How do you make a baby smart? Is it nature or nurture?
Since Gab was a few weeks old, I have been looking for books about making babies smart. I believe this is a concern of many parents. We want our children to be smart and be ahead.
One of the books I am reading is Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five
What I like about the book is it’s strong basis on research. I appreciate how the author provided scientific evidence on his advice to parents. He does mention which research has strong results and basis. At the same time, he mentions if the research is still raw. But overall, the book is convincing on its advice.
I also like how the book was organized. It started from what parents can do during pregnancy and would progress until the baby is five. But it doesn’t tell you what to do for a specific year. It doesn’t give tips on what a parent can do to help make your baby smarter at age 1 or age 2 and so on.
I did not expect the book to tackle on relationships, morality and punishment. At first glance, I cannot find a connection of these topics to raising smart kids. But reading the book would tell you that these are important in raising a smart child. The author even writes that if father’s want to get your kids to Harvard, they must go home and love their wife. That is an interesting advice that I would, in fact, agree.
Overall, I am satisfied with the book. It ended with a set of practical tips that summarizes the important points in the book. In fact, one could just read this part and that is it. Of course, you don’t get the read the reason behind those tips.
Some interesting points I would recommend in the book are (1) Kids and TV, (2) Importance of having a happy baby, and (3) the 50,000 USD career.
Daddy Rating: 4 of 5
Get the book and other related books at Amazon.com.
