Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B004AJDC3Y | Format: PDF
Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five Description
What's the single most important thing you can do during pregnancy? What does watching TV do to a child's brain? What's the best way to handle temper tantrums? Scientists know.
In his New York Times best seller Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina told us how our brains really work - and why we ought to redesign our workplaces and schools. Now, in Brain Rules for Baby, he shares what the latest science says about how to raise smart and happy children from zero to 5. This book is destined to revolutionize parenting. Just one of the surprises: The best way to get your children into the college of their choice? Teach them impulse control.
Brain Rules for Baby bridges the gap between what scientists know and what parents practice. Through fascinating and funny stories, Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and dad, unravels how a child's brain develops--and what you can do to optimize it.You will view your children - and how to raise them - in a whole new light.
You'll learn:
- Where nature ends and nurture begins
- Why men should do more household choresWhat you do when emotions run hot affects how your child turns out
- TV is harmful for children under 2
- Your child's ability to relate to others predicts her future math performance
- Smart and happy are inseparable
- Pursuing your child's intellectual success at the expense of his happiness achieves neither
- Praising effort is better than praising intelligence
- The best predictor of academic performance is not IQ. It's self control
- What you do right now - before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and through the first five years - will affect your children for the rest of their lives.
Brain Rules for Baby is an indispensable guide.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 8 hours and 29 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Pear Press
- Audible.com Release Date: November 3, 2010
- Whispersync for Voice: Ready
- Language: English
- ASIN: B004AJDC3Y
Parents and caregivers strive daily to understand and support the development of their infant or young child. They feel that by having the infant listen to classical music while in the womb or providing a baby with toys and DVD's dedicated to making them academic all stars, they are setting their children up for future success. They feel helpless when a child seems to be crying uncontrollably or anxious when their youngster does not seem to develop at the same pace as that of a friend's child. Almost all struggle with the cognitive thought processes and emotional development of a child and feel helpless when they are not sure how to respond to certain scenarios. Enter John J. Medina's book "Brain Rules for Baby, How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five" as a guidebook for success.
Doctor John Medina, a famed developmental molecular biologist, tackles many of the issues that parents face dealing with the raising of small children. He lists five separate areas for discussion: pregnancy, relationship with the spouse, smart baby, happy baby, and moral baby and has identified twenty-two brain rules that parents should understand and follow if they desire to raise a healthy and well-adjusted child. Though it may seem daunting to read a book written by a scientist, Medina keeps the technical vernacular to a minimum and utilizes many stories from Internet blogs and his own experiences as a father of two boys.
The book begins with a look at the development of the child in the womb, with a preponderance of the information covering the physical and emotional development of the child. Medina dispels many of the myths associated with the purchase of brain enhancement devices and provides a general description of how a baby steps through the processes of development.
I bought this book to understand what I can do to help the mental development of my four month old daughter. I was looking for information such as the type of play or toys that would be most stimulating for her. The book didn't provide me with many new and implementable ideas (e.g., the small section on play is irrelevant until she is fully communicating). The best thing I took away was 'absolutely no TV before the age of two'.
What I liked:
1. The book is well researched and enjoyable to read. The author provides references and strikes a good balance between mentioning details of the studies and maintaining readability for the average parent.
2. I liked the very high-level organization of the book: What makes a baby smart? What makes him happy? What makes him 'moral'? A lot of emphasis is usually put on smarts, and recently a little more on 'Emotional Intelligence', but highlighting and addressing all three aspects was valuable.
3. The book debunks some myths that can save you time and money and your baby from some boredom (e.g., no 'Baby Einstein' / 'Baby Mozart')
What I didn't like:
1. The proof reading quality of the Kindle edition is embarrassing. There are numerous punctuation mistakes (e.g., 80% of the open quote marks are never closed) and some spelling errors. Not only is the book less readable as a result, it also feels very low quality. Is the book not worth a proper proofing?
2. The author seems to have had a hard time organizing the content. The top level breakdown (smart/happy/moral) works, as does the next level (genetics vs. upbringing), but further sub-sections are inconsistent and have overlaps.
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