The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive by Daniel J. SiegelMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book.
Every parent has likely faced tantrums, outbursts of anger, outrage or resentment on behalf of their children. This book explains why these happen - and what are possible strategies to help your child - and yourself - to cope with them. It does it all through the explanation of child's brain development.
It is wonderfully illustrated book, supplemented by many stories and examples. It has many tips and tricks for parents to use in various situations (I have actually used some and found them useful). It has even illustrated comic strips to look at and discuss with your child. Easy language. Pleasantly short (about 150 pages).
In essence, it is about helping your children to understand what happens inside their heads - and heads of the others around them. Here are just some few learnings:
- Name an emotion or a feeling so that we can tame it
- Help to show a big picture - a feeling is only a part of you, it is not you.
- Help to show that feelings are temporary, they come and go
- Help a child to replay memories to understand what happened
- Gamify your common experiences
The most difficult part is to indeed stay rational, considering and thoughtful parent (as this book teaches you to) in most of the situations. Also, when you are tired, sleepy or distracted. :)
