Free Downloads Mind In The Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs
“Ellen Galinsky—already the go-to person on interaction between families and the workplace—draws on fresh research to explain what we ought to be teaching our children. This is must-reading for everyone who cares about America’s fate in the 21st century.” — Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent for The PBS NewsHour Families and Work Institute President Ellen Galinsky (Ask the Children, The Six Stages of Parenthood) presents a book of groundbreaking advice based on the latest research on child development.
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 edition (April 20, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 006173232X
ISBN-13: 978-0061732324
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (103 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #12,894 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #63 in Books > Children's Books > Growing Up & Facts of Life > Friendship, Social Skills & School Life > Social Skills #92 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Parenting > Early Childhood
I don't normally go in for this type of book, I'm not big on self-help stuff, but I read a couple of good reviews on an educational website which made it sound interesting so I bought it. I'm glad I did.There's very little here that is really new, I suspect, I think good parents have been trying to do these things for years. BUT, this book serves as a great one-stop shop for good parenting practices and, more importantly, explains why the practices are effective using real world examples and academic research. Generally speaking, I don't have much patience for being told "what" without the "why", that's not a problem with this book.This is a great little book and a quick read, I've already found myself referring back to it for specific ideas when working with my kids. I encourage you to read it.
As previous reviewers have mentioned before, this book could have been cut down in half and the information condensed. Don't get me wrong. Galinsky's research is sound and the content is quite useful. The seven skills themselves provide an excellent framework to discuss current studies on child development, and it a fresh perspective from traditional approaches to parenting. But rather than provide an intelligent analysis of her findings, Galinsky often rambles on about personal experiences with her children Philip and Lara; unnecessary anecdotes of unknown parents' perspectives; and she provides lengthy quotes from other researchers (which feels like plagiarism!). At times Galinsky's explanation of a topic, such as her various "suggestions," is unclear or lacks critical thought. What are Galinsky's own thoughts aside from relating the research to her personal experiences? How did she come up with this particular set of skills? How do these skills relate to childrens' long-term success? None of these questions are probed. This is more of an extended PowerPoint presentation about the seven skills than a book worthy of fresh, well-articulated ideas.
I have read a ton of books on parenting, and Mind in the Making is one of the smartest parenting books I have ever read. She takes all of this information and studies and synthesizes into these 7 steps that are really easy to understand, and can be useful with children of any age -- not just young children. My kids are teenagers and I found the information incredibly helpful and I saw results -- especially the chapter about "focus." This book really changed the way I parent.
I have long been an admirer of Ellen Galinsky's work. As president and co-founder of the Families and Work Institute, Ellen and her colleagues have produced some of the most interesting and important findings on the relationship between work and family functioning that we have. I often cite her research in my interviews and she has become one of the most important go-to people in the field. So I was not surprised by how much I liked her new book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Skills Every Child Needs. Mind in the Making summarizes the best of what we know about how children develop the capacity for thinking, learning, developing good judgement, and succeeding in life. Unlike most parenting books, Mind in the Making backs up each one of its assertions with research on child development, neurology, and parenting. It is written in a warm, engaging style that reads more like a conversation with the reader than a dry treatise on child development. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Mind in the Making provides the reader with multiple ways to help a child develop the seven essential life skills that she describes. Highly recommended! [...]
I was excited about the concept of the book, but not so enamored of the execution. I find the writing style to be too fluffy for my own personal taste. I find myself skimming through most of the book, and that is NOT the way I read books. There are parts of the book that I found to be interesting, but as a whole the book was not engaging enough to compel me to read the whole thing. I think the information could have been effectively communicated in a book half the length.
This is a wonderful book. I am a speech-language pathologist and picked it up at the library on a whim. I found it contained great practical information for parents and wonderful ideas for teachers and other educators. I bought this one for my daughter's fourth grade teacher at the end of the year.
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.
Anyone who cares about children and the future should read this book. Obviously, parents are those who will most benefit from the simple and effective suggestions for developing in their children the seven skills the author talks about. But I think this is also a must-read for educators, grandparents like me, etc. Full of excellent research, great ideas, delightful anecdotes. Not a reference book to sit on the shelf - this one should be kept handy.
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