Recent highlights
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Air pollution doesn't just cause respiratory problems. It can also put kids at risk for premature cellular aging and inflammatory disease. -
Tangram puzzles may boost spatial skills and enhance math skills. How to start? See these evidence-based tips about tangrams for kids. -
Studies suggest that children can learn math lessons from a preschool board game -- if it has these features. -
Researchers use the Strange Situation procedure to measure attachment in young children. How does it work, and how can we raise secure kids? -
What is baby sign language? Should we teach babies to sign? There’s no clear evidence that formal training programs yield long-term benefits. But spontaneous, pantomime-like gestures may help babies learn.
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Want to participate in scientific research? Learn how you can help investigators answer questions related to parenting and child development.
Praise for Parenting Science
“[A] welcome antidote to the opinion dressed up as science that parents are constantly fed. Tear up your parenting books and get yourselves over there…”
– Charles Fernyhough, Ph.D., developmental psychologist and author of A Thousand Days of Wonder: A Scientist’s Chronicle of his Daughter’s Developing Mind
“…[O]ne of the most awesome websites I’ve seen in a long time…In addition to being helpful to academic parents, I see this site being useful in anthropology courses on human sexuality, life history, parenting, evolutionary medicine, evolutionary psychology, etc. Please check it out!”
– Julienne Rutherford, Ph.D., University of Illinois biological anthropologist and founder of the Biological Anthropology Developing Investigators Troop (BANDIT)
“I came across a great website run by Gwen Dewar, one I wish it had been available to me when my children were young. I hope everyone interested in math and kids will look at In search of the smart preschool board game and other pages on this site.”
– Bill Marsh, Ph.D., in mathematics and author of MathInking, a blog about teaching math