a good example of how Stevanne Auerbach makes parents mentally and emotionally involved in reading and helps them to understand their kids better.
What’s the point?
A person begins to understand the world from the first days of living. And the first available way to do it is play. But play is not only an entertainment: it’s both art and science. Baby, toddler, preschooler, primary school child, older child – whoever your kid be, he or she deserves appropriate developing toys and activities, and Dr. Toy discovers it in large quantities.
Developing playing skills, we may develop other own abilities: physical and cognitive skills, creativity, and intellectual potential. The author appeals to IQ, intelligence quotient, to describe PQ, play quotient: it’s “an equally vital factor which affects how well your young one will attain the best of his physical, creative, and intellectual potential.”
Every phase of development has its certain achievements and difficulties. Some perspectives are proposed; some reefs are noticed. And if the Stevanne Auerbach’ playguide won’t help parents to avoid all the difficulties, it could show them various ways to increase the achievements.
The best expert is You
Despite the author has great experience in this field, she doesn’t allow herself be instructive. To say, she is not an artist, she is rather his assistant who fills color-boxes and prepares brushes. Why does one of the world leading experts on children’s products and activities choose such approach? Because it is you who decides which toys worth buying and what activities worth being done. From her own side, Dr. Toy just fills parents’ backgrounds to simplify for them making conscious and targeted decisions.
That’s why she offers parents to create their own playbook, “a notebook with ideas that apply to your child and tips from your reading and research.” That’s why she defines three different categories of games – active, creative, educational – and marks with its index the most of toys and games in “Toy suggestions” boxes: what to choose finally, it’s on the parents’ own. That’s way at the end of the book she proposes 5-pages list of “Play ideas,” where everything from archery and pottery to computer games for kids to scrapbooks making is counted.
How to use?
Dr. Toy’s playguide is well-structured and easy to use, even if you have to use it as a “FAQ-book.” The key-points are recorded in special tip-boxes. Here’re topics of some of them: it looks informative and worth reading, and it does.
Tips on selecting toys and other children’s products
Safety tips on toys
Tips on child observation
Scrap materials for making toys at home or school
Sources for free and unexpensive materials
Tips for selecting software
Frankly speaking, we think some of these tip-boxes may be stick down on the fridge or in the parents’ datebook.
Our resume: helpful for parents as well as for kids’ educators!
Reviewed by:
Marta Sterman, Editor, Kids’ Internet Digest,
DrivingKids.com – Edutainment MMO Game for Kids
