Description
Book SynopsisWe all want our children to reach their fullest potential—to be smart and well adjusted, and to make a difference in the world. We wonder why, for some people, success seems to come so naturally.
Could the secret be how they were parented?
This book unveils how parenting helped shape some of the most fascinating people you will ever encounter, by doing things that almost any parent can do. You don't have to be wealthy or influential to ensure your child reaches their greatest potential. What you do need is commitment—and the strategies outlined in this book.
In
The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children, Harvard economist Ronald Ferguson, named in a
New York Times profile as the foremost expert on the US educational "achievement gap," along with award-winning journalist Tatsha Robertson, reveal an intriguing blueprint for helping children from all types of backgrounds become successful adults.
Informed by hundreds of interviews, the book includes never-before-published insights from the "How I was Parented Project" at Harvard University, which draws on the varying life experiences of 120 Harvard students. Ferguson and Robertson have isolated a pattern with eight roles of the "Master Parent" that make up the Formula: the Early Learning Partner, the Flight Engineer, the Fixer, the Revealer, the Philosopher, the Model, the Negotiator, and the GPS Navigational Voice.
The Formula combines the latest scientific research on child development, learning, and brain growth and illustrates with life stories of extraordinary individuals—from the Harvard-educated Ghanian entrepreneur who, as the young child of a rural doctor, was welcomed in his father's secretive late-night political meetings; to the nation's youngest state-wide elected official, whose hardworking father taught him math and science during grueling days on the family farm in Kentucky; to the DREAMer immigration lawyer whose low-wage mother pawned her wedding ring to buy her academically outstanding child a special flute.
The Formula reveals strategies on how you—regardless of race, class, or background—can help your children become the best they can be and shows ways to maximize their chances for happy and purposeful lives.
Trade Review"If you are a parent or plan to be, read this book. You'll learn what you can do—and there is a lot you can do—to help your child succeed in the fullest sense of the word. Beautifully written, impeccably crafted. I loved it."
—Angela Duckworth
"The Formula is for all parents who want to be powerful advocates and strategic partners for their kids. Refreshingly practical, it unpacks what parents of high-achieving adults did to help their children be successful and happy. I recognize so many of these traits in my wonderful parents."
—Dr. Bridget Terry Long, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education
"With over 40 years of education experience, I have learned that a child's success isn't solely dependent on grades or standardized tests. Success, starts first and foremost at home, with parents that support an intrinsic motivation for their children to reach their fullest potential. However, just as children have different learning styles, parents, as well, have different parenting styles. The Formula masterfully combines the latest research with compelling, real-life stories and introduces us to different parenting styles and provides a formula for teaching, motivating, and empowering successful children."
—John D. Couch, Apple's first VP of Education and coauthor of Rewiring Education
The Formula pursues an important question that social scientists, preoccupied with explaining the problematic outcomes of childhood, seldom address: the role parents play in developing children—regardless of their race, class, or national origin—who become extraordinarily successful in life. Ferguson and Robertson's compelling analysis of data collected on the life stories of interesting people who change the world is a must-read."
—William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsContents
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Mystery of Success
The Black Box
An Investigation into Success
Masters of the Formula
Chapter 2. What We Mean by Success
Purpose + Agency + Smarts = Fully Realized
Prodigies versus the Products of the Formula
Who Our Achievers Are and How We Chose Them
Chapter 3. The Formula
The Incredible Life of Jarell Lee
The Formula: The Eight Roles of Master Parenting
Parenting Styles: What Is Different About the Formula?
Chapter 4. The Strategists
The Strange and Strategic Parenting of Lisa Son
Why Esther Wojcicki Raised the Smartest Girls in the World
Ms. Badger’s Holographic Ideal
Chapter 5. The Early-Learning Partner (Role #1)
Rob Humble’s Moment of Truth
The Science of Play
Teaching a Baby to Read: The Early-Lead Effect
The Girl Raised by a Village of Teenagers
Chapter 6. The Flight Engineer (Role #2)
Masters Monitor and Manage (Even from the White House)
Asserting Authority: “You Will Respect My Child”
Knowing When (Not) to Step In: “You Can Deal with Your Teacher This Time”
Chapter 7. Siblings
Cautionary Tales
The Receptive Child
Is Your Oldest Child Really Smarter, or Were You Just Tired with the Rest of Them?
Chapter 8. The Fixer (Role #3)
The Fixer to the Rescue
Vigilance: How One Mother Deconstructed the SAT
Sacrifice: Dad Says, “We Need to Leave—Now!”
Resourcefulness: The Girl Who Needed a Flute
Chapter 9. The Revealer (Role #4)
Albert Einstein’s Master Parents
The Art of Supplementing Education
Exposure to the World—and Harsh Realities
Chapter 10. The Philosopher (Role #5)
The Preschooler Who Debated Aristotle in the Bathtub
What the Philosopher Creates, Part 1: Bree Newsome’s Mission
What the Philosopher Creates, Part 2: Jarell Lee’s Purpose
Chapter 11. The Model (Role #6)
A Ripple Effect
When the Past Provides the Model
Tracing Family Mindset
Chapter 12. The Negotiator (Role #7)
Bringing a Child to the Bargaining Table
Negotiators, not Pushovers
Master Parent versus Tiger Parent
Is the Formula the Superior American Style of Parenting?
Chapter 13. Mastering Hurdles
Success Mindset
How “Gritty” Ryan Quarles Found a Way to Win
Maggie Masters a Memory Slip
The Future News Anchor Who Stuttered
Chapter 14. The GPS (Role #8)
The Navigational Voice in Their Head
The GPS and the Fully Realized Human Being
The Achievers as Parents
Conclusion: The Formula’s Secret
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
About the Authors
