A new guide for a new age is here to assist educators in dealing effectively with common problematic behaviors (such as Aggression, Defiance) and other concerns (such as Developing Empathy, Sexual Abuse Indicators) of today’s kids. It presents various interventions, strategies and activities compatible with the democratic principles of the larger society (No punishment, intimidation or threats allowed!). This handbook is provided to assist kids of all ages in developing skills in self-reliance, self-discipline, and self-determination, making them good decision-makers in matters that affect their lives…a gift that will last a lifetime!
Behavior issues in children with Down syndrome can quickly become engrained, which means short-term problems often develop into bad habits that are difficult to change. This new book by pediatric psychologist Dr. David Stein looks at how the brain of a person with Down syndrome works, why those differences impact behavior, and how to address these problems using his positive behavior approach designed specifically for children and teens with Down syndrome. Book jacket.
The celebrated Positive Discipline brand of parenting books presents the revised and updated third edition of their readable and practical guide to communicating boundaries to very young children and solving early discipline problems to set children up for success. Over the years millions of parents have used the amazingly effective strategies of Positive Discipline to raise happy, well-behaved, and successful children. Research has shown that the first three years in a child's life are a critical moment in their development, and that behavior patterns instilled during that time can have profound implications for the rest of a child's life. Hundreds of thousands of parents have already used the advice in Positive Discipline: The First Three Years to help set effective boundaries, forge strong foundations for healthy communication, and lay the groundwork for happy and respectful relationships with their young children. Now this classic title has been revised and updated to reflect the latest neuroscientific research and developments in positive discipline parenting techniques.
Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.
Written in an informal, accessible style, this practical book equips future teaching professionals to effectively support emotional well-being, reduce problem behavior, and enhance social competence in toddlers, pre-schoolers, and primary-grade children. Based on the ECE-CARES Project, housed at the University of Colorado at Denver, text-advocated strategies are focused on five fundamental constructions: caring and cooperative early childhood settings, assertiveness through self-esteem and mastery, relationship skills, emotional regulation and reactivity, and self-control. The authors make use of numerous real-life examples to show how these strategies result in high rates of prosocial skills, positive peer interactions, and use of peaceful conflict resolution techniques. Chapter topics include complex influences on children's lives, class meetings and family involvement, creating a caring emotional environment, identifying and expressing emotions, peaceful problem solving, anger management and calming down, stress reduction, emotionally-responsive curriculum planning, and intervention for children with behavior challenges. For pre-K, primary grade, and special education teachers; and for elementary school administrative personnel, and other individuals involved in early childhood management.
Solve toddler challenges with eight key mindshifts that will help you parent with clarity, calmness, and self-control. In Why is My Child in Charge?, Claire Lerner shows how making critical mindshifts—seeing children’s behaviors through a new lens —empowers parents to solve their most vexing childrearing challenges. Using real life stories, Lerner unpacks the individualized process she guides parents through to settle common challenges, such as throwing tantrums in public, delaying bedtime for hours, refusing to participate in family mealtimes, and resisting potty training. Lerner then provides readers with a roadmap for how to recognize the root cause of their child’s behavior and how to create and implement an action plan tailored to the unique needs of each child and family. Why is My Child in Charge? is like having a child development specialist in your home. It shows how parents can develop proven, practical strategies that translate into adaptable, happy kids and calm, connected, in-control parents.
Families are the mainstay of safety and support for children. While most children live in safe and supportive environments, governments are aware that too many children are becoming known to child protection services. This has led to a shift in thinking away from solely concentrating on responding to 'risk of harm' reports towards a broader public health approach to protecting all of Australia's children, reducing the likelihood of children coming to the attention of statutory authorities. This report aims to understand more about the prevalence of different types of family environments in society and to explore the influence of these environments on different child outcomes. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, we used latent class cluster analysis to identify different family environments and analysed the associations between these environments and particular child outcomes. Key findings: Classifying the family environment: profiles and characteristics. We identified three broad groups embodying three types of family environments that were closely aligned with previous theoretic and empirical research. In line with previous research, we referred to these groups as: cohesive: the largest group of families exhibited average or above-average levels of parental warmth and parent-child shared activities, and below-average levels of hostile parenting and parental relationship conflict; disengaged: a smaller group of families exhibited below-average levels of parental warmth and parent-child shared activities, and above-average levels of hostile parenting; enmeshed: a final, relatively small, group exhibited average levels of parental warmth, but higher than average levels of conflict in the relationship between parents. It is important to note that: These are not absolute distinctions, but rather relative positions on a spectrum ranging from highly disengaged to highly enmeshed. No family environment can be comprehensively understood using a finite set of factors. In addition, we show that family environments can and do change over time; The vast majority of families sit around the middle; some families tend toward either relatively more disengagement or enmeshment, but do not approach, or even come close to, more extreme aspects of these types. However, the most problematic families with respect to child protection will most likely be located toward the extremes of the range. Associations between family environment and child outcomes: Unless specified otherwise, results relate to children aged 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 and 10-11 years growing up either in families with two adults residing together (whether married or cohabiting) who both have day-to-day responsibility for the child (including biological, adoptive, step, foster, and grandparents) or families where a parent lives elsewhere from the child's primary carer. All comparisons are made in relation to families that were relatively more cohesive. There were not many significant associations between family environment (as measured in this report) and health outcomes. Significant associations were restricted to children aged 2-3 years with two resident parents. That is: children of this age in families tending toward enmeshment were more likely to be underweight (than normal weight); children of this age in families that were relatively more disengaged were more likely to have one or more injuries per year. Family environments were very strongly associated with children's social and emotional wellbeing. That is: children in families indicating disengagement had significantly lower levels of prosocial behaviour and higher levels of problem behaviour; children in families indicating enmeshment had significantly lower levels of prosocial behaviour and higher levels of problem behaviour (this was not significant for children 4-5 and 10-11 years old in families with a parent living elsewhere). There were less consistent and fewer significant associations between family environment and children's cognitive development. In families with two resident parents: children in families scoring relatively high on disengagement averaged lower Year 5 NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) reading and numeracy scores. Associations between changes in family environment and changes in child outcomes: Children in families with two resident parents whose family environment improved (became more cohesive) showed improved social and emotional wellbeing; children whose family environments became relatively more problematic exhibited increased social and emotional problems; In families with two resident parents, children gained higher NAPLAN reading scores if their family environment became relatively more cohesive. Policy implications: These findings suggest policy may be more effective if it: is attuned or sensitive to different family environments; targets behaviours rather than groups of people; recognises that families can both change for the better, and draw on their own prior (positive) experiences. Finally, results linking family environments to key child outcomes (especially around social and emotional wellbeing) provide a clear impetus for a public health approach promoting safe and supportive family environments. These research findings may provide insights to support different types of responses, including parenting programs, public information campaigns and more targeted referrals for intensive family support.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER From a leading child psychologist comes this groundbreaking new understanding of children’s behavior, offering insight and strategies to support both parents and children. Nominated for Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel H. Pink's Next Big Idea Club Over her decades as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Mona Delahooke has routinely counseled distraught parents who struggle to manage their children’s challenging, sometimes oppositional behaviors. These families are understandably focused on correcting or improving a child’s lack of compliance, emotional outbursts, tantrums, and other “out of control” behavior. But, as she has shared with these families, a perspective shift is needed. Behavior, no matter how challenging, is not the problem but a symptom; a clue about what is happening in a child’s unique physiologic makeup. In Brain-Body Parenting, Dr. Delahooke offers a radical new approach to parenting based on her clinical experience as well as the most recent research in neuroscience and child psychology. Instead of a “top-down” approach to behavior that focuses on the thinking brain, she calls for a “bottom-up” approach that considers the essential role of the entire nervous system, which produces children’s feelings and behaviors. When we begin to understand the biology beneath the behavior, suggests Dr. Delahooke, we give our children the resources they need to grow and thrive—and we give ourselves the gift of a happier, more connected relationship with them. Brain-Body Parenting empowers parents with tools to help their children develop self-regulation skills while also encouraging parental self-care, which is crucial for parents to have the capacity to provide the essential “co-regulation” children need. When parents shift from trying to secure compliance to supporting connection and balance in the body and mind, they unlock a deeper understanding of their child, encouraging calmer behavior, more harmonious family dynamics, and increased resilience.
