Tuesday 18 February 2020

Book Reveiw: Raising The Challenging Child

From The Back:

What's the worst you've ever faced as a parent? An all-out tantrum at the mall? A son who won't take out his earbuds to listen to you? A daughter who's failing at school and won't do her homework? A teen who constantly breaks curfew? A call from the police?

Whatever you're dealing with, Raising the Challenging Child will help.
Building on their work at Chaddock, a nonprofit organization that has worked with some of the most challenging kids in the nation for more than 150 years, the authors empower frustrated parents with practical tips and real-life examples on how to:



· minimize behavioural meltdowns
· reduce conflict
· increase cooperation
· promote healthy attachment
· improve family relationships

The strategies they share work both for the child going through a difficult phase brought on by life disruption or trauma and for the child facing chronic struggles. Parents, teachers, and those who work with children and youth will find positive, practical steps they can start taking today in order to understand and address the baffling behavior of the child under their care.
My Reflections:
This book is a wealth of information, a collaborative effort of Buckwalter and Reed from the work they have done with some of the most challenging children in the USA. 

Raising children in our society today is by far no easy task. Every child is different, so the approach we use with one child may very well not be appropriate for another. There is no one size fits all approach to parenting and nor should there be. 

In this book, you will find helpful tips and suggestions along with practical application tools. The most useful tool I gleaned from this book was to remember all those skills I had when I ran my little daycare/ preschool program. How you say something makes all the difference. How have I forgotten all this in such a short time? When the kids were small I always phrased my "don't touch that" to "Look with your eyes, not your hands" Or "Stop running" to "use your walking feet"
Now that my children are much older you tend to bark out orders like a drill Sargent instead of phrasing things in a more positive light. A very good reminder indeed!

Another good point this book makes is that parents, caregivers and teachers all need to be on the same page and consistency is key. This is extremely tricky in our fast-paced day to day world where we are constantly moving from one activity to another, eating at the rink or hurridly before swim lessons. In this light, I think it's fair to remember it may take a few attempts to strike the right balance or strategy. 

This was a fantastic reminder of how I can parent some of the tricky behaviours all children exhibit from time to time. The skills in this book will greatly benefit teachers, daycare workers, parents and grandparents alike. 

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

THE AUTHORS

Karen Doyle Buckwalter

Karen Doyle Buckwalter, MSW, LCSW, is director of program strategy at Chaddock in Quincy, Illinois. She serves on the board of directors' advisory board of the Theraplay® Institute in Chicago and has trained and consulted at family behavioral health...
Continue reading about Karen Doyle Buckwalter

Debbie Reed

Debbie Reed is president and CEO of Chaddock. Currently engaged in doctoral studies, she has also played a leadership role in child- and family-serving organizations at the state and national levels, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family...
Continue reading about Debbie Reed

Wendy Lyons Sunshine

Wendy Lyons Sunshine is an award-winning writer and coauthor of The Connected Child, with over a quarter million copies sold. She is an editorial consultant for leading nonprofits and has written for media outlets including HealthAARP...
Continue reading about Wendy Lyons Sunshine

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