Dona Matthews - Beyond Intelligence: Secrets for Raising Happily Productive Kids

Praise for Beyond Intelligence:
Secrets for Raising Happily Productive Kids

Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster present parents with an evidence-based sweet spot between tiger mom and creative laissez-faire. Find advice on how to raise a child who is both disciplined and flexible, both wisely compliant and confident in ones own path. Rena Subotnik, Ph.D., Director of the American Psychological Association Center for Gifted Education Policy, Washington, DC

Beyond Intelligence is a refreshing and much-needed update on intelligence and its development. Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined ; Co-founder of The Creativity Post; Scientific Director of Imagination Institute, University of Pennsylvania

If you only have time to read one book on parenting, make this the book... Beyond Intelligence is itself a highly intelligent guide to parenting. Rosemary Evans, Principal, University of Toronto Schools

Beyond Intelligence is a must-read book for parents, educators, and professionals. Matthews and Foster provide an erudite yet personal and compassionate perspective on how to promote childrens intelligence and help them overcome obstacles in order to be more resilient and successful in life. If you want to help children be smart AND happy, read this book! Tracy Dennis, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York; and parent

Beyond Intelligence is laced with common-sense (and occasionally counter-intuitive) implications for parental practice, in which the need to deeply listen to, and understand, the child takes precedence over quick-fix commercial products or educational quackery. This book offers a refreshing alternative, and I recommend it unreservedly. Barry Hymer, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Cumbria, United Kingdom

By far the best book I have read on child development... It deserves to be a national best seller and it is a must read for educators and parents. Janet King, President and Founder of Kids Now

Beyond Intelligence is the definitive almanac to help parents navigate and understand how to identify and nurture optimal learning for ones child. [It is] also a resource that can be referred back to time and time again as a parent interfaces with the joys and challenges encountered when raising a child to be successful. Josh Silvertown, Ph.D.; Biomedical Researcher; President, Executive Director and Co-founder of Dream Catcher Mentoring

Readers will benefit from the manner in which Matthews and Foster accurately address all of the current issues that modern parents face and do so in a logical and easy-to-read manner. The summaries at the end of each chapter make this book into much more than a one-time read, but a resource that can be returned to over throughout a persons parenting life. Howie Grossinger, Director/Owner Camp Robin Hood/Camp Walden/Madawaska Camps

Beyond Intelligence is a wise and balanced approach to optimizing childrens intelligence based on the latest research on learning, development, and neuroscience, and complemented by the authors extensive experience. It honours the complex ways in which children develop, giving practical recommendations for sensitive guidance at each stage of development. The book is a treasure trove for parents and teachers alike. Marion Porath, Ph.D., Professor of Educational and Counseling Psychology and Special Education, University of British Columbia

Thank goodness Dona and Joanne have written another book! By sharing personal stories, research, and practical strategies, Drs. Matthews and Foster have created a handbook that should sit on every parents shelf. As an elementary school principal and a parent, I applaud the authors nuanced approach to the discussion around intelligence and its implications for children, parents, and schools. Nancy Steinhauer, award-winning school principal, and parent

Beyond Intelligence carries a beautiful message our kids all have unique abilities and challenges. Take the essence of each individual child and run with it to achieve the best possible result. With the expertise of these highly qualified writers, each personality trait deserves enriching, and each perceived problem has a thoughtful, hands-on, and concrete solution. Shelley Peterson, bestselling Young Adult novelist and parent

Also by the Authors:

The Routledge International Companion to Gifted Education: Toward a Conceptualisation Fit for the 21st Century , T. Balchin,
B. Hymer, and D. J. Matthews (Eds.)

Not Now, Maybe Later: Helping Children Overcome Procrastination , J. F. Foster

The Development of Giftedness and Talent Across the Life Span,
F. D. Horowitz, R. F. Subotnik, and D. J. Matthews (Eds.)

Being Smart About Gifted Education: A Guidebook for Parents
and Educators (2nd edition), D. J. Matthews and J. F. Foster

Beyond

Intelligence

Secrets for Raising
Happily Productive Kids

Dona Matthews, Ph.D.
Joanne Foster, Ed.D.

Copyright 2014 Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Distribution of this electronic edition via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal. Please do not participate in electronic piracy of copyrighted material; purchase only authorized electronic editions. We appreciate your support of the authors rights.

This edition published in 2014 by

House of Anansi Press Inc.

110 Spadina Avenue, Suite 801

Toronto, ON, M5V 2K4

Tel. 416-363-4343

Fax 416-363-1017

www.houseofanansi.com

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Matthews, Dona J. (Dona Joyce), 1951, author

Beyond intelligence : secrets for raising happily productive

kids / Dona Matthews and Joanne Foster.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77089-477-8 (pbk.).ISBN 978-1-77089-478-5 (epub)

1. Child rearing. 2. Success in children. 3. Parent and child.

4. ChildrenIntelligence levels. 5. Child development. 6. Brain

ResearchPopular works. I. Foster, Joanne, 1953, author II. Title.

HQ769.M3758 2014 649.1 C2013-906997-6

C2013-906998-4

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014935195

Cover design: Michel Vrana

We acknowledge for their financial support of our publishing program

the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the
Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund.

We would like to dedicate this book to our mothers, who nurtured our creativity, curiosity, and love of learningJoyce Eleanor Matthews (ne Drake) and Clara Ruth Stein (ne Shapiro)and to our grandchildrenTheo, Sasha, Cara, Allie, and Jake. We hope these treasured little ones will experience the wonder of creativity, and the joys of developing their curiosity, love of learning, and more.

Introduction

The way you manage change is as important as the change you manage.

ANONYMOUS

H OW CAN PARENTS best support the development of their childrens intelligence, creativity, resilience, character, and well-being? And how can they encourage their children to succeed in a world of challenge and change, where no one can predict what tomorrows opportunities might be?