Parent Nation

February 15, 2022
A well-known pediatric otolaryngologist advocates for large-scale changes to American social policy as it pertains to children. Suskind founded the Thirty Million Words Initiative in the wake of a research study that revealed that during early childhood, children living in disadvantaged circumstances are exposed to 30 million fewer words than their more privileged peers. The research confirmed what the author observed in her hearing-impaired patients, who, after receiving cochlear implants, varied widely in their ability to learn speech. "My team and I developed evidence-based strategies to show parents the importance of talking to babies and young children," writes the author. "Those strategies became the theme of TMW: Tune In, Talk More, and Take Turns, or what we call the 3Ts." In this book, co-written with Scientific American contributing editor Denworth, Suskind makes a sensible case for the necessity of strengthening social services and for making pediatricians' offices hubs where families can easily access these services, particularly when they are in distress. According to Suskind, these changes must be implemented so parents can take responsibility for their children. "Parent and caregiver talk and interaction is the key to building strong cognitive abilities," she writes. That claim represents the book's primary contradiction and main weakness: While Suskind convincingly argues for widespread societal change, her vision for equity rests on individual responsibility. Furthermore, the author fails to note the contributions of educators who have made these same arguments before, most notably the late Jean Anyon, author of Ghetto Schooling, Radical Possibilities, and other books; and the researchers behind the community schools movement. Suskind's consistent surprise that America is not, in fact, a meritocracy--a fact that marginalized Americans know all too well--and her blithe dismissal of the exclusionary foundations of the American school system may not sit well with many educators. An individualistic, ultimately myopic vision for parent-centered structural change.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 15, 2022
Suskind created the ""Thirty Million Words"" initiative and accompanying book (2015), a well-received child development intervention with a simple premise: to help infants and very young children develop cognitive skills, and to ensure school- and future-readiness, caregivers need to initiate meaningful conversations with toddlers. ""Tune in. Talk more. Take turns."" Here Suskind expands on the kinds of intellectual support children need during their crucial first years while lamenting the ongoing lack of U.S. policy to truly help young families, especially during pandemic conditions. Recognizing these challenges, Suskind offers solutions based on sample scenarios that will resonate with readers: parents working multiple jobs, evolving shifts, and lots of overtime; absentee parents; parents forced to quit their jobs because of no childcare. The author emphasizes the need for parents to create their own care networks, and offers realistic suggestions for building alliances and expanding parenting villages. As in Thirty Million Words, which continues to generate significant buzz, Suskind is unfailingly empathetic, insightful, and resourceful. (Suskind references an accompanying website, ParentNation.org, not available at time of review.)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

February 28, 2022
Suskind (Thirty Million Words), a professor of surgery and pediatrics, makes an impassioned case for family-focused policy to support brain development in young children. “We are suffering from an invisible epidemic in the form of unequal opportunities for the early brain development that all children need to achieve their innate promise,” writes Suskind, who draws on academic studies and interviews with families to explore the neuroscience of infants and toddlers and to explain how the U.S. can better support parents. According to Suskind, the ages of zero to three are when “the brain’s incredible ability to organize itself by forming new neural connections is at its peak.” As such, she argues, the U.S. should provide parents with support to capitalize on this potential in the form of paid family leave, child tax credits, and universal childcare. She highlights the stories of parents like Sabrina, who had to quit her job to care for her sick husband and young son after her employer denied her family medical leave, forcing them to move into a shelter. These wrenching stories of parents driven to the brink by a broken system make policy issues feel powerfully personal. This is an incisive and persuasive call to action.

April 23, 2022

Suskind (director, TMW Ctr. for Early Learning and Public Health at Univ. of Chicago) is familiar with the experience of parenting from power failure. She became a widow when her husband drowned; then she raised three children as a single parent while working as a cochlear implant surgeon. In this book, billed as a follow-up to Suskind's Thirty Million Words: Building a Child's Brain, she again looks at early childhood from a neuroscientific perspective that also deals in policies and parenting strategies. She argues that parents are their children's first brain architects, but variables outside of an individual's control can also impact kids' development; unlocking children's full potential demands systemic solutions like family-friendly workplace policies, improved access to and quality of childcare for low-income families, and creating safe places for kids to learn. Early experiences have a profound effect on a child's brain, Suskind writes, and there is an invisible academic gap for children born in poverty. Race also plays a role; Suskind cites studies showing that in school, Black boys with ADHD are often pushed onto a track of remedial classes, discipline, and expulsion, which puts opportunity out of reach. The strength of Suskind's book is in addressing not only individual solutions for parents but also large-scale social policies that can lessen the opportunity gap between kids, and she ably convinces readers of the urgency of these actions. VERDICT Steeped in research, this is a needed exploration of early-childhood inequities that also guides readers in taking the first steps towards correcting them.

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