The Intellectual Lives of Children

By: Susan Engel

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

A look inside the minds of young children shows how we can better nurture their abilities to think and grow.

Adults easily recognize children's imagination at work as they play. Yet most of us know little about what really goes on inside their heads as they encounter the problems and complexities of the world around them. In The Intellectual Lives of Children, Susan Engel brings together an extraordinary body of research to explain how toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary-aged children think. By understanding the science behind how children observe their world, explain new phenomena, and solve problems, parents and teachers will be better equipped to guide the next generation to become perceptive and insightful thinkers.

The activities that engross kids can seem frivolous, but they can teach us a great deal about cognitive development. A young girl's bug collection reveals important lessons about how children ask questions and organize information. Watching a young boy scoop mud can illuminate the process of invention. When a child ponders the mystery of death, we witness how children build ideas. But adults shouldn't just stand around watching. When parents are creative, it can rub off on their children. Engel shows how parents and teachers can stimulate children's curiosity by presenting them with mysteries to solve.

©2021 The President and Fellows of Harvard College (P)2021 Tantor

good ideas, thought provoking

Stories are a great way to learn and provide a way to come up with more thoughts. I recommend it for some great thoughts on guiding children towards their own ideas. Just ignore the virtue signaling.

Underwhelming, tainted with woke ideology

First, the positive: There were indeed some positive aspects to the book. It discussed some thought provoking ideas regarding how to stimulate the minds of children and encourage them to think and solve problems for themselves.

Unfortunately, it is hard for me to take seriously any author or book which regards implicit (or unconscious) bias training as a legitimate tool. People these days will find “studies” and “data” to support whatever they want to believe. If you believe this stuff works, then you will probably love this book. For me, the manner in which the author framed the infamous Starbucks incident of 2018 called into question everything else in the book, as her woke bias became apparent.

She goes on to quote other woke ideologues like Ezra Klein and Greta Thunberg.

Even before I got to the woke stuff, my wife asked me how I was liking the book and I told her there’s some good stuff but overall I’m unimpressed. I hung in there to finish the book but I would not recommend it.