Mind in the Making Book
“Ellen Galinsky—already the go-to person on interaction between families and the workplace—draws on fresh research to explain what we ought to be teaching our children. This is a must-reading for everyone who cares about America’s fate in the 21st century.” — Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent for The PBS NewsHour
Families and Work Institute President Ellen Galinsky (Ask the Children, The Six Stages of Parenthood) presents a book of groundbreaking advice based on the latest research on child development.
There are hundreds of books that give parents advice on everything from weaning to toilet training, from discipline to nutrition. But in spite of this overwhelming amount of information, there is very little research-based advice for parents on how to raise their children to be well rounded and achieve their full potential, helping them learn to take on life’s challenges, communicate well with others, and remain committed to learning. These are the “essential life skills” that Ellen Galinsky has spent her career pursuing, through her own studies and through decades of talking with more than a hundred of the most outstanding researchers in child development and neuroscience. The good news is that there are simple everyday things that all parents can do to build these skills in their children for today and for the future. They don’t cost money, and it’s never too late to begin.
In Mind in the Making, Ellen Galinsky has grouped this research into seven critical areas that children need most: (1) focus and self control; (2) perspective taking; (3) communicating; (4) making connections; (5) critical thinking; (6) taking on challenges; and (7) self-directed, engaged learning. For each of these skills, Galinsky shows parents what the studies have proven, and she provides numerous concrete things that parents can do—starting today—to strengthen these skills in their children. These aren’t the kinds of skills that children just pick up; these skills have to be fostered. They are the skills that give children the ability to focus on their goals so that they can learn more easily and communicate what they’ve learned. These are the skills that prepare children for the pressures of modern life, skills that they will draw on now and for years to come.
With in-depth module training and a world of free tip sheets in English and Spanish, we make it easy to understand – and put into daily practice – the science of children’s learning.
Picky Eating, Bedtime Fears, Meltdowns, Constant Crying, Sibling Rivalry: what’s a parent to do?
Mind in the Making is here to help you discover the skills that every child needs. We’ve researched the questions parents most frequently ask each other, their families and the professionals in their lives.
And we’ve taken those questions and created 1-page guides for parents and professionals to help them turn common behavioral issues into opportunities to promote life skills in children.
Turn challenging moments into skill-building opportunities.
Turn storytime into skill-building time.
These free, downloadable resources offer tips for building children’s life skills based on classic and diverse children’s books.
With content customized to each book, Book Tips help boost science-driven learning, fun and engagement between children and adults. These resources are available in English and Spanish and designed for three age groups, infants and toddlers, preschoolers and school-age.
Educators can also access Book Tips through a partnership with First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides books and educational materials for educators serving children in need.
Our companion discussion guide and workbook are for readers to reflect personally on how EF skills take shape in their own lives. They’re a great pairing for parents and educators who want to inspire lifelong learners and anyone with an interest in understanding the Life Skills and how they can influence our thinking and behavior in positive ways.
Dedicated to sharing the science of children’s learning to families and professionals
MITM training provides opportunities for adults to examine child development research and themselves to create strategic actions they can take to promote executive function-based skills in children ages 0-8. Over the past 10+ years, we have offered in-person Learning Modules training to about 100,000 educators, community leaders, families and professionals from education, libraries, medical facilities, museums, home visiting, parent education, churches, juvenile justice and more.
Each of the eight MITM Learning Modules offer transformational learning that:
Professionals in an experiential process of self-reflection and self-discovery to explore their own competence in each of the executive function-based life skills, probe why each skill is important in their own lives and develop strategies to improve the skill in themselves.
Adults’ experiences to the research on the skills in children’s lives—why it’s important, how it develops and how it can be promoted—through information and videos that that are virtual field trips to the labs of the most respected and compelling child development researchers, who share what they study and what they have learned on the skills in an accessible and compelling way.
Specific evidence-based activities that participants can use to promote the skill in children.
Each participant to create action plans to promote the skills in themselves and in children, which they revisit in subsequent modules.
The training provides a common language and approach to supporting children and their families to develop important life skills needed to thrive. They also provide evidence-based professional development which fits nicely with existing systems of professional development and equips attendees to share the information within their organizations and communities.
For more information about MITM training, contact the MITM Team
MITM partnered with Mount Sinai Parenting Center to create a free, online Keystones of Development curriculum to train pediatric residents on promoting brain development and helping strengthen parent-child relationships within routine well-child visits.
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