Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five

276 Pages·2010·1.36 MB·English

by  John Medina

Table of Contents

Title Page
Dedication
brain rules
Introduction

pregnancy
Quiet, please: Baby in progress
The amazing pregaphone
Let’s get it on
When can your baby hear you, smell you?
A balancing act
4 things proven to help baby’s brain
Every little bit counts

relationship
Most marriages suffer
Seeds of hope
Babies seek safety above all
How babies respond to stress
The four biggest reasons you’ll fight
‘Nobody told me it was going to be so hard’
The first step is awareness
Make empathy a reflex: Two simple steps
Prepare your relationship

smart baby: seeds
What a smart brain looks like
The intelligence of IQ
What does it mean to be smart?
Mom’s beef stew: 7 ingredients of intelligence
Not on IQ tests
smart baby: soil
The brain’s day job is not learning
4 ingredients you want
1. Breast-feeding is a brain booster
2. Talk to your baby—a lot
3. Hurray for play
4. Praise effort, not IQ
The digital age: TV, video games, and the Internet
No boob tube before age 2
Video games: Don’t just sit there
A cautionary tale about texting
My baby is better than your baby
The dangers of hyper-parenting

happy baby: seeds
What is happy?
The secret of happiness
How to make friends
Emotional regulation: How nice
Where emotions happen in the brain
Empathy: The glue of relationships
Could happiness or sadness be genetic?
No one gene for temperament
Tendencies, not destinies

happy baby: soil
Attentive, patient ping-pong
Attachment takes years
Parenting is not for sissies
A terrific kid
“Where do you go to get kids like this?”
Why empathy works

moral baby
Are babies born moral?
Why don’t kids just do the right thing?
How moral reasoning develops
How the brain bridges facts and emotions
Raising a moral child: Rules and discipline
1. Clear, consistent rules and rewards
2. Swift punishment
3. Explaining the rules
Should you spank?
The discipline kids prefer

conclusion
brain rules
practical tips
references
Acknowledgements
Copyright Page

To my amazing kids and their even more amazing mother, for teaching me that
when confronted with a choice between two equally plausible theories, it is
always best to take the one that is funnier.
brain rules
pregnancy
Babies develop an active mental life in the womb
Stressed mom, stressed baby
Eat right, stay fit, get lots of pedicures
relationship
Happy marriage, happy baby
The brain seeks safety above all
What is obvious to you is obvious to you