Raising Children Chapter Summary

Parenting and raising children is a hot topic and because of this, there are thousands of self-help child-rearing books available to consumers. Meredith Small’s book Kids reveals how biology and culture shape the way we raise our children. She captivates the reader by demonstrating how various cultures raise children and how they compare to Western civilization. The book is filled with compelling information regarding diverse parenting practices which allows the reader to consider assorted parenting techniques.

Throughout the book, Small consistently compares other cultures to the Western way of caring for children and I, personally enjoyed this approach. It amazed me how other cultures, all over the globe, raise, discipline, and care for their children. She outlines how children grow, learn language skills, obtain cognitive abilities, socialize, handle gender bias, and explains how the typical “nuclear family” isn’t all it’s made up to be. I found the book moderately useful because it made me realize that I will never be a “perfect” parent and I am not raising “perfect” children that will one day be “perfect” adults. All children actually need is love, to be nurtured, and receive guidance; it truly does take a village to raise a child. I contemplate the way we raise our children in the west is somewhat materialistic and we feel we must live up to everyone else’s expectations. However, parents should

It adequately enables readers to consider how other cultures raise their children, which gives us an inside look at varying practices and procedures. Small’s technique truly gives a better understanding of our own parenting style when we are able to compare our priorities to other cultures. Parents try aimlessly to ensure what is best for their children, but Small allows readers to take a step back and realize there isn’t a “right” way to raise kids, it’s simply a do what works for you and your