This document summarizes a student's group project on the book "The Whole-Brain Child" and its consistencies and inconsistencies with the course material. It discusses how the book focuses on how parenting impacts brain development and the importance of nurturing children's emotional needs. While the book explained brain integration and its benefits, it did not cover theoretical frameworks like Erikson's psychosocial theory of development covered in the class. The document recommends the book for its evidence-based strategies to help parents support their child's brain development.

1. HDFS 4860 Final Group Project: The Whole-Brain Child
Elisa Yang
 This course and this book explain the powerful
influence that parents have on their children.
Parents impact the child through nature and
nurture, but the nurturing (providing safety and
responding to the child’s emotional needs) is very
important because it can create more synapses,
which are connections between nerve cells in the
brain. The mother and father play key roles in
shaping their child’s developing and plastic brain.
Therefore, it is important for them to create a safe,
warm environment for their children and create
opportunities for their child to use their whole brain.
 When dealing with conflict, it is important for
parents to have a calm temper. In addition, parents
should empathize and engage with their children in
a way that promotes brain integration. This book
and the course highlight that play and movement
are important for parents and children, as play
serves as a parenting strategy to resolving
problematic situations and promotion closer
parent-child relationships.
 The end of the book shows a diagram that says
kids with secure attachment styles lead them to
thrive. This is consistent with the course topic on
attachment, as having a secure attachment with
their primary caregiver can lead to positive
outcomes, such as better social relationships,
greater self-esteem and perseverance, and less
problems with behavior.
Consistencies with Course Material
 Parenting is challenging, especially when dealing
with conflicts with children. The book The Whole-
Brain Child proposes that conflicts can be
remediated by understanding the child’s brain. With
a greater depth of knowledge about how the child’s
brain works and by using the practical strategies
provided in this book, parents can improve the way
they react to their children and promote healthy
interactions. The purpose of this book is to inform
parents about integration of the child’s brain so that
they can apply it to their lives and create more
meaningful relationships with their children.
 The core theme of this book is integration, which is
when the parts of the brain effectively coordinates
with each other and optimizes the brain’s
functioning as a whole.
– Within integration, there are horizontal
integration, which is connecting the left and the
right brain, and vertical integration, which is
connecting the “”upstairs” and “downstairs”
brain. When the logical left brain aligns with the
imaginative right brain, and when the “upstairs”
brain aligns with the instinctual “downstairs”
brain, the child can think more clearly, manage
their emotions better, and make more rational
decisions.
– When there is a lack or a block of integration
within the child’s brain and a lack of knowledge
about it, parents experience hardship and
cannot handle the child’s conflict effectively.
 This parenting book teaches about the physiology of
the brain by explaining the functions for each part of
the brain. Parents can utilize this information to
navigate their way out of a difficult situation with
their child. Instead of just surviving the situation by
abruptly ending and not attending to the child’s
needs, the parent can use the strategies outlined
throughout this book to create an opportunity for the
child to thrive in the short and long-term.
Summary of Book
 This book does not mention the theoretical
perspectives on parent-child relations that were
discussed in class and commonly taught in Human
Development and Family Science. For example, it
does not talk about Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
of Development, which suggests that people go
through eight stages of a psychosocial crises that
either has a positive or negative outcome. For
instance, parents can assist their 2-year-old in the
autonomy vs. shame & doubt stage to move to the next
stage by allowing the child be gradually more
independent.
 Another theory that was not mentioned in the book was
Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. This
theory suggests that children’s learning happens
through assimilation, when new information is added to
an already known object or idea, and accommodation,
when an existing object or idea is adapted to the new
information. Both Erikson’s and Piaget’s theories of
development have been fundamental to learning about
children, but they were not discussed. The book mostly
focused on the psychology of the brain, referring to
scientific research studies that help understand the
child’s developing brain and behaviors.
 Although the book and the course say that play is
beneficial for the family, the course does not go into the
science behind why it is beneficial. For instance, the
book says that play releases dopamine, a brain
chemical that thrives on rewards during enjoyable
activities and makes behaviors repeatable. However,
the course did not go over these details of the brain.
The Whole-Brain Integration and Block of Integration
Recommendation
Inconsistencies with Course Material
 I would recommend this book to parents and
child caretakers for a number of reasons. The
most important reason is because this book is
scientifically backed by research. This book
would not be very useful if it used false or
inappropriate research.
 Secondly, the authors explain the definitions of
concepts in a way that is easy to comprehend
without over-simplifying or complicating them.
It provides examples of how parents should
respond to their child and an in-depth
explanation as to why that approach promotes
brain integration.
 Also, there are images that teach the
concepts, which make it easy for visual
learners to understand and for parents to teach
the concepts like integration to their children.
 Because this book explains the psychology
and functions of the brain, it is beneficial for
parents to not only understand their child’s
brain, but also to understand the minds of
others. This is supported by the book, which
states that the brain changes dues to
experience throughout the lifespan, even in old
age. This moldability of the brain, called
neuroplasticity, means that people of all ages
are susceptible and capable of cognitive and
behavioral change.
 This book gives scenarios of younger as well
as older children, so parents can apply the
strategies that pertain to their child’s age.
There is also a section in each chapter that
allows the parent to integrate the concepts and
brain strategies to their own lives. The
information and practices in this book are
beneficial for children and parents to reach
whole-brain integration.
Works Cited
Siegel, D. J., & Bryson, T. P. (2011). The whole-
brain child: 12 revolutionary strategies to
nurture your child’s developing mind. New York,
New York: Delacorte Press.