Turn Your Demanding Child Into a Productive Co-Worker
…In these cultures, you find a striking commonality: Mothers and fathers do not feel the need to constantly entertain and play with children. Parents don’t see it as their job to tell the child what to learn, how to learn and when to learn. Instead parents give children an opportunity that many American kids do not have — to participate in adult work. Parents welcome children into the grown-up world and then have confidence that children will learn and grow, at their own pace, by watching adults, helping adults and helping other children.
…Children are built for autonomous learning, Lancy says. They are born knowing how to create their own toys, design their own games and to settle their own arguments. They need surprisingly little interference from adults. Children have spent their days learning this way for thousands of years.