Brain Rules for Baby - Book Tour

Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five is coming out in just two weeks. John Medina is hitting the road and speaking in Portland, NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cleveland, Seattle, Denver, and San Francisco! View the book tour page or check out the schedule below.

Thursday, October 7 @7pm -- Portland

Portland State University Smith Memorial Student Union

1825 SW Broadway

Portland, OR 97201

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Tuesday, October 12 @7pm -- New York City

Riverdale Country School

5250 Fieldston Road

Bronx, NY 10471

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Wednesday, October 13 @1pm -- New York City

Barnes & Noble Upper East Side

150 East 86th Street (Lexington)

New York, NY 10028

(212) 369-2180

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Thursday, October 14 @7pm -- Philadelphia

Episcopal Academy

1785 Bishop White Drive

Newtown Square, PA 19073

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Saturday, October 16 @9am - noon -- New York City

NYC AEYC Conference

Food and Finance High School

525 West 50th Street

New York, NY 10019

Cost $50; Register (note: select "keynote speaker only" on the form)

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Download NYC Flyer (Oct 12, 13, 16 Events)

Tuesday, October 19 @7pm -- Seattle

Town Hall Seattle (Great Hall)

1119 8th Avenue (8th and Seneca)

Seattle, WA 98101

Cost $25 (includes copy of Brain Rules for Baby or Brain Rules) Buy tickets

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Friday, October 22 @6:30pm -- Seattle

Children's Trust Foundation

Fundraiser at The Edgewater Hotel

2411 Alaskan Way, Pier 67

Seattle, WA 98121

Cost $75 (all proceeds go to Children's Trust; book is included) Register

Monday, October 25 @7pm -- Chicago

Cornerstone Center

1111 N. Wells St.

Chicago, IL 60610

RSVP: Archie Jeter, 312.427.5399 or ajeter@chicagometroaeyc.org

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Tuesday, October 26 @7pm -- Cleveland

Joseph-Beth Booksellers

Legacy Village

24519 Cedar Road

Lyndhurst, OH 44124

(216) 691-7000

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Thursday, October 28 @4:30pm -- Denver

Gates Concert Hall at the Newman Center, University of Denver Campus

2344 East lliff Avenue at University Boulevard

Denver, CO 80208

There is no charge, however you are required to register.

Friday, October 29 1:30pm - 3:00pm -- Denver

Children's Museum of Denver

2121 Children's Museum Drive

Denver, CO 80211

(303) 43307444

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Book signing (come anytime between 1:30pm - 3:00pm). Bring the kids in costume for Trick or Treat Street!

Wednesday, November 3 @7pm -- San Francisco

Walt Disney Museum Theatre

104 Montgomery Street

San Francisco, CA 94129

Hosted by Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM)

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Thursday, November 4 @7pm -- Los Altos Hills (SF Bay Area)

Foothill College

12345 El Monte Road

Los Altos Hills, CA 94022

Hosted by Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM)

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Q&A with John Medina

Q&A with John Medina, author of the forthcoming Brain Rules for Baby: How to Raise a Smart and Happy Child from Zero to Five (Oct 12).

Latest news: Fall 2010 Book Tour Schedule

How important is "nurture" in brain development?

The nature/nurture debate is summed up in this old joke: A third-grade boy comes home and hands his father his report card. His father looks at it and says, “How do you explain these D’s and F’s?” The boy looks up at him and says, “You tell me: Is it nature or nurture?”

There are some factors parents can’t control and some they can. There’s seed, and there’s soil. All the nurture in the world won’t change the fact that 50 percent of your child’s potential is genetic. Good news: As a parent, you can only do your best. That said, even as a professional geneticist, I am convinced we can exert far more influence over our kids’ behavior than is popularly imagined. It’s a very, very big task that takes a lot of work. The hardest job in the world. And also the most important.

Isn't brain power a matter of genetics?

For all of us, nature controls about 50 percent of our intellectual horsepower, and environment determines the rest. This means two things for parents: First, no matter how hard your child tries, there will be limits to what his brain can do. Second, that’s only half of the story. Aspects of your child’s intelligence will be deeply influenced by his environment, especially by what you do as parents.

What's the best thing a pregnant woman can do for her baby to be?

If I were to give a single sentence of advice based on what we know about in utero development during the first half of pregnancy, it would be this: The baby wants to be left alone.

At least at first. From the baby’s point of view, the best feature of life in the womb is its relative lack of stimulation. The uterus is dark, moist, warm, as sturdy as a bomb shelter, and much quieter than the outside world. And it needs to be. Once things get going, your little embryo’s pre-brain will pump out neurons at the astonishing rate of 500,000 cells a minute. That’s more than 8,000 cells per second, a pace it will sustain for weeks on end. This is readily observable three weeks after conception, and it continues until about the mid-point in your pregnancy. The kid has a great deal to accomplish in a very short time! A peaceful lack of interference from amateur parents is just what you’d expect the baby to need.

What are some things parents can do for their babies?

Here are a few things to do:

- Address the Four Grapes of Wrath new parents face: sleep loss, social isolation, unequal workload, and depression
- Talk to your baby a lot. This is as simple as saying, “It’s a beautiful day” when you look outside
and see the sun. Just talk. At infancy, do so in “parentese,” those clusters of exaggerated vowel
sounds at high frequencies. A rate of 2,100 words per hour is the gold standard.
- Focus on face time, not screen time. Babies love to gaze at human faces. Mom’s is best of all. TV
before age 2 is harmful to children.
- Praise effort, not IQ. Praise your child’s effort (“I’m proud of you. You really worked hard on that”) rather than innate ability (“You’re so smart!”).