The Impact of Parental Nurturing

11/11/2004

The Impact of Parental Nurturing

"The monkey learns to jump by trying again and again." - West African Proverb

The Impact of Parental Nurturing

Tonight a group of Rich Scofield's friends will gather at NAEYC to celebrate his legacy in the early childhood arena. In preparing for this meeting I came across a nugget of insight that Rich excitedly shared with me from one of his favorite books, The Biology of Transcendence: A Blueprint for the Human Spirit by Joseph Conrad Pearce (Park Street Press, 2002. Sold by Amazon):

"Around mid-twentieth century, some two hundred medical students at Harvard University were interviewed to determine the extent or lack of parental nurturing they experienced in infancy and childhood....Forty years later, the surviving men were given physical examinations. Of those who rated their parents as supportive and nurturing, 25% had illnesses related to age. Of those rating their parents unsupportive, 89% had age-related illnesses."

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