Bright From the Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind fromBirth to Age 3 [Hardcover]

Jill Stamm (Author), Paula Spencer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2, 2007

A cutting-edge handbook for parents, from a pioneer in infant brain development, that bridges the gap between the most current neuroscience and practical parenting techniques

Dr. Jill Stamm?s daughter was born almost four months premature, and doctors insisted she would never walk or talk. Now, thirty-two years later, her daughter is living proof that nearly every baby?s brain has the potential to adapt and flourish given the right attention. A leading authority in infant brain development, she makes new, remarkable findings accessible to everyone in Bright from the Start. What babies need is as simple as A, B, C:
? ATTENTION: including how to increase a child?s attention span, and how to balance stimulation with down time
? BONDING: illustrating the importance of developing emotional attachment between a child and a consistent caregiver?and why this is key to cognitive development
? COMMUNICATION: with breakthrough advice for tapping the correlation between verbal engagement with parents and higher IQ rates among children

She also discusses what kind of childcare environment to select, why learning toys don?t teach as much as you think, why reading to a baby is critical, and how you can help your child learn how to pay attention. By working with Dr. Stamm?s ABCs in Bright from the Start, all parents can help to build a radiant future for their precious little ones.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Dr. Jill Stamm's Bright from the Start gives parents the most leading-edge approach to maximizing their children's intellectual potential - a powerful advantage in today's competitive world. These are critically important tools that will enhance your child's mind and solidify the parent-child bond. -- David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, Board-Certified Neurologist, Author, Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten

If all newborns could come with an instruction book this would be it. -- Kenneth S. Kosik, M.D., Professor of Neuroscience and Co-Director Neuroscience Research Institute, University of California Santa Barbara

In the tradition of the WHAT TO EXPECT books, BRIGHT FROM THE START gives parents of newborns and toddlers essential information on healthy development. What we are learning today from brain research is amazing, and this book makes that research into a parent-friendly tool. I highly recommend this practical and very important book. -- Michael Gurian, author of Nurture The Nature and The Wonder of Boys

Jill Stamm has synthesized an important set of brain science findings and made them accessible to all those interested in offering children the best of cutting-edge knowledge on what helps a child develop. Every parent should take the opportunity to use these no-hype, down-to-earth, brain-based practical tips that can help make parenting more effective, understandable, and fun. -- Daniel Siegel, MD, Co-Author, Parenting From The Inside Out, Author, The Developing Mind, UCLA School of Medicine

Yes! A baby's and toddler's brain is different from yours or mine. This book is a gem and will help you enrich your child's life and 'nourish' his/her growing brain with the great love and intelligent fun. -- Harvey Karp, MD, author of The Happiest Toddler on the Block

About the Author

Dr. Jill Stamm is the co-founder of New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development and is an associate clinical professor at Arizona State University in Psychology in Education. She is a nationally-known presenter on the subject of early brain development and has spoken before thousands of parents, caregivers, teachers, and policymakers. She knows firsthand how resilient a newborn brain is: her first daughter was born almost four months premature and doctors insisted she would never walk or talk. Stamm dedicated herself to improving her daughter’s life, and 32 years later her daughter is living proof that nearly every baby’s brain has the potential to adapt and flourish given the right attention.

Paula Spencer is the co-author of Dr. Harvey Karp’s bestseller The Happiest Toddler on the Block, author of Momdifence!, and a contributing editor to Parenting, Woman’s Day, and Babytalk.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (August 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592402852
• ISBN-13: 978-1592402854
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #22,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Parenting & Relationships > Reference

More About the Author

Dr. Jill Stamm is the co-founder of New Directions Institute for Infant Brain Development and is an associate clinical professor at Arizona State University in Psychology in Education. She is a nationally-known presenter on the subject of early brain development and has spoken before thousands of parents, caregivers, teachers, and policymakers. She knows firsthand how resilient a newborn brain is: her first daughter was born almost four months premature and doctors insisted she would never walk or talk. Stamm dedicated herself to improving her daughter's life, and 32 years later her daughter is living proof that nearly every baby's brain has the potential to adapt and flourish given the right attention.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm, informative, fun, and fascinating, December 15, 2007

By 

Rainbird Reader (Ketchikan, Ak USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bright From the Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind fromBirth to Age 3 (Hardcover)

I work as a children's librarian and sometimes lecture on early childhood literacy. This is my new textbook and parent bible. Having read dozens of similar titles, I can easily say that this one is the best. It is thorough, informative, practical, conversational and true. I learned a number of things about brain development and early learning that I had not come across previously. Dr. Stamm has some especially pointed things to say about TV and computer time for young children. When you read what a typical TV show does to a young brain you will think twice about turning that machine on in the presence of a child. As Dr. Stamm says, what you really need to be a good parent is in the palm of your hand- give them "attention, bonding and communication" as well as time to play, create, dream and explore and you will have a far smarter child than any who are plugged into "educational" products. Dr. Stamm gives scientific reasons that back up what all of us who work with children know..that children learn best by listening to words coming from loving adults, either through talking or reading, by playing and by touching. The children in our country are literally dying to communicate with people who are not on cell phones, using computers or staring at a screen-and their brains are not growing to their potential nor their attention spans when they are presented with one passive entertainment after another. Read this book and be inspired.

59 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Some good information but somewhat promotional and biased, October 13, 2009

By 

medialint (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bright from the Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mindfrom Birth to Age 3 (Kindle Edition)

First of all I must note that I read this book on iKindle (Kindle on the iPhone). I have two comments in regard to this: the first is that all the dashes--which the author used to excess--came across as question marks. This is not the author's fault of course. Her punctuation however is excessive. There is a lot of abuse of the exclamation point! All told?and this may be a quirk in the iPhone kindle?the result is often very unreadable!

Enough about grammar, the important thing is the book content. The author had a premature baby and a normal healthy baby and she shares a lot of her personal experience in this book. These stories are often touching and serve well to contrast the extremes of child development.

I found the exercises and scientific information very beneficial and I agree with most reviewers that this is a valuable book. I also found a lot of product endorsements. In many cases these endorsements seem to be self-serving.

There is also a good amount of information which is controversial or conflicting with advice you'll get from other reputable books and studies.

I think this is an excellent book to read with one or two grains of salt. There is very good advice and very good suggestions for exercises and playtime activities. As a new parent you'll trust your instincts and you'll be right to do so. This is a good source for suggestions but I wouldn't suggest it as a step by step guide to getting your child off to an intellectual head start. Love your child and trust your gut and you won't go wrong. I will use this book as a suggestion box, not a bible.

I am surprised that out of 30 reviews I am the first person not to give it five glowing stars. I do think it's a good book, but I don't think it really deserves five stars.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It doesn't take a village...just some good advice - it's here!, August 10, 2007

By 

Greymase "Greymase" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bright From the Start: The Simple, Science-Backed Way to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind fromBirth to Age 3 (Hardcover)

I have a son who is 7, and upon his birth (maybe before) we bought videos and music CDs and even mobiles that hung over his crib when he was but a wee cus...mostly, they scared him. My wife and I bought them ALL because we were rudderless and scared we would not provide him with what he needed to develop wihtout detriments arising from our inexperience and ignorance.

We were fortunate enough to have met Jill Stamm and heard one of her presentations (she is not new to this game) when our son was still quite young, and were comforted to have Jill's caring, expert advice. This book contains that same wonderful and comforting, easy to implement counsel, as well as the inspiring story of Jill's own experience as a mother of two wonderful daughters, each with different challenges and strengths. In all cases, her approach of nurturing neurological development instead of frantically pushing to craft an infant Einstein (turns out he had the unfair advantage of extra gleal cells) is refreshing, reassuring and CLEAR.

THIS IS THE RIGHT BOOK FOR PARENTS (AND EXPECTING PARENTS) WHO WANT USEFUL INFORMATION WITHOUT FRIGHTENING HYPE (OR MOBILES)! A GOOD READ.