Beech Briefs #1 Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids by Mona Delahooke

This is the first edition of "Beech Briefs," a succinct wrap-up of key points from popular parenting books

My brother-in-law once told me: “it's cool that parents can come to you and be like, ‘what do I need to know from all of the parenting books?’”

I definitely haven’t read all of the parenting books, but I do read a lot of parenting books and I find great satisfaction in synthesizing themes and making connections between them. I also enjoy translating the messages typically geared toward parents of older children into implications for parents of infants and toddlers influenced by the RIE approach.

So, welcome to the first edition of “Beech Briefs” a new line of output to help you stay informed about important books and podcast episodes! I'll continue to send out the Beech Babies newsletter to all free subscribers most Mondays, but these Beech Briefs (I also considered “Courtney’s CliffsNotes” and “Courtney’s Quick Cuts” — weigh in if you feel strongly :) are designed for paid subscribers - a place where we can deepen connection through comment conversations around key themes found in texts and early parenting.

First up, Brain-Body Parenting: How to Stop Managing Behavior and Start RaisingJoyful, Resilient Kids (Bookshop affiliate link — I’ll summarize the book below, but I definitely thought it was worth a full read or listen) by Mona Delahooke, PhD, a clinical psychologist.

“We are never just a ‘body’ or a ‘brain;’ we are always both” - Dr. Mona Delahooke

Here are some of the most important take-aways from the book as well as some first-hand connections to stories that parents have shared with me and observations I’ve made as an early childhood educator.