Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less

An enlightening guide to how infants, toddlers, and children learn and why play is the key to enhancing your child’s development—now revised and updated with a new chapter on the impacts of screen time

“An authoritative, up-to-date playbook on why we should raise our children to be learn-it-alls, not know-it-alls—plus practical advice on how parents can do that!”—Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

“A breath of fresh air for moms, dads, and childcare professionals.”—Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and New York Times bestselling author of When Everyone Knows That Everyone Knows

In Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, award-winning early childhood development experts Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, PhD, and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, PhD, show how parents can help their children succeed while reducing the pressures they both face. They offer a compelling message for today’s parents: rather than invest in expensive enrichment programs and “educational” apps and toys, the best way to boost brainpower and interpersonal skills is to let children play. In fact, free and guided play is a better way for kids to learn and for parents to enjoy their children.

Drawing on overwhelming scientific evidence, Hirsh-Pasek and Golinkoff explain how learning works from a child’s point of view. They address how kids pick up key mathematical concepts, acquire language, develop a sense of self, and more. They also offer more than forty age-appropriate activities for children under nine. These simple, fun—yet powerful—exercises work as well or better than unnecessary interventions to engage kids and their ever-active, curious minds. This revised edition also includes the latest findings on how play supports learning, as well as a new chapter on the benefits and downsides of time spent with digital media.

Packed with insights from fascinating studies and reassuring advice, Einstein Never Used Flash Cards empowers readers to help their children thrive while bringing more joy to the hard work of parenting.