Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. Buddha.
___________________________
From Ellen Currey-Wilson, Author of The Big Turnoff: Confessions of a TV-Addicted Mom Trying to Raise a TV-Free Kid http://currey-wilson.com/
"A revolutionary book that motivates even the most mainstream of parents to examine their choices about television, school and their children’s health. Author Julie Cook always assumed she would be a typical mother by giving her child plenty of Sesame Street, countless recess bells and a myriad of shots. But when daughter Genevieve arrived, the author began to re-think the common wisdom. She researched the vaccine industry and decided her daughter would be healthier without them. She kept the television off so Genevieve would have more time to explore the world around her and not beg for trips to McDonald’s. When it came time to send her daughter to school, Cook decided that home was a better place for Genevieve if she were to continue to love learning and reach her full potential on a daily basis. Parents will easily identify with Cook as she tells her story through a new mother’s eyes and presents readers with the information that made her decide to do something different for her child. "Unvaccinated, Homeschooled, and TV-Free" encourages parents to listen to their intuition and find the courage to follow the wisdom in their hearts. The good news is that they will not be alone!"
___________________________
From Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Author of Saying No to Vaccines, and FOWL! Bird Flu: It's Not What You Think. http://drtenpenny.com/default.aspx
"Julie has written a wonderful book for parents. She has covered several topics that are not commonly discussed that are very important to the health of children. Her common sense suggestions are refreshing. Thank you for your work, Julie!"
____________________________
From Laurie A. Couture, Author of Instead of Medicating and Punishing: Healing the Causes of Our Children's Acting-Out Behavior by Parenting and Educating the Way Nature Intended. http://www.childadvocate.org/
"This book empowers parents to break free of blind allegiance to the aggressive mass hypnotic mantra of "Everyone does it so it has to be right". Julie Cook challenges parents to trust their instincts and research the dark history and financial motives behind the ubiquitous institution of public schooling as well as television and vaccines. Julie has a knack for exposing the buried facts about these topics so that the facts become clear and obvious. Any parent who wants better for their child than the mediocre fare that the mainstream culture serves should read this book."
__________________________________
From Michael Mendizza, Founder of Touch the Future (ttfuture.org),and co-author of Magical Parent-Magical Child: The Art of Joyful Parenting.
"I applaud your new book for its simplicity and ease of access.
You invite the reader to step into the questions you asked, encourage them to ask the same and similar questions. The primary reason we don't is that we have been so deeply conditioned by the culture not to ask such questions. To ask them risks the wrath of the entire culture at every turn.
Indeed, yes it does take courage - that is, as long as you think the King has Clothes.
There comes a moment when we pull back the curtain and see that the great and powerful OZ is just another snake oil salesman from Kansas....This insight changes everything."
____________________________________
From Ingri Cassel, Director of Vaccination Liberation (http://www.vaclib.org/).
"Julie Cook has written a valuable book to help parents make decisions that will affect their children for the rest of their lives. When Julie was pregnant with her first child, she found herself confronted with many decisions that, at first blush, seemed to be easy enough to make. Julie went to traditional schools herself and went on to college to obtain a couple masters degrees. She was also vaccinated as a child and had been exposed to plenty of television herself. But what Julie discovered is that her maternal intuition was peaking while she was pregnant, leading her to ask important questions and do her due diligence when researching for the answers.
The book starts out with Cord Blood Banking followed by a section on vaccines, then television and finally homeschooling. While Julie shares with her readers her journey of discovery that lead her to adopt unconventional ideas in raising her daughter, she is quick to mention that each parent must follow their own heart, intuition and gut instincts which may be different from hers.
The book is a page turner, carefully avoiding too much college-level scientific information so that parents will get the gist of her research quickly while being encouraged to follow through with research of their own. At the end of the book is an excellent reference section of pertinent books and articles to help parents get started.
The concept that I personally found most valuable was the idea of intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in people. It is clear that through television and both private and public schools, we have created a society of primarily extrinsically motivated people. If our society is going to move in a positive, solution-oriented direction from what we have now, it will be due to the creativity of intrinsically motivated people - those who have the ability to think outside the box.
It was clear to me that the most difficult decision for the author to communicate was the decision to leave her daughter free from vaccines. While keeping each section short and to the point, she also wanted to effectively dispel the myth that vaccines are safe, effective and necessary. Since there is so much information on this particular topic, Julie put a lot of thought into getting parents the tools to think critically rather than simply give them a Vaccination 101 course in a few pages. She ends the vaccine section with the idea that she did not make a decision to not vaccinate but rather a decision to keep her daughter's immune system intact and her body uncontaminated with toxic chemicals, a positive decision.
At the close of Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free, the author really delves into the psychology of making important parenting decisions and then dealing with parents who have found it easier to just go with the flow by doing what 95 percent of other parents are doing. I found this section to be the most valuable to me since she explains clearly why people will go along with what the majority of people are doing when the stakes are the highest, such as the decision to vaccinate a child even when faced with evidence of neurological damage and autoimmune disease as a probable outcome.
Vaccination Liberation board members and chapter leaders have often communicated their frustration to me regarding their inability to reach friends and family members with factual evidence on the harm caused by vaccines and wonder what they can do to be more effective. This section helped me to see just why our efforts will only reach those who have a passion for research and aren't afraid to make logical decisions that put them at odds with the majority.
This book is highly recommended to give to all pregnant moms, especially those having their first child. Encouraging women to follow their gut instincts and intuition is so important for the health, vitality and mental well being of their children. And if their intuition leads them to make unconventional decisions, they will find much corroborating evidence and support through Julie Cook's new book, Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free."
_____________________________________
From Robert Kesten, Executive Director - Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness http://www.screentime.org/
"The most important aspect of Julie Cook's book, "Unvaccinated,Homeschooled and TV-Free," is that it gets you thinking, asking questions and looking at all your options. There is almost nothing more important than finding out why we are doing what we do and for that reason alone you should take the time to read Ms. Cook's book.
At Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness we have seen governmental decisions, business decisions and family decisions made that have an adverse effect on our lives. I served on a Federal Communications Committee Task Force,where our first order from a United States Senator and the Chairman of the FCC stated that we could come up with any findings we thought would benefit children, BUT, those findings could not have a negative impact on industry. Needless to say our task force NEVER issued a final report.
I am not suggesting that your own personal journey will lead you to the same conclusions as Ms. Cook, but isn't worth it to take the journey, find information that makes you comfortable with your decisions and gives you the facts you need, so you are expert in the most important thing you will ever do in your life, and that is ensure the health and well-being of your children."
_____________________________________
From Dayna Martin, Author of Radical Unschooling: A Revolution has Begun. http://www.unschoolingamerica.com/
"Unvaccinated, Homeschooled and TV-Free' is a book filled with alternative information about today's hottest parenting topics. Once a "fringe" movement, a more natural and aware parenting approach is awakening our culture. If you are a parent who is looking for information from a perspective of empowerment, rather than fear, you have to pick up this book!"
______________________________________
"If you want to make informed, and from-the-heart parenting decisions without simply following the crowd, you're going to need this book! "
