How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too! [Hardcover]

Sal Severe Ph.D. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1997

This book was written for parents or anyone who works with children and families. The entertaining stories and practical ideas were gathered from the author's 20 years experience working as a school psychologist and teaching parenting classes to 14000+ parents. The examples put parents at ease and empower them with specific, positive strategies to replace their own behavior with patterns that produce more cooperative behavior in their children. This book explains how to be consistent, manage anger, prevent arguments and power struggles, and teach children to listen - the first time! It is rich with sensible and useful activities for parent and teacher tr aining, counseling and consultation.

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

"I found this to be a very valuable book. It has helped me immensely with my children. "

From The New Yorker

"Your book is wonderful. Not only does it contain a wealth of very sensible and realistic information about parenting but, in addition, your style of writing makes it a pleasure to read. Your respect for children and parents is apparent on every page as is your warmth and sense of humor."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 265 pages
• Publisher: Greentree Pub; 3 edition (July 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965301206
• ISBN-13: 978-0965301206
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #874,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I highly recommend it to parents, September 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too! (Hardcover)

What makes this book, among hundreds of parenting advice books, different? It engages parents in a serious look at how profoundly their actions, and reactions, influence their children's trust and cooperation, while giving them a 101 course in behavior management.

Based upon stories from thousands of parents, Dr. Severe has devised strategies for parents to manage their behavior, while successfully guiding their children's behavior. He uses common behavior scenarios to exemplify ways in which parents can use these strategies.

Familiar occurrences of tantrums in the grocery store, bedtime hassles, or fighting siblings, often leave parents feeling angry, helpless, defeated, and without control.

Dr. Severe pin-points consistency as a key element in successfully deterring misbehavior and promoting good behavior. As a parent, I know how difficult it is to remain consistent. A statement he made in the book sums up what many parents experience. "Some days we let misbehaviors slide, some days we play warden." I found myself nodding with recognition as he described how parents often feel too tired to argue or yell in a desperate effort to gain cooperation from their children.

It's easy for parents to become caught up in a cycle of power struggles and inconsistent discipline. In his book, Dr. Severe helps parents break these cycles and gain control, with simple self-assessment methods and practical ideas for: implementing incentives without bribing utilizing punishments that teach, and managing children's behavior without arguments andpower struggles.

He also discusses the difference between threats and warnings, the ineffectiveness of spontaneous spanking, and how to make time-outs productive. He stresses the importance of acknowledging our children's good behavior, and gives us dialog that will help them develop valuable decision-making skills.

I found this empowering collection of stories and activities easy to read, non-judgemental, and I highly recommend it to parents who want to improve their parenting skills.

Dr. Severe also shares tips and insights in a free one year subscription to his quarterly newsletter for purchasers of his book.

63 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Family Book-EVER! This Book Should COME w/ the Child!, October 28, 1999

By 

LLG "LisaG" (Coupeville, Washington, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too! (Hardcover)

This book is very practical for the "every day" parent. Not only does the child's behavior improve, but the parent's as well! (First hand experience speaking here!)

First and foremost, this book is written at the average parent level of understanding.

Second, after reading just the author's forward, instead of feeling like you've got to change because you're such a BAD parent, you feel FREEDOM to become a BETTER PARENT!

Third, the ideas in the book are GREAT and you come away with an understanding that you should keep doing the things you are already doing that work well, but have easy-to-use tips to tweek your parenting skills into getting better behavior out of your child and yourself.

In the final analysis, our family life was positively enriched by this book, even if all it did was to help we, the parents, understand the motivations of our children to PUSH OUR BUTTONS!

We've already bought two more copies as new baby gifts for relatives!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Goldmine!, November 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Behave So Your Children Will, Too! (Hardcover)

I have to tell you that I feel that I have just discovered a goldmine! I am the district Title I Parent Involvement Coordinator in the Rock Island School District and Dr. Severe's book seems to have answers for the most frequently asked questions by our students' parents. There is a tremendous need for guidance for parents in the area of behavior and motivation. I am ordering one book now with the expectation that printing Dr. Sal's material in our district newletter will make necessary the ordering of many more.