The Youngest Minds explains how parents and other caregivers support the intertwined processes of language, intellectual, and emotional development with the experiences they provide for a baby. Through daily interactions, infants establish ways of responding that will influence them all their lives.
The preschool years are critical in the lives of children because their brains are developing more rapidly than at any other time in life. In these years, children are especially dependent on parents and other primary caregivers to meet their needs for love, security, stimulation, and challenge. The Barnets describe how children learn to control their anger, consider the feelings of others, assimilate the standards of acceptable behavior in their family and culture, and develop moral sensibilities.
Using studies that follow groups of children over many years, the authors explain how an accumulation of risks in early years can lead to serious trouble in adult life. But they also present research demonstrating that many children overcome great odds.
The Youngest Minds outlines the essential characteristics of a good caregiving environment. Whether a child is cared for at home or at a day care center, certain conditions need to be met. Because of many changes in our society over the last few decades, families are finding it harder to provide the unstressful but challenging environment that much scientific evidence indicates babies need. The authors conclude with a look at who is taking care of America's young children and offer some ideas for improving the quality of their care.
