Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn-- And Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less by Kathy Hirsh-Pasek Ph.D., Roberta Michnick Golinkoff Ph.D., Diane Eyer Ph.D. Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn-- And Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less
Book Review: Einstein didn't indeed!
Summary: 5 Stars
At last, a book to tell you it IS ok not to play Mozart to baby in utero, not will you be damned forever if you don't buy the complete baby einstein collection! Finally, a common sense approach to the common sense of the human brain - and how wonderful a self sustaining, pre-programmed invention it is. The authors are right, we take far too much credit for our children's capacity to learn....they really are all little einsteins. Now i will not be wondering if I should put my children in pre-school, if keeping them at home will 'damage' them or 'stunt'their development. Now I can thumb my nose to the nonsensical whimsical multi billion industry that claims to have our little darlings' best interest at heart!Book Review: Guilt Be Gone
Summary: 4 Stars
My kids are relatively self-entertaining. Some moms in my MOMS ClubŪ talk about how they have to sit down and play with their kids constantly and their kids cannot seem to entertain themselves. For a while I second guessed myself and had those common thoughts: "Am I a bad mother?" "Shouldn't I spend more quality time with my kids?" "Oh my, all the other kids are in preschool and I haven't even thought about it." "My kids only goes to story time at the library and ballet class. Shouldn't I put them in swim school, gymnastics, ...?" After reading this book I am confident in my mothering skills, and I actually think it is good for the kids that I do not spend too much time entertaining my children. I think it's good that I don't have every hour of the day mapped out for them. One section of the book brought an image into my head of my great grandmother, who lived on a farm, working in the kitchen, with my grandpa sitting on the floor. Great grandma Goldie didn't have a washing machine. She had to put forth sweat on a washboard. My mental image didn't have Goldi teaching little Rex his ABCs whilst she worked. And you know what? My grandfather is one sharp dude. The best thing about this book is that it reaffirmed my parenting style and helped me feel confident with it.Book Review: Einstein never used flascards
Summary: 5 Stars
Excellent book for new parents, it is a good read and promotes a less competitive and more playful approach on the basis of developmental research which is often rather arbitrarily used to promote overscheduling and educational overstimulation of kids. The book actually describes the experiments that are often referred to to promote eg Mozart in the womb or other "educational" nonsense and makes it much easier to understand how flimsical a lot of the educational conclusions drawn from rats actually are. It is full of examples of what to do to stimulate your kids and most of it is free.Book Review: One of the ONLY books I recommend to my friends
Summary: 5 Stars
it is so amazing to watch my 21 month old daughter learn. it's fun to watch her explore things and figure them out and see the lightbulb go off in her head. and this book is partially responsible for allowing me to sit back and notice those little steps and appreciate them. if she is interested in figuring something out it can hold her attention for a pretty long time. for instance, she'll get bored with the insanely complicated shape sorter I got her pretty quickly right now...but put her in front of her car seat or stroller and she will spend a good five minutes or longer trying to get the buckle snapped without getting frustrated. and once she gets it done she wants you to undo it so she can do it again.
this book argues for the merits of "play" and theorizes that by pushing kids too hard you can end up hampering their natural tendencies to experiment and explore. basically the authors liken a child's mind to a highway and if you cram it too full of information at one time you end up with a traffic jam. they also explain the different stages of learning and how a child's mind works at different ages and give a lot of good experiments to do with them to monitor their development. I rarely recommend reading baby books because i find them to be alarmist and one-sided, but this is one i highly recommend every parent read.
Book Review: Child's Play Is Child's Learning
Summary: 5 Stars
The author gives strategies for backing away from overstructuring your child's day. She suggests teaming up with other parents to supervise an afternoon of free play for each other's children.
I saw this book reviewed in the Orlando Sentinel. I'm impressed that the author promotes informal play. Children often are overscheduled today or plugged into the TV/gameboy/computer. The book reminds us that children need some time to just be themselves and to putter and play.
As adults, many of us feel overscheduled with a never-ending "to do" list. Let's not turn our children into this type A behavior any sooner than necessary.
Other books on this topic: Putting Family First by William Doherty and What Kids Really Want That Money Can't Buy by Betsy Taylor.