I read NurtureShock with a group of teachers from my school. We all sang high praises and had stimulating conversation at each meeting as we went through the chapters. I was preparing my blog post of NurtureShock when I came upon a review that took the words right out of my mouth. Let me introduce you to - Sunny - author of the fabulous blog Caffeinated Teacher (I'm useless without a diet coke). I'm thinking she should have been part of our book club! Sunny has graciously allowed me to post her thoughts on NurtureShock.
Why It's On Sunny's (and mine too) Bookshelf: I am enthralled with this book. There are many reviews on Amazon and some critiques have said it isn't much in the way of a parent guide. I don't think it was intended to be a parenting guide. As a teacher, I am reading it with wonder and sometimes downright fascination as I realize how I have seen some of these things occur right in front of me. I am only on Chapter 5 (of 10) and have found myself absolutely absorbed with everything they've written and the mass research to support things.
They discuss how praise can actually be detrimental even when we think we are providing something good for our children; how children today are sleeping on average an hour less than a few decades ago (and how that is affecting their IQ scores and ability to perform at school; why white parents don't discuss race (and frankly, this one hit the mark for me....as a white parent who teaches in a very diverse area, this is a topic I frequently avoid); and why kids lie. This is simply in the first four chapters!
I believe I am getting more out of this book because I'm not reading it through the lens of a parent as much as I am through the lens of a teacher. Some of this information is really causing me to pause and think.
I am always fascinated with research that discusses what we, as a collective society, are doing with our children nowadays in the midst of the technology we have and many people's obsession with doing more. This doesn't happen as much where I teach simply because of the SES differences, but I have known many families who practically run themselves ragged taking little Timmy and little Susie to this, that, or the other activity. Sometimes when I've heard these parents go through their schedules, my head has spun at the thought of that flutter of activity. I have to also wonder when those children get time to be children.
NurtureShock has given me some food for thought on what has happened to children in the last few decades, because of the choices we, as parents, have made. I'm perfectly happy to let my girls collect bugs (or as in the case this afternoon, a teeny tiny frog) in the backyard rather than carting them off to 2,000 activities that I fool myself into thinking is going to better prepare them to be the next Presidents of the United States or Rhodes Scholars.
Kids deserve to be kids, especially with the pendulum swings we're experiencing in education right now when more and more is pushed on students at younger and younger ages.
What appeals to me most about this book is these are not just two drones who are spouting off random opinions they think everyone should soak up and accept. They are providing real evidence from many studies to back up their claims. Read more of Sunny's Thoughts on Chapter 1 (the inverse power of praise) from her blog.....
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