Child Development Books - Top Recommendations for Parents & Professionals

... if you're looking to learn more about how a child grows and develops, then read the short reviews of the resources we recommend. As you may know, an understanding of development is essential to raising a healthy child. This is because it creates perspective and reasonable expectations for child behavior. When you understand what a child is capable of (and not capable of), then you won't expect your child to do things or behave in ways that are currently beyond his grasp.

The first book I recommend is Keepers of the Children: Native American Wisdom and Parenting is a parenting book that uses Native American principles to teach parents how to raise children to develop their strengths, so their lives because an expression of their innate strengths and talents. This book leads parents along the path to helping their children self-actualize as adults, which the author says is the pinnacle of human development. There is nothing more fulfilling in this life than knowing who you are, what your strengths are and how you can use them to make a unique contribution to the world, while creating a fulfilling, meaningful and productive life. There is nothing more important to us as human beings.

In the book, the author uses Erik Erikson's theory of development to teach the various stages of child development, but she goes beyond a step beyond the slew of child development books out there. In addition, she explores development from birth to death, teaching the parent where she is along the path, thus giving perspective of the big view of maturation of consciousness from birth to death.

Explanation of how Native American ideas can be used in parenting to create a close, loving relationship with your child, while drawing out and encouraging the development of the child's uniques strengths and talents make this an incredibly insightful and unique book. There are sections in the book on the true meaning of child stewardship, what it means to give what Native Americans call "good medicine", how parenting is a vision quest, the true meaning of discipline, and so much more. Hands down, this is the best of the child development books because its premise is that parenting is as much about the parent's growth and development as it is about the child's. It truly is a journey of sel-discovery for the child and parent. And the author travels across the U.S. and Canada, engaging parents with talks like, "The Practice of Child Stewardship."

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The next in our list of child development books is called Your Childs Growing Mind by Jane M Healy. This a book with solid information about how your child's brain develops and the pitfalls of what Healy calls "super babying" and how to encourage the development of creativity. The book covers how the brain develops, how children learn and what learning and education are all about and what we unwittingly do to stunt children's development. This book is specifically geared to understanding brain development of the young child. Comparatively speaking, this book has little to say on adolescent brain development, which is also a crucial period in a child's development, but since it is mainly focused on the infant and young child, it is a must read for new parents and parents of young children.

The final book in our selection of recommended child development books is Ages and Stages: A Parents Guide to Normal Childhood Development by Charles Schaefer and Theresa Foy Di Geronimo. Like the book before it, it covers a limited period of development from birth to age 10. Although this does not touch upon development from birth to death as our first recommendation, it is a comprehensive guide for parents of young children. This book is used as a text book, but is written in an engaging style and teaches parents what they can expect from their child at each level of development and how to positively encourage to reach each developmental milestone and move beyond it. It's comprehensive in the sense that it covers five aspects of psychological health, emotional, mental, social, personal growth and morality and gives lists of Do's and Don'ts in addition to activities for each developmental stage.

Since each of the child development books covers human development from a slightly different angle, you may want to consider purchasing all three.

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