Welcome to Your Child's Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College
Read Welcome to Your Child's Brain: How the Mind Grows From Conception to College Online
Authors: Sandra Aamodt,Sam Wang
Tags: #Pediatrics, #Science, #Medical, #General, #Child Development, #Family & Relationships
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
FOREWORD by Ellen Galinsky
QUIZ How Well Do You Know Your Child’s Brain?
INTRODUCTION The Brain That Builds Itself
PART 1 – MEET YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN
CHAPTER 1 The Five Hidden Talents of Your Baby’s Brain
Myth: If anything goes wrong, Mom is to blame
CHAPTER 2 In the Beginning: Prenatal Development
Practical tip: Less stress, fewer problems
Practical tip: Eat fish during pregnancy
CHAPTER 3 Baby, You Were Born to Learn
Myth: Breast-feeding increases intelligence
Practical tip: Guided practice can accelerate motor development
CHAPTER 4 Beyond Nature Versus Nurture
Footprints on the genome
Culture can drive evolution
PART 2 – GROWING THROUGH A STAGE
CHAPTER 5 Once in a Lifetime: Sensitive Periods
Brain food
The limits of brain plasticity
CHAPTER 6 Born Linguists
Practical tip: Teach foreign languages early in life
CHAPTER 7 Beautiful Dreamer
Practical tip: How to get your baby to sleep
What children dream about
CHAPTER 8 It’s a Girl! Gender Differences
Practical tip: Broadening your child’s abilities
CHAPTER 9 Adolescence: It’s Not Just About Sex
Myth: Adolescents have a longer day-night cycle
PART 3 – START MAKING SENSE
CHAPTER 10 Learning to See
Practical tip: Outdoor play improves vision
Speculation: Modern life is changing our brains
CHAPTER 11 Connect with Your Baby Through Hearing and Touch
Practical tip: Protect your child from noise, starting before birth
The neuroscience of snuggle
CHAPTER 12 Eat Dessert First: Flavor Preferences
Practical tip: Getting your child to eat spinach
Practical tip: Worried about your child’s weight?
PART 4 – THE SERIOUS BUSINESS OF PLAY
CHAPTER 13 The Best Gift You Can Give: Self-Control
Practical tip: Imaginary friends, real skills
Practical tip: Learning two languages improves cognitive control
CHAPTER 14 Playing for Keeps
Play in adult life
CHAPTER 15 Moving the Body and Brain Along
Practical tip: Protect your child from head injuries
CHAPTER 16 Electronic Entertainment and the Multitasking Myth
Speculation: Does Internet use reduce empathy?
Practical tip: Baby videos do more harm than good
PART 5 – YOUR CHILD AS AN INDIVIDUAL
CHAPTER 17 Nice to Meet You: Temperament
Why you’re turning into your mother
Myth: Birth order influences personality
CHAPTER 18 Emotions in the Driver’s Seat
Myth: The right hemisphere is the emotional side
Self-control promotes empathy
CHAPTER 19 Empathy and Theory of Mind
Older siblings speed a child’s theory-of-mind development
Imitation in the brain
CHAPTER 20 Playing Nicely with Others
Stereotyping and socialization
Practical tip: Promoting conscience
PART 6 – YOUR CHILD’S BRAIN AT SCHOOL
CHAPTER 21 Starting to Write the Life Story
Practical tip: The best study habits
Babies forget faster
CHAPTER 22 Learning to Solve Problems
Practical tip: Social rejection reduces IQ
CHAPTER 23 Take It from the Top: Music
Myth: The Mozart effect
Practical tip: The benefits of music and drama
CHAPTER 24 Go Figure: Learning About Math
Practical tip: Stereotypes and test performance
CHAPTER 25 The Many Roads to Reading
Practical tip: Reading at home
The causes of dyslexia
PART 7 – BUMPS IN THE ROAD
CHAPTER 26 Hang in There, Baby: Stress and Resilience
Practical tip: Dandelion and orchid children
CHAPTER 27 Mind-Blindness: Autism
Speculation: Are feral children autistic?
Practical tip: Behavioral therapy is helpful if started early
CHAPTER 28 Old Genes Meet the Modern World: ADHD
Practical tip: Spotting untrustworthy treatments
Myth: The all-powerful brain scan
CHAPTER 29 Catch Your Child Being Good: Behavior Modification
Practical tip: Getting to good
Myth: Praise builds self-esteem
CHAPTER 30 A Tough Road to Travel: Growing Up in Poverty
Epidemiology is hard to interpret
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
GLOSSARY
NOTES
REFERENCES
By the Same Authors
Imprint
From Sandra, to my parents, of course
From Sam, to Vita, Becca, Rita, and Dad
In 1994, the Carnegie Corporation of New York released a seminal report, “Starting Points: Meeting the Needs of Our Youngest Children.” Although it included only a few sentences about the brain development of young children, the ensuing media attention was all about brain development—all the time and everywhere.
Two years later, prompted by this unprecedented attention, the organization I lead, the Families and Work Institute—as well as the Carnegie Corporation, the Harris Foundation, and others—convened a conference at the University of Chicago titled “Brain Development of Young Children: New Frontiers for Research, Policy, and Practice.” We brought together 150 neuroscientists with researchers who study children’s social, emotional, and intellectual development, and asked: Are the findings from neuroscience similar to or different from the findings from other child development studies? How can these findings promote the healthy development and learning of all young children?
When the report from our conference was released, public interest and media attention were once again off the charts. In the months that followed, a public engagement campaign on children from birth to age three was launched, a White House conference was held, a
Newsweek
magazine special edition was published, sessions at the National Governors Association were held, and special series on the brain development of young children were produced on the
Today
show and
Good Morning America
.
In the more than a decade and a half since, public interest in the brain has continued to increase. But along with that interest, a great deal of misinformation has been promulgated. Toy creators, media developers, and marketers have stepped in “where angels fear to tread,” producing programs and creating materials with claims of building bigger and better brains.
