Playful Learning: Develop Your Child's Sense of Joy and Wonder Paperback – August 9, 2011

This book provides a lot of ideas and good information. Even if you were to think of the ideas on your own, the author gives you books to read to reinforce and build on the activities for every section. It is very well laid out and attainable for most everyone. I had education experience and college training before having children, but I do not believe this book would be a waste of money for anyone. She includes stages of development and activities for writing, reading, math, science, art, and more that include supply lists, instructions, books to help inspire, and ways to expand the activity. I was a little skeptical of the age range listed, but after reading the book I am sure my 7.5 year-old son will enjoy most of these activities with my younger children. The only weakness I found in this book was the reading section which is definitely very heavy in the whole language approach to teaching reading (which research has repeatedly shown to not be the best approach). That being said there are still ideas in that section that can be used, but using a phonics based approach. I am so glad that I bought this book.

This is the only parenting book I purchased in a mad drive to figure out how to entertain/educate my kids, and this is the only one I don't feel foolish purchasing. The book is well-organized and easy to understand, with lots of good, realistic ideas on how to slowly gather materials to stimulate reading, writing, and art. My kids particularly love writing with the materials suggested in this book, and the ideas to stimulate writing have really worked well. I highly recommend this one - I've been re-reading it over the past 4 years - great suggestions for kids 3 years to at least 8 years of age.

I've been reading early childhood education books for thirty years or so. It takes a serious gust to qualify as a breath of fresh air. This is it. This book artfully, masterfully, and very clearly presents a lovely marriage of the theories of Maria Montessori, Loris Malaguzzi, and Howard Gardner. What you get is an accesible and immediately implementable roadmap to the best of Montessori, Reggio Emelia, and Harvard Project Zero. It's absolutely not a theory book though--it's all very practical. This a visually inspiring book full of hands-on reading, science, and social activities for children from three or four to about eight or nine. There is just enough child development background to give underlying meaning to the activities. There are reproducibles to make it come to life easily. And there are very thoughtful, helpful, and beautiful pictures to inspire the visual among us. This book has me happily reorganizing and purposefully planning to capture the joyful moments of my children's natural inquisitiveness and wonder right along with them.

I'm excited for my children to be a little older so we can implement more of the suggestions in this book!

I just got this book yesterday, and I am so excited to sit down and take my time with it. I read the section on the stages of writing first, and I have never read such an accessible, practical explanation of HOW to encourage developing writers. I have read plenty of theory, and seen the stages she writes about. But her book actually walks you through the reasons behind it while attaching it to the methods of encouraging a child to become a writer.The book is full of practical examples, beautiful photos of learning spaces, easy-to-make learning activities.Thank you so much for writing such a practical and inspiring book. I have been a fan of your blog for quite some time, and the book is even better!

As I start my 4th year of homeschooling (with a newborn baby added to the mix) I was looking at my homeschool "room" with dread. I knew I needed to make changes to the physical space but I just could not visualize it. Nor did I have time to peruse hundreds of blogs and scans dozens of pinterest pages. This book has enough inspiring pictures, printables, and practical ideas to get me going for the coming year. I think any parent wanting to encourage their child's interests at home would benefit from reading this book. If you like Mariah's blog, you will love her book. I wish I didn't live across the country and could visit her brick and mortar store in person!

I had this in my Amazon cart for months without buying it b/c I have so many books on education and learning already. I finally bought it and I'm using it weekly with my 3 year old and 7 year old. I have utilized the great ideas for organizing a play & learn space, created the writing center, and done several projects. They information and ideas are easy to understand, and the accompanying photos are beautiful! The layout is very effective and lovely.

I have so many early learning books, and this is by far the best one. It covers everything from how to think about education in the early years to how to create space for your kids to explore and create, to so many meaningful activities and experiences for your kids in many different "subjects" like science, math, art, literacy, etc. All parents of young children should own this, especially if you are thinking about homeschooling but even if you aren't.