Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day [Paperback]

Karen Ronney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2008

Winner of 23 different publishing awards, this 10-minutes-per-day comprehensive program helps children ages 0 to 6 develop coordination.

Tennis pro and master coach Karen Ronney offers a step-by-step handbook with over 200 games for parents who want to jump-start their child's fundamental skills, self-confidence, and sports potential while creating a lifestyle of family fitness. She offers an in-depth explanation of a child's development, their learning styles, with physical and brain anatomy and growth facts, and how simple, fun activities can be the key to unlock their abilities in every area of life. Includes recent scientific and academic research, progress charts, how to incorporate purposeful play, and even helps for families with special-needs kids.

Part One: How Your Child Develops

• Learning Styles
• Building Better Brains
• Sensory Integration
• Fine Motor Development
• Right- or Left-Handed
• Gross Motor Development
• Coordination and Sidedness
• Rules of Play and Praise

Part Two: Games

• Warm-up and Stretch
• Crib Capers
• Athletic Activities One, Two and You
• Building Blocks for Three Year Olds
• The Golden Years: Four-to-Six Year Olds

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (September 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785228225
• ISBN-13: 978-0785228226
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #394,650 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #42 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > For Children
  • #68 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Pregnancy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for Tennis Parents and Coaches!, September 23, 2010

By 

Richard Neher (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

I was a little sceptical at first thinking the author is a tennis coach, but where are the tennis guidelines for raising those balanced and coordinated kids? Then I realized, it doesn't matter what kind of ballsport your kids are interested in, the guidance this book offers is universally applicable. But I'm kind of into tennis a lot and was particularly pleased that a lot of those subjects direct relate to how kids can become good tennis athletes. The two areas I found most fascinating were sidedness (never heard of that term) and hand-eye coordination. After realizing what's behind those terms and how kids can actually learn how to get better hand-eye coordination, soooo important in tennis, I say this book is not only great for parents, but should be standard material for all tennis coaches who are serious about their mission.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must buy for every parent..., June 2, 2010

By 

Sean Mccreery "Sean McCreery" (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

Simply put this book makes it simple. The first half of the book gives a good overview, in layman's terms, of child development. The second half has copious game outlines and suggestions in a game appendix with explanations on how each game helps the child's mental and physical development. Nothing in the book should come as a surprise but the book offers a steady resource to turn towards. The outlines and information it offers puts everything into perspective to a point where you grow beyond even "needing" the book. In addition it contains good notes on why and how not to push a child into sports. It argues against specialization as compared to generalization. Meaning it says not to try and turn your kid into Tiger Woods but rather to try and give your child the opportunity to be well rounded.

5.0 out of 5 stars An useful book for parents who want to play beyond pick-a-boo and wii games wtih their children, April 11, 2010

By 

Fabiola P. Johnson "fabispunk" (Greater San Diego area) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Proud Parents' Guide to Raising Athletic, Balanced, and Coordinated Kids: A Lifetime of Benefit in Just 10 Minutes a Day (Paperback)

I was exited when I found this book. Eight yeas ago nothing like this was available when I had my first child. Some of the books I read outlined "normal" milestones and what my child was probably doing by certain ages, but there was nothing that provided such a comprehensive look into children physical development. When I was concerned about something, my pediatrician would remind me that children develop at their own rate and that he (my son) would eventually catch-up, or that his clumsiness was normal at his age (he said that at 2, 3, 4, he started getting a little bit better once he started playing sports at 5, 6, 7,and 8)

Karen Ronney pushes the envelope by not letting us accept that athleticism is a gift that children are either born with or without, but instead insists that parents can influence negatively or positively such gift. The games are fun, even for my son, who is now eight (by adjusting some of the games to make them more challenging). We've been able to see some improvement with his mixed-sideness (term I didn't know until I read the book).

With my super kinetic 9 month-old daughter this book has become a great guide. She could only play pick-a-boo for so long. She likes the special playing time she gets with Dad, crawling, standing, twisting, searching... My husband only has to give 10 minutes and they both have a thrill, which is great because sometimes he doesn't have more time than that. And I know what to do to make blanket time funner for both of us.

Coordination is not a gift only for the super athlete, but for raising kids who feel confident about themselves and are competent to use their bodies for what they can do.