Nurture the Nature, Michael Gurian

The author, a family therapist, says that we should nurture our children according to their nature instead of following the ‘social trends parenting system’. This social trend takes away parents’ understanding of their children’s nature and follow instead the trends that’s going on in society (Eg. To breastfeed/ not to breastfeed. To co-sleep/ not to co-sleep/ To start pre-school early/ not at all). It basically neglects our natural instincts as parents, believing that everyone else – experts writing in books and magazines, family, friends, neighbors –knows more than the parent does. It gives rise to chronic stress in the American Family.

Boys and girls are hard-wired differently. We need to be aware of that. This is different from stereotyping. Girls tend to develop their fine motor skills (manipulation of small objects) more quickly and fully than boys while boys’ brains develop more connectors for gross motor skills (physical movements of the body).

Three stars
Verdict: To revisit at the kids’ appropriate ages: Four to six, and to read through the relevant chapters till they’re nineteen and older.