Synopses & Reviews
Strategies for helping bright, quirky, socially awkward children to thrive at home and at school.Does your child:
• Have impressive intellectual abilities but seem puzzled by ordinary interactions with other children?
• Prefer to spend time with adults or alone rather than with other kids?
• Have deep, all-absorbing interests or seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of certain subjects?
• Seem uncomfortable with unstructured play or social engagements?
If you answered “yes” to some or all of these questions, you may be raising a left-brain child. Bright, eccentric, and socially awkward, these are children whose talents and inclinations lean heavily toward the logical, linear, analytical, and introverted side of the human psychewhat is commonly referred to as the "left brain”as opposed to the “right brain” which is our emotional, holistic, intuitive, and extroverted side. Left-brain kids are often found on the margins of the classroom and the playground, the ones who tend not to fit in with their peers but have rich interior and intellectual lives.
According to Beals, left-brain children are increasingly misunderstood and undervalued, particularly at school. In todays classrooms, assignments tend to favor children who are collaborative, artistically creative, and comfortable speaking in front of groups. Left-brain children tend to be highly intelligent but shy, and unsuited to group activities, and they are often downgraded for social aloofness and emotional immaturity.
Drawing on Beals research and interviews with parents and children, this book offers a new understanding of left-brain kids and practical strategies for nurturing and supporting them, both at school and at home.
Synopsis
Does your child:
- Have impressive intellectual abilities but seem puzzled by ordinary interactions with other children?
- Have deep, all-absorbing interests or seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of certain subjects?
- Bring home mediocre report cards, or seem disengaged at school, despite his or her obvious intelligence?
If you answered -yes- to these questions, this book is for you. Author Katharine Beals uses the term -left-brain- to describe a type of child whose talents and inclinations lean heavily toward the logical, linear, analytical, and introverted side of the human psyche, as opposed to the -right brain, - a term often associated with our emotional, holistic, intuitive, and extroverted side.
Drawing on her research and interviews with parents and children, Beals helps parents to discover if they are raising a left-brain child, and she offers practical strategies for nurturing and supporting this type of child at school and at home. Beals also advises parents in how best to advocate for their children in today's schools, which can be baffled by and unsupportive of left-brain learning styles.
Synopsis
Empowering advice for parents of bright, quirky, socially awkward kids--an educator's clarion call to better understand, appreciate, and nurture our "left-brainers" Does your child:
- Have impressive intellectual abilities but seem puzzled by ordinary interactions with other children?
- Have deep, all-absorbing interests or seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of certain subjects?
- Bring home mediocre report cards, or seem disengaged at school, despite his or her obvious intelligence?
If you answered "yes" to these questions, this book is for you. Author Katharine Beals uses the term "left-brain" to describe a type of child whose talents and inclinations lean heavily toward the logical, linear, analytical, and introverted side of the human psyche, as opposed to the "right brain," a term often associated with our emotional, holistic, intuitive, and extroverted side.
Drawing on her research and interviews with parents and children, Beals helps parents to discover if they are raising a left-brain child, and she offers practical strategies for nurturing and supporting this type of child at school and at home. Beals also advises parents in how best to advocate for their children in today's schools, which can be baffled by and unsupportive of left-brain learning styles.
Synopsis
Does your child:
• Have impressive intellectual abilities but seem puzzled by ordinary interactions with other children?
• Have deep, all-absorbing interests or seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of certain subjects?
• Bring home mediocre report cards, or seem disengaged at school, despite his or her obvious intelligence?
If you answered “yes” to these questions, this book is for you. Author Katharine Beals uses the term “left-brain” to describe a type of child whose talents and inclinations lean heavily toward the logical, linear, analytical, and introverted side of the human psyche, as opposed to the “right brain,” a term often associated with our emotional, holistic, intuitive, and extroverted side.
Drawing on her research and interviews with parents and children, Beals helps parents to discover if they are raising a left-brain child, and she offers practical strategies for nurturing and supporting this type of child at school and at home. Beals also advises parents in how best to advocate for their children in todays schools, which can be baffled by and unsupportive of left-brain learning styles.
About the Author
Katharine Beals, PhD, is an educator and the mother of three left-brain children. A former public school teacher, she is a faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. Her writing on parenting has appeared in Mothering magazine and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She lives in Philadelphia. For more information, visit www.katharinebeals.com.