The Toddler Brain: Nurture the Skills Today that Will Shape Your Child's Tomorrow

by Laura A. Jana MD

Overview

What if, despite the best of intentions, we are raising our children to succeed in a world that no longer exists? The Toddler Brain helps parents recognize the connection that exists between their own parenting behaviors and their child's ability to acquire valuable twenty-first-century skills. Dr. Laura A. Jana draws on studies and stories from pediatrics, neuroscience, social science, and childcare, as well as the world of business and innovation to show parents how to equip their children with seven key skills. Dr. Jana explores the importance of play and curiosity, imagination and empathy, and strategically strengthening children's neural connections in their first five years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738218755
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	371,136
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dr. Laura A. Jana is a board-certified pediatrician and Director of Innovation at the University of Nebraska College of Public Health. She is a media spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and the award-winning author of Heading Home with Your Newborn and Food Fights. She lives with her husband and three children in Omaha, Nebraska.

Website: http://drlaurajana.com/

Table of Contents

Foreword Jo Kirchner xiii

Part 1 1

Introduction the Start-Up of Your Baby 3

1 Why us The Current State of Parenting Affairs 11

2 Why Now The World Our Children Will Live In 21

3 Why Early Baby Brain Science and the Foundational Importance of Starting Early 29

Part 2 QI Skills 55

4 QI Skill 1: Me Focusing Attention on Self-Management 61

5 QI Skill 2: We Learning to Play Well with Others 85

6 QI Skill 3: Why Seeing the World as a Question Mark 107

7 QI Skill 4: Will Self-Motivation: Applying the Power of WILL 123

8 QI Skill 5: Wiggle Putting Wiggles to Work 139

9 QI Skill 6: Wobble Failing to Succeed: Raising Children Who Are Fit to Fail 159

10 QI Skill 7: What If Imagining a World of Possibilities 177

11 QI For All 197

Appendix 1 QI Resources: Reading All About It- A QI Collection for Kids 207

Appendix 2 QI Resources: Putting QI into Parenting Practice 215

Appendix 3 QI Resources: QI Business, Leadership, Innovation, and Psychology Books 221

Notes 225

Acknowledgments 239

Index 243

About the Author 261

Editorial Reviews

02/06/2017
Pediatrician Jana (Heading Home with Your Newborn) opens her thought-provoking book with a startling question: “What if we are... raising our children to succeed in a world that no longer exists?” Jana argues that although the Industrial Age called for linear thinking, the Information Age has different requirements; one estimate is that 65% of today’s toddlers will one day have jobs that don’t yet exist. Jana calls for parenting strategies to be adjusted accordingly, emphasizing the importance of the first five years of life for developing language and other skills. To “build baby’s brain” and “foster foundational skills,” she presents six “QI” skills (from the Mandarin term for life force) that move beyond IQ into emotional intelligence and qualities such as curiosity, creativity, and empathy. For example, a chapter called “Why” probes children’s aptitude for “seeing the world as a question mark,” while the “What If” chapter looks at how young children begin to imagine and explore possibilities. Comfortably straddling the business world and the realm of parenting, Jana observes that the parenting paradigm must shift just as many workplaces are changing with the times. This fascinating, forward-thinking book will help parents prepare their children to reach for the stars—perhaps even those not yet discovered. Agent: Joelle Delbourgo, Joelle Delbourgo Agency. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"It is now clearer than ever that the path for future success is set in the earliest years of life. The Toddler Brain, Dr. Jana offers a wealth of thought-provoking and practical insights on how today's parents can help their children thrive and grow up to be happy, resilient, and creative adults."
—Harvey Karp, MD, pediatrician and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block

"A strategic plan for assembling the critical toolkit of twenty-first-century skills very child will need to thrive."
—Reid Hoffman, entrepreneur, Chairman & Co-founder, LindedIn

"If readers take Dr. Jana's words to heart, today's children will be better equipped to solve tomorrow's challenges, and the world will be a kinder, more compassionate place."
—Jo Kirchner, CEO, Primrose Schools

"This book is a stunning achievement that will dramatically empower everyone from parents to policymakers and reorient how we think about the first five years of life. Dr. Jana is a deep thinker who breaks traditional sector boundaries to offer fresh, practical, and innovative thinking about how best to insure the future success of society's most valuable resource - our children."
—Joe Waters, Executive Vice President, Institute for Child Success

"A groundbreaking perspective on teaching critical life skills to children today. Required reading for parents, teachers, pediatricians, and CEOs alike."
—Ari Brown, MD, pediatrician and author of the Baby 411 book series

The Toddler Brain is practical, research-based, and highly relevant to parents and anyone dedicated to ensuring the health and well-being of children - an innovative contribution to the world of child development."
—Ann C. Crouter, PhD, Dean, Penn State College of Health and Human Development

"This powerful book illustrates how the foundation for adult well-being is created in the earliest years and shows parents how to help young children build the social and emotional skills they will need throughout life."
—Sara Watson, MPP, PhD, Global Director, ReadyNation

"The Toddler Brain is a very user friendly, accessible, and understandable guide to parenting practice that gives great ideas and approaches that all parents can use."
—Professors Tony Bertram and Chris Pascal, Centre for Research in Early Childhood, President/Vice President, British Association for Early Childhood Education


"Comfortably straddling the business world and the realm of parenting, Jana observes that the parenting paradigm must shift just as many workplaces are changing with the times. This fascinating, forward-thinking book will help parents prepare their children to reach for the stars-perhaps even those not yet discovered."—Publishers Weekly


"Filled with important parenting lessons."—Omaha World-Herald


"The Toddler Brain presents many interesting ideas and practical tips for parents...a guidebook for the uncharted terrain of raising kids."—Providence Journal

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