Tina Payne Bryson

Daniel J. Siegel

Outlines 12 key strategies for fostering healthy brain development in children to promote a calm and happy outlook, explaining how challenging child behaviors are rooted in immature left and right brain coordination and how parents can make informed adjustments to enable positive learning experiences.

12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

The Whole-brain Child

Sarah Schumacher

Highly recommended for every parent. Fairly short overall, bullet point strategies throughout all chapters and a chart in the back for those techniques at different ages. Includes illustrations you can use to explain concepts to your kids. Buy it - you’ll want to refer to it often, particularly during the younger years.

I preferred this over No Drama Discipline, which seemed to be a long fluffy version of this.

Jonathan Tysick

A really helpful parenting book that is interesting theoretically and gives practical tips. Challenges many conventional parenting tactics, and encourages emotional intelligence and holistic development that sharpens a child's character, emotions and mind...because it's all connected.

Ammar Alakkad

Link to the full book summary.

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Dealing with Tantrums


A tantrum is an emotional outburst, usually associated with those in emotional distress, that is typically characterized by stubbornness, crying, screaming, violence …

Wikipedia



First check if your little one hungry, angry, lonely, or tired? If so, these problems can be fixed pretty easily.

Imagine the brain has two parts up and down, let’s call them upstairs and downstairs.

Upstairs is the evolved brain, rational, problem solving brain. Wheras, the downstairs brain is more primitive and animal like.


Downstairs tantrum

A downstairs tantrum is when their primitive brain has taken over, they are flooded with emotion. A child becomes so upset that they are no longer able to use their upstairs brain.

As a result, they’re literally incapable of controlling their body or emotions, and of using all of those higher-order thinking skills (from the upstairs brain).

An appropriate response to downstairs tantrums is more nurturing and comforting, connect with your child, and help them calm down.

Use nonverbal signals like physical touch, empathetic facial expressions, and a nurturing tone of voice.

Upstairs tantrum

An upstairs tantrum occurs when a child decides to throw a fit. They make a conscious choice to act out and do something upsetting. They are in control and still make choices.

If you give them what they want, they will be plenty happy and go on their way, this type of tantrum is them trying to manipulate you.

A parent who recognizes an upstairs tantrum is left with one clear response: never negotiate.

Upstairs tantrums need firm boundaries and clear discussion about appropriate and inappropriate behavior.

By providing this type of firm limit, you’re giving your child practice at seeing the consequences of their inappropriate actions, and at learning to control their impulses.

Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.

Outlines twelve strategies for fostering brain development in children, explaining how challenging behaviors are rooted in immature left and right brain coordination and how parents can make adjustments to enable positive learning.

The Whole-Brain Child

Ugis

Good book to understand how children think and how can we properly react to it to get the best out of it for everyone. [reading time: 5h7m]

The Whole-brain Child 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Reviews