Parents, this post is for you!
If you haven’t yet heard of the groundbreaking new parenting book NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children (4.5/5 stars, Whispersync for Voice enabled), you soon will. This book normally sells for $14.99 in Kindle format, but is currently priced at just $2.99.
From Amazon:
In a world of modern, involved, caring parents, why are so many kids aggressive and cruel? Where is intelligence hidden in the brain, and why does that matter? Why do cross-racial friendships decrease in schools that are more integrated? If 98% of kids think lying is morally wrong, then why do 98% of kids lie? What’s the single most important thing that helps infants learn language?
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children is a groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue that when it comes to children, we’ve mistaken good intentions for good ideas. With impeccable storytelling and razor-sharp analysis, they demonstrate that many of modern society’s strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring–because key twists in the science have been overlooked.
Nothing like a parenting manual, the authors’ work is an insightful exploration of themes and issues that transcend children’s (and adults’) lives.
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Amazon Top 500 Reviewer and Vine Voice switterbug says:
The blurbs about this book intrigued me, but I was also skeptical–until I read the first chapter on the inverse power of praise. Parents and guardians–just get ye to a bookstore and read the first chapter. I think you will be galvanized by its immediacy and logic (as well as back-up data) and it will inspire you to continue…
Each section is such a wake-up call to parenting that I found myself reflecting on the blind spots in my own methods…It isn’t guesswork or just someone’s opinion. The longitudinal studies, ongoing tests, data compilation, and control studies are explicit. But, more than that, you will feel a light bulb go off–it is seriously the most intrepid book I have ever read on parenting. No exaggeration. I can apply the book’s information to my own parenting experiences and trials and realize how on the mark these studies are…
Yes, it will blow the lid off, turn upside down just about everything previously advocated in parenting books. But not in a confounding way. That is an important ingredient to consider. This book, the way I perceive it, is not intended to upset or horrify you or derail your parenting experience…it offers specific practices and interventions that can be measured rather swiftly in your own home with these changes to your personal parenting skills. As much as this book “shocks,” it is not intimidating or finger-pointing at parents (although it does point a finger into disingenuous studies). The accessible and engaging flow of narrative is dotted with levity, lightness, and always benevolence…
Slide your other parenting books to the side of the shelf and place this one squarely in the middle. I acknowledge this book as a parenting imperative. Read it and leap.
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Huffington Post reporter Kari Henley writes:
I recently read a groundbreaking book for parents: NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. I was underlining like mad, dog earring pages left and right, and calling my husband every five seconds to read a passage. It’s a must-read. Essentially, the take-away is that parents today are treating their kids as if they are mini-adults, when, in fact, they require vastly different tools and parameters to grow up.
Similar to Malcom Gladwell, Bronson and Merryman are journalists who know how to wrangle out some of the most groundbreaking research on children that has been conducted in years, and put it all together in a series of topics that will knock your socks off – like why kids lie, how praising kids paralyzes their growth, and how our focus on “prosocial” TV shows is contributing to relational aggression and bullying.
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NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children – get it now, while it’s on sale for just $2.99.
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Parents of very young children will want to check out today’s Amazon Free App of the Day: Kids Preschool Puzzle (5/5 stars, all ages, currently FREE as the Amazon App of the Day).
From Amazon:
More than 1,000,000 parents have already downloaded Intellijoy’s Kids Preschool Puzzle, a simple, entertaining, and educational game for preschool-aged kids. Newly available on the Amazon Appstore for Android, this popular app contains more than 100 fun picture puzzles.
Each puzzle presents your child with an outline of an image belonging to a category, such as animals, food, numbers, and letters. To solve the puzzle, the child must slide and snap the colorful puzzle pieces into place to reveal a delightful image.
While your tot or preschooler is being entertained and practicing her basic reading skills, she is building and improving her cognitive, visual/spatial, tactile, and fine motor skills, as well as shape recognition.
Choosing the preferences option allows you to control the app’s level of challenge and interactivity. For instance, you may choose to turn off the puzzle-piece borders displayed in the form, creating a puzzle more closely resembling a traditional one with lots of little cardboard pieces that can quickly dominate a floor or a dining room table.
Kids Preschool Puzzle – today’s Free App of the Day.