Customer Reviews

Rewards for Kids!: Ready-To-Use Charts and Activities for Positive Parenting

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book came out a just the right moment for me. I had been having terrible difficulty with my older daughter Maya's bedtime, which was making my life miserable. I heard about this book and how it can help frustrated parents like myself and decided to give it a try. The book is very nicely presented and easy to read, and above all else, extremely practical. The author gives examples of typical problems faced by parents and offers sample "plans" for how to deal with them. For really busy people like myself there are pullout charts and other materials that are ready-to-use. I found one example that was very similar to my situation and used the information provided to develop a plan to get my daughter into bed at a reasonable hour. I couldn't believe how well it worked! I've already picked out the next behavior problem we're going to work on. I highly recommend this book to parents who are looking for a positive, common-sense approach to dealing with their kids' difficult behaviors.

As a clinical psychologist and parent of a 6 year old son, I would recommend this book highly to fellow parents, or professionals. It helped me get a fresh perspective on some common behavior problems (like getting kids dressed & out in the morning!) and provided many creative, fun, and positive solutions. It's quite liberating to turn occasions for nagging into games that foster independence and achievement. The book provides many specific ideas, charts and coupons that can be copied and used. I even gave my son's first grade teacher a copy of the book as a gift. She used several of the ideas with great success!

(...) Dr. Virginia Shiller has addressed the dilemna of adapting effective behavioral techniques to the "wonderful idiosyncratic nature of human beings and the ways that they interact with their environments." Her method is to teach parents how to enter into dialogues with their children so that the Reward Plans they develop are customized to their own families and so that both kids and parents are motivated to give them a try. Instead of simply giving the adults rules to follow, she provides explanations of the underlying principles so that the parents themselves can learn how to address common behavioral problems in a caring and creative manner. Specific examples are given of such common battlegrounds as struggles over bedtimes, picking on siblings, and homework. She describes how to use humor and creativity in order to enlist the cooperation of the children, so that they can become able to experience the rewards of self-control. I liked the emphasis on empowering rather than controlling. In addition, there are lots of cute charts, games, and tokens that are fun to use with kids.

I especially liked Dr. Shiller's discussion of the differences between bribes and rewards. I have already used that in talking with parents. (Though this book is written so that it can be used by the average parent, there is something in it for experienced clnicians, too.) While Dr. Shiller explains the principles in a manner which could instruct a psychology student, she also includes a level of subtlety which is interestting to people who have been doing this for a while. This is a useful and excellent book.

As a practicing clinical psychologist and parent of a 6 year old son, I would recommend this book highly. Even with previous training in the field, the book helped me gain a fresh, creative, and positive perspective on common everyday behavior problems. I even gave a copy to my son's teacher, who implemented several of the ideas with great success. It was a really great gift. The ideas in the book are specific (charts and reward coupons included!!), effective and fun.

I am going nuts having to repeat even the simplest instructions ("brush your teeth") many times before my kids do them. I don't want to spend my evenings shrieking at the kids. This book looks like just what I need--lots of sample charts to pull out and use, and lots of step-by-step instructions for using them. I am feeling calmer already.

This book contains lots of helpful ideas for rewarding kids for good behavior, rather than punishing for bad behavior. Good approach, very practical with actual charts and reward coupons to use right away!

I this book would have been much better if it had more creative ideas for rewards and not as much common sense. I found that a lot of the "ideas" that were displayed in this book were things that I had already learned just by observing my kids. I think trial and error got me further then this book did.

I was having problems with my two daughters, 5 and 3. They were fighting constantly over anything and everything and my 5 year old was becoming aggressive with her sister and me. Biting, hitting, kicking... I was so frustrated at the end of everyday. Time outs and loss of privileges just weren't working anymore. I ordered this book out of desperation! I am so glad I did! After reading and implementing some of these common sense approaches, our house has been so much more peaceful. This book was helpful in redirecting my energy to encouraging good behavior rather than punishing the bad behavior.

Although I did somewhat like this book because it describe the methods to use with each of the rewards. The bad thing was that I expected there to be way more samples for us to copy.

Overall, great book. I just wish I was able to reuse some of the charts.