If you miss the golden time of infancy, you miss out on a lifetime.
The Secret of Book Parenting: Developing a Smart Brain

“What books should I read to my baby before he turns one?”
“When is a good time to start learning Korean?”
“What kind of books are helpful for sleeping?”
“Everyone else is learning foreign languages, so when should we start teaching them?”
“Is it okay to read e-books instead of paper books?”
“What should I do if my child has trouble concentrating on his/her book?”

Dr. Nam Mi-young, a national reading mentor, has received similar questions from all mothers at her over 100 reading lectures held annually.
Although their ages vary and their parenting environments vary greatly, they all share one goal: to raise their children to be smart.


All babies in the world, without exception, are born with the same number of developing brain nerve cells, or neurons.
However, there is a stark difference in brain development depending on the type of parenting that mothers do during the golden time of 0-6 years old.
You can be a smart kid that others envy, or you can be a kid that others envy.
Missing this time is like missing out on your whole life.
In "Golden Time Book Parenting for 0-6 Year Olds," we present the basic knowledge of book parenting that new mothers must know, as well as age-specific reading methods that develop the brain.
Let's discover the secrets of book parenting, which will make your child's brain smarter, a golden time in life that you shouldn't miss.

There was news that when a private academy in Gangnam, Seoul, advertised that children could acquire 100 Seoul National University required reading books in advance while they were still in elementary school, hundreds of mothers flocked to the academy in just one day.
When a reporter asked a mother who had barely managed to get her child to enroll in the class why, she replied, “Because all the other mothers are doing it.”
The phenomenon of people following the mother next door and running around here and there is similar to the real estate speculation scene.
It's inevitable that you'll lose money if you speculate badly, but how sad would it be if you ruined the life of your child, the most precious person in the world?
--- From the prologue, “For mothers who are starting to raise children aged 0-6”

Babies are born with sensory abilities that are 50 times more powerful than those of adults.
And until the age of three, we read and learn about the world through this instinctive sense.
If you use your five senses evenly and frequently at this time, you can preserve them without being pruned.
However, by the law of pruning, unused senses are eliminated.
That's why parents should help their babies use the five senses they were born with until they are three years old.
---From "A happy brain is a brain with developed five senses"

It is up to the mother whether or not her newborn develops an attachment that is both trusting and happy about the world.
If a baby does not develop an optimistic self-confidence about the world before his or her first birthday, he or she will develop attachment problems and develop a pessimistic personality.
It may seem like life is all about sleeping, waking up, feeding, going to the toilet, and taking a bath, but it is around this time that babies learn about life through such an incredible sense.
----From “Attachment is a baby’s survival instinct”

Robert Morady, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, studied the differences between children raised by their mothers and those raised by their fathers and found that children raised by their fathers were less shy and significantly less likely to cry when they saw strangers.
In other words, the conclusion is that children whose fathers actively participate in child-rearing are more active and have higher social adaptability.
---From "Babies who play with their fathers are more independent"

When we study children who stutter, we often find that mothers overreact when their children first stutter.
In times like these, try speaking for 30 minutes a day to increase your vocabulary.
If you talk to your mother regularly, your child's thoughts will become much deeper.
Investing 30 minutes a day will give you a huge vocabulary and will set you up for success when you enter school with a strong brain and high learning ability.

---From "It's okay to say it slowly and repeatedly"

Reading is a guessing game of language.
While looking at a picture book, children's brains begin a game of guessing what will happen next.
If your guess is correct, you will be happy, and if it is wrong, you will be encouraged.
The joy that arises at this time becomes the energy that makes you read a book to the end.
And every time you turn the page, your brain feels happy because you feel like you are evolving.
Children who have discovered this joy now fall in love with books.
---From “Picture books delight the brains of young children”

Whether the message is, "You're cool" or "You're lazy," the messages sent by older adults, especially moms and dads, are deeply ingrained in a child's subconscious.
If you were an elementary school student, you would think about this and that and say, 'Mom, you're not telling the truth right now.
You might think, 'He's just acting like that because he's angry,' but children under the age of six have limited reasoning skills and are vulnerable to such messages.
---From "Mom, What Kind of Child Am I?"

Mothers who see their children's speaking skills develop so rapidly think, "Shouldn't we start teaching them to read and write sooner?"
As I started to think about when and how to teach, I put up Hangul murals on the wall, bought Hangul magnets, and bought Hangul learning books.
Among the research partners of the Korea Reading Education Development Institute, more than 80% of mothers of five-year-olds were looking for answers to this question.
But there's no need to overthink it.
The best time to teach letters is when the child asks for the letters.
Of course, this period is different for each child.
---From "When? When the child asks, 'What letter is that?'"

Questions are an expression of curiosity and a sign that the brain is alive.
Children whose brains are asleep don't ask questions.
If you want to raise a child who studies well, becomes successful, and becomes a great person, you must first raise him or her to be a questioner.

---From "A child who grows up being asked questions becomes good at asking questions"