The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision Making in the Early School Years
- Downloads：2346
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-08 06:52:19
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Emily Oster
- ISBN：1788165853
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
From age 5 to 12， parenting decisions do not come with the frequency that they do with a baby， but they are almost always more complicated。 What's the right kind of school？ How do you get them to eat healthily？ Should they play a sport？ Are you a helicopter parent， a free range parent， a tiger parent， an ostrich parent？ Is that last one even a thing？
Daily logistical challenges are punctuated by big， consequential decisions that you often have no idea how to think about。 Oster outlines a framework and some systems: a way to run your family a bit more like a firm， beginning with the "Big Picture" for your family and going on to explain ways to structure your day to day， and how to approach big decisions。
People will often tell you parenting is a job， albeit an underpaid one where the employees frequently tell you they hate you and you ruined their life。 So maybe it's time to start treating it like one。
Daily logistical challenges are punctuated by big， consequential decisions that you often have no idea how to think about。 Oster outlines a framework and some systems: a way to run your family a bit more like a firm， beginning with the "Big Picture" for your family and going on to explain ways to structure your day to day， and how to approach big decisions。
People will often tell you parenting is a job， albeit an underpaid one where the employees frequently tell you they hate you and you ruined their life。 So maybe it's time to start treating it like one。
Reviews
Sir Farty Fartsalot
，
She's a covidiot propagandist。 She's a covidiot propagandist。 。。。more
Brianna
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Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review！I really enjoyed this book， probably because I’m currently existing in the space that this book tries to prepare you for。 It calmed my nerves about things （screen time， extracurriculars， kindergarten start times， oh my！） and it gave me real data to mull over， not just one mom’s opinion。 Hallelujah！ I really liked the idea of setting a family mission statement， and as someone who literally helps bus Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review！I really enjoyed this book， probably because I’m currently existing in the space that this book tries to prepare you for。 It calmed my nerves about things （screen time， extracurriculars， kindergarten start times， oh my！） and it gave me real data to mull over， not just one mom’s opinion。 Hallelujah！ I really liked the idea of setting a family mission statement， and as someone who literally helps businesses develop this kind of thing for a living， it’s something I’ve considered but haven’t gotten around to yet。 I appreciated the provided framework and how to use it once you’ve created it。 It may just have been the kick in the pants I need to develop one with my own family。All in all， I consider myself fairly organized and Type A to a point， but I am definitely not as much so as this author， and would prefer not to consider my family as a business， and to leave room for a bit more flexibility and fewer google docs。 If you are a reader who is craving more structure and less stress， you may find this to be the answer for you， though！ I’ll keep reading Emily Oster’s books， and I hope they’ll keep lining up at the right time in my parenting life！ 。。。more
Andrea
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*I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review*I really enjoyed Expecting Better and Cribsheet so I was excited when I saw that Oster had a new book coming out covering the Elementary School years I was very excited。 This book is different than the previous ones， but that is because the data because more complicated as kids get older and what works for one family is completely different than others。I really liked how she laid this book out however; with broad ideas and then m *I received this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review*I really enjoyed Expecting Better and Cribsheet so I was excited when I saw that Oster had a new book coming out covering the Elementary School years I was very excited。 This book is different than the previous ones， but that is because the data because more complicated as kids get older and what works for one family is completely different than others。I really liked how she laid this book out however; with broad ideas and then more specific examples such as when your kids start school （should you hold them back a year if they are born later in the year）， or how many after school activities should they be in， and when they should get their own phone。 This book covers a lot of important topics and like always is written in a way that is very easy to read and enjoy。 。。。more
Kate
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I was really excited for this book because I am familiar with the author and I love both research and parenting， especially researching anything parenting related。。 Since I feel compelled to read any and every new book that focuses on both， this book was naturally on my radar。 Overall， it was an enjoyable book。 I didn't love it as much as I expected though。 For being data driven， I felt there were many parts that were heavily dependent on her opinion and unconscious bias。 Statistics can always b I was really excited for this book because I am familiar with the author and I love both research and parenting， especially researching anything parenting related。。 Since I feel compelled to read any and every new book that focuses on both， this book was naturally on my radar。 Overall， it was an enjoyable book。 I didn't love it as much as I expected though。 For being data driven， I felt there were many parts that were heavily dependent on her opinion and unconscious bias。 Statistics can always be spun to what you want them to say， so I found that some of her conclusions were based on specific studies that she had decided to use and not indicative of what is valid for another。 I get it， parenting style is highly subjective and what works for one does not always work for another。 She has a lot of side commentary throughout and sometimes I found it entertaining and other times I found it kind of grating or overdone。 Also， I'm very much a Type A， plan everything to the minute， type of person， but some the interactions she relays in the story just make her family seem so stiff and unrelatable。 Perhaps she was really trying to play up how she runs her home like a firm， but it just came off cold to me。 Perhaps the most disappointing thing was that I learned nothing new in this book。 Most conclusions pointed to the obvious while a few were just based on her personal conclusions via her research。 The book was fine， but I don't feel like it is worth the hype。 For the good， a number of the things she discusses are interesting， but just pretty obvious。 So this book may appeal more to those who are novices in the parenting book arena。 The writing itself was good and read well。 I would lean more toward 3- 3 1/2 stars， but maybe a 4 star for the mentioned demographic， so rounding up to 4。 。。。more
Susan Rigetti
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I absolutely loved this book。 I’m very into planning and organization for my own work and my own personal goals， and I’ve been trying to find a way to be more organized about family life。 This book has a really useful framework for organizing and planning family life and kid things — including helpful worksheets — both for big picture stuff and the day to day。 It’s supposed to be for school aged children but my kids are 3 years old and 3 months old and I’m already putting much of this book into I absolutely loved this book。 I’m very into planning and organization for my own work and my own personal goals， and I’ve been trying to find a way to be more organized about family life。 This book has a really useful framework for organizing and planning family life and kid things — including helpful worksheets — both for big picture stuff and the day to day。 It’s supposed to be for school aged children but my kids are 3 years old and 3 months old and I’m already putting much of this book into practice。 。。。more
Cari
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I am a big fan of Emily Oster and recommend everything she writes， particularly EXPECTING BETTER。 I was excited to have an advanced reader copy of this book through Edelweiss。 When Oster's last book， CRIBSHEET， came out， my children were already both past the stages covered， so I didn't read it。 But as my children are both elementary aged， I dove right into this one。 Oster gives a framework for families to make difficult decisions， plus the usual data and statistics to help with some of those ch I am a big fan of Emily Oster and recommend everything she writes， particularly EXPECTING BETTER。 I was excited to have an advanced reader copy of this book through Edelweiss。 When Oster's last book， CRIBSHEET， came out， my children were already both past the stages covered， so I didn't read it。 But as my children are both elementary aged， I dove right into this one。 Oster gives a framework for families to make difficult decisions， plus the usual data and statistics to help with some of those choices。 While the section on using Google Docs and Calendar was old hat to me - my kids had calendars and schedules before they were born - if you are new to this way of planning， it is really helpful。 I also thought the parts explaining different studies were fascinating， and Oster's dry humor makes this book more than chapter after chapter of statistics。 Not every reader will gravitate to this kind of parenting book， but it's a good choice to have in any library collection。 。。。more
Kady
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I love Emily's books and this one is no exception。 It really opened my eyes to a new way to run a family， and considering I am new at the game， I really appreciate a different viewpoint。 I love Emily's books and this one is no exception。 It really opened my eyes to a new way to run a family， and considering I am new at the game， I really appreciate a different viewpoint。 。。。more
Kara
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