Vidyut Joshi
Parenting is sheer hard work. It can be overwhelming, especially in the early years. Most parents that we speak with, express their wish to be able to attend to the bigger picture but bare basics seem to take up all their time. Some do manage to find time and seek to find the big picture parenting guidance online. However, commonly shared online parenting content generally addresses routine issues such as sleep patterns and potty training of babies which certainly are important but not much around the deeper issues is commonly shared. For example, so much of our personal and professional success as adults depends on our intelligence and behaviour – attributes that get shaped in the early years and are significantly influenced by our parents. For parents, this is both an opportunity and a responsibility. It is also important to understand that this responsibility of parents is not only towards the child but also towards the society.
So, if parents want to learn more about shaping intelligence and deeper behaviour of the child, where can they find this information? In our work, we have come across many discerning parents who are looking for such information. So, we have compiled a list of 5 very useful online resources that focus on the bigger picture of parenting.
If you are a new parent and are also looking for meaningful content about the long-term impact of early parenting, you will find these especially useful.
All these five online resources are backed by some of the most credible global institutions. Let us look at them one by one:
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
This center has done some seminal work on in early brain development. If you want to understand how your parenting awareness and skills help shape not just your child’s future but of our society in general, do spend some time on this website and watch some of their videos. Also, they keep updating their content regularly and publish some very meaningful parenting information from time to time.
Zero to Three is an American not-for-profit that works in early childhood development. They also hold a very reputed annual conference for early childhood experts. On their website, they have sections dedicated to Early Development, Early Learning and a complete section on Parenting. It is a totally free resource with well researched and balanced parenting content.
TED Talks on Early Development
Almost everyone we know is a fan of TED Talks. But did you know that there are many TED talks that can empower new parents in more ways than one? A quick search on the TED Website for “babies” and “parenting” will bring up several useful talks on parenting.
Look up TED’s compilation of 5 Talks labeled “The Genius of Babies” – all the talks in here are fantastic, but the one by Laura Schulz (titled “The Surprisingly Logical Minds of Babies”) deserves special mention.
A key takeaway from these talks seems to be that we perhaps grossly underutilize the potential of our children in society today, and there is a massive opportunity for each parent to recalibrate what they set out to accomplish with their parenting.
This wonderful resource is set up by Georgia Department of Public Health, USA, along with other leading institutions, and it has some great training resources for new parents. They talk about some very interesting concepts – one such being language nutrition for babies.
Do check it out – it will be time well spent.
This is a parenting resource supported by the popular healthcare portal WebMD and has gathered meaningful information from Pregnancy Guides and Baby Development to Parenting under an easy, intuitive interface. You are sure to find some very useful content here. The WebMD experience helps categorize and enlist large amounts of information in an easy to find manner – a must visit.
We recommend you take the time to go through the above resources. Parents who understand and appreciate the immense importance of parenting, rise above the common issues and develop a deeper vision for their parenting. They educate and prepare themselves to make a meaningful contribution to their children and to society.
