Product Description

Uses scientific research to demonstrate how a baby's relationship with its mother has a fundamental impact. This book argues that changes in society - such as delayed motherhood, limited uptake of breastfeeding and early return to work - are interfering with the key developmental milestones essential to success and wellbeing in later life.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #63537 in Books
• Published on: 2005-11-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .84" h x 6.27" w x 9.21" l, 1.54 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Features

• New
• Mint Condition
• Dispatch same day for order received before 12 noon
• Guaranteed packaging
• No quibbles returns

Review
"'This comprehensive book provides parents with the information they need to raise healthy, balanced resilient children... Above all it demonstrates that what babies and children really need is the time, love and attention of the loving adults in their lives.' Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood"

From the Author
While society changes at breakneck speed, the physical processes of child development take thousands of years to change. A computer's brain can be assembled in less than a day in a factory, but the human brain takes some 25 years to mature, and in the early years, the innate process of maturation is dependent upon the stimulation of physical interaction with the environment and social engagement with a primary source of love, to unfold in healthy ways.

The future of society dwells within its children, and a child's experience of the world begins with its mother. When a society ceases to value and barters the role of motherhood in exchange for materialistic gain, status and instant gratification, it mortgages its own future. Historically, society has never been very good at valuing motherhood although it has idolized images of motherhood such as The Madonna and Child. In the money-centred culture of today, women and mothers are increasingly contributors to the gross national product and are not valued sufficiently (by themselves or by society more generally) for what they are contributing to family stability and society in their role as mothers.

This is a book which sets out to explain what children need from the adults and society that surrounds them, in order to grow into healthy, well-adjusted and happy individuals.

Study of child-rearing practices around the world shows how remarkably adaptable and resilient human beings are. Different traditions, customs and cultures nurture their offspring in a myriad of different fashions, many of them developing as a direct result of the climate, landscape and type of society as well as religious traditions from which the child will be expected to live. Despite the wonderful variation of traditions and practices, there remain certain underlying universal factors, which transcend codes of belief, fashions, and the politicization of society. It is some of these constant factors, viewed from a developmental perspective, that I shall explore in the following chapters; not to suggest that we should aim for a child-dominated society, or a de-liberation of women, but rather when society places the needs of its children first, the future for the next generations looks bright.

The following chapters will examine some of the changes in how and when fertilization occurs that have taken place over the last 50 years and the implications for children; why factors during the course of pregnancy can affect the development of the unborn child; the impact of events surrounding birth, early feeding practices, and why developmental milestones may indicate children's needs at different stages in development.

We will explore some of the physical foundations for learning and emotional regulation, mechanisms of movement control, development of vision and hearing, and why balance and touch are often the forgotten senses in the classroom. We will discuss why a child's physical experience of the world is often mirrored in his emotions or affect, and how we can help children's physical experience of the world to be a happy one.

There are no absolute rules for parenting. Every child is different and the parenting techniques that work with one child in the family will not necessarily work for others. The purpose of this book is to give parents and professionals who work with children an understanding of the physical nature of child development and what children need so that they can solve problems when they arise, understand the language of children, and provide the best environment they can for healthy, secure and happy development.

About the Author
Rudolf Mees was a Dutch Banker and a pioneer of the ethical finance movement that led to the founding of Triodos.