Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs

I think that most of the content of this book is excellent and I would recommend that all educated parents, graduate students, teachers, and coaches read it. The book gives a detailed discription of 7 skills that are critical for a child's development.As someone that has coached and mentored children, I found chapter 6 ,which focuses on "taking on challenges" especially interesting. If you are old school like me and are disgusted that every child in youth sports receives a trophy you will enjoy this chapter. It domonstrates that these rewards can be damaging and are not beneficial to a child's development. This chapter goes into detail about Carol Dweck's research in which she has found when adults praise children's efforts..."you are working hard"...versus their personal attributes.."you are so smart or you are so strong," they are more likely to have children who are willing to take on challenges.The other chapter that I found especially interesting was the chapter on "perspective taking". Perspective taking is the foundation for empathy development. Because empathy is such a critical component of any individuals development and there is a critical period in which the development of this skill needs to occur, I think all parents should work on perspective taking with the children. If an individual fails to develop empathy, they will most likely engage in many anti-social behaviors throughtout their life-span. At one point the book actually puts forth the question as to why aren't we teaching "perspective taking" in schools when it is such a critical component of development? Well, why aren't we? But if we aren't ready to do that yet, parents can at least work on this skill with their own toddlers so that they develop empathy later in childhood.My only complaint of this book's content is that it's buy-in may be low for those that aren't educated and unfortunately, the children that typically need the most help are children that come from uneducated families of low socio-economic status. Therefore, how can this book be re-writen by Ellen Galinsky in order to communicate these complex ideas to parents that may not be well educated?

Of the stack of child development books I bought during my wife's pregnancy, this one has been my absolute favorite.Winning points:EVIDENCE: I keep a healthy dose of skepticism when reading anything about psychological development, how the brain works, and pretty much anything telling me how to live based on scientific research. As a researcher myself, I know that the conclusion is only as good as the research that went into it, so the fact that Galinsky goes into the details of the experiments brings a lot more weight to her arguments.INTEREST: Details of experiments are more than just validation, however. They also made the research more interesting and memorable. It's much more interesting to hear about babies recognizing that the triangle was a jerk, and makes a better conversation piece for later than just "young children prefer helpful people."PERSONALITY: Some reviewers have complained about the anecdotes and personal stories. I found them a nice break from the research, and as the first of our friends to have kids, an interesting set of real-world stories around child development. If you're not into the "fluff," most of the anecdotes are clearly delineated from the meat, so skipping them is easy.ACTION: One of the complaints I had with other books was that they pointed out the research, and the pitfalls, but didn't really offer a lot of solutions for a parent. I really appreciated the direct, practicable suggestions in every chapter.Overall, I read this from cover to cover, something I can't say for most of the books I bought during this time, will go back to re-read parts throughout my kid's childhood, and will definitely recommend or buy this book for my friends who are having kids down the line.

Great perspectives on child development. Well organized and interesting read. Recommend for parents and caregivers of young children

Overall, this is a good book to have. It's full of good ideas for parents and educators (mostly parents), and it backs it up with easy-to-read discussions of all of the relevant research. However, many of the negative reviews of this book complain that it is too long, not well organized, and full of distracting tangents. It turns out those folks are absolutely right. Although I loved the ideas, I became so frustrated with slogging through personal anecdotes, extended quotations, countless headings and subheadings and asides that I simply stopped reading the book. When I picked it up again, I found myself writing the main idea at the top of the page just to keep track of what I was supposed to be understanding. I still recommend the book. The information and suggestions are well worth the effort, but keep a pot of coffee and a highlighter on hand.

This book is a must for parents and educators. It describes 7 life skills that we, adults, need to focus on in order to help children thrive in the 21st century. It is research-based information on child development but written in a very simple and straight forward way, for all types of public. At the end of every chapter there are tips for parents and educators and this is what helped me the most and that I found to be very useful as a parent. It has amazing tips to try with our kiddos!I wish I had read this book before the arrival of my first child!

Un análisis fuera de lo ordinario, la autora explora cuáles son las herramientas o habilidades esenciales para el desarrollo de los niños. Gran poder explicativo, escrito en una prosa amena que facilita la comprensión del tema sin hacerlo tedioso. La autora cita a mentes brillantes en el campo de la psicología y el desarrollo infantil. Este libro es una excelente recomendación para padres ocupados en desarrollar el potencial de sus hijos, ayudándolos a convertirse en la mejor versión de sí mismos. Además; pone ejemplos y estrategias para promover el desarrollo de las habilidades en adultos y niños.

I'm impressed by this book. It has a lot of research behind its conclusions. It provokes a lot of thinking about yourself and your skills. It is really helpful to take it into consideration in your daily communication and learning with children. I highly recommend it to all parents who would like their children to learn skills that would help them to grow and prosper in this life

A good book with lots of interesting information.

A very informative and useful book to read. Highly recommended to all moms out there. Very quick response and fast delivery from Amazon.in!

What I like the most where the examples provided.The way they guide through different zones and ages that makes you understand many things.