Kids : how biology and culture shape the way we raise young children by Small, Meredith F instant download

Kids : how biology and culture shape the way we raise young children by Small, Meredith F instant download

xiii, 271 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : 20 cm, Parents are usually told that by a certain age a child should sleep through the night, that kids needs exposure to other kids, that \"time-out\" is a useful way to discipline children. But where does all this advice come from? What makes it \"right\"? Do other cultures have ideas about parenting that make sense and might be incorporated into our child-rearing practices? Is there even such a thing as a \"best\" way to treat a child? Kids explores the places where biology and culture intersect during the childhood years. Picking up where her critically acclaimed Our Babies, Ourselves left off, Meredith F. Small focuses on child development in the preschool years as she attempts to \"go beyond the narrow confines of one culture, one socioeconomic class, adn one species.\" She explains when and how childhood became a part of human life. She looks at cultures in which young childhood is a time of work, not play. She offers fascinating discussions of language acquisitions and of how kids learn in general. She follows kids as they begin to socialize and learn what it means to become part of the society around them. And throughout she focuses on the impact of parental expectations. The result is a book that will expand the horizons of caretakers as it encourages them to question what they do, understand where their decisions come from, and consider that there is more than one valid way to guide children into adulthood. -- from back cover, Includes bibliographical references (pages 241-252) and index, Kid's world -- The evolution of childhood -- Growing up -- Kidspeak -- What kids know -- Little citizens -- Girls and boys -- The dark side of childhood -- Childhood's end