Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book is terrifying. I’m only up to page 24, and have encountered so many inappropriate activities for one year olds. Let me state that I am a mother, grandmother, and educator who has taught every grade level from preschool to high school seniors—including childcare and development. Many of thes activities are unsafe—giving a child a container filled with 5 pounds of dried beans? Food is not a toy, they don’t have the discretion to know NOT to try to eat it (and yes, some WILL try sticking one up their nose!) as well, this teaches waste. Encasing toy animals in plastic bags to rescue them? NO NO. Toys should be used to teach appropriate behavior, what does a child learn from seeing a parent putting an animal in a ziplock bag? He’s liable to think it’s okay to put the familygerbil in a bag. Or worse, decide to ‘rescue’ a fenced in pit bull he sees down the street. Paint popsicles? How does a one year old distinguish between inedible frozen paint and the delicious popsicle Mom gave him yesterday? Rolling play cars trough graham cracker sand might not be terrible, IF the author had included the instruction to carefully wash and dry the cars before and after playing. So, some activities here are downright age inappropriate, or dangerous. Others are just silly to include—do we really need the suggestion to build a fort of sofa pillows? Nothing new. I will say one thing, this book HAS, at least boosted MY self esteem—I realize I must have been a much better, careful teacher and parent than I ever dreamed I was. Look, this book is pretty expensive for the small size, a responsible parent is going to find little useful material in it. I’d strongly recommend against buying it.