Customer Reviews

Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking: Practical Solutions to the Most Common Preschool Behavior Problems

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

`Discipline without Shouting or Spanking', `How to Behave So Your Preschooler Will, too!' and `Positive Discipline for Preschoolers' are three different books with almost identical messages. All believe that shouting and spanking are counterproductive and that successful discipline requires a parent or caregiver to calmly teach and reinforce the rules of good behavior.

`How to Behave So Your Preschooler Will, too!' and `Positive Discipline for Preschoolers' are both 300 plus page books and are arranged similarly. They begin by explaining what is typical preschooler behavior and what developmental factors are at play during this stage. This information encourages parents to make a paradigm shift and see "bad" behavior as developmentally appropriate behavior that needs the gentle hand of an adult to help channel it. They then follow with in depth discussions of good discipline strategies and how they differ from our natural knee-jerk responses. Both books end with practical examples of how to apply these discipline strategies to common behavioral problems.

I would recommend either of these books to anyone who has come to see that shouting and spanking doesn't work and wants to learn what does. `How to Behave so Your Preschooler Will, too! is written in an organized, succinct, clean style and will appeal to those who enjoy a "textbook-like" book. `Positive Discipline for Preschoolers', on the other hand, has a more friendly, meandering tone and is written in a "chatting over a cup of coffee" style with tons of first hand accounts thrown in.

"Discipline without Shouting or Spanking' is half the size of the previous two books and confines itself to practical applications. An outline format is used to discuss 37 common behavior problems. For each behavior problem it offers several suggestions to prevent the problem, solve the problem and even what not to do. Each discussion ends with an illustrative story. I would recommend this book to those already convinced that "positive discipline" works and looking for an easy to read, "in the trenches" handbook.

All three books are excellent resources for the parents and caregivers of preschoolers but as their content is so similar, I'd strongly urge a potential buyer to take advantage of Amazon's Look Inside! feature and purchase the one whose format and writing style most suits your literary taste.

I do like the quick read format and friendly tone of this reference book; I continue to find a number of helpful tips to try that I forget are options to use with my children when I am having a really tough day. However, I feel some of the anecdotes seem contrived by the author to make his point. Additionally, I think the advice about offering positive rewards (...to me, a euphemism for bribing) will often get a parent in trouble as the child tries to up the ante. I have found giving an occasional UNEXPECTED reward AFTER good behavior, to let them know that you noticed (their kindness to a sibling, for example) is far more effective in my family. I also would like to recommend another newer quick-read A-Z book called 'The Pocket Parent'. The anecdotes in this book are from real parents and are right on...as if the author has been peering in my windows! It too is written exclusively for parents of 2- to 5-year-olds. I have found that since I have been re-reading parts of both of these books as handy reference guides, I find myself more able to pause and think before I speak. I am proud of that, because my communication with my children has become more respectful as well as more effective in gaining their cooperation...and I am not yelling as much! Although Wycoff's book is a keeper, I prefer the compassion, humor and variety of short bulleted sanity savers in 'The Pocket Parent'. There are many suggestions in both books for parents to choose from that will make life with your 2, 3, 4, and 5 year old less stressful.

This book was too simplistic in its approach to dicipline. The methods would probably work on a child that isn't a dicipline problem, but merely acts out occasionally. The author also assumes that the methods will work, no exception. I can attest that a very willful child will not be swayed by the rewards or privilge removal program. I have yet to find a book that does truly help with a difficult child. This one certainly doesn't.

I am a teacher so I thought it would be a great thing if I read up on the subject of child discipline as much as I read up on classroom management!!

I bought this book when my son was one-and-a-half as a reference for up-and-coming issues. I did like the outline format but found that some of the ways suggested to solve or deal with the problem were strange and, frankly, stupid. For instance, one of the tips for dealing with a child "talking back" was to pick the offensive word (if one was used), set a timer for one minute per year of age, and have the child use that word non-stop until the timer goes off. I do not want my child practicing a word he's not supposed to use! Also, a discipline technique for whining is to have a "whining place" where you send the child to whine when he feels like he needs to. I don't feel a "whining place" is necessary and that there are other ways to deal with whining.

This book tends to dance around the issue rather than deal with the issue iteself and teach the child how to correctly exhibit behaviors for certain situations or needs that need to be met. I would not have bought this book if I knew then what I know now. There are other positive discipline books out there that seem to be better-suited!

The title of this book caught my eye. There are some good ideas in here, and following this book is certainly better than shouting and/or spanking. But, this book fails to deal with the root of misbehavior, and fails to distinguish between genuine misbehavior and behaviors that are simply annoying to adults. They should not be treated in the same way.

A much better book is:

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Faber and Mazlish.

I also recommend The Discipline Book by Sears.

This book has some good ideas, but there are better books. If you're only going to buy one or two books on discipline, buy something else.

This book is divided into behavior problems, such as, "Playing With Food", "Taking Things", "Lying", etc... and then gives you a list of steps to avoid the problem and correct the misbehavior. It also provides "real-life" situations that show how parents applied the approach outlined.

However, the books that I have personally found to be the most useful are the ones that outline approaches that can be applied to every disciplinary problem, such as, "1-2-3 Magic" which still works on my kids after 2.5 years, and "Time-In", which teaches kids to think about their behavior and its consequences, and how to make amends when necessary.

I can see this particular book being useful for trouble shooting specific problems, if other approaches aren't effective, but I didn't feel the need to keep it on my bookshelf and I've passed it on to a neighbor.

This was the most referenced book on my parenting bookshelf. My preschooler was adopted from an overseas orphanage and had many behavioral issues. Frequently, I would grab this little book for a quick read and some practical suggestions on how to deal with his latest transgression. I have given many copies over the years to new parents.

This book is such a great value I use it as a reference everyday in my home daycare. I can't believe it cost under $5.00! The information presented is concise. The examples of behavior problems in preschoolers is accurate. And the techniques suggested are appropriate and highly effective. This book is a must have for parents of young children and anyone else who loves children.

I purchased an earlier edition of this book when my first son was a toddler. The method described in this book is straightforward, sensible, logical, and easily accessible in times of need. Following these methods has always worked wonders with my first child, and is presently working beautifully with my second. This book contains advice that is so simple and logical that it can be fully understood by preschool age children, and yet is extremely effective with older children as well. The book is relatively short, and broken down into specific behavior areas, so it is very easy to read, even for a BUSY new mother. Great, logical method that works well!

The author of this book uses "fictionalized" stories to give examples of how spanking is wrong and timeouts are right. The problem with these stories is that parents are always portrayed as "screaming" as they spank their child. This gives the impression that a parent who spanks is always out of control. Then the "fictionalized" account tells us that spanking never works and timeouts always work. I had a hard time believing the "fictionalized" accounts, they are just not believable!