{"id":23356,"date":"2021-01-05T09:16:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T13:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=23356"},"modified":"2021-01-15T19:06:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-15T23:06:43","slug":"whole-brain-parenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/","title":{"rendered":"The Whole-Brain Parenting: Raising an Integrated Child"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is whole-brain parenting? What can you do to stimulate the healthy development of your child&#8217;s brain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The whole-brain parenting method is based on fostering the integration of different areas of the brain. Since various <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/what-are-the-regions-of-the-brain\/\">regions of the brain<\/a> mature at different paces, children are ruled by emotions because their brain is not yet fully integrated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading for more about whole-brain parenting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Whole-Brain Parenting?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The different parts of your brain work individually and in collaboration, similarly to employees within a company. Each job is distinctly different, but they all work together in order to make the company successful; if the company were missing any one of these employees, the organization would either be extremely dysfunctional or fail altogether.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same is true for your brain. Each region of your brain is responsible for a distinct set of tasks. <strong>You function optimally<\/strong>\u2014socially, mentally, and emotionally\u2014<strong>when the different parts of your brain are integrated. <\/strong>Maintaining integration is the basis of the whole-brain parenting method.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of integration like navigating a boat down a river: The ride is smoothest when you\u2019re floating right down the middle, in a balanced, integrated way. If you become dis-integrated and veer too much to one side, you risk getting tangled in the chaos of one riverbank\u2014where you feel like you don\u2019t have control\u2014or stuck in the obstacles on the opposite riverbank\u2014where you become too rigid and attempt to control everything. Dis-integration leads to behaviors such as aggression and emotional withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People of any age can have moments of dis-integration, but children face the added challenge of having a brain that isn\u2019t fully developed. Since various regions of the brain mature at different paces, a preschooler is ruled by emotions because her sense of logic is still developing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Integration Rewires the Brain<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Research shows that experiences shape your brain throughout life. This happens through a multistep process:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>When you experience something, certain neurons<\/strong>\u2014or brain cells\u2014<strong>fire a charge<\/strong> through their attached circuits. Which neurons fire depends on what you experience; the smell of pancakes activates certain neurons, while a feeling of happiness makes different neurons fire.<\/li><li><strong>When neurons fire together, they create a connection<\/strong>\u2014for example, linking the smell of pancakes with the feeling of happiness.<\/li><li><strong>Repeated experiences strengthen this association<\/strong>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/rewire-your-brain\/\">rewiring the brain<\/a> to trigger happiness when you smell pancakes.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>As a parent, you shape most of your child\u2019s early experiences\u2014from the way you discipline to the music you play\u2014meaning that you have the power to mold your child\u2019s brain through those experiences. <strong>When you help your child integrate the various regions of her brain, her brain creates these neural connections between those regions. <\/strong>The more you help her practice integration, the more it strengthens those connections, so that her brain physically becomes more integrated. And, since rewiring continues throughout life, it\u2019s never too late to integrate your own brain using the whole-brain approach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is whole-brain parenting? What can you do to stimulate the healthy development of your child&#8217;s brain? The whole-brain parenting method is based on fostering the integration of different areas of the brain. Since various regions of the brain mature at different paces, children are ruled by emotions because their brain is not yet fully integrated. Keep reading for more about whole-brain parenting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9],"tags":[186],"class_list":["post-23356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-parenting","category-psychology","tag-the-whole-brain-child","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Whole-Brain Parenting: Raising an Integrated Child - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Children function optimally when their brain is integrated. Maintaining this integration is the basis of the whole-brain parenting method.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Whole-Brain Parenting: Raising an Integrated Child\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Children function optimally when their brain is integrated. Maintaining this integration is the basis of the whole-brain parenting method.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-05T13:16:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-15T23:06:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/mindset-parents.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"688\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"453\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"The Whole-Brain Parenting: Raising an Integrated Child\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-05T13:16:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-15T23:06:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/mindset-parents.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The Whole-Brain Child\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Parenting\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/\",\"name\":\"The Whole-Brain Parenting: Raising an Integrated Child - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/whole-brain-parenting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/mindset-parents.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-05T13:16:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-15T23:06:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Children function optimally when their brain is integrated. 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