I just purchased a copy of this book in English, because my wife has been translating the Thai version form me and we are both completely impressed by the wisdom contained in this book. My wife is Thai and her parents raised her with the same considerations and compassionate love that the book uses as the foundation for guiding parents how to raise their children. Currently, we are experimenting with the classic US style of education at the American School of Bangkok and will also try one of the Thai Waldorf school near our home and observe how the child responds the each on all levels of development. We, because of living in Bangkok, have the multiple education options incudintg British system, French system, Australian system, Multiple Intelligenc system, Montisori system, Christian schools etc..., and are very impressed with what we have seen in the Waldorf schools. Regardless of which education modality we choose the foundations in this book will guide our child development decisions.

I am completely put off by reviewers splattering their judgements of cultish, religous etc around this book. I just don't get it. If someone writes about Montisorei they reference Maria Montisori. If someone writes about Multiple Intellegence education they reference Harvard's Garnier. The primary researcher is always the source of the knowledge. Let's stick to what we know and not conjecture and judge what we do not know. Steiner was definitely on the something, and in today's world we definitely need all the help we can get in raising a new breed of human.

This is the first Steiner influenced book I have read and since I am a new parent and most of the info in here is aimed at small children, this was a good jumping off point for me. There were a few things in this book that bothered me, though, it may not be the author, it may be some of the ideas in this particular philosophy, I'm not sure yet. One was in her section on gifted children, she recommends holding back "precocious" children....that really bothered me. If a child wants to learn, by all means let them...that seems more like respecting the spirit of the child than trying to squelch their passions. The other thing was the constant reverance to which she spoke of Steiner. He is a smart guy and all, but, come on, he's not Jesus. That in particular leaves me with a cult like feeling about the whole movement.

The best thing about the book, though, and what makes it a good starting point for newbies, is at the end of each chapter she has a list of resources, mostly more books to read on the subject in the chapter and most of the time, she is clear about which ones are Steiner influence and which are not. It, also, is really easy to read (unlike the actual writings of Steiner) and most of the information is really practical. If you're interested in the Steiner movement, particularly if your children are still small, this is a really good book for you. If you are just looking for a parenting book, this may or may not be a good book for you....read into the Waldorf/Steiner ideas first before you decide.