The Resilient Child: Preparing Today's Youth For Tomorrow's World

by Joanne A. Joseph

Overview

If you try to identify the basic qualities of a child "most likely to succeed" as an adult, what words might first come to mind? Independent? Likable? Creative? Disciplined? According to Dr. Joanne Joseph, the essence of a productive and healthy personality is a positive and secure self-image and a solid set of resilient attitudes and behaviors. The Resilient Child: Preparing Today's Youth for Tomorrow's World successfully integrates the latest information available about healthy cognitive development, self-esteem, and resilience to give parents and teachers practical suggestions for nurturing these qualities in children and adolescents.

Dr. Joseph, an esteemed psychologist and child education consultant, skillfully shows how stories, television, nutrition, exercise, parental discipline style, and the child's individual characteristics each play a comprehensive role in the development of a child's self-esteem and resilience. With the author's clearly outlined strategies, parents and educators can guide children to be socially skillful, responsible, disciplined, good problem-solvers, and effective managers of the change and adversity inherent in today's world.

Elaborating beyond what others have identified as the elements of a productive personality, Dr. Joseph uses a series of inspiring anecdotes and documented research to discuss the following: what experts do and do not know about the development of self-esteem; how parents and teachers can actively contribute to the natural development of a child's self-esteem; how to promote resilience in children through happy and difficult times; the kinds of characteristics that differentiate children from each other; how to liberate a child's inner strengths to build self-esteem and resilience; how literature and the media can teach resilient and productive values and behaviors; styles of parental discipline and their influence on the development of the child; and more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738205687
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	08/16/2001
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	376
Sales rank:	308,543
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	1130L (what's this?)

About the Author

Joanne M. Joseph, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at the State University of New York Institute of Technology at Rome/Utica, New York, where she teaches courses in psychology. The author of many scholarly publications, Dr. Joseph is a licensed psychologist and maintains a private practice. She was a recent recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and regularly provides consultative services to area schools, hospitals, and community agencies. The author lives with her husband and three children in Clinton, New York.

Table of Contents

	Foreword	vii
	Preface	xi
	Acknowledgments	xv
Chapter 1	Self-Esteem	1
	Self-Esteem Defined	2
	The Development of Self-Esteem	5
	Self-Esteem Enhancers	10
Chapter 2	Resilience	25
	Traits of the Resilient Personality	27
	Resiliency Enhancers	33
Chapter 3	Sizing Up Your Child	45
	Temperament	46
	Temperamental Differences between Children	51
	Fitting the Environment to Temperament	54
	Learning Style Differences between Children	59
	Stress Tolerance Levels and Triggers	63
	Stress Assessment	73
	Aptitude Assessment	76
Chapter 4	Promoting Self-Esteem and Resilience: the Role of Parenting	95
	Components of Good Parenting: Parental Discipline Styles	95
	Components of Good Parenting: Positive Discipline	102
	Components of Good Parenting: Constructive Communication	117
	Components of Good Parenting: Focus on the Parent	122
	Components of Good Parenting: Management of the Difficult Child	127
Chapter 5	Stories: A Natural Way to Teach Resilient Values and Attitudes	135
	The Power behind Stories	136
	Story Features and Forms	138
	Analyzing the Message in Stories	140
	Extracting Themes of Resilience from Stories	145
	The Use of Personal Stories	152
	Visual Media Stories: The Impact of Television and Movies	155
Chapter 6	Teaching Children to Cope: The Role of Relaxation, Nutrition, and Exercise	157
	The Stress Response and the Relaxation Response	157
	Relaxation Exercises	161
	Nutrition and Exercise	180
Chapter 7	Teaching Children to Think Constructively	191
	Language, Thinking, and Your Child's Behavior	193
	Beliefs, Thinking, and Your Child's Behavior	197
	Thinking Errors and Your Child's Behavior	202
	Age, Maturity, and Thinking	205
	The Influence of the Situation on Thinking and Behavior	208
	Attributions, Thinking, and Behavior	210
	The Pragmatics of Constructive Thinking	212
	Summary	226
Chapter 8	Teaching Children to Make Good Decisions	227
	The Decision-Making Process	227
	Self-Control	239
	Developmental Changes in Decision-Making Capabilities	245
	Parents as Promoters of Good Decision Making	250
Chapter 9	Cultivating Social Skills in Your Child	253
	Types of Social Skills	254
Chapter 10	Summing it All Up	271
	A Resilient Approach to Competition and Mistakes	274
	A Resilient Approach for Dealing with Loss or Disaster	276
	Conclusion	280
	Bibliography	281
Appendix 1	Suggested Readings	291
Appendix 2	Sample Behavioral Contract	295
Appendix 3	Stories with Resilient Themes	297
	Index	349