Customer Reviews

Supernanny: How to Get the Best From Your Children

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

"SUPERNANNY" has discipline guidance relative to a spectrum of ages, infant through elementary school age and offers a variety of specific interventions of how to get better behavior from a child. I found Jo's advice to be easy to understand and I agree with the majority of suggested interventions especially on getting your child to sleep in his own bed at night. This book emphasizes 3 main areas to focus on: Putting an immediate stop to the undesirable or dangerous behavior in the heat of the moment (like whining, backtalk, hitting, tantrums and not listening)...Continuing to use "positive" discipline (outside the heat of the moment) by noticing and encouraging the good behaviors (like cleaning up, healthy eating, uses manners, sharing, and following a bedtime routine) and...lastly "Supernanny" stresses the importance and positive effects of adults prioritizing daily one-on-one time with each child that serves to strengthen the relationship between parent and child therby getting more cooperation from the child just because he knows he is important and understood.

As a teacher and mother of a very active 3-year-old, I highly recommend "SUPERNANNY" along with another parent friendly reference book that I purchased with this one called "THE POCKET PARENT", written soley for parents of 2, 3, 4, and 5 year-olds. These books are indeed "better together" as they compliment each other's helpful child rearing information. Neither book needs to be read cover to cover, but rather as you need it by subject (like bedtime, tantrums, etc)...giving you tons of quick-read discipline tips and strategies to consider trying on just about every challenging behavior your child throws your way.

This was an interesting purchase for me. I am not a parent, but I am a teacher, and after catching a few episodes of "Super Nanny" on TV, I was intrigued by and supportive of Jo Frost's approach and foundational principles. This book appeared as I was browsing through current bestsellers, and mainly because of the price, I decided to purchase. What a nice find! The price alone is terrific, but do not let it fool you -- the book is quite professionally done. The book's principles are very solid, and the pictures are pleasant, beautiful, and engaging. Wait until you open to the child on the first page! How adorable! Ms. Frost's advice is very respectable. She makes consistent application of her "Top Ten Rules" throughout the book and also for specific behaviors. As a teacher, I agree with her advice. An organized schedule and a system of "currency" (praise and rewards and behaviors and consequences) are key staples in the classroom environment, but are very rarely applied in home situations. This book is a very good primer and starting point for parents. I would even recommend this book for new teachers (or seasoned teachers who need a little inspiration). Overall, this is the most practical, immediate, engaging, cost-effective, professional, and thought-provoking book on parenting and dealing with children. Go ahead and buy it. It will probably be the best ten dollars you've ever spent. I highly recommend!

I was drawn in by the tv show and liked Jo's style and approach so I bought this book. My daughter is still quite small and I've been 'reading ahead' to get ideas for general approaches and techniques. I've been trying to get MYSELF ready for the future since one of the lessons that is proven out week after week by that show is that often children's misbehavior is directly related to how the parents handle - or don't handle - the behaviors that all little kids try out.

I like her Top 10 rules and how she applies them to each key area (e.g. eating, toilet training, dressing, etc.) I like that she takes in the whole picture and often talks about how one behavior could lead to another.

I went to a baby proofing seminar recently and although I might not remember the specifics of each gadget, I really remember one thing he said which is to get the items and practice using them BEFORE you think you need them. That way you have a chance to get comfortable with them before you have a toddler challenging every move.

I really took that to heart and think that applies to a lot of these techniques as well. For example, Jo talks a lot about giving warnings and explanations that things are about to happen so children aren't surprised. "In 5 minutes we are going to eat." or "I'm going to give you a bath after dinner." She calls it the Talking Clock method. So, if my husband and I learn to start talking her thru what goes on each day, hopefully we can help establish better routines before there are problems. As a parent, it's important that we learn and practice things that are going to help her learn!

I enjoyed the book. The general techniques are even handed and appear very common sense. They're useful because as a first-time parent I don't have the experience to necessarily anticipate behaviors or have already thought up techniques to head them off.

The book contains general approaches and some troubleshooting ideas. It doesn't have specific advice for severe problems - look elsewhere for that kind of info. The book does have a nice list of websites with a good synopsis of the information it contains. I've done a lot of researching on the web and the book suggested some new ones I hadn't seen.

As parents we are responsible for being consistent with our kids. We need to discuss which techniques we are going to implement and then back each other up!

Not only is Jo Frost a great nanny (I've watched the show), she is a good writer as well, and the book is laid out in an easy to read manner. We've always used timeouts in our house, but our children continued to be terrors and the book clearly explains what we have been doing incorrectly. All I have to do now is give my kids a warning about the Naughty spot, and it works beautifully. I love how she has addresses specific situations, such as dressing, shopping, sibling fights, etc. A great book for any parent, no matter how difficult (or not) your children are.

I have watched Supernanny since it began, even though I am a grandmother, and I only wish I had had the wisdom of Jo Frost when my own children were young. Every parent and grandparent should read this book AND watch the Supernanny in action on the TV show! When you first see some of the 'out of control' children on the show, you think that there is simply no hope for these children, as the parents just let them get away with murder and such disrespect for the parents is horrifying. It is really the parents who need to change their own behavior, to be able to change the behavior of the children. Once the parents learn and 'consistently use' the things Jo Frost teaches, it not only makes for much happier and well adjusted children, but for a much happier and well adjusted family. Children learn from their parents, so the purchase of this book will truly be the best thing you will ever buy for your children. It will also teach the children how to be effective parents in years to come.

I highly recommend this book to any struggling parents out there. It is an easy and quick read (which I never find anything a quick read). I think I read the whole book in about 4 hours. It is chock full of advice on everything from play to sleep routines and everything in between. I have started using the adivce she offers and have already seen a change in my 2 toddlers, 3 and 21 months, as well as the whole atmosphere of the house and I have had the book for about 2 weeks. A must read!!!!

Supernanny is full of cookie cutter interventions for many challenges that parents face. This is not a bad thing, however, after I finished reading this book I found myself wondering if I had any greater insight as to why these behaviors were occurring. I also found myself wondering if my relationship with my sons had improved as a result of the Supernanny interventions. To the first question (did I finish Supernanny with greater insight as to why these behaviors were occurring?) I would respond with a big NO. I might be better able to curtail a certain undesirable behavior but I found myself no closer to understanding why this was occurring. Without this insight I think I will see similar behaviors in the future. The second question (had my relationship with my sons improved as a result of the Supernanny interventions) must also be answered with a NO! When I look at the levels of intimacy in the parent-child relationship, the degree of emotional safety, and how we process our thoughts and emotions I find Supernanny to be of little support.

Now, I do not want to be completely negative about Supernanny. Jo Frost provides a decent review of some important points. However, there is much more to parenting well and experiencing greater parenting success than what is found in the pages of this book. I would certainly suggest that Supernanny (if you feel compelled to read it) be supplemented with more detailed and in-depth resources. I would suggest that parents turn to resources such as "Systemic Parenting" by Mark Gaskill (a family therapist and parenting expert) and "Unconditional Parenting" by Alfie Kohn (a brilliant researcher and parenting expert).

I love the way this book is layed out, simple, straightfoward and very easy to follow. It is not loaded with hundreds of pages of theories and other stuff. Her sensible and loving approach, is disciplined and authoratative. If you are a family looking for a little structure and sanity check out this book. It is helpful for all aspects of everyday family life for all ages starting with newbron.

I think Jo Frost and her marketing team must be applauded for Supernanny. It is what it is - a book that is meant for mass market & broad appeal. Unfortunately, this means that the book will only be "a little bit helpful" for many and "a lot helpful" to few if any. It simply scratches the surface while avoiding the more challenging and sometimes complex topics parents face. I agree with some of the other reviewers who state that Supernanny seems to lack the depth that will be helpful in raising a child well. This is certainly a fun read, but do not go into it with very high expectations. I would certainly supplement Supernanny with one of the more well respected and detailed parenting resources ...

I love Jo-Jo and this book is great. It's very much like you would expect if you watch her Supernanny show -- straightforward, practical and full of great advice and ideas. If you're going to get only one of her two books, though, I prefer "Ask Supernanny".