Key Messages
Unlocking The Secrets Of Optimized Parenting: A Guide To Evidence-Based Parenting Strategies
According to The Family Firm, the art of parenting and the art of business have more in common than you might think.
If you want to be an effective parent, taking a page from the book of successful business leaders can go a long way.
This means approaching parenting decisions as a leader and gathering evidence and processing data to come up with the best approach.
The Family Firm has taken this concept even further by divulging some of the latest research from child development so that parents can make smarter choices when it comes to their five-to twelve-year-old children.
For example: discover what is the recommended amount of sleep; find ways to motivate your child to eat vegetables; understand the implications parental work has on school grades; figure out why helicopter parenting could have its perks, and more!
With this how-to guide for optimized parenting, you’ll become confident in making decisions for your kids as if you were running a corporation!
The Power Of Sleep: Why Getting The Right Amount Is Crucial For Your Child’s Development And Success
The Family Firm, by author and economist Ann Mehler Paperny, shows us that when it comes to your child’s success and well-being, getting enough rest is the foundation.
Scientific studies have demonstrated this across various topics of parenting and sleep.
For example, a study of over 3,000 high-school students in Rhode Island found sleep time and bedtimes affected grades with the fewer hours of sleeping and later bedtimes resulting in lower grades as well as depression in some cases.
Investigating this further with 20,000 children aged 8-12 highlighted that it wasn’t the quantity of sleep but rather the amount of daytime sleepiness affecting academic performance which suggests each child has individual needs to get through the day without feeling sleepy.
To prove a genuine link between poor sleep quality and poor school performance an experiment was carried out where children were asked to sleep one hour less for a week followed by sleeping one hour more for another week to demonstrate that even within recommendation range more sleep is better leading those who had less hours to perform worse on memory tests plus displayed more emotional outbursts.
From these incredible examples we can understand how important it is for children to get sufficient rest in order for them to achieve their best not only at school but also in life so why not help your young ones get into a good routine from an early age!
The Data About Working Parents: Small Improvements To Kids Grades, Higher Risk Of Obesity, Stress For Moms
When it comes to how working outside the home affects children, research is clear on two important points: academic performance and health.
In the case of academic performance, studies have shown that having a working mother can be beneficial for the children in low-income families, as well as mostly for daughters in general.
However, there is evidence that high-income families see only a very small effect or even a slight negative effect when mothers work.
This could be because the time of parents that are not at work is devoted to educational activities with their kids.
As for health, research shows that having both parents work full-time significantly increases the risk of obesity in children.
Again, this is especially true when it comes to high-income households.
It might be because these kids consume more unhealthy food and soda and spend more time watching television instead of engaging in physical activities.
All things considered, it appears from the data that if you do decide to work outside the home, it can affect your children’s lives in both positive and negative ways—it all depends on your financial situation and lifestyle choices.
Data Shows That Repeating Veggie Exposure Is The Key To Helping Kids Develop Healthy Eating Habits
The Family Firm Book Summary shares an important message: it’s crucial to encourage healthy eating habits in your children from a young age, as people’s tastes tend to stay with them for life.
One study explored how the tastes of their mothers’ food impacted the preferences of children.
It found that those whose mothers ate a lot of carrots while pregnant expressed liking for carrots more than other children.
This shows that you need to provide your child with nutritious meals right from the start!
Furthermore, another study looked into adult college students and found that they still liked and regularly ate the same foods they had loved as kids.
Even when people move away from their hometowns and cultures, they often embrace their old favorite dishes.
For example, a group of people who moved away from an area where rice was typically eaten still chose rice over wheat; although this was more expensive, it ultimately came down to comfort food.
These findings show us that it’s important to consistently expose our children to healthier foods frequently so that they become accustomed to them and come to enjoy them quickly.
One study even demonstrated how six tries of red pepper can yield a “yummy” response from children when initially it was simply considered “yucky”.
What’s more: by the end of the trial period, these children were consuming four times more vegetables then when first starting out!
In essence, The Family Firm Book Summary emphasizes how important it is for parents to offer their kids nutritious food; tastes formed in childhood will remain with individuals all through adulthood.
So start feeding your child healthy cuisine today and stick with it – you won’t regret it!
The Benefits Of Helicopter Parenting, But Know When To Reduce Hovering
When it comes to being a parent, you want to make sure that you’re doing your best to provide for your child, but there is a fine line between being too involved and not involved enough.
The term “helicopter parenting” has gotten a lot of bad publicity lately because of its association with overbearing parents who hover around their kids and do everything for them.
However, despite its negative reputation, recent studies have found that helicopter parenting may actually lead to better academic performance in children.
One study showed that greater parental involvement resulted in better grades among high school students.
Furthermore, meta-analyses involving younger children also revealed that higher levels of parental involvement led to better performance in school.
At the same time, it’s important to note that going too far with helicopter parenting can actually have an adverse effect on children as they get older.
Studies involving college-age kids found that excessively involved parenting can lead to lower engagement with peers and more anxiety and depression for the child.
Therefore, if you’re engaging in helicopter parenting tactics with your child it’s essential to start weaning them back until they are able build independence before leaving for post-secondary education.
The data seems to indicate that the most beneficial type of parental involvement is consistent encouragement and showing your child what good attitude looks like – rather than doing their work for them – as studies have shown this does not lead to better outcomes in life for them.
How Data Can Help Us Choose The Right School For Our Children
Data have shown us time and time again that a great school is hard to beat.
To help us identify the best one for our children, we must look at the evidence – and it shows us some key factors of a great school.
Teachers are the cornerstone of any successful education institution, and research has determined that experienced teachers lead to better academic results in kindergarten and even later salaries in their late twenties.
Another study showed that smaller class sizes improve performance in both the short-term and long-term – meaning a great school is usually small too!
If you live in the US, you might be wondering which type of institution offers the best options – public schools or charter schools? Evaluating which one works better can be tricky because families who choose to send their kids to charters also tend to differ from those who don’t in other ways.
However, data from certain areas with lottery systems for schools found that charter students significantly outperformed those at public ones – equivalent to six IQ points!
This reinforces how important data can be when deciding on what school will give our child the best chance of success.
The Benefits And Risks Of Childhood Sports: Exercise For Health, But Be Aware Of Concussion Risk
When it comes to introducing sports into a child’s lifestyle, parents must take into account the potential benefits and the potential risks involved.
According to scientific studies, the long-term benefits of playing sports can include improved aerobic fitness and the likelihood of continuing to exercise as an adult.
But there is also the potential risk of neurological damage from repeated concussions or head trauma due to certain high-risk sports such as American football, soccer (especially girls’ soccer), wrestling and basketball.
This means that when considering what kind of extracurricular activities are best for your child, it is important to keep in mind not just the physical benefits but also the health risks associated with them.
Weighing both options carefully will ensure that you make an informed decision that is best for your child.
Screen Time Can Have Mixed Effects—But We Know It’s Bad For Sleep
When it comes to their children spending time in front of screens, parents have been voicing their anxiety for many years now.
But what does the data actually suggest?
The data on kids and screen time is surprisingly mixed.
Most American children watch 24 hours of television a week, however this doesn’t appear to be translating into negative effects across the board.
In fact, some studies point to better school grades in children who don’t have access to television programmes.
It’s not clear why this might be – perhaps those kids simply spend more time doing something that benefits their academic performance such as reading more books or studying for longer.
The same applies for video games- laboratory tests show that people who play violent video games can display more aggressive behaviour than those who play non-violent ones.
However, there isn’t enough evidence from research to determine whether these people had underlying violent tendencies before playing the game or if it was the video games themselves which increased the aggression levels.
Additionally, whilst it may sound like gaming just leads to addiction, only a very small percentage of gamelers (around 2-10%) are true “addicts”.
Furthermore, those same gamers may end up being addicted to other things such as drugs or alcohol if they didn’t turn to video games due to pre-existing predispositions towards addiction in general.
The one definite consensus? If you’re concerned about its effect on your child’s sleep quality then what is known is that having a TV in their bedroom and exposure within two hours of bedtime is bad news!
Put away the remote control – bedtime rules apply here too!
Wrap Up
The final summary of The Family Firm is simple: focus on setting your children up for success.
Ensure they get plenty of quality sleep, as well as healthy foods.
Try to find a school with great teachers and small classes to provide the best education possible.
And finally, prioritize family meals – studies have shown that kids who take part in regular family dinners are less likely to engage in risky behaviors such as alcohol or tobacco use, and enjoy lower rates of depression and eating disorders, all while performing better in school!
All in all, it’s clear that the way you raise your kid can and will significantly shape their lives – so make sure you’re doing it correctly.
