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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Emotion coaching: Helping kids cope with negative feelings
Jul 11, 18 02:49 PM
Kids do better in life when they have parents who provide them with emotion coaching. But what is "emotion coaching?" How do we know it works? And how can we become more effective coaches?
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Fun activities to help kids communicate, negotiate, and connect
Jul 05, 18 02:46 PM
How can we teach kids to get along with others? Communicate, negotiate, read minds, make friends? These research-inspired social skills activities can help. Tips for babies, children, and teens.
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Help children separated at the border from their parents by the US government
Jul 02, 18 05:54 PM
Dear U.S. readers: More than 2,000 children are still separated from their parents. Every day that goes by is another day of anguish for these families, and the long-term risks increase. The governmen…
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
