NurtureShock
New Thinking about Children
By: Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman
Published: September 3, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
ISBN: 9780446504126
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Twelve
"'Nurture shock' as the term is generally used, refers to the panic - common among new parents - that the mythical fountain of knowledge is not magically kicking in at all", write award winning science writers and journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman in their groundbreaking and challenging book NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children. The authors describe new scientific research that turns previous assumptions about child development upside down. Instead of being positive for raising children, long held beliefs are in fact having the opposite effect, as many crucial subtleties have been overlooked by parents and researchers.
Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman (both in photo left) present cutting edge research in child development psychology that challenges long held beliefs about nurturing and raising children. The authors provide powerful and compelling evidence that many of the most widely held beliefs about child development are often doing more harm than good. The book is not an indictment of parents and their assumptions, but as an eye opening discussion about how to think more deeply and clearly about how children learn and develop as people. Indeed, the authors propose abandoning the concept of raising children by the book, and instead incorporating old fashioned common sense into the nurturing of their children.
Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson recognize that the conventional wisdom for raising children requires an overhaul. At the same time, however, the scientific research they present in the book suggests that very small changes in parental behavior will make important differences in the response and development of the child. The book covers many often taboo topics in regard to nurturing and raising children, adolescents, and teenagers.
The authors don't shy away from the controversial topics, and follow the research wherever it may lead, even when it flies directly in the face of conventional wisdom. Subjects discussed include self-esteem, whether children are blind to racial differences, lying, emotional intelligence, language development, and responses to peer pressure. In every case, the scientific research presented diverges widely from commonly held assumptions about how children learn, think, and behave. The good news is that very small changes in parental actions and words can make a real difference for the child.
I highly recommend the important and must read book NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, to any parents seeking understand and connect with their children in an entirely new way. The authors point to studies that demonstrate that applying adult responses and expected behaviors to children is the wrong course of action. Instead, their goal is a deeper understanding of the apparent contradictions between how adults behave and how children respond, as well as to the contradictions within the child's own actions and behavior.
Read the often shocking, but always rewarding book NurtureShock: New Thinking about Children by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, for an indispensable discussion of the most challenging scientific research into child development psychology. The results of the studies may shock the reader, and may even be uncomfortable for many, but the reading and understanding the research will lead to more effective child rearing and educational activities. In the end, the book will help the reader to become a more understanding parent, and that is certainly to the overall benefit of the child.
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