Throughout the year, I share suggested readings for parents and educators.  If you are interested in stopping by to review any or all of the books, let me know.

 

 

 

Fox identifies three types of strengths: activity, learning and relationship strengths, and helps parents guide their children toward self-discovery, explaining that true strengths include not only what a child is good at, but what she enjoys and makes her feel strong. The book is written in a lively and engaging style, and sprinkled with anecdotes from Fox’s teaching life and her own experiences as a student who was frustrated and uncomfortable in a traditional school setting. Clearly, writing is one of Fox’s strengths, as is her inspiring passion for helping kids lead meaningful lives. (Publishers Weekly)

“Your Child’s Strengths is a tonic for the regret one feels for all the children burdened by schools and a world preoccupied by weaknesses rather than strengths. Countless compelling stories illustrate vividly the theme, that focusing on children’s strengths is the roadmap for all parents and teachers to give what we want inherently wish to provide: a means for children to find their own path. The Strengths Inventory and Affinities Program curriculum in the Appendix offer a remarkably practical means to start down the path and are worth a read by themselves, but then you would miss the journey of revelation the book evokes.”
—Patrick F. Bassett, President, National Association of Independent Schools

There are three attributes critical to all children’s healthy development, Carlsson-Paige explains: time and space for creative play, a feeling of security in today’s often frightening world, and strong, meaningful relationships with both adults and other children—attributes that we, as a society, are failing to protect and nurture. Grounded in child development theory and research, Taking Back Childhood reveals practical, hands-on steps parents can take to create a safe, open, and imaginative environment in which kids can relish childhood and flourish as human beings. (Hudson Street Press) 

 

“Taking Back Childhood brims with practical advice for the challenges parents face today.  Nancy Carlsson-Paige speaks with emotional wisdom.”  (Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and Social Intelligence)

Parents can protect toddlers–with their maximum mobility and minimum logic–by pasting plastic on electrical outlets and putting poisons out of reach. But protecting teenagers is not so simple, says family psychologist, syndicated columnist, and author of Raising a Nonviolent Child John Rosemond. “Short of solitary confinement, you can’t guarantee that a teen won’t use drugs, shoplift, drink or crash the car. In the final analysis, teens must protect themselves.” Rosemond’s Teen-Proofing provides parents with strategies for managing teens so they make self-protective, rather than self-destructive, decisions.

Many parents will recognize the error of their ways in Rosemond’s portraits of parents as “micro-managers” who try to control their children and those who let their children control them. He offers a compelling alternative by urging parents to be “mentors, who realize they can control the parent-child relationship, but not the child.” The author explores critical parent-teen issues including curfews, cash, cars, and cohorts–detailing an approach that gives teenagers a “long rope” to make their own mistakes and also offers “creative consequences” to encourage responsible decision making. The author offers smart and seasoned advice–from coping with middle school “tweenagers” to understanding why teens are vulnerable and how the culture diminishes a parent’s influence. The book’s unconventional and provocative suggestions will speak volumes to parents of teens.  (Barbara Mackoff)

For parents who have tried everything, Bradley’s Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! is a funny, blunt, and reassuring book. Philadelphia psychologist Bradley approaches the subject from the viewpoint that teens are, well, a little nuts; using current brain research, he points out that the most sophisticated parts of the mind are not developed until the end of adolescence ergo, the acting out, mood swings, ADHD, depression, anorexia, etc. The basic premise is that parents are still the most influential force in their kids’ lives and that the old rules of parenting are not only unhelpful but destructive. Adults must take the blame for ignoring rampant alcohol addictions among teens, allowing sex to saturate culture so much that kids don’t even know what intimacy and commitment are, and believing that raising children in 2001 can be easy. Rejecting peer pressure as an excuse for unacceptable behaviors, Bradley distinguishes between “normal” and “insane.” One chapter describes negotiation, decision-making, and the enforcement of rules; another deals with the new phenomenon of teen rage and how to survive it. Overall, the message is that kids can become fine people even if they screw up a lot, and you need to play the parent, not the cool confidante. Good, well-meaning parents, he notes, are worn out, and these families need immediate help.  (Reed Business Information, Inc.)