The Best Parenting Books Every Parent and Aspiring Parent Must Read

The best non-fiction books available will be of assistance to you if you are or will soon become a parent. They are listed below. You can read free book summaries or listen to free audiobook summaries if time restrictions prevent you from reading these works in their whole.

Childhood Disrupted

Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Your biography becomes your biology. The emotional trauma we suffer as children not only shapes our emotional lives as adults, but it also affects our physical health, longevity, and overall well-being. Scientists now know on a bio-chemical level exactly how parents’ chronic fights, divorce, death in the family, being bullied or hazed, and growing up with a hypercritical, alcoholic, or mentally ill parent can leave permanent, physical “fingerprints” on our brains.

When children encounter sudden or chronic adversity, stress hormones cause powerful changes in the body, altering the body’s chemistry.

Release Date: July 7, 2015

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This book discusses childhood trauma and how it can have a significant impact on the emergence of physical and psychological issues later in life. Even though unpleasant experiences are inevitable in life, they are distinct from traumatic ones that might permanently alter a child’s personality.

According to the author, our bodies are equipped with stress-reduction systems. Therefore, a little bit of stress can assist our bodies develop the capacity to deal with stressful circumstances in life. There is a limited amount of stress that very sensitive children may tolerate before it becomes traumatic, though. However, the author cautions parents from becoming overly protective and instead urges them to make sure their children only experience mild stress.

In the book Childhood Disrupted, the author discusses “Adverse Childhood Experiences,” or ACEs, which can stunt a child’s development. In some situations, emotional stress suffered as a kid has been connected to physical or mental illnesses. ACEs can cause a decrease in brain size, which affects our capacity to make decisions and handle fear. Due to higher levels of the hormones glucocorticoids and oestrogen in women than in men, it also has a greater impact on them. The body of a woman maintains a balance between these two hormones, which can be disrupted by ACEs and result in auto-immune illnesses.

However, the author claims that there are treatments available and that the damage caused by ACEs is not permanent. The first is mindfulness meditation, and the second is extending forgiveness and letting go of the past. To avoid ACEs, it is essential for parents and soon-to-be parents to maintain track of their child’s growth.

How to Raise an Adult

Julie Lythcott-Haims

In How to Raise an Adult, Julie Lythcott-Haims draws on research, on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. While empathizing with the parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Lythcott-Haims offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.

Release Date: June 9, 2015

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This book discusses good parenting practises and the drawbacks of over-parenting. Protecting our children and assisting them in overcoming obstacles on their own must coexist in harmony. This book offers us advice on how to deal with this challenging aspect of parenting.

According to the author, parents shouldn’t micromanage every decision their kids make, including how they will live their lives. While parents might think it’s important to protect their kids, doing so stunts their kids’ mental and emotional development and prevents them from growing up to be useful members of society. According to studies, kids who have grown up with high expectations from their domineering parents are more prone to use drugs and other harmful substances to relieve stress or improve their performance. Additionally, it prevents kids from getting the occupations they want since they lack maturity and independence.

How to Raise an Adult offers solutions to this dilemma.

First, rather of being lenient and authoritative, parents should aspire to be authoritarian. Demanding excellence in academics and extracurricular activities from your kids while letting them pick the pursuits that interest them is part of being an authoritarian parent. Such parents are emotionally accessible and responsive to their children’s needs.

Second, parents should instil in their kids the importance of both having fun and working hard. Because children learn new things, meet new people, and acquire new interests during playtime. Children always look up to their parents, therefore parents must show them that they also value relationships after a long day of work.

Third, it’s suggested that parents listen to their kids and make themselves available to them emotionally. Although parents should make themselves accessible to their children should they need assistance in making the appropriate judgments, children must be allowed to make their own decisions.

According to the author, having this knowledge will assist parents and soon-to-be parents raise responsible adults.

Creative Schools

Ken Robinson

Ken Robinson is one of the world’s most influential voices in education, and his 2006 TED Talk on the subject is the most viewed in the organization’s history. Now, the internationally recognized leader on creativity and human potential focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform the nation’s troubled educational system. At a time when standardized testing businesses are raking in huge profits, when many schools are struggling, and students and educators everywhere are suffering under the strain, Robinson points the way forward.

Release Date: April 21, 2015

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This novel, which is also among the most popular book summaries, is about kids who hate school despite having a strong innate desire to learn new things. As a result, the author offers “creative schools,” which approach education from the perspective of making it exciting and engaging for children, as the answer to this conundrum.

The author examines the issue of standardisation in education caused by modern education. Due to increasing academic pressure and a lack of opportunity to develop their individual talents, a youngster who has other skills in addition to academics feels disheartened. Children are encouraged to memorise information passed down from their predecessors and are required to take examinations on it, which kills their creativity and causes them to progressively lose interest in school and education. The educational system can be compared to a factory that produces graduates without further investigation of the graduates’ quality.

According to Creative Schools, instructors must make an effort to identify and promote students’ natural curiosity and interests rather than squashing them. They are urged to let the kids follow their innate motivation to learn new things. Additionally, praising and anticipating success from your kids can motivate them to put in more effort. The ‘eight c’s’ method, which will aid youngsters in maturing and developing in a way that will lead to better career views and better citizens, is the second suggestion made by the author that the educational system should concentrate on teaching. Most importantly, the author emphasises that everyone may make a contribution to the effort to enhance the current educational system. Principals and policymakers have a major role to play in this.

Making schooling enjoyable while yet educational is ultimately a collective social effect. Children will grow up to be wise, content, and responsible adults thanks to this.

These are a few of the books you should watch out for if you are a parent or want to become one and want to provide the finest example possible for your kids.