First published 2021
Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff finds modern parenting research lacking when she becomes a mother. The studies offer little evidence and poor results. She decides to investigate how other cultures raise children. Doucleff travels with her three-year-old daughter to study families in three traditional communities: Maya villages in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, Inuit settlements above the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe groups in Tanzania. She discovers these parents face none of the behavioral problems that plague Western families. Maya parents create natural helpers without bribes or chore charts by including children in daily work from toddlerhood. Inuit parents teach emotional control through calm responses when children act out, helping kids learn self-regulation. Hadzabe parents build confident, independent children using methods that prevent the stress and anxiety common in American kids. Doucleff tests these techniques with her own daughter and sees immediate changes. She consults psychologists, neuroscientists, and anthropologists to understand how these approaches affect child development. The book provides practical methods parents can use right away.
Genres: family, anthropology, non-fiction, parenting
Vibes: educational, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: Mexico, Yucatán Peninsula, Arctic Circle, Tanzania
352 pages · Hardcover · Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster