bluedarling Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 My 10yo has announced she wants to learn about psychology. I'm looking for an overview appropriate to middle school, as she can't tell me specifically what she is looking for, other than possibly understanding behaviors and how we think. Ideas? (We've done Ellen McHenry's The Brain.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Introductory psychology really isn't very hard. Our older one did it at full college pace (on MIT-OCW) when he was 12. Stretched out over a year, I'd think a suitably motivated 11 yo could do fine. The topics can get a bit adult, so your child would have to be able to handle that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 This may or may not be helpful, but it's a bump if nothing else... Not specific titles, but here are two things that worked well for us starting around that age that also helped me to see more clearly what aspects of psychology interested her. (And probably helped her understand that herself.) 1. I would show my daughter a few trade books on Amazon and let her choose one or two at a time to read. 2. I would take her to that section of the library or bookstore and let her browse and choose. She took AP Psychology at 14yo and loved it! I highly recommend the class a few years down the road. I am terrible with "appropriate to middle school" type of recommendations. Hopefully someone else will chime in with titles. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 I am terrible with "appropriate to middle school" type of recommendations. Agree. Kids change dramatically between 9 and 12, and there's no telling whether topic X is appropriate for kid Y. Fwiw, we've only found middle school material to be appropriate for advanced elementary kids. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Also, each family differs in what is "appropriate". As you mentioned, adult topics are sometimes present. So between appropriate academically and appropriate developmentally and appropriate morally... I'll just give general recommendations. :ph34r: ;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedarling Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 Agree. Kids change dramatically between 9 and 12, and there's no telling whether topic X is appropriate for kid Y. Fwiw, we've only found middle school material to be appropriate for advanced elementary kids. Lol. She's completed a middle school PS textbook on the human body, and had no issues with what she learned there (her sister OTOH had difficulty and she's 5 years older!) She won't be disturbed by anything, but I will. She's my baby, and I'm in no hurry to end her innocence. "Advanced Elementary" is OK by me, and I'm willing to try that, though it may not hold her interest. I also do not believe she's ready for a college textbook...she could read it, but I can't picture that holding her interest either if it takes too much effort. HS level might be OK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in SA Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 What surprised me is how much a college psychology book looks like a high school "any other subject" book... Honestly, you could probably find a large selection of appropriate content at the local half price book store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedarling Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 This may or may not be helpful, but it's a bump if nothing else... Not specific titles, but here are two things that worked well for us starting around that age that also helped me to see more clearly what aspects of psychology interested her. (And probably helped her understand that herself.) 1. I would show my daughter a few trade books on Amazon and let her choose one or two at a time to read. 2. I would take her to that section of the library or bookstore and let her browse and choose. She took AP Psychology at 14yo and loved it! I highly recommend the class a few years down the road. I am terrible with "appropriate to middle school" type of recommendations. Hopefully someone else will chime in with titles. 1. I really need some suggestions! I've been searching amazon and my local library and not finding much, which is why I turned here. I see a lot on specific issues, but not a lot for general overviews. 2. Great idea! I like that! (Takes the pressure off me to find her material! It might require me to do some pre-reading, but I suppose I could do that.) Only issue is that I didn't see much there...perhaps she will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 (edited) My 10yo has announced she wants to learn about psychology. I'm looking for an overview appropriate to middle school, as she can't tell me specifically what she is looking for, other than possibly understanding behaviors and how we think. Ideas? (We've done Ellen McHenry's The Brain.) I tried to be careful about the abnormal psychology sections but eventually gave up pre-reading because he wanted more than I had time for. We used these for him to explore, from general overview to more depth in the specific areas he was interested in (particularly neuroscience, intelligence and phobias): 30-second Psychology edited by Christian Jarrett Psychology by David Myers (high school/college level? It's a textbook that we found used) Uppers, Downers, All Arounders (a textbook about psychotherapy drugs that we stumbled upon, also found used) Miscellaneous books by Oliver Sacks with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat being the favorite The Tell Tale Brain by VS Ramachandran and some videos online about Dr R's experiments on phantom limbs (I think you will find them if you google them) Good luck! ETA: she might like these Neuroscience newsletters if you haven't already tried them. Edited March 13, 2016 by quark 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Psychology by David Myers (high school/college level? It's a textbook that we found used) This is the book my daughter used in AP Psych. It's a good one! Also a second vote for Oliver Sacks. I'll need to look into the other ones quark mentioned. My daughter might like those as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutella08 Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 We are interested too and were thinking to try Crash Course: Psychology. We've done others in the series and always enjoyed them. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedarling Posted March 13, 2016 Author Share Posted March 13, 2016 We are interested too and were thinking to try Crash Course: Psychology. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOPRKzVLY0jJY-uHOH9KVU6 We've done others in the series and always enjoyed them. I think that will be perfect at this point--a very short introduction to the topics to help her narrow her interest! Then if she is still interested in more, I can buy a HS or college textbook. Her older sister adores crash course...and anything big sis likes, well, that means its pretty great. :) [i bet big sis will end up watching too.] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black-eyed Suzan Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 As for a trade book, what about Mindset by Dweck? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Sorry for derailing, but can someone explain me what a trade book is? That concept is not clear to me, and some how I got odd translations through interglot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodland Mist Academy Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Trade books are nonfiction books that are meant for the general public. So textbooks or books geared toward professional psychologists wouldn't be considered trade books. At least that's what I mean by the term. Others might have a different usage. I hope that helps a bit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 Trade books are nonfiction books that are meant for the general public. <cut> I hope that helps a bit. Thank you! That makes sense! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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