Raising Boys by Design: What the Bible and Brain Science Reveal About What Your Son Needs to Thrive (book review)

Raising Boys by Design: What the Bible and Brain Science Reveal About What Your Son Needs to Thrive

Book description: 

Your son was created for great things, but he needs your help to appreciate his unique male design and to grow into the strong, loving man God created him to be.
 
Packed with doable strategies and eye-opening examples of what’s really going on inside a boy’s brain,Raising Boys by Design offers a practical blueprint to help you build a HERO—one who values Honor, Enterprise, Responsibility, and Originality. Among other things, you’ll learn how to help your son:

• strengthen his character, resilience, and self-discipline
• nurture genuine compassion and empathy
• process words and emotions in ways that fit his brain chemistry
• succeed in school and hone crucial life skills
• develop a healthy perspective of sexuality
• avoid the pitfalls of media and technology
• embark on a lifelong adventure of faith
 
This unique resource combines the latest research in brain science with timeless truths from the Bible to reveal the deepest needs shared by every boy of faith while also leading you to fresh insights for honoring the unique personality, talents, and God-given design of your son in particular. 
 
You can help your son thrive today as the hero he is meant to be when you learn the secrets of Raising Boys by Design.

MY THOUGHTS:

Being the mom of 2 young boys, I have already, in their few short years on Earth, seen inherent differences between them and their sister. I have read books on raising children, but none on raising boys specifically. I knew that I needed to read up on that as there are many times that I have seen things that have worked with my daughter but not with my sons. Enter Raising Boys by Design: What the Bible and Brain Science Reveal About What Your Son Needs to Thrive by Dr. Gregory L. Jantz and Michael Gurian. 

Both Jantz and Gurian offer a Christian approach to raising boys that combine both Biblical teaching and what science has to say about how boys are different from girls. They argue that boys are made differently; they experience life differently with their own range of emotions and how they react, while unfortunately society does not always allow for this difference. The authors argue that society has placed so much emphasis on the advancement of females that they have left the boys behind and it is up to us as parents to help to raise our boys out of this so that they can grow up to lead fruitful lives. 

I agreed with many of Jantz and Gurian's points. However, I had trouble reading this book as it was "dry." Yes, there were many examples to back up their points, however, they were lost in the scientific talk that for me overshadowed the reading. Honestly, it felt like I was reading something from my college days as a religion major.

That being said, I would recommend this book to those who are interested in the interaction of the science of why boys are the way they are and what we can do to help raise them in a society that does not often place favorites on their success. 

DISCLAIMER:  I received this book free from WaterBrook Publishing as part of their "Blogging for Books" program. All opinions expressed are my own.

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