I am passionate about raising each human being for lifelong wellbeing and a full set of intelligences. High-income nations don’t do this so much anymore. I conduct empirical studies with children, parents, and other adults to examine how early experience affects capacities for getting along in life and with others. My book has won awards for its holistic view, integrating neuroscience, anthropology, and developmental science. This work led me to start the Evolved Nest website with lots of resources for parents and for all who care about human wellbeing. Humanity is facing many challenges and we need everyone’s gifts to be well grown to help us solve the problems we face.
By Darcia Narváez
Moral development has traditionally been considered a matter of reasoning―of learning and acting in accordance with abstract rules. On this model, largely taken for granted in modern societies, acts of selfishness, aggression, and ecological mindlessness are failures of will, moral problems that can be solved by acting in accordance with a higher rationality.
In this integrative book, Darcia Narvaez argues that morality goes “all the way down” into our neurobiological and emotional development and that a person’s moral architecture is largely established early on in life. Moral rationality and virtue emerge “bottom-up” from lived experience, so it matters what that experience is. Bringing together deep anthropological history, ethical philosophy, and contemporary neurobiological science, she demonstrates where modern industrialized societies have fallen away from the cultural practices that made us human in the first place.
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By Daniel A. Hughes, Jonathan Baylin
My students love this book. It takes the inside perspective of both the parent and the child in stressful situations and guides the reader on how to act in a way that builds connection and relationship. It is easy to read with lots of real-life examples.
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By Daniel J. Siegel, Tina Payne Bryson
You must read Dan Siegel, one of the founders of the Interpersonal Neurobiology field who writes lots of best sellers, many of them for parents. This book informs the reader on how the brain develops and functions. The book offers multiple actions in reaction to a child’s needs or actions that are brain-growth oriented and foster connection and healthy attachment.
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By Margot Sunderland
I keep a pile of this book on my shelf to give away to new parents and grandparents. It is fun to flip through and see what catches your eye. It has lots of photos and diagrams that make it easy to understand. It has easy-to-read descriptions of young children’s needs in light of their brain development. It is the closest to outlining the evolved nest that young children need. And it is inexpensive!
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By Stanley I. Greenspan, Serena Wieder, Robin Simons
Stanley Greenspan was a phenomenal insightful physician who started “floor time” to connect with and support children with special needs. This book lays out the general technique with case studies as example. Most importantly, the method is not rigid but guides parents on how to be uniquely sensitive to their child.
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By Lawrence J. Cohen
This book is full of fun ideas for learning to play with your children at different ages, letting them lead the play. Play is a fundamental way to grow the brain at any age. So the approach is beneficial for parents as well as kids. Imagine playing as a way to solve behavior problems!
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