Book Review: NutureShock

I got a Kindle as an early Christmas present this year. K must have been reading my mind again because I'd been pondering picking one up for myself for the past few months. I really love it....however I notice that it's very easy to spend a lot of money on books as a result. Yeah, the books are discounted since they are in digital-only format...but money is money and when you read at my pace, it adds up. (Lest you think I'm boasting about my speed-reading ability...consider this: I'd probably read a whole lot less if I had a life of some sort).

So anyway, one of the first five books I downloaded (uploaded?) was NutureShock by Po Bronson. I'd heard Bronson interviewed on NPR over the summer and decided to add his book to my Wishlist on Amazon. As you are by now well aware, I am addicted to parenting books. In fact, from here on out I will no longer mention this as it's plainly obvious to anyone who reads this blog. But back to the book. I dove in last night and was unable to put it down until I finished it this afternoon.

How to summarize? Well first of all, if you are of a more scientific bent and are really interested in what makes kids tick, this book will be right up your alley. For those of you familiar with Freakonomics or The Tipping Point, you'll immediately see that this book fits quite well into that genre (whatever it is). The book is heavy on facts, data, fascinating insights that will make you cringe or go "aha!" or both. It is, however, low on depth or soul searching angst. But that's ok. Because this isn't that sort of book. It's not a parenting manual...although it has aspects of that. It's also not a pure scientific study on child development...although it has aspects of that too.

In a nutshell...if you ever wondered why kids do the things they do and whether or not your strategies as a parent are helping of hindering their development, then you must run out now and pick up this book. A few topics found within: Why do children lie and what's the best way to make them stop (or encourage them to continue)? What's the best way to deal with race when it comes to preschoolers...ignore it or explicitly talk about it? Sibling rivalry: why does it happen and are there things you can do to minimize it? What does constant, non-specific praise really do to a child's self-confidence, resilience, and ability to learn? Can you spot a "genius" child at a young age based purely on IQ tests and if not, why are schools still using this method to tests kids as young as four for gifted and talented programs?

There's tons more....but I'll leave it up to you to explore.