Tag Archives: nurturing

API Reads

API Reads January & February 2014: The Science of Parenting

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The-Science-of-ParentingLet’s start out 2014 by talking about The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland. Some of the interesting sections from the first half of the book are:

  • Your child’s three brains

  • Parenting the brain

  • The science of comforting

  • The need to cling

  • Getting your child to sleep

  • The power of hormones

  • The importance of play

  • Temper tantrums

This should be a very good read in which you’ll become absorbed and learn some interesting facts along the way. Our discussions happen on GoodReads. We’ll be discussing The Science of Parenting during January and February.

The next book up for discussion in March and April will be Giving the Love that Heals by Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt.

API Reads

Join Us for API Reads

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Nurturing the Soul imageWe started reading Nurturing the Soul of Your Family for API’s online book club, API Reads, in July. We already started learning about shifting your perspective, about where disequilibrium comes from, challenging the beliefs of your family, how self-care supports us in being more present with our partner and children, self-care translates into owning your own personal power, that self-care is more than massages and pedicures, and that your family is your opportunity to heal and grow as a person.

 

What more can we expect from this book? With the remaining chapters we can expect to cover:

– Making time for spiritual renewal: return to the river within
– Loving the ones you’re with: spend time together (like you mean it!)
– Defining, celebrating, and honoring your family culture: what do you stand for?
– Slowing down: do less to experience more
– Exploring a new way of being: make hard choices, break free, and do it different
– Building your tribe: ask for and embrace help as you create your support network

Get your book today! Get your copy here to help API with a commission from the purchase.

Don’t forget! In September we’ll be reading a book for couples. It’s by Harville Hendrix and it’s titled Getting the Love You Want. Happy reading!

2. The Infant, 3. The Toddler, What's Happening

Modern parenting may hinder brain development, research shows

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By Susan Guibert, reprinted with permission, Notre Dame News, http://newsinfo.nd.edu/

Social practices and cultural beliefs of modern life are preventing healthy brain and emotional development in children, according to an interdisciplinary body of research presented recently at a symposium at the University of Notre Dame.KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

“Life outcomes for American youth are worsening, especially in comparison to 50 years ago,” says Darcia Narvaez, Notre Dame professor of psychology who specializes in moral development in children and how early life experiences can influence brain development.

“Ill-advised practices and beliefs have become commonplace in our culture, such as the use of infant formula, the isolation of infants in their own rooms or the belief that responding too quickly to a fussing baby will ‘spoil’ it,” Narvaez says. Continue reading Modern parenting may hinder brain development, research shows →

2. The Infant

Nurturing Touch is Amazing

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By Suzanne P. Reese, IAIMT, author of Baby Massage, www.infantmassageusa.org

Parents all over the world search high and low for all the things they can get their hands on that can help their baby grow and thrive. Tools that promise education and enrichment are sought out and the most coveted ones are often the most expensive. Many parents don’t realize they have the most educational, enriching, and least expensive tools right before them – their hands.

Infant massage is one ready expression of nurturing and compassionate touch, a key ingredient to building the foundation in which some of the most critical human virtues can be found: acknowledgment, validation, safety, trust, security, mutual respect and admiration, healthy communication, healthy boundaries, high self-esteem, and resilience. Parents and children experience mutual empowerment when they discover their ability to effectively communicate through every learning channel. Touch, as non-verbal communication, can be a powerful tool for connection.

What does my baby want? If we ask, often, we will get an answer, and the language our babies use is simple – we just have to watch and listen with our heart. The art of infant massage will help up master this “new” ancient language that science has proven is a key to not just surviving, but thriving. Given the culture we live in today, the ability to thrive on human connection seems to be proving more significant than ever. Continue reading Nurturing Touch is Amazing →

2. The Infant, 3. The Toddler, 4. The Growing Child, 5. The Adolescent

Every Parent-Child Interaction Shapes the Brain

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By Amber Lewis, staff writer for The Attached Family

Pathways in the brain created by neurons
Pathways in the brain created by neurons

Humans all begin the exact same way. We start our life out as a zygote, the fertilized egg in our mother’s uterus, 46 chromosomes that will determine everything from eye color to height and that help to influence our intelligence and who we are individually. By the fourth week of pregnancy, the zygote has turned into an embryo and will begin developing what will become its brain.

The brain begins as the ectoderm, which is the top layer of the now three-layered embryo, and will develop into the neural tube which will close by week six. At ten weeks gestation, the new brain will begin forming neurons at the rate of 250,000 per minute, according to the article “Fetal Development: What Happens During the First Trimester?” on Mayoclinic.com. At the 16th week, the fetus’ eyes are becoming sensitive to light, and at week 18, the fetus can hear. By the 28th week, the fetus’ eyes open.

Parenting Begins In Utero

Why does this matter? Many mothers believe that their interactions with their unborn child can have an impact. Some parents even go so far as to parent in utero — reading and talking to their unborn child, already loving their baby deeply before even meeting him face to face. Research now shows what these parents already knew; parents influence their child’s psychological development from very early on. Continue reading Every Parent-Child Interaction Shapes the Brain →