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    NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
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    NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
    Unavailable
    NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
    Audiobook7 hours

    NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

    Written by Ashley Merryman

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateSep 3, 2009
    ISBN9781600248412
    Unavailable
    NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children

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    Reviews for NurtureShock

    4/5

    495 ratings54 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Great review of modern research into childhood development. My only complaints are that it doesn't ask deeply enough what is a healthy adult, and thus what we should be doing to bring children to that. Also, often doesn't ask if some of the results might turn out differently over longer term studies. For example, Europe generally achieves a higher literacy rate and yet has a later starting age for learning to read.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Some very interesting ideas in this book, and it's worth a read. However, keep in mind that this book is written by journalists, not scientists, and there is a lot of anecdotal material in the book. So, take it with a grain of salt, and read studies from multiple sources, as you should with any pop-sci book.
    • 4/5
      What an interesting book. It challenges a lot of the things that we think about children and offers scientific reason to back up their statements. Is a book that would appeal to parents as well as educators (such as myself) looking to make really and lasting changes with the children with whom I work. I highly recommend!
    • 2/5
      I was not overly impressed by this book on child psychology. It seemed like the authors were trying too hard and spread themselves too thin. They glossed over scientific studies and made wide generalizations about those studies. Then they spent a lot of time on one or two anecdotes that vaguely proved their generalization, sometimes contradicting their own opinions. One chapter (Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn't) left me entirely confused about what they wanted me to learn from this research. Should I reinforce sounds made by infants, or not reinforce them because I wouldn't do it correctly anyway? I have new points to think about because of this book, but I will have to get facts from other sources.
    • 4/5
      Good stuff that will be more useful and interesting in the years to come.
    • 4/5

      The most interesting part to me was the study done on teaching pre-school children using the Tools method which was so successful the study was abandoned in several schools after a year so the ALL students could benefit from this method of teaching. Not only parents should read this book--but also educators.
    • 4/5
      A bit depressing about all the ways I may have failed my children while following the current trends when they were young. Luckily they raised themselves enough to be some great adults. Hopefully by the time their kids arrive society will have incorporated some of these ideas (later start for high school) and be a better place.
    • 3/5
      Very interesting, though a bit eclectic, collection of observations (back by clinical research) on modern child-rearing. In a nutshell: praising children to high heaven for everything diminishes our credibility and erodes their confidence as they (reasonably) question why we feel we need to make stuff up.
    • 5/5
      Wow! So many incredible ideas! Each chapter could be it's own book! Each claim is followed up with numerous studies and fully explored to understand the implications.
    • 5/5
      Bronson and Merryman's "Nurture Shock" is an engaging and lively summary of human development/child psychology research from the past ten years. In every chapter of the book, Bronson and Merryman set out to debunk popular myths with scientific knowledge and end up revealing contradictory and surprising truths about how to raise children. The focus is on children in North America, but its lessons could just as well be applied elsewhere.Research is presented succinctly, and Bronson and Merryman use lively stories to make academic research more memorable. Yet they also delve into enough nuance to convey the often unintuitive and uncertain nature of social science research. The authors do a great job with this precarious balancing act, and the book remains easy to read and momentous towards the end.
    • 5/5
      While sometimes the chatty style of this book made me roll my eyes, the research discussed is important reading for anyone who works with kids. Bronson and Merryman have investigated some of the big questions of parenting - why do children lie? how can I motivate my child to be successful? how do kids learn about human differences? - and have uncovered some surprising answers. Although it can be overwhelming to consider all of the "best practices" the authors cover, this book encouraged me to think about how I teach, and I will definitely reread sections when I'm a parent.
    • 5/5
      Wow! Challenge all your thoughts about raising your kids. A must read for all parents bringing up children today. Some statements you initially think are off base until you read the rationale and it all makes sense! Very highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      There should be many more books like this book. Po Bronson does something so logical but so rarely done -- he presents parenting advice based on sound social science (and other sciences) research! This book is a must-have for a new parent, or a parent of a teen. Studies have found many fascinating but counterintuitive facts of parenting.As the parent of a 6 month old, I found the chapter on speech particularly illuminating. We noticed a difference in our daughter's vocalizations as soon as we started responding to her more in the way Bronson suggests.
    • 3/5
      Articles highlighting some of the research around child development, including thinking about: praise, sleep, race, lying, intelligence testing, siblings, arguing, self-control, empathy, and language skills. Whew. There's a lot here, but it is written in a light and engaging style. And the conclusion is comfortable - there is no exactly right way to parent, and flexibility is important, not just in your parenting, but in your thinking about children.I'd buy this for a parenting collection.
    • 4/5
      This was an easily read summary of child development findings from the past decade, though I could have wished for a little more critical thinking about the results from the studies. At times I felt that the causality was assigned too quickly when there may just have been a correlation.
    • 5/5
      Analyses popular practices in parenting and shows the research to either explain or debunk the practice.
    • 4/5
      It is a thought provoking book challenging some long held beliefs on child rearing. Some of the topics it covers are sleep, why kids lie, why siblings fight, negative effects of praise, how to talk to kids about race. One of my takeaways was the degree to which lack of sleep negatively affects weight, school marks and may even be a major cause of moodiness in teenagers. I would recommend this for any parent with babies all the way up to high school.
    • 5/5
      When I picked this book off, I was immediately turned off by the lack of research and offended by generalizations that didn't resonate with my own experiences. Then I realized that, while the introduction didn't cite sources, the rest of the book did, and included a vast works cited at the end. I put the book down for a few months and came back to it with a fresh attitude. I'm so glad I did! For me it was a largely hopeful parenting "manual." I went away inspired to defend and protect my child's needs, but not hung up about parenting in one right way or over-zealously implementing techniques proven to help our children be emotionally and intellectually successful. Overall, this was an informative, interesting, and quick read.-
    • 5/5
      This book is a bombshell that every parent, caretaker and person who interacts with children should read. It explodes the conventional wisdom on why and how children lie, self-control, intelligence, the value of praise and the importance of sleep. In a easy to read style the authors present their case for reexamining what we THINK we know about children.
    • 4/5
      I listened to the audiobook read by one of the authors, the guy one. Not so bad to listen to. I found it very interesting although I didn't agree with everything. The book talks about the research that has been done recently about how the child's brain works. We have learned that children's brains work differently than adult brains. (How many of you would like to say if they would have just asked the mom's we could have told world that a long time ago ?;)Although the authors seemed to say they weren't looking for the answers to make super kids that's what they seemed to come back to again and again. For example, some research shows that the more we connect/touch our kids when they are beginning to learn language the sooner we can have them talking. Why do we need to have kids doing things earlier and earlier? The very first child he talks about in the book who struggles with some things in first grade I thought why does he have to learn it in first grade? So although I found the book interesting. I am concerned what do we do with this information? If we use this info to "help" kids learn faster is this a good thing? If I answered this question the answer is no. So what do we do with this information? Thankfully this is not a parenting book. So hurray for that. I am so done with parenting books. So you can decide what you want to do with the information.
    • 4/5
      On the cover of my edition of this book, there is a quote from Daniel H Pink that reads, "NurtureShock is one of the most important books you will read this year." And I couldn't agree more. It's not often that I buy a full-price book in hardcover (why would I?) but this book was worth every penny. I had read Bronson and Merryman's essay on praise when it was originally published and felt it to be an interesting and compelling piece of parenting advice. This book begins with that essay and adds new chapters on sleep, self-control, manipulation and more. Best of all, the summary ties many of the themes together in a way that isn't forced and also acknowledges the mystery of parenting (not just the science). I've already recommended this to a number of friends and will continue to do so.
    • 5/5
      This was a compilation of current scientific studies and trends, yet super interesting to read. A lot like a Gladwell book. The theories will probably not all pan out, but that's not on the writers. The variety of eleven different development areas, dealing with a range of ages, kept things from bogging down or getting redundant. Of course, the fact that most of these studies supported basic common sense and doing less than current parenting trends call for make it pretty easy to give them a thumbs up. But ask me again once I actually have kids. The emphasis on "here is another area where a child is not just a small adult, due to brain development stages" seemed especially helpful, because it's not intuitive.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating book about new developments in child psychology and brain development. Many of these chapters have been published seperately as magazine articles. Well written and genuinely thought provoking, I would encourage anyone who deals with children (parents, aunts, teachers, judges!, police etc) to read it and give it some thought. Even if you don't agree, it helps clarify your own position (though with all the science given, it's hard not to agree) Enjoyed it and have given it as a present.
    • 4/5
      About: Bronson and Merryman present research showing that many parenting "instincts" are dead wrong. Racism, praise, language, lying, intelligence, rebelling and self-control are all covered.Some Neat Things I Learned: * Praising a child for being smart is detrimental, praising them for specific actions or working hard is better. * Sleep is really important. Not enough sleep can make kids and teens stupid and fat. Thus, high schools should start later. * Kids lie. A whole lot. * Kids' brains develop at highly different rates. So if they take intelligence tests before 3rd grade, the results are meaningless. Therefore, elite private schools who test young kids for entrance to their school are not only taking in tons of kids who's brains will grow slowly and fall below their standards, they are missing "slow blooming" smart kids. * Responding to a child's babbling and vocalizations frequently greatly increases language acquisition.Pros: Fascinating and amazingly interesting, even for someone without kids or isn't planning on having them. Chapter on language is especially engaging.Cons: Will probably make you feel like a bad parent. Breaks the high school writing tip of "don't introduce new information in the conclusion." No in-text cites. There's further information on some chapter material in the notes section at the back but they were not mentioned in the beginning of the book, so I missed them. Only selected resources and references provided.Grade: A-
    • 4/5
      Great book and answered a lot of questions for me. I'm a Montessori teacher and often get children who don't want to attempt something I have for them. It's possible that they've been told how smart they are and now don't want to fail or look stupid in front of grown ups. And that's just the first chapter!
    • 5/5
      Having no children, and thus no parenting experience, but lots of niece and nephews, and thus lots of judging of other people's parenting, this was an absolutely fascinating read. I did learn some things to apply to my own interactions with my nieces and nephews. Most significant in my eyes, however, is how things that "everyone knows" to be true are actually quite false. If we cannot trust the newspaper reporting - or even the actual researchers' reporting - of a scientific study to be telling us a reliable truth, how much else of what we read and hear as discovered by science is also untrue? I am going to be reading such reports a lot more critically from now on.
    • 4/5
      Do you have/know a baby, a todler, a teen? This books covers them all. Why do children act the way they do? Why do some speak before others? Why do some learn faster? Why do some children lie? What should you do in certain situations. This book addresses those issues and many others.We think we know all there is to know about raising children. We don't. Most parents raise their children the way they themselves were raised. Although I think my husband and I did a great job raising ours, I think we would have raised them somewhat differently if we'd have had this book.The book is 239 pages. At the end are 18 pages of notes and 62 pages of selected sources and references, so you know the authors did their research.Although I think it's packed full of helpful information, I believe how you raise a child should ultimately depend on their unique personality. What works for one may not work for another.I suggest everyone read this book. Whether you have your own child(ren) or not, we all come into contact with children at some point. And everyone can use good advice.
    • 5/5
      This book is so profound and has helped me to reshape my thinking around parenting. I have now incorporated 3 extra hours into my child’s day to make sure that they get enough sleep. The chapters are flawless and the book is expertly amazing.
    • 5/5
      Each chapter was dynamite. An invaluable popular exposition of the social science research on raising kids. Every parent (and elementary school teacher) should read this.
    • 2/5
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