52 books :: book 8 :: NurtureShock

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children is written by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They are not parenting experts or doctors, but journalists for the New York Magazine. This book is not a parenting book. I am not a huge fan of parenting books, something about other people telling me what to do...!

This book is a collection of some of their articles, ten in total, all related to children. All articles are based on research performed by doctors, universities, etc.

The topics range from the problem with praising too much, the lack of sleep and its effect on children, why kids lie (and what they lie about), how kids interact and the effects of "educational" tv shows, the problems with kindergarten "gifted" programs, why siblings really fight,  teenagers and rebellion, and more.

There are so many quotes that I could share with you from this book. I really love this book, so often I feel like I am going against the flow (other parents around me) and this book just re-affirmed my parenting "style".

There is a website, NurtureShock with many articles available to read online, along with videos. If you have a few minutes, The Myth of Praise is worth watching. The author shows some of the research that was done, comparing American mothers and Asian ones and how they relate to their children. The children were given a test and the mothers were told that their children didn't do very well. It was fascinating to me to see mothers, grown adults, lie to their children about their performance, or completely ignoring the issue. What is wrong with just telling your child the truth? I personaly could relate more to the Asian mother that told her child she wasn't doing the best she could, and then invited her to review the test together. I think that way is more respectful toward the child. 

Again, this book is not a parenting "how-to" book, but one that will make you think about how we parent. 

This book is part of my reading challenge for this year, you can read more book reviews at the main blog: 52 books in 52 weeks.

I noticed at another reader's blog this idea and decided to incorporate it from now on to my 52 books posts:

Books read: 8/52

Pages read: 2990

Next book: Under Pressure: Rescuing Childhood from the Culture of Hyper-Parenting by Carl Honore.