12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

An easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, intuitive—and yet, somehow, completely game-changing—way to think about kids' brain development and our role as parents in helping them develop their whole brains. It's full of the kind of info you find yourself finding opportunities to share with other people, unsolicited. Makes the scary world of child-rearing less scary by putting it into a framework that makes sense and can become second nature. I highly recommend this book to new parents and seasoned parents alike.

I would recommend The Whole-Brain Child to parents who are interested in improving their child's mind and critical thinking. As your child is developing it is important to assist development at all aspects of life (cognitively, emotionally, socially, with relationships, and with literacy). The Whole-Brain Child talks specifically about strategies that are appropriate to help your child integrate those five different aspects of the brain. The book gives examples, as well as do's and don'ts to help you facilitate their learning experiences. This book is useful to anyone who interacts with children up to the age of 12. It was well written and appropriate for all readers.

I purchased the book to compare with a similar, but shorter book, published in Sweden where my nephew, (Torgny Steen) outlines a program of slow motions developed to facilitate and enhance activating both sides of the brain. His book was published to spread the word about the therapeutic value of slow motion in helping school children focus and be calm.
I was asked to translate Torgny's book into English and purchased The Whole-Brain Child to familiarize myself with the vocabulary used by professionals.

The book was concise and very clearly illustrated the various movements and I was satisfied with my purchase.

This is a great book and more readable than some of Siegel's books. I love Siegel's hand model of the brain. However, if you really want your kids to see their brains in action and how not to "flip their lids" take a look at THE HANDY BRAIN MODEL. The accompanying instructions really explain how to use top down, bottom up and horizontal approaches to manage emotions. You might also want your kids to see the video: USE YOUR BRAIN TO TAME BULLIES that uses Siegel's hand model a la the HANDY BRAIN MODEL.

As a social-cognitive specialist and therapist, this is my go-to resource for parents who are raising young children with social regulation challenges. This book is a must-have for any parent or family member! I can't wait for Siegel's new book coming out this fall (all about discipline)!

This book is brilliant. Everything is based on research, but it's written in a way that makes sense to all. Some of the most practical well explained strategies I've ever read. Well done and Thank you Dan and Tina

Not impressed. This is parenting for dummies. It feels like something straight out of the self-help 90s. Lots of made up examples and unproven advice for worried parents. This book is especially not applicable for children over 8 who will not respond well to the suggested method of interacting with children.

Not impressed. This is parenting for dummies. It feels like something straight out of the self-help 90s. Lots of made up examples and unproven advice for worried parents. This book is especially not applicable for children over 8 who will not respond well to the suggested method of interacting with children.

The book, based on recent scientific data, helps parents in a practical way to know how to help children out of pure emotional reaction by getting on their "emotional" page and helping them get their "reasoning" brain involved. That can work for any human. Pretty cool. Plus a few informational cartoons to show you how to do it.

Main conclusions (in Ukrainian):
Фізична і соціальна активність - основа для інтелектуального розвитку. Поки дитина ненавчиться ходити по сходам, лазити по деревам, складати кубики і конструктор - їй не потрібно вчитись читати і писати. Дитина повинна навчитись спілкуватись з іншими, володіти своїми емоціями і мати в першу чергу розвинутий емоційний інтелект - розуміти себе, співвідносити з іншим світом. Не так важливо, щоб дитина навчилась читати в 5-6, як те, наскільки добре вона активна фізично і соціально, а також розвинута емоційно.

This was recommended by the counselor our child sees. I'm not a fluff reader, so honestly I skimmed quite a bit. I want practical application. I used the wheel of awareness with my child, and it did give her a concrete way to understand what I was trying to convey about choosing how to think. It has drawings of different situations with good response vs bad response that were helpful. Overall, I will recycle after my spouse is done with it because we've written in it, but it doesn't rate a reread.

I have a 4yo and a 1.5yo and I have no idea what I am doing, this book has saved me. Great research, but who cares about the research, does the advice and techniques work? Not every time, but most of the time and life is calmer.

Unless you are a child psychologist, this is a must read (or listen to MP3 version) for every parent with young children. After all, young children don't come with handbooks at birth yet, this is pretty close. Shaping and molding your child early on to become a stellar human being in society starts early which can avoid many potential problems down the road as your child gets older.

I was very excited to read this book. I believe understanding brain development in children is key to successful child care, but nothing in this book is all that "revolutionary". Litlle bits of this book where helpful/practical to me, otherwise I'd only give two stars.

Extremely beneficial information. I have kids with high functioning Autism so I had to adjust what I learned in this book to their needs. It IS a great book for kids with ADHD or Autism as it helps teach emotional regulation.

I have read many books in the care of children, having been a teacher since 2001 and being a mother of 2. This book in particular helps with the 'behind-the-scenes' - the ideology one must have before interacting with children. I am so glad I read this and that I now have it in my repertoire. I will continue to use the insights from this book for years to come.

Good read, easy to understand and evidenced based. Sees like a lot of information that anyone with experience working with kids would already know, but the book gives good examples of using the techniques in practice.

Daniel Siegel is a voice for parenting whole children. He offers a science based point of view for nourishing complex thinking and emotional intelligence in children--and hence in parents and other care-givers. Highly recommended

bums me out when the book i already bought because i WANT to read it expends so many words/pages on convincing me why I should read the book. that said, there are some great resources in the book as well

Great book, highly recommended.
This book is extremely valuable for every new and upcoming parent as it covers several brain concepts in-depth. Instead of just explaining the concept it also gives useful examples, strategies how to incorporate it into your daily life, and a simple explanantion you can let your kids read.

Unless you are a child psychologist, this is a must read (or listen to MP3 version) for every parent with young children. After all, young children don't come with handbooks at birth yet, this is pretty close. Shaping and molding your child early on to become a stellar human being in society starts early which can avoid many potential problems down the road as your child gets older.

I was very excited to read this book. I believe understanding brain development in children is key to successful child care, but nothing in this book is all that "revolutionary". Litlle bits of this book where helpful/practical to me, otherwise I'd only give two stars.

Extremely beneficial information. I have kids with high functioning Autism so I had to adjust what I learned in this book to their needs. It IS a great book for kids with ADHD or Autism as it helps teach emotional regulation.

I have read many books in the care of children, having been a teacher since 2001 and being a mother of 2. This book in particular helps with the 'behind-the-scenes' - the ideology one must have before interacting with children. I am so glad I read this and that I now have it in my repertoire. I will continue to use the insights from this book for years to come.

Good read, easy to understand and evidenced based. Sees like a lot of information that anyone with experience working with kids would already know, but the book gives good examples of using the techniques in practice.

Daniel Siegel is a voice for parenting whole children. He offers a science based point of view for nourishing complex thinking and emotional intelligence in children--and hence in parents and other care-givers. Highly recommended

bums me out when the book i already bought because i WANT to read it expends so many words/pages on convincing me why I should read the book. that said, there are some great resources in the book as well

Great book, highly recommended.
This book is extremely valuable for every new and upcoming parent as it covers several brain concepts in-depth. Instead of just explaining the concept it also gives useful examples, strategies how to incorporate it into your daily life, and a simple explanantion you can let your kids read.

This is one of the most helpful books I have read for understanding the various aspects of brain function. It is well written and interesting to read - - not a technical manual that will put you to sleep. It is valuable for understanding how anyone's brain works, not just a child's, but in the pursuit of trying to communicate with a child in challenging circumstances, it is an invaluable source. After reading it I remarked to one person, "After the Bible, this is one of the most important books I have ever read." I think that sums it up nicely. It should be required reading for every person who deals with children. In the process of reading it with that as the focus, the delightful surprise is how much it helps in communication and understanding adults (including myself) as well as children! I'd give it 100 stars if the opportunity were offered!

The use of neurology and behavioral psychology in this book makes the information deeply compelling and convincing, and the authors present it in accessible, easy-to-apply ways. This book will change the way I parent.

Recommended this book to at least a dozen parents. Helps keep toddler behavior in perspective and has some great suggestions. Originally borrowed it from the library, but found it so useful that we had to have a copy for reference.

Recommended this book to at least a dozen parents. Helps keep toddler behavior in perspective and has some great suggestions. Originally borrowed it from the library, but found it so useful that we had to have a copy for reference.

I am so impressed with this book. This is fantastic. I have always had a fascination for (TA) transaction analysis. ( Parent / Adult / Child / Life Scripts / I,m Ok your OK ) And for me this is taking those psychological concepts and adding much more understanding and meaning.

This was a really nice read. I bought this for a kids yoga training I was in and we talked about a lot of the concepts within this book on connected with your child. They have some cute little cartoons too that would be great to show your kids too

This was a really nice read. I bought this for a kids yoga training I was in and we talked about a lot of the concepts within this book on connected with your child. They have some cute little cartoons too that would be great to show your kids too

I found this book to be boring and dull. It was not at all practical for my family. As if we as parents don't have enough on our plates, they want us to then take the time to figure out how to integrate the different parts of our child's brain as our children are having tantrums, meltdowns, or moments of rage. I think not. The only useful piece of advice I gained from reading this book was to not gloss over or minimize traumatizing events in a child's life. Be sure to talk them over, again and again if necessary, in a way that is age appropriate for that child until they can begin to process the event. This will avoid repressed emotions that will be sure to emerge in other ways later on.
This book is scientifically based and may be of some use to some families, but this was not the case for ours.

Allthough I am in the middle of this book, so far it contains enlightning information on the brain function and has already helped me deal with a couple of 'difficult' moments I had with my very stubborn and emotional 6-year old daughter. Recommended.

Sorry for the 2 stars for those of you who loved it (overwhelming majority). I rarely post book reviews as i get that opinions are entirely subjective. However, this was a tedious and painful read and I could barely get through the book. As a busy parent, I want to spare some of you the agony. Extremely redundant, can't get through 2 pages before being reminded about our left brains and right brains and our kids' left brains and right brains and how to integrate them! Good lord, we got that in the introduction! I didn't think there was anything "Revolutionary" in the advice that is repeatedly given- basically, just different ways to reason with the child, no matter what the issue or behavior at hand. The only exception being a full blown tantrum in which you do a time out with them. Thats my gist.

It's so boring, I love reading anything for fun, even the horoscopes and ads, and this book is so boring I couldn't finish the first couple of pages. I found the title and summary a bit misleading. They make you feel like this is such an interesting book with new ideas, but it's all fluff.

The concepts were really interesting and solid, but the book, at least in audio form, was a little long winded. The audio delivery of the text was extremely slow paced. So much so, I had to set my audible to a faster speed and it still sounded slow. The situational examples they gave it the book were great, and so were the scientific facts. The visualization/metaphoric examples though lost me (the river and the wheel..) maybe if I ad a picture in front of me or maybe they are meant to help a child understand, but I felt like it was just oversimplifying the topic, and in a way almost making it more abstract rather than explaining it bluntly. I did learn a lot from the book, but it was a chore to listen to. I usually share parenting books with my husband once I'm done, but I think instead I'll just sum this one in my own words for him as I know he would never make it through a chapter without falling asleep.

One of the best books I have read on child development and parenting.
Instead of coming up with parenting advises without explaining the underlying problem, this book drills to the root of the issue.
It explains how your child brain works, and how to address parental challenges in order to nurture your child's development and help him thrive, rather than just focus on a short term fix in a survival mode.

All the methods make absolute sense and I have started to implement them shortly in my day to day parenting of my 4 year old twins. Is it simple? no. Is it always easy to stick with the methods and stay away from fight or flight mode? No. But taking it step by step I can slowly see some progress.

I also used the idea of talking to the kids about brain and how it works, and after they calmed downed, what happened in the specific situation. I have to say I am positively surprised how much interest they actually pay to those conversations and how cool they find it to learn about brain at that age. Until now I was sure 4 years old kids were simply not ready for that level of discussions, but I humbly admit I was wrong.

I recommend it to every parent of every child! that well behaved one, and also that trouble maker that makes you run for your life :)

I began using the strategies in this book the first day I started reading it and they not only work, but have opened up an entire new conversation between me & my two boys (8 & 4 years old). This book offers parents practical understanding of their children's development and brain along with a plethora of ideas for implementing their strategies. It is amazing how my children have come up with their own ideas for making shifts in their day when their brain is not integrated. I have been a huge fan of Dan's for years and recommend this book highly to anyone living with or working with children.

I learned so much from this book; it was a total home run for me. As the mom of an almost-two year old, we are just at the age where I have started to reason with and teach my daughter, and work through her frustrations. This book could not have come at a better time. As a college Communications major, a lot of the sciency relationship speak in here was familiar to me and easy to navigate, as well as the practical application theories. I will reference this book several times through the course of my children's lives, I'm sure. The advice in here is timeless and can apply to any parent and any child. I even learned some things about how to better understand myself, my husband, and how to better communicate within my marriage. It's excellent.

Hope more parents read this and Siegel's other No Drama Discipline. This book was required for a childhood development class, and I really enjoyed it! It was nice to listen to the audio book in the car. I love that Dr. Siegel's methods are for Long Term results, not immediate (sure spanking may work short-term but it only induces fear and studies show it's not an effective way to teach). Physical discipline is not the main focus, but to me it parallels to the way many selfishly cope with parenting challenges; it is important to learn about a developing brain, the different hemispheres process information differently, and how to lead children rather than hush them up with "because I said so".

Sorry to compare children to puppies for an instance, but it's the same thing, adults shouldn't get so upset or physical with children - their minds are in the process of developing (still developing at age 23), and too often, parents project adult intentions onto their children. It breaks my heart to witness impatient adults scolding children in public when most of the time, the child is asking a very intuitive question eager to learn about their surroundings.
Instead, we need to be patient and help children navigate through new emotions at each stage of development so they can develop healthy habits that support good decisions, not punish them for something they are incapable of understanding.
The fridge summary is a good way to remember methods to help calm and connect with children when they are upset.

The book The Whole Brain Child by Dr. Daniel Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson
talks about the different ways that the brain develops and helps parents understand the functions of the brain and how that ties in to their child’s evolvement. Information about the authors led me to understand the reasoning behind this book, and why they were so passionate for parents to understand the development of their children. Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA. He has training in pediatrics, and in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Dr. Bryson is a psychotherapist and the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection, where she provides therapy for children. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where her research explored childrearing theory, and the field of interpersonal neurobiology.
The main of idea of this book is to educate parents on the importance of certain parts of the brain and how it affects the development of their children. Each part of the brain plays a certain role and forms the behavior of children. It is important that parents understand why kids act a certain way. It is not only better for their education, but it helps them grow up in a way that will later be an advantage to them.
Dr. Siegel and Dr. Bryson go into detail on how the left and the right side of the brain each have a different part. For example, the left part of the brain is responsible for logic and the right side of the brain is responsible for emotion. This is important because now not only parents will understand the logic behind children being overly emotional and will understand what part of the brain is acting. Another example is when the child is upset you want to comfort the right side of the brain first by being showing empathy, loving, and listening and validating their feelings. The left part of the brain comes in when we help the child make amends and when you want the child to tell you the story behind the situation so that they can understand and control what is upsetting them. Another aspect of the brain is the upstairs and the downstairs brain. The upstairs part is a more sophisticated, analytical part of a person and the downstairs part of the brain is reactive. The upstairs of the brain is where a child can show empathy and have self-control.
I believe that this book ties into the course and what I have learned so far because often we question why we act or feel a certain kind of way. This book helps not only parents understand their children, but it helps to understand why kids do what they do and why they act a certain way. I believe that the brain is complex and this book breaks it down by talking about the left and right side of the brain. It gives examples of what kind of scenario means what and it helps us visualize what a kid is going through at that moment.
When looking at the big picture and how the brain works wonders in the development of a child, this book gives details explaining how mistakes give opportunity to learn and grow. There are examples pertaining certain situations, but I would’ve liked more situations and relatable details, which allows readers to be able to relate better with certain situations.
Neuroscience looks at how the brain functions and how each part of the brain takes a role in the daily activities of a human. “The Whole Brain Child” looks at how each part of the brain is responsible for the actions that help them develop into adulthood. Parents often think they are experts when it comes to their kids, but often misinterpret what takes place when their child’s brain makes specific decisions. Through the process of a child’s brain molding into adulthood, is extensive and requires two parts that work together. Those parts are often ignored because they take part on the emotional part of the brain. There are a lot of emotions that need to be put into consideration to understand some of the actions that take part of their child’s lives.
As an evaluation of this book, I believe that it does a good job in getting their point across to parents. It is important that parents understand all of what is going on in the development of their children. As their child develops, their brain is developing as well. Both authors give insightful details, but I felt as if there weren’t enough examples where parents can get a full grasp on how to react in a certain situation. Some of the examples that were talked about in the book don’t necessarily apply to everyone, but the bigger audience of this book was parents. There was a lot of repetition on the same concepts, but I believe that this was done to get their point across in different ways. Overall, I believe that this book successfully expressed the main points of the brain’s role in the development of a child. This book can be used as a manual for parents to have a better understanding on what goes on in this process and how to raise their children successfully.

Do not buy this on audible! I'm a busy mom of 5 and really wanted to read this book but don't have a lot of time so I opted for audible version-- DONT-- I couldn't even finish it... There is a lot of usful info but it needs to be able to be skimmed through otherwise it's very boring to listen the parts that you don't need advice on etc... Also, I didn't get the charts mentioned in book because it was audible. I wish I could return and get paperback version, this version is basically useless as I cannot go back to the parts that pertain to my children without it being a giant pain.

In the book The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson they share practical science to share how the brain works and how it grows. Different parts of the child’s brain grows at different speeds. Understanding this as a parent will help you deal with tantrums or fears and turn them into calm and happier children. They offer practical ways for helping specifics ages process situations. They include twelve strategies some being: Name it to tame it; Engage, don’t enrage; Move it or lose it; Let the clouds of emotion roll by; Connect through conflict.

I recommend this book to all parents especially those who do foster care or have adopted.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself taking many notes. This was an easy book to understand which is helpful because this is very deep science. I really enjoyed how this book took you step by step and walked you through their ideas. They also include a refrigerator sheet at the end. Granted I read this on my kindle and couldn’t make use of that but I think this would help many parents remember the suggestions from this book.

This with the combination of the movie inside out I think many parents will get the concepts of the brain and how to interact with their child better. This book is also teaching us how to stop thinking about ourselves and think about our child’s brain. What are their needs?

“children whose parents talk with them about their experiences tend to have better access to the memories of those experiences. Parents who speak with their children about their feelings have children who develop emotional intelligence and can understand their own and other people’s feelings more fully. Shy children whose parents nurture a sense of courage by offering supportive explorations of the world tend to lose their behavioral inhibition, while those who are excessively protected or intensively thrust into anxiety-provoking experiences without support tend to maintain their shyness.”

I love this quote and I think it is helpful to talk about things that happened throughout the day. If they experience stuff that scared them throughout the day they know they have you to talk to. It encourages me to think about the pillow talks I want to have with my children as they grow up. My favorite memories are laying in bed talking with my mom and then reading a book to end our day. I always knew I could tell her anything and that she was a safe person that wouldn’t share my feelings with anyone.

I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars.

The Whole-Brian Child is a great book for parents, and anyone who works regularly with children. It teaches parents to use twelve key strategies in everyday scenarios to help them in providing experiences to promote healthy connections in the brain. The scenarios are presented in a cartoon format and thoroughly explained, making the strategies very applicable to real life. Information about the child's brain is presented in a very comprehensive way and is accessible to a wide audience. With the perspective that this book provides, one can further understand and put into context child reactions and behaviors. Using the suggestions in this book, anyone can learn to transform challenging situations into learning opportunities to nurture a growing child's mind and encourage cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral development through age twelve.

As someone who works in child development, I think the underlying ideas of teaching children mindfulness skills and helping them learn about how their brain works are both incredibly important. Research has shown us again and again that this can help children improve how they handle their emotions, control impulses, understand consequences, and get along with others -- and in turn, these skills have a much bigger impact on school and life success than how early a child learns their ABCs.

That said, I'm really not confident that this book will help most families get there, for the following reasons:

1) Because of the organization of the book, parents need to wade through a lot of content that just isn't relevant to their lives to get to the scattered bits that will be useful right now.

2) The authors have a metaphor that they use for each key point, and often seem to overemphasize the metaphor to the point where it overshadows the actual skill. If the metaphor happens to "click" for you and your family, that probably won't be a problem -- but the thing with metaphors like these is that they are almost never one size fits all. Because more time is often spent on the metaphor than the meat, the book assumes that you will make connections that may or may not happen for you.

3) While the concepts of mindfulness as they relate to child cognitive and emotional development are definitely valid, the authors have not done a great job of explaining the science behind this. There is a lot of oversimplification and over-reliance on metaphors, no references cited, and illustrations that are unprofessional and sometimes just confusing. If you're just looking for the skills, that may not matter. But if you want to be convinced that this is the real deal -- or you have a partner that needs to be convinced -- I'm not confident that this book will do that for you.

The book was ok but I felt it dumbed things down a bit too much, which is great for teaching kids, but unfortunately it was me reading the book and not my kids. I think the amount you get out of it will vary from person to person. There is definitely good information in this book. I think if you've already read recent child psychology books or taken psychology classes this book will mostly be a review. I also got the audiobook version at the same time and I did not care for the narration at all.

Overall an easily accessible book for parents, but not revolutionary. Many of the tips and techniques discussed are based on principles found in both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) including guided imagery and "mindsight" i.e. mindfulness. In using these techniques the book seems to suggest parents assume a more therapeutic role vs a parental role, which within certain family dynamics could present complications e.g. adoptive families, blended families, or any family with children with a trauma history outside of the norm. Along this vein, the book does not provide parents with guidance of how to handle trauma disclosures that were previously unknown to them that may occur especially during the implicit/explicit memory discussions.

Additionally, the book seems to gloss over the options available to parents whose children do not respond to the techniques. While they briefly mention the potential for backfire while speaking about negotiating with a toddler, no guidance is given "if this should fail."

Moreover, the book also does not explore the need for parents to be aware of their own mindset. Throughout the discussion of the potential triggers for children the authors seem to omit the possibility of children feeding off their parents' mood. As any therapist with their salt will tell you, self-awareness is key, especially when working with labile or escalated clients.

Overall, the techniques discussed in the book maybe a starting point for families that are generally established and stable, children are experiencing minor emotional and/or behavioral difficulties associated with normal childhood development. As always, if in doubt about the appropriateness of using these techniques with your children or the children you care for consult a professional.

I think this book is an excellent parenting resource for helping understand difficult or "crazy" seeming behavior of children. As I read through it I kept thinking this sounds so familiar and I know I've employed these methods - they just haven't been related to brain function and connection in quite this way. Then it came to me, that it is very similar to the Love & Logic parenting book, which I would also recommend. I really felt like the over-arching theme of this book is respecting your child as a unique (albeit underdeveloped) and valuable person and responding to them in ways that are not patronizing and demeaning but respectful of their feelings. It was a good refresher for me and I've already employed some of the methods with surprising success with my 6 year old son - particularly Name it to Tame it. My only reservation is that I think there is a danger of assuming there is simply a scientific explanation for bad behavior or bad moral choices. I would tread cautiously in assuming that a bad choice is simply the product of an undeveloped brain.

Every parent should buy this book. Siegel and Bryson do an excellent job of breaking down parenting as a process and not an event.

They teach the reader how to navigate through the right brain, left brain model. So if your child is having a right brain meltdown, they teach you how to reach them there before you move to logic. Some parents will find that to be a basic skill, but many will find it very new and rewarding.

Understanding the idea of an upstairs and downstairs brain is also a major accomplishment in this book. Most of the time, we as a people do not give thought to the why of what we do. This book helps explain a more integrated approach to parenting. One of the most controversial parts of the book will no doubt be when the author's take on the idea that parents should ignore tantrums. They dare to suggest that actually attempting to teach your child to process their feelings in the middle of the tantrum could be the best approach.

Another excellent take-away with this book is the idea that parents need to move away from denying and dismissing their child's feelings. Too often, I see parents dismiss their child's feelings because the feelings manifest in a way that the parent doesn't like or the parent doesn't know how to process his or her own feelings.

This book does an excellent job of helping understand how to process emotions in a healthy way. If you child is experiencing fear, there are simple and real life takeaways that you can utilize to help them. If your child is angry with you because you set a boundary for them, there are easy to use ways that you can help your child express that in a healthy way! This is one of the best aspects of this book.

Lastly, this book gives a very cursory overview of mirror neurons. They are amazing and we all have them. If you have angry children, it might be because you are angry. Our brains are wired for "we" is an exact quote from the book. As parents, we have to be integrated in order to raise integrated children. This book will find a lot of push back by the far right who believe a parents number one goal is to punish the evil out of their children and by those who find it doesn't match the way they parented.

Regardless, buy it. You will not regret it. In fact, I suspect that you will be very happy that you did.

This book has so many helpful strategies. I especially loved the "cheat sheets" in the back. I normally have to go through and write my own notes, but they even did that for me! I also loved the guide in the back breaking down what strategies to use and how for different age groups.

Does this book take a very complex topic and simplify it? YES. And as a someone attempting to juggle parenthood, marriage, homeownership, a career, pets, and extended family, I am VERY thankful that this book isn't too "heavy." A previous reviewer mentioned that there are no research studies cited throughout the book. Good for you if you have time to look up the data from those studies. But I DON'T have that kind of time available.

I need easy to understand, quick tips, to help me talk my 3 year old down off the ceiling in the midst of a temper tantrum. I need help redirecting my child when I see a meltdown building. And this very simple, quick read, has provided me with the tools I need to accomplish these goals.

I recently attended a lecture given by Dr. Siegel and he started off by apologizing to all the fellow neuropsychiatrists in the room for the simplicity of this book. He said that he didn't write the book for them. He wrote it for busy parents that need simple, easy to remember techniques for managing these tricky phases of their children's development.

THANK YOU, Dr. Siegel. So far, so good. Your book has been a blessing in our home.

I hesitated to pick up The Whole Brain Child, because I was worried that it would focus too much on overly-specific scientific studies (even if they were interesting) and not enough on practical advice. However, after reading it, my doubts are completely laid to rest.

This book really does live up to its title; the strategies provided have actually been revolutionary to my way of parenting. I feel like I understand my young children so much better now. I loved the simple, yet thorough, discussions about the functions of our left and right, and upper and lower, brains. I loved the extremely applicable examples given on how to better engage your child in the midst of an intense "teaching" moment.

And I especially loved the tone of the book overall. The authors don't take a black and white approach to parenting. They emphasize that our job as parents is to help our kids understand and process their feelings using the under-developed tools they have available. This is an ongoing process, something we help them achieve over long periods of time. Kids don't become mature and highly-functioning people in a moment, and they aren't scarred for life if we don't coach them through a tough, emotionally-charged situation in a less-than-stellar way. It sounds like common sense, but, for me, it felt very forgiving. I was happy to read that one bad day--or even a few bad days--wasn't going to ruin my kid or my relationship with him.

In short, this was an excellent read, and I feel like I have gained skills to help me be a better parent.

The author keeps talking about left and right brain and I can't get passed that, even as a metaphor. It has been proven that the concept is not correct, so I can't get myself to read a book that is based on a lie.

Haven't read the book yet, but just throwing this out there... The very first thing I noticed was the cover has a terrible texture. If you don't mind sandpaper then ignore this, but if you're like me and you cringe or get nauseous at rough textures like sandpaper then be advised. It's not necessarily that rough, but it was shocking when I pulled it out the box. I haven't touched it to read it yet. I recommend buying a clear cover or something to hold and protect it. Other than that I am still excited to read it.

It's so boring, I love reading anything for fun, even the horoscopes and ads, and this book is so boring I couldn't finish the first couple of pages. I found the title and summary a bit misleading. They make you feel like this is such an interesting book with new ideas, but it's all fluff.

The concepts were really interesting and solid, but the book, at least in audio form, was a little long winded. The audio delivery of the text was extremely slow paced. So much so, I had to set my audible to a faster speed and it still sounded slow. The situational examples they gave it the book were great, and so were the scientific facts. The visualization/metaphoric examples though lost me (the river and the wheel..) maybe if I ad a picture in front of me or maybe they are meant to help a child understand, but I felt like it was just oversimplifying the topic, and in a way almost making it more abstract rather than explaining it bluntly. I did learn a lot from the book, but it was a chore to listen to. I usually share parenting books with my husband once I'm done, but I think instead I'll just sum this one in my own words for him as I know he would never make it through a chapter without falling asleep.

One of the best books I have read on child development and parenting.
Instead of coming up with parenting advises without explaining the underlying problem, this book drills to the root of the issue.
It explains how your child brain works, and how to address parental challenges in order to nurture your child's development and help him thrive, rather than just focus on a short term fix in a survival mode.

All the methods make absolute sense and I have started to implement them shortly in my day to day parenting of my 4 year old twins. Is it simple? no. Is it always easy to stick with the methods and stay away from fight or flight mode? No. But taking it step by step I can slowly see some progress.

I also used the idea of talking to the kids about brain and how it works, and after they calmed downed, what happened in the specific situation. I have to say I am positively surprised how much interest they actually pay to those conversations and how cool they find it to learn about brain at that age. Until now I was sure 4 years old kids were simply not ready for that level of discussions, but I humbly admit I was wrong.

I recommend it to every parent of every child! that well behaved one, and also that trouble maker that makes you run for your life :)

I learned so much from this book; it was a total home run for me. As the mom of an almost-two year old, we are just at the age where I have started to reason with and teach my daughter, and work through her frustrations. This book could not have come at a better time. As a college Communications major, a lot of the sciency relationship speak in here was familiar to me and easy to navigate, as well as the practical application theories. I will reference this book several times through the course of my children's lives, I'm sure. The advice in here is timeless and can apply to any parent and any child. I even learned some things about how to better understand myself, my husband, and how to better communicate within my marriage. It's excellent.

Hope more parents read this and Siegel's other No Drama Discipline. This book was required for a childhood development class, and I really enjoyed it! It was nice to listen to the audio book in the car. I love that Dr. Siegel's methods are for Long Term results, not immediate (sure spanking may work short-term but it only induces fear and studies show it's not an effective way to teach). Physical discipline is not the main focus, but to me it parallels to the way many selfishly cope with parenting challenges; it is important to learn about a developing brain, the different hemispheres process information differently, and how to lead children rather than hush them up with "because I said so".

Sorry to compare children to puppies for an instance, but it's the same thing, adults shouldn't get so upset or physical with children - their minds are in the process of developing (still developing at age 23), and too often, parents project adult intentions onto their children. It breaks my heart to witness impatient adults scolding children in public when most of the time, the child is asking a very intuitive question eager to learn about their surroundings.
Instead, we need to be patient and help children navigate through new emotions at each stage of development so they can develop healthy habits that support good decisions, not punish them for something they are incapable of understanding.
The fridge summary is a good way to remember methods to help calm and connect with children when they are upset.

The book The Whole Brain Child by Dr. Daniel Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson
talks about the different ways that the brain develops and helps parents understand the functions of the brain and how that ties in to their child’s evolvement. Information about the authors led me to understand the reasoning behind this book, and why they were so passionate for parents to understand the development of their children. Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA. He has training in pediatrics, and in child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. Dr. Siegel is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and the founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA. Dr. Bryson is a psychotherapist and the Founder/Executive Director of The Center for Connection, where she provides therapy for children. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where her research explored childrearing theory, and the field of interpersonal neurobiology.
The main of idea of this book is to educate parents on the importance of certain parts of the brain and how it affects the development of their children. Each part of the brain plays a certain role and forms the behavior of children. It is important that parents understand why kids act a certain way. It is not only better for their education, but it helps them grow up in a way that will later be an advantage to them.
Dr. Siegel and Dr. Bryson go into detail on how the left and the right side of the brain each have a different part. For example, the left part of the brain is responsible for logic and the right side of the brain is responsible for emotion. This is important because now not only parents will understand the logic behind children being overly emotional and will understand what part of the brain is acting. Another example is when the child is upset you want to comfort the right side of the brain first by being showing empathy, loving, and listening and validating their feelings. The left part of the brain comes in when we help the child make amends and when you want the child to tell you the story behind the situation so that they can understand and control what is upsetting them. Another aspect of the brain is the upstairs and the downstairs brain. The upstairs part is a more sophisticated, analytical part of a person and the downstairs part of the brain is reactive. The upstairs of the brain is where a child can show empathy and have self-control.
I believe that this book ties into the course and what I have learned so far because often we question why we act or feel a certain kind of way. This book helps not only parents understand their children, but it helps to understand why kids do what they do and why they act a certain way. I believe that the brain is complex and this book breaks it down by talking about the left and right side of the brain. It gives examples of what kind of scenario means what and it helps us visualize what a kid is going through at that moment.
When looking at the big picture and how the brain works wonders in the development of a child, this book gives details explaining how mistakes give opportunity to learn and grow. There are examples pertaining certain situations, but I would’ve liked more situations and relatable details, which allows readers to be able to relate better with certain situations.
Neuroscience looks at how the brain functions and how each part of the brain takes a role in the daily activities of a human. “The Whole Brain Child” looks at how each part of the brain is responsible for the actions that help them develop into adulthood. Parents often think they are experts when it comes to their kids, but often misinterpret what takes place when their child’s brain makes specific decisions. Through the process of a child’s brain molding into adulthood, is extensive and requires two parts that work together. Those parts are often ignored because they take part on the emotional part of the brain. There are a lot of emotions that need to be put into consideration to understand some of the actions that take part of their child’s lives.
As an evaluation of this book, I believe that it does a good job in getting their point across to parents. It is important that parents understand all of what is going on in the development of their children. As their child develops, their brain is developing as well. Both authors give insightful details, but I felt as if there weren’t enough examples where parents can get a full grasp on how to react in a certain situation. Some of the examples that were talked about in the book don’t necessarily apply to everyone, but the bigger audience of this book was parents. There was a lot of repetition on the same concepts, but I believe that this was done to get their point across in different ways. Overall, I believe that this book successfully expressed the main points of the brain’s role in the development of a child. This book can be used as a manual for parents to have a better understanding on what goes on in this process and how to raise their children successfully.

Do not buy this on audible! I'm a busy mom of 5 and really wanted to read this book but don't have a lot of time so I opted for audible version-- DONT-- I couldn't even finish it... There is a lot of usful info but it needs to be able to be skimmed through otherwise it's very boring to listen the parts that you don't need advice on etc... Also, I didn't get the charts mentioned in book because it was audible. I wish I could return and get paperback version, this version is basically useless as I cannot go back to the parts that pertain to my children without it being a giant pain.

In the book The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson they share practical science to share how the brain works and how it grows. Different parts of the child’s brain grows at different speeds. Understanding this as a parent will help you deal with tantrums or fears and turn them into calm and happier children. They offer practical ways for helping specifics ages process situations. They include twelve strategies some being: Name it to tame it; Engage, don’t enrage; Move it or lose it; Let the clouds of emotion roll by; Connect through conflict.

I recommend this book to all parents especially those who do foster care or have adopted.

I really enjoyed this book and found myself taking many notes. This was an easy book to understand which is helpful because this is very deep science. I really enjoyed how this book took you step by step and walked you through their ideas. They also include a refrigerator sheet at the end. Granted I read this on my kindle and couldn’t make use of that but I think this would help many parents remember the suggestions from this book.

This with the combination of the movie inside out I think many parents will get the concepts of the brain and how to interact with their child better. This book is also teaching us how to stop thinking about ourselves and think about our child’s brain. What are their needs?

“children whose parents talk with them about their experiences tend to have better access to the memories of those experiences. Parents who speak with their children about their feelings have children who develop emotional intelligence and can understand their own and other people’s feelings more fully. Shy children whose parents nurture a sense of courage by offering supportive explorations of the world tend to lose their behavioral inhibition, while those who are excessively protected or intensively thrust into anxiety-provoking experiences without support tend to maintain their shyness.”

I love this quote and I think it is helpful to talk about things that happened throughout the day. If they experience stuff that scared them throughout the day they know they have you to talk to. It encourages me to think about the pillow talks I want to have with my children as they grow up. My favorite memories are laying in bed talking with my mom and then reading a book to end our day. I always knew I could tell her anything and that she was a safe person that wouldn’t share my feelings with anyone.

I rate this book a 4 out of 4 stars.

As someone who works in child development, I think the underlying ideas of teaching children mindfulness skills and helping them learn about how their brain works are both incredibly important. Research has shown us again and again that this can help children improve how they handle their emotions, control impulses, understand consequences, and get along with others -- and in turn, these skills have a much bigger impact on school and life success than how early a child learns their ABCs.

That said, I'm really not confident that this book will help most families get there, for the following reasons:

1) Because of the organization of the book, parents need to wade through a lot of content that just isn't relevant to their lives to get to the scattered bits that will be useful right now.

2) The authors have a metaphor that they use for each key point, and often seem to overemphasize the metaphor to the point where it overshadows the actual skill. If the metaphor happens to "click" for you and your family, that probably won't be a problem -- but the thing with metaphors like these is that they are almost never one size fits all. Because more time is often spent on the metaphor than the meat, the book assumes that you will make connections that may or may not happen for you.

3) While the concepts of mindfulness as they relate to child cognitive and emotional development are definitely valid, the authors have not done a great job of explaining the science behind this. There is a lot of oversimplification and over-reliance on metaphors, no references cited, and illustrations that are unprofessional and sometimes just confusing. If you're just looking for the skills, that may not matter. But if you want to be convinced that this is the real deal -- or you have a partner that needs to be convinced -- I'm not confident that this book will do that for you.

The book was ok but I felt it dumbed things down a bit too much, which is great for teaching kids, but unfortunately it was me reading the book and not my kids. I think the amount you get out of it will vary from person to person. There is definitely good information in this book. I think if you've already read recent child psychology books or taken psychology classes this book will mostly be a review. I also got the audiobook version at the same time and I did not care for the narration at all.

Overall an easily accessible book for parents, but not revolutionary. Many of the tips and techniques discussed are based on principles found in both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) including guided imagery and "mindsight" i.e. mindfulness. In using these techniques the book seems to suggest parents assume a more therapeutic role vs a parental role, which within certain family dynamics could present complications e.g. adoptive families, blended families, or any family with children with a trauma history outside of the norm. Along this vein, the book does not provide parents with guidance of how to handle trauma disclosures that were previously unknown to them that may occur especially during the implicit/explicit memory discussions.

Additionally, the book seems to gloss over the options available to parents whose children do not respond to the techniques. While they briefly mention the potential for backfire while speaking about negotiating with a toddler, no guidance is given "if this should fail."

Moreover, the book also does not explore the need for parents to be aware of their own mindset. Throughout the discussion of the potential triggers for children the authors seem to omit the possibility of children feeding off their parents' mood. As any therapist with their salt will tell you, self-awareness is key, especially when working with labile or escalated clients.

Overall, the techniques discussed in the book maybe a starting point for families that are generally established and stable, children are experiencing minor emotional and/or behavioral difficulties associated with normal childhood development. As always, if in doubt about the appropriateness of using these techniques with your children or the children you care for consult a professional.

I think this book is an excellent parenting resource for helping understand difficult or "crazy" seeming behavior of children. As I read through it I kept thinking this sounds so familiar and I know I've employed these methods - they just haven't been related to brain function and connection in quite this way. Then it came to me, that it is very similar to the Love & Logic parenting book, which I would also recommend. I really felt like the over-arching theme of this book is respecting your child as a unique (albeit underdeveloped) and valuable person and responding to them in ways that are not patronizing and demeaning but respectful of their feelings. It was a good refresher for me and I've already employed some of the methods with surprising success with my 6 year old son - particularly Name it to Tame it. My only reservation is that I think there is a danger of assuming there is simply a scientific explanation for bad behavior or bad moral choices. I would tread cautiously in assuming that a bad choice is simply the product of an undeveloped brain.

Every parent should buy this book. Siegel and Bryson do an excellent job of breaking down parenting as a process and not an event.

They teach the reader how to navigate through the right brain, left brain model. So if your child is having a right brain meltdown, they teach you how to reach them there before you move to logic. Some parents will find that to be a basic skill, but many will find it very new and rewarding.

Understanding the idea of an upstairs and downstairs brain is also a major accomplishment in this book. Most of the time, we as a people do not give thought to the why of what we do. This book helps explain a more integrated approach to parenting. One of the most controversial parts of the book will no doubt be when the author's take on the idea that parents should ignore tantrums. They dare to suggest that actually attempting to teach your child to process their feelings in the middle of the tantrum could be the best approach.

Another excellent take-away with this book is the idea that parents need to move away from denying and dismissing their child's feelings. Too often, I see parents dismiss their child's feelings because the feelings manifest in a way that the parent doesn't like or the parent doesn't know how to process his or her own feelings.

This book does an excellent job of helping understand how to process emotions in a healthy way. If you child is experiencing fear, there are simple and real life takeaways that you can utilize to help them. If your child is angry with you because you set a boundary for them, there are easy to use ways that you can help your child express that in a healthy way! This is one of the best aspects of this book.

Lastly, this book gives a very cursory overview of mirror neurons. They are amazing and we all have them. If you have angry children, it might be because you are angry. Our brains are wired for "we" is an exact quote from the book. As parents, we have to be integrated in order to raise integrated children. This book will find a lot of push back by the far right who believe a parents number one goal is to punish the evil out of their children and by those who find it doesn't match the way they parented.

Regardless, buy it. You will not regret it. In fact, I suspect that you will be very happy that you did.

This book has so many helpful strategies. I especially loved the "cheat sheets" in the back. I normally have to go through and write my own notes, but they even did that for me! I also loved the guide in the back breaking down what strategies to use and how for different age groups.

Does this book take a very complex topic and simplify it? YES. And as a someone attempting to juggle parenthood, marriage, homeownership, a career, pets, and extended family, I am VERY thankful that this book isn't too "heavy." A previous reviewer mentioned that there are no research studies cited throughout the book. Good for you if you have time to look up the data from those studies. But I DON'T have that kind of time available.

I need easy to understand, quick tips, to help me talk my 3 year old down off the ceiling in the midst of a temper tantrum. I need help redirecting my child when I see a meltdown building. And this very simple, quick read, has provided me with the tools I need to accomplish these goals.

I recently attended a lecture given by Dr. Siegel and he started off by apologizing to all the fellow neuropsychiatrists in the room for the simplicity of this book. He said that he didn't write the book for them. He wrote it for busy parents that need simple, easy to remember techniques for managing these tricky phases of their children's development.

THANK YOU, Dr. Siegel. So far, so good. Your book has been a blessing in our home.

I hesitated to pick up The Whole Brain Child, because I was worried that it would focus too much on overly-specific scientific studies (even if they were interesting) and not enough on practical advice. However, after reading it, my doubts are completely laid to rest.

This book really does live up to its title; the strategies provided have actually been revolutionary to my way of parenting. I feel like I understand my young children so much better now. I loved the simple, yet thorough, discussions about the functions of our left and right, and upper and lower, brains. I loved the extremely applicable examples given on how to better engage your child in the midst of an intense "teaching" moment.

And I especially loved the tone of the book overall. The authors don't take a black and white approach to parenting. They emphasize that our job as parents is to help our kids understand and process their feelings using the under-developed tools they have available. This is an ongoing process, something we help them achieve over long periods of time. Kids don't become mature and highly-functioning people in a moment, and they aren't scarred for life if we don't coach them through a tough, emotionally-charged situation in a less-than-stellar way. It sounds like common sense, but, for me, it felt very forgiving. I was happy to read that one bad day--or even a few bad days--wasn't going to ruin my kid or my relationship with him.

In short, this was an excellent read, and I feel like I have gained skills to help me be a better parent.

This book is based on the concept that to deal with your child - and to help them thrive - it is helpful to understand how a child's brain works. It is such a simple, yet powerful, premise. While it focuses on ages 0-12, the concepts can be adapted to apply to teens, and even adults.

So, why do parents, teachers, grandparents, etc, need a book like this? The different parts of our brains often don't work together very well. Think of when people get scared and can't be calmed, even though they logically know that there is no real threat. This is an example of the older parts of the brain overpowering the more developed parts. Unfortunately for parents and caregivers, the older parts often overpower the more developed parts, because a child's brain is not fully developed until the mid-20s. Also, the hemispheres of our brains handle situations differently, and if children are actively using one side over the other, we need to engage the hemisphere they are working from. This book will show you how to interact with children to help them become more calm, flexible, and balanced by taming the reptilian brain (where tantrums emerge), engaging the advanced areas of their brain, and helping them integrate their left and right hemispheres.

For example, when a child is emotionally upset (using the right brain), many parents try logical, left-brain solutions, a "dismiss and deny" approach ("there is no good reason to cry, so stop!"). A better response to an upset child would be to "connect and redirect," i.e. to acknowledge their feelings ("yes, that is upsetting"), comfort them physically (e.g. with a hug), and later approach the situation more logically. This works for adults too, since when we are upset, angry, etc, most of us rarely become calm after someone screams at us or tells us to "just stop" something. The book contains many other useful tips to help parents deal with the day-to-day headaches...I mean...joys of children.

As a parent of a young child, I was fascinated. The book is interesting and filled with helpful advice that is similar to strategies I have put into practice in my own life to become happier and more balanced. It contains many entertaining stories, and the comic strips that pop up throughout helped me understand the material better. The end material is a helpful summary of the advice contained in the book. I have been reading on a variety of brain-related topics lately, and they all seem to be integrated in this one book! I see instances of Neuro-linguistic Programming, Mindfulness, and Non-Violent Communication (Empathetic Communication). It is really cool to see all of these excellent theories and resources applied to parenting. I would highly recommend this book. It is based on accepted and emerging brain science and provides an alternative to the "yell and yell more" technique that so many of us have used (and had used on us) with ineffective results. Will every solution in the book work every time? Probably not, but there are some great ideas to try!

Daniel Siegel and Tina Bryson both make this an insightful read about how to nurture your child's brain and help them develop, and ultimately THRIVE, rather than survive in such situations.

The book is written with an easy-to-follow structure of outlining some examples, and then providing you with guidelines as to turn a surviving situation into a thriving opportunity. Instead of telling your child that you'll make everything better "because you say so" or bringing out the "we'll get ice cream" line, you can help your child understand the situation and express him/herself. That is one way to help them nurture their mind. The ability to retell a story and think back is a common theme in this book. This just among one of the approaches.

Among some of the strategies addressed are: replaying memories, teaching that feelings come and go, engaging the logical side of the brain, family fun, etc. The 12 strategies addressed, as well as the many introductions and insightful explanations are extremely helpful to parenting style and the individual. Some of the research about the brain show ways to understand yourself before you can help your child. Helping yourself before you can help others, you could call it.

This book is a brief read with helpful charts and drawings. At the end of the book there is a "refrigerator sheet" that highlights some tips to remember. There is also a section called "Whole-brain stages and ages" which show ages, stages, and possible things you can do to help your child thrive at different points in their lives.

All in all, this books has opened my eyes to rich and useful information that can be applicable to parenting. Although the book is about helping your child grow, it's also about how well you take of yourself too. The authors emphasize that a healthy, whole-brain parent will do so much and influence their children positively. I've also realized that much of the information about the brain - memories, logic, linguistics, emotions, fears - can be helpful to not only parents, but also anyone seeking to learn more about the brain. Great read, highly recommended.

I really enjoyed the connections to neuroscience in this book. I would have liked a little more of that, but I understand this is not a niche book of Child Development bathed in scientific terms (which is kind of my preference) but rather a book that strives to explain the basics of neuroscience in how it pertains to child development. I liked the fact that they related many stories back to each stategy to show the strategy in action. The book provides a cheat sheet to hang on the fridge and advice and activites to help "connect" the different parts of you child's brain. It is so interesting to me.
I will read this again, when my little lady starts developing her ego!

This book presents an approach to parenting that is based upon understanding of the brain hemispheres and how they relate to our mental and emotional processes. The strategies and exercises shared in the book are designed to help integrate the left and right brain faculties across the span of childhood and adolescent development. The authors have a website wholebrainchild dot com where they offer some resources, and they have designed this book so that parents can develop understanding of the brain and mental functioning and teach some of the basics to their children to empower their kids to build self-awareness and self-regulation skills.
This book helps us see how feelings can dominate our behavior and the need for parents to validate feelings as a step before attempting to communicate with a child's rational processing. The book provides many examples as well as some illustrations and cartoons depicting the concepts and strategies that are discussed. It would have been nice if these illustrations and cartoons were in color, while it is great that these are even included in black and white [this refers to the review copy, not the final published version].
The end of the book has a summary appendix chart listing types of left-right brain integration along with associated whole-brain strategies and applications. This makes a nice quick reference to look back to after you have read the book.
I would recommend this book for parents and child-care professionals. This book is not a quick-fix parenting technique - it is designed to help you reassess how we relate to our children (and to others in general) - and steadily implement this more enlightened whole-brain approach. It means practicing these strategies and using them more and more so that they replace the dysfunctional reactions and habits that people often exhibit when interacting with children. This takes commitment and ongoing personal development and self-awareness. The authors, I believe, could have further stressed the need for ongoing commitment and the ability to face setbacks and challenges that arise even when you are doing a good job applying these strategies. Overall, I found this book to be practical and informative... not really revolutionary but certainly a very good resource that will help parents and others improve their family relationships and interactions with children.

Informative about brain functions of younger children, and eye-opening about tantrums. However, I would not recommend as much for dealing with older children, who have more sense of right and wrong and are less primal in their decisions.

Also, on a side note, some of the "real life" scenario examples they described/illustrated seemed kind of far-fetched...in real life, parents being consistent in this, seems they would get burned out because it definitely puts the parent on the back burner. It would have been more helpful to also explain effectively communicating your feelings to your child, as a parent, so the child may develop empathy, and that parents have feelings, too. Yeah we are their teachers, but we are not robots. It was lacking a bit in that aspect.

If you are a parent, teacher or other person who works with children, I would commend this book to you. By understanding how the brain works, you can survive tough moments and teach children to thrive. The Whole-Brain Child explains both how and why.

The twelve strategies the book explains are:
Connect then Redirect
Name It To Tame It
Engage, Don't Enrage
Use It Or Lose It
Move It Or Lose It
Use The Remote Of The Mind
Remember To Remember
Let The Clouds of Emotion Roll By
SIFT: sensation, image, feeling, and thought
Exercise Mindsight
Increase The Family Fun Factor
Connect Through Conflict

Each strategy is explained both scientifically and practically. There are examples and a particularly helpful appendix chart that give examples of how to use these strategies with various ages. The book also includes cartoons to share these concepts with your kids. This isn't voodoo science you use on your children to control them, these are strategies you share with them so they can have greater control over their own emotions.

I think this book provides tools any parent can use with their children. I have already recommended it many times.

"The Whole-Brain Child" isn't a completely new take on parenting, but it does emphasize some of the ideas that other parenting books bring up but don't really explore. The general idea is that you want to engage both the logical side and the primal side of your child's brain when you're handling parenting issues. So if, for example, your child is throwing a tantrum, you first engage the lizard brain (because that's what's in control right now) with empathy and connection and then, as the child feels felt, you help them engage the logical brain to solve the problem that caused the tantrum in the first place. I really like though the fact that the authors are very clear that there are times when you don't negotiate with your child - sometimes you have to simply be the parent and that's not wrong. While yes, you want to over time build a child who can engage and use their whole brain, they're not there yet, so you do have to be the grown up, not a therapist and not a friend. As with any parenting book, you have to figure out what's going to work with your child and what isn't.

The terminology such as "mindsight", "integrating the upstairs brain", and the "wheel of awareness" come across somewhat as hooey. However, if you look past how the material is presented, you will see there is value in their approach(es). Throughout the book there are comics which have a first panel "instead of doing this..." that show the typical response and how it fails, and it really is accurate. Most parents, including myself, often respond in the ways they depict, and it does indeed usually not get an optimal response from the child. So look at their suggestions on how to approach those situations in the rest of the comic panels; I believe there is merit to the ways they suggest you explain events and reasoning to your child. They are right that a child's brain and common concepts are not fully formed and that they need help making sense of things (without which they can get frustrated and angry).

This book helped me turn difficult periods or moments into opportunities. Times that in the past have gone downhill for me, I am now able to turn around to make us a happier, more understanding and relaxed family. The book explains how a child's mind develops and why it works and reacts differently than an adult mind. I've fallen into a trap in thinking that my children are looking at things the same way I do or that they will feel what I do in emotional situations. That's not true and Siegel and Bryson have done a wonderful job of showing me how a child's brain works and how to get through each day in a way that makes the whole family happy.

There are six chapters that talk about integrating the parts of the brain, the person, the family (Parenting with the Brain in Mind, Two Brains are Better than One, Building the Staircase of the Mind, Kill the Butterflies!, The United States of Me, and The Me-We Connection). These chapters cover the 12 whole-brain strategies: 1. Connect and Redirect: Surfing Emotional Waves, 2. Name It to Tame It: Telling Stories to Calm Big Emotions, 3. Engage, Don't Enrage: Appealing to the Upstairs Brain, 4. Use It or Lose It: Exercising the Upstairs Brain, 5. Move It or Lose It: Moving the Body to Avoid Losing the Mind, 6. Use the Remote of the Mind: Replaying Memories, 7. Remember to Remember: Making Recollection a Part of Your Family's Daily Life, 8. Let the Clouds of Emotion Roll By: Teaching that Feelings Come and Go, 9. SIFT: Paying Attention to What's Going On Inside, 10.Exercise Mindsight: Getting Back to the Hub, 11. Increase the Family Fun Factor: Making a Point to Enjoy Each Other, 12. Connect Through Conflict: Teaching Kids to Argue with a "We" in Mind.

What I've learned from this book is a work-in-progress. I am getting better and more consistent in how I handle conflict with my children and I can see it's working. I am so glad to have read this book. It has given me a new understanding of what my children are thinking and new ways to nurture them and make us all happy. I only wish I'd had it five years ago.

This book is definitely a step in a healthy direction for parents and children. I love that there are concrete approaches that parents can start using immediately, including cartoon summaries of the different points that make for fun reading and sharing with kids. And the overall message of connecting and communicating and empathizing is a wonderful one.

The only thing that makes me slightly uncomfortable is the tendency in the examples for the parents to assume they know what's going on in the kids' brains and to start talking about what the problem might be. I'm in favor of much more listening on the part of the parents. I'd like to see more in the way of questioning techniques that don't put a child under pressure but that tend to elicit honest answers, so that the parents have a chance to find out from the child him-/herself what's going on, rather than putting so much trust in their own hypotheses.

What fascinated me most about this book was the new research on the brain function, my biggest complaint is the times when it dives into the parent as pseydo-psychologist. Why four stars? I did really love it more than the few occasions it went off into tangents.

Daniel J. Siegel, MD and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D, write in one voice (you can't tell who writes the majority of the book and they seem to share the same perspectives), giving examples in 3rd person - saying either Dan's experience or Tina's experience as well as other parents' experiences. It's easy to digest this fairly short book and there are limited doses of humor from time to time. The tone in the beginning chapters of the book is different than the second half of the book - it really switches gears when they get into memory and felt less scientific for a brief stint and more psychological mixed with opinions and experience perspective. What held my attention is that they're both authorities on the subject and have a passion about parenting, neurotypical development, and whole brain integration.

The begining focuses primarily on the right brain, left brain and using this knowledge while parenting. It really makes you step back and understand your child on a scientific level and then be able to apply this information instead of making irrational parenting choices. The authors encourage getting both sides of the brain to work together and tell you how to do this through examples and then illustrations (didn't care for the artwork at all). They explain how the brain is always being re-wired and that as parents it's our responsibility to guide that re-wiring, which is both positive but also a bit intimidating. Do I really have that much power over my child? Do I want that much power over my child? But with this information, I will do what I can. They then switch to lower brain and higher brain - but this is slightly more complex and a bit harder to detect. What I gathered was that the left rain and lower brain are more alike, and the right brain and higher brain are similar. The authors do explain why you want to try and get all these brain parts working together - sort of like how your organs work together; heart, lungs, brain, to make a healthy human.

It's helpful that the authors list parenting mistakes and then provide parenting solutions in their place. I, myself, am guilty of a few parenting nos without even realizing it. For example, dismiss and deny - I didn't even know I was doing that to my child, so I'm thankful to this book for learning better ways of dealing with my child's emotions and situations. I thought I was being a good mom, but this book has given me tools to be better.

Another plus was father involvment in this book. Its rare in parenting books for such active fathers to be depicted and it was refreshing. Now, if only I could get my husband to be this thoughtful and active in my son's life.

The authors encourage a lot of talking. And story re-hashing. At first I found this annoying - hey, I'm being honest, but then when it was explained scientifically as to why including whole brain integration and memory as well as into we concepts, I was hooked.

My favorite chapter was on teaching your kids to have better relationships and empathy. The new research on "emotional contagion" was riviting for me as I'm interested in this topic. Having a child with an autism diagnosis, friendships and empathy have been a huge issue in our house. This book gave many tools and ideas to try with my son and many scientific facts and research on the topic. I could have read an entire book on this information alone. Something I have stuggled with is teaching my son to be more "we" without losing the "me" and I was happy that the authors addressed this.

Another thing that really stuck with me was that the authors explain that the relationship you provide for your children will affect generations. This is the way I think as well, so again, I gravitate to this type of book and this type of author(s). If you don't think this way, you're probably not going to get much from this book or you'll have resistance to their theories.

There is a chart towards the back that lists real age with strategies and brain development. There is also a refrigerator cheat sheet - that needs to be cut down considerably. No one has time to read a book in the middle of a parenting crises or situation.

Dr. Siegel's wheel of awareness can be a helpful tool and is something that would work with my child; however not in the middle of a crises, but during a weekend or time where we could really go over a particular situation that my child was struggling with. Again, my son is on the spectrum, so we do a lot of work on his feelings and how to control his emtotions, so this is right up my alley.

Like any parenting book - it doesn't have all the answers, but it does provide ideas and tips on what to do in certain situations to encourge your child's brain to have a healthy mental state as well as tools to be able to make good decisions as they get older. It's complimentary to Dr. Sears books and other great parenting books on my shelves. I will look to this one again in the future.

Positives:
Encouraging connecting and re-directing (big fan of this approach!)
Brain function - our childrens and ours and how to integrate
Lots of useful parenting tips, made me more aware of my behaviors and actions as well
Mindsight - similar to cognitive therapy, changing what you focus on

Negatives:
Abusive parenting - I wish the author would have recommened couseling rather than only learning to cool down. Some of these parents need serious outside help to help themselves and their children.
Not always applicable parenting solutions in time crunch.
Could have been organized and condensed in sections.

The content is great however the woman is painful to listen to. It sounds like she might have an accent but is trying to speak in a neutral dialect. I honestly can't even listen to her. I would buy the paperback version because I really find the content interesting however I do not recommend buying the audible version. Her and a man split the reading his voice is fine. I believe he is reading in the sample.

I read this book as part of an assignment for my graduate class in Applied Developmental Psychology. Overall, I found the book to be very enjoyable to read. It is written in language that is easy to understand even if you have no psychology background. I feel this book has a lot of great ideas, as in the 12 strategies listed within the book. However, I feel these ideas/strategies would be easier to use in a parent/caregiver setting rather than in a classroom. The ideas were great and I'm sure would work in a setting where it was just a child and their caregiver. I feel a lot of these ideas can be very time consuming which could potentially be very hard to use in a classroom of 10 or more children at at time. I would definitely recommend this book to parents or anyone wanting to look at the brain in a while new integrated perspective.

I am a brand new parent and was given this book at one of our baby showers. I immediately began reading because even though our daughter was just weeks old, I want to be a father who practices and encourages emotional and intellectual health within my children.

The book is authored by two experts in brain development, both who have written on brain-related and parenting issues. There was never any doubt that the information contained in this book was reliable and helpful. The book could at times be a little dry, as should be expected when discussing brain science. But at may points the authors did a good job of not going to deep into the medical and scientific discussions and gave the practical, needed information to understand the stages of brain development that happens for a child.

The short book (150 pages) includes cartoons and stories to help drive home the points – and even provide a medium for you to in turn teach the principles to your children. Much of the content explains that a child’s brain develops the “downstairs,” emotional part before the “upstairs,” reasoning part. The goal is integration: helping the child as soon as possible begin to evaluate and reason their way through their emotions in a logical manner. The authors provide great reminders though not to rush this process or expect a young child to be physically able to calm down and intellectually discuss a situation when they are in the middle of an emotional breakdown.

The book provided me hope in the form of realistic expectations about what I can expect from my children and an understanding that their emotional breakdowns are not a sign of bad parenting or a spoiled child, but simply the way their undeveloped minds handle things at such a young age.

The final chapter was an excellent one on helping your child become mindful of others and move from a “me” focus to a “we” focus. There was practical advice such as family time and improve activities that engage their mind. There were also stories that gave examples of how you could help talk your child through a situation in which they are upset and need to learn to see the situation through the other party’s viewpoint. The final chapter also included the best sentence in the book, stating, “discipline means ‘to teach,’ not ‘to punish’.”

I would recommend this book for parents of children birth to early teen.

Things you may enjoy about this book:
1. Simple but brilliant book that helps parents identify what the brain is up to as it develops.
2. Helpful and practical examples of what is going on and what a parent can do about it.
3. You don’t need to be a neuroscientist to read this book and find it helpful!

Our daughter has two VERY active little boys, one age 2, the other age 6. The two year old has been particularly challenging (deep in the pit of the "terrible twos" right now). She has a bachelors degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development, and has already done a great job bringing her 9 year old daughter along so far. Still, her 2 year old is especially challenging, and her 6 year old is experiencing some specific challenges of his own. This book came along within a day of her asking for help, in sheer frustration with the two year old.

With an advanced degree and years of licensed experience in marriage, family, and individual counseling, I began to give her some suggestions. But I also ordered this book for her to read. Her report - far better than mine, since she's the one really using it the most - is that it is excellent. She also said the pictures are helpful in illustrating some points. But most of all, she's applied several of the principles in the book, and had very visible success. Nothing's 100%, so it certainly should not be purchased as a "cure-all" book, but this book goes well beyond typical "how to do it on your own" child management books.

With that kind of success, I think it deserves something we rarely give on our reviews - five stars. We reserve those for the best of the best, and even an otherwise excellent book or product often gets a 4-star rating from us if it doesn't stand out from most of the rest of the higher-tier books or products. This one does - it delivers results. One cannot approach this like a cook book, expecting to find a list of problems with specific solutions that can be referred to in a given situation for the "need of the moment." Instead, the book should be studied and understood (not terrible deep reading - just requires some concentration and openness). Very nice job indeed!

I like these strategies for interacting with my kids. The book refers to other books. I feel like the authors at times see promoting their other works, but at the same i think they give a good basic understanding of the idea without requiring you to read the other book. If i had to do it again, I would read mindsight, then this book,then no drama discipline.

I couldn't wait to for "the Whole Brain Child" to arrive so that I could start reading it. Let me say that it is packed with lots of information and after reading it, I must admit, I need to reread over and over again. It contains 12 whole-brain strategies that are explained in details & offers a few simple illustrations.

I like the concept of integrating both the left and right side of the brain. There are more and more products these days geared towards Right brain or Left brain learning such as Tweedlewink. I'm excited to see more and more research done on this subject that can help us understand how our brains work and how to teach and communicate to our children more effectively. "Instead of just giving the answer...excercise the upstairs brain." With this book you get advice on how you can help your children produce these characteristics:

- sound decision making and planning
- control over emotions and body
- Self-understanding
- Empathy
- Morality

I like how "The Whole Brain Child" at the end of the book reviews the type of integration, whole brain strategy and application strategy according to the age group you are seeking as a "refrigerator sheet". Overall, a very insightful book.

I have read other Dan Siegel books and found some heavy. This one is great, lots of examples, divided by age groups, fridge door reminder sheet.

I think that one of the best sections is about preventing trauma - I have used this technique with 3-5year olds with great success. There are other books about trauma (eg, trauma through a child's eyes by Peter Levine) which are excellent, but the average parent won't read them. This book gives great grounding in how "fearful" memories are laid down and how to prevent problems.

Many non-reader friends have read and successfully implemented the strategies given, and at least 3 friends now recommend the book, which speaks for itself.

I agree with one reviewer that reading Daniel Goleman - Emotional intelligence and social intelligence, and if you are really keen, Martin Seligman - Flourishing would tell you why as parents, and as a society, we should want our children raised in this manner.

I'm a scientific person and this book appealed to me, less science minded people might prefer the style of Raising Emotionally Intelligent Children by John Gottman.

This book was recommended through a book club designated by my Master's Program in Applied Developmental Psychology. The Whole Brain Child was extremely easy to read and can be applied in everyday settings involving children of all ages. Specifically, it can be beneficial to practitioners and caretakers. The book discusses the integration of all components of a child's brain and how it can help them develop into resilient children that have the ability to adapt, maintain healthy relationships, and process situations and feelings using the logical and emotional sides of the brain. The book gives several examples to help parents and caretakers facilitate positive interactions with their child while giving them tools to use in the future. The book does a fantastic job illustrating everyday situations and how best to approach children under varying circumstances. It discusses different types of tantrums and helps parents decipher between which part of the brain is being overstimulated and how to encourage the child to acknowledge what they're feeling and eventually transition to a more logical thought process. I would recommend the book overall. The only negative component I would say was that it did not address children with developmental delays.

This book contains really helpful strategies and a new way to understand children. It's not complicated nor complex, but it's also nothing I would have thought about in the way I do now thanks to this book. If you're looking for ways to diffuse tantrums or emotional behavior, or just hoping to optimize your child's development, this book is a great choice to help you along the way.

Books like these are very powerful in content, because in this case, it's a book that was written to help struggling parents (in other words, every parent!) to deal with the every day problems of their children. These problems are often the problems of parents because they need to some how deal with tantrums, wide varying moods, and many other every day problems that a developing child may experience.

In this age of video games, the authors of this book are trying to teach adults how to develop their children into "whole-brain people". So, the first self-help is the parent trying to retrain their thinking and their general ways of parenting to first recognize the state of the child during the problem periods and then apply the 12 advertised steps to help both the child and parents to work through the every day challenges that create these mood swings etc.. This is where the "we-help" comes in to play. At this point, it really becomes group therapy with only the help of the techniques in the book. Finally, given enough time and experience with these techniques, the child actually has the ability to self-regulate through the myriad of problems they face happily developing into an emotionally healthy child and then adult.

So, this all sounds good, is there a catch?

Well, the authors assume that the parents have the perception and sensitivity to handle this kind of advice and methodology. The "whole brain" goal involves the successful transition from a lower brain (highly emotional mostly reactive) response to an upper brain processing of the situation. This upper brain processing mainly involves finding ways to "center" the child so they aren't stuck in terrible psychological state. Sounds easy, however, most parents are highly emotional themselves when they face these kinds of problems in their children. So the first question becomes "Can the parent find a way to move from their lower brain response to an upper brain handling of the situation?". This is a lot to ask of the average every day parent who is trying to do this on their own with no professional training. It really takes a special individual to sense, react, and then provide a control mechanism to correctly change a situation. Fortunately, most of the advice and methods really are based on common sense approaches and in my opinion, not so revolutionary as the title suggests. The explanation of the workings of the brain really reinforce what common sense would dictate. This makes the book usable for a wider audience. The part that is "revolutionary" really involves teaching your children self-awareness techniques that provide models that represent extremes and re-centering techniques. Although the pictures are new, re-centering is a very old concept.

With all that said, why 4 stars?

I believe that it's important to go back to fundamentals and bring to conscious thought the things that are lingering and sometimes drive emotions and states into a bad state. Although this might sound like psycho-babble to some, and even put the person at risk that they might be misdiagnosing a problem, and subsequently making their child's situation worse, the thinking emotional parent has a shot at simplifying and doing some real good. The book was almost three stars for its general usability, but I believe that people that aren't into "self-help" books in the first place won't have any interest.

Finally, the book is fairly readable, including some theory of brain that is simplified to the point of general understanding. Some concepts are a bit murky due to a poor organization. In particular, the authors start by going into a right brain / left brain discussion. This completely abandoned after the first ten or so pages and then never explained relative to the remainder of the book that favored a lower brain / upper brain model. Mainly, is the upper brain both left and right, and if so, is the process of transitioning your child from lower to upper right to upper left? Or something else completely? The authors never explain.

Who is the right audience for this book?

Someone who pauses in the self-help section of the bookstore.
Someone who is open-minded and is willing to open themselves up for change.
Someone who can translate slightly convoluted common sense approach revolutionary ideas (namely the book) into practice.
Someone with a problem child and just doesn't have any other idea on how to handle difficult behaviors.

I think that this book is an interesting read for parents! I truly enjoyed some of the strategies laid out in teaching your child to utilize all parts of their brain. For instance, when ones child is flooded with emotions, the author advised for the parent to connect on that level prior to tapping into the logic of the situation. I would definitely recommend for parents to try the strategies; however, I think there is no guarantee. I think often it is easier to talk about the perfect scenario when one is not in the moment. More research evidence is needed before I give this book all five stars !

I can understand my toddler a bit more with the knowledge from this book. I’m always seeking information to insure my 2 year old is thriving and growing happy, this book will be used for years to come. Great read ?

This book is a layman's introduction to child psychology that really makes sense and is easy to follow, but gives helpful and interesting information. I borrowed this in audio version from our library. It has made me look at my daughter's tantrums in a whole new light. Highly Recommended!

Fantastic book. It easily helps you understand how children's brains grow and develop, how it affects them, how it has effect you as an adult growing up. How we can develop our children's minds all the while letting us know that we/our kids won't always be perfect.

This book has great strategies to help deal with your children. I have 2 kids that have different needs. one is ADD and the other has some other learning issues. This book helped me to understand what is going on in their mind and gave me ideas to help parent them. It has proven to be a very helpful book and easy to follow and implement.

This book brings up interesting aspects of child development. Being around a child that is having a tantrum is not a pleasant experience for anyone involved (including the child). This book helps breakdown the brain process of children's emotions. Some of the examples are a little unrealistic but they have good intentions and prove the right points. I think this book is very relevant for parents because it helps to understand why their child acts the way they do and how they can help them through their emotions.

I got this book when a neighbor and fellow mom recommended it. Glad she did! I already knew about basic child development, and even a solid amount (for a non-scientist) about emotions and the brain. But the authors have put these together in a way that I found very helpful. While they present specific strategies (good), the better aspect is that through these strategies, they're helping you shift they way you understand and respond to the bigger, broader challenges of parenting (great!). I've been recommending it to other parents (including my husband, who also really liked it).

I can't recommend this book more highly. It is very straightforward and practical and most points are backed up by evidence with good explanations. I have tried some of the recommendations with my toddler and they really do work. Moreover, the book gives me a sense of peace about how to deal with tantrums and bad moods effectively (compassionately but with clear limits), and to view difficult family moments as opportunities for learning. The principles work for adults too!

The whole brain child is an easy read for parents. The authors do a good job of explaining brain architecture in a way that one can understand. However, I feel these strategies could not be well implemented by all parents nationwide. It almost seems better said than done. In my opinion, when a child is having a tantrum, only time will allow them to get over it, not reasoning by a parent. I would like to see a book written in the point of view of the field testers. Also, if teachers implemented these strategies as well, could they be successful?

The Whole Brain Child was written by Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and did his postgraduate education at UCLA, where he studied child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry. Bryson earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, where her research included attachment science, childrearing theory, and interpersonal neurobiology. They share scientific information on children's brains and what makes them different from a fully developed brain. The book is helpful to those who interact with children and was very interesting for me. I enjoyed reading it because I received a lot of new knowledge about the development of the brain and how it reacts to certain emotional situations, especially the brains of children. I feel like it has improved my understanding of children and helped to better my interactions with them. The book is an easy read and presents a lot of detail through charts and diagrams of brain activity, which really helps illustrate their concepts and ideas.
The Whole Brain Child tells us that brain research continues to show that childhood is a necessary time of growth and that every single experience affects the brain. The strategies the authors present help us to understand the necessity to develop a strong connection between a child's logical and emotional parts of their brain. This assists them in managing and considering their feelings and behaviors, and to help us develop an understanding of them as well. The book presents 12 strategies to help children's brains develop effectively. The authors tell us that there are many different parts of the brain with their own function, but it is essential for these parts to integrate and work together. The first two strategies are about right and left brain integration. The left side of the brain controls logic, and the right side of our brain controls emotion. The authors tell us we can help with this integration by connecting with children's emotions. When a child is upset, we should help them link their emotions to events to understand why they feel a certain way. The next three strategies are about integrating the upper and lower brain. The top of our brain lets us think about our actions, and the lower part of our brain is instinct and survival. By integrating these parts, we develop opinions and morals, and this will shape how we act in an instinctive situation. The next two strategies tell us that remembering how events affect us positively and negatively is important to children's brain growth. Instead of ignoring something that happened because we do not like how it made us feel, we need to remember that experience to help our brain learn from it and grow. The next three strategies tell us that children need to accept who they are to be able to make decisions that are best for them in their own life. The last two strategies are about how essential it is to create relationships with others to help children think about how their decisions affect not only them, but others around them.
This book connects to what we are learning in our course because it is all about the brain. The book focuses mostly on mentalism because it suggests that our brain is responsible for our logical and emotional behavior. However, the book proposes that our brain can still partly be shaped by experiences in our life and that as we are growing up and developing, our brain can also go through some changes from outside influences. We learned in our course that each part of our brain has different specialties and functions, and that connects to what the book is saying about each part of our brain being responsible for different thoughts and behavior. All parts of our brain need to work together to keep our brain healthy.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It gave me great insight on how to better understand children and how they deal with their emotions in different situations. It was especially useful to me because I work with kids. I am a dance teacher and a camp counselor for kids as young as five years old. Sometimes it can be very difficult to understand how they are feeling and how to deal with them when they are acting out. My first reaction is to yell at them and discipline them when they do something wrong. However, after reading this book, I now realize that this is not the best approach. Growing up is an important time for a child and everything for them is a learning experience. They do not exactly understand why they feel a certain way or why the do the things that they do. The book has taught me that this is because their right and left brain aren't working together yet. Their brains aren't fully developed yet to help them take a step back and think logically about a situation instead of just to instinctively react emotionally. When a child is upset and acting out, you cannot just yell at them. You need to connect with them emotionally before you can talk logically with them. If you right away ask, "Why did you do that?" or "What were you thinking?" they will not be able to give you a logical response. Their first reaction is to act on their emotions and to take their feelings to the extreme. Once you acknowledge their feelings, you can connect with them. Then you can ask them why they feel that way or why they did what they did. Once you respond with the emotional part of their brain, they will be more comfortable when you try to connect to the logical part of their brain. This book was a good read and was helpful to me especially since I work with children. It explained how children's brains work really well and even tried to be specific to different age groups. It was really easy to understand, even for someone who knows nothing about neuroscience or the brain. However, I felt like the book was more directed towards parents, and I read this book for a neuroscience class. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.