PARENTING FOR THE SCIENCE-MINDED -- by Gwen Dewar, Ph.D
Founded by an evolutionary anthropologist, this parenting resource is for critical thinkers -- people who want to understand child development from the perspectives of psychology, anthropology, evolution, and cognitive neuroscience.
I’ve got opinions. But who cares? You might be a scientist, physician, or teacher. Maybe you're an educated, skeptical layperson who loves science. Whatever the case, you don't need a sermon. You need evidence. You can draw your own conclusions.
So here it is: No folk theories. No preachy advice. No authoritarian pronouncements or pseudoscientific political dogma. Instead, you’ll find my analysis of the research, fully-referenced so you know where to go if you want to dig deeper yourself.
Recent highlights
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Thousands of immigrant children still separated and needing our help
Jun 22, 18 06:59 PM
Don't be misled: Thousands of immigrant children in the U.S. are still separated from their parents. They need to be reunited with their parents as soon as possible. We can help them by keeping the pr…
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Finding the right infant sleep aid: Which ones work?
Jun 13, 18 04:25 PM
It seems like everyone wants to sell you a device or technique that will make your baby sleep. What does the research tell us? Here's a look at infant sleep aids: The promising, the not-so-promising…
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Dream feeding: An evidence-based guide to helping babies sleep longer
Jun 05, 18 04:47 PM
The goal of dream feeding is get your baby to eat a large meal immediately before you yourself fall asleep. Will it help? There's reason to think so. But it probably won't have a big impact on its own…
Praise for Parenting Science
"[A] welcome antidote to the opinion dressed up as science that parents are constantly fed. Tear up your parenting books and get yourselves over there..."
- Charles Fernyhough, Ph.D., developmental psychologist and author of A Thousand Days of Wonder: A Scientist’s Chronicle of his Daughter’s Developing Mind
"...[O]ne of the most awesome websites I’ve seen in a long time…In addition to being helpful to academic parents, I see this site being useful in anthropology courses on human sexuality, life history, parenting, evolutionary medicine, evolutionary psychology, etc. Please check it out!"
- Julienne Rutherford, Ph.D., University of Illinois biological anthropologist and founder of the Biological Anthropology Developing Investigators Troop (BANDIT)
"I came across a great website run by Gwen Dewar, one I wish it had been available to me when my children were young. I hope everyone interested in math and kids will look at In search of the smart preschool board game and other pages on this site."
- Bill Marsh, Ph.D., in mathematics and author of MathInking, a blog about teaching math
