Book Review: There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather
I grew up in a large family with younger siblings that I helped babysit and have taken notes as I've watched those around me become new parents. I thought I had an idea of what kind of upbringing I wanted to encourage for my son, but I figured that as a new mom it wouldn't hurt to get a few different perspectives on parenting. I went in search for books grabbing many from the local library. I diligently read through the pages only to find small techniques that I wanted to adopt. When I discovered "There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather", however, I felt I needed to own the book instead because the book just spoke to my roots.
Written by Linda Ã…keson McGurk, this book offers the opportunity to take a look at how time in nature can have a huge impact on a child both academically and socially. This viewpoint is alongside a culture comparison of Scandinavia versus the US as well. The author is originally from Sweden, but after meeting her husband (an American) on a school trip in Australia she moved to the state of Indiana to begin a life together. As the mother of two young girls, she notices many differences in how American's incorporate nature into the learning process and everyday life versus her experiences growing up in Sweden. This variance is brought even more to life when Linda has to move back to Sweden for six months to be with her father while he undergoes chemotherapy bringing her daughters with her.
The book covers the well known practice of parents leaving their child outside of stores while they shop inside to forest schools where students spend a large amount of time outdoors during the day. Linda also supplies a quick dictionary for any Swedish words referenced at the beginning as well as a quick summary of her eight Scandinavian parenting tips in the back of the book. I don't want to give too much more away because it is worth reading cover to cover. I've already earmarked many pages and am glad I own this book as I plan to reference this book for years to come.
