NurtureShock

Author: Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman
Original Publication: 2009 Sep 3
Started: 2010 Dec 22
Finished: 2011 Jan 3
Format: Hardcover
336 pages / 13 days
25.8 pages/day

I am now so far behind in these, it is a miracle I remember the books at all. It has been over six months since I finished this book. Uh… make that 7 months… Oops. Oh well, let me give it a try anyway. This was the second “parenting” kind of book I read in a relatively short period of time. But I swear it was complete coincidence, it is what came up next.

Anyway, this one just reviews a bunch of different areas where research into child development has shown counterintuitive results and where simple things perhaps have a much greater effect than one might otherwise expect. Things like how praising a child for BEING smart is actually counterproductive, while praising them for something they DID that was smart helps quite a bit. Which makes sense when you think about it of course, but they show a lot of the backup research, lay it out, etc. I think that one was the first chapter.

That is just one of many examples. They key to each of these is that they take relevant research, walk through the situations, the results of the research, etc and then apply it. Nothing is just “this is the right way to do this because I think it is”. Everything is backed up and nothing is actually that absolute. And they are all interesting bits that you may or may not have thought of otherwise.

Anyway, I found this fun and interesting. Now, several months later do I actually remember much of it? Nah. In fact I had to go online to remind myself of the one example I used above. But still, it was a good read. And it does seem like it had some good points that I could be applying to both Alex and Amy right now.

Uh… if only I could remember them.