The first part of this book discusses how children are different from adults and the factors that contribute to child perceptions and behaviors. And it defines the process of parenting to influence children's attitudes and behaviors. This includes the significance of emotions, emotional control, and teaching emotional fluency. Furthermore, this book lists multiple behavior modification techniques including: "do-overs," "turning no into yes," "turning don't into do," "natural consequences," and "1-2-3."
The second part of the book looks at the characteristics of the different stages of childhood and the parental strategies relevant to each of these stages: providing safety and comfort, subordination, self-control, and values. The infant and young child need to feel safe and secure to trust parents. When children trust their parents, children are better able to accept parental authority and subordinate their wants to their parents' authority. Once children have learned to accept their parents' authority, they are more open to learning the lessons of emotional fluency and self-control. Having learned emotional fluency and self-control, children are better able to learn the specific values of good character, such as respect, responsibility, curiosity, initiative, backbone, perseverance, honesty, caring, tolerance, and fairness. Strategies for teaching each of these values are presented.
The distinguishing characteristics of the teenage years are also discussed. Parental strategies unique to this period are detailed, including emotional fluency and behavioral modification, all the while encouraging independence in preparation for adulthood.
(A paperback version of this book is available from TheBookpatch.com.)
