Ask the Children: The Breakthrough Study That Reveals How to Succeed at Work and Parenting (Paperback)

~ Ellen Galinsky (Author) "Ask the Children has its genesis in a study that I and other colleagues at Bank Street College conducted more than a decade ago, during..." (more)
Key Phrases: children with employed parents, establishing family routines, nonparental child care, All Children Third Through Twelfth Grades, Views of Mothers, All Children Seventh Through Twelfth Grades (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The first comprehensive study asking children and their mothers and fathers for their family views on work and family life offers dozens of proven strategies busy families can use to feel more successful at work and at home.  Noted work-family  researcher Ellen Galinsky overtunes accepted thinking on quality vs. quantity time and many other guilt-inducing "myths", reveals children's one greatest wish for changing how work affects their parents' lives, shares relationship stories of how families stay close, and outlines a brilliant new set of operating principles to navigate work-family challenges, including:

Proven tactics for enhancing life at work

 

Ways to de-stress at work and at home

How to encourage family communication-and what to say to do once you have your child's attention 

How to decode the messages your children are getting about the world and work

Simple family traditions that foster well-adjusted children

And much more

About the Author

Ellen Galinsky is co-founder and president of the Families and Work Institute in Manhattan. A leading authority and speaker on work/family issues, she was on the faculty at Bank Street College of Education for twenty-five years and she has authored sixteen books. She lives with her family in upstate New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (November 21, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688177913
• ISBN-13: 978-0688177911
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #912,865 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Adds Nothing New, March 14, 2003

By	Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ask the Children is an interesting book, but one that could be, and probably has been, summarized in a much shorter Parents Magazine article and still be quite useful. Bottom line, the fact that both parents work does not affect children as much as how their parents treat them affects them. Still, this would be an excellent resource for research purposes. I just don't think you need to spend your money simply because you are interested in the topic.

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Research, June 13, 2004

By A Customer

Don't think this is a great eye-opener. It is apparent that Galinsky undertook the research in order to relieve guilt for working parents. This is not the way to do it. She litters her book with contradictions that invalidate her work. For example, "56 percent of parents assume that their children would wish for more time together....And 50 percent...feel that they have too little time with their child." Then she concludes, "But only 10% of children wish that their mothers would spend more time with them, and 15.5% say the same thing about their fathers."
But then she says later: "39% of children 13 through 18 years old feel they have too little time with their fathers, compared with 29% of children 8-12 years of age." And, "We found that the quantity of time with mothers and fathers does matter a great deal. Children who spend more time with their mothers and fathers on workdays and nonworkdays see their parents more positively, feel that their parents are more successful at managing work and family responsibilities, and see their parents as putting their families first."
In one paragraph she discusses how parents talking about work affects their children, but that they are "reluctant" to talk to their children! How can talkng about work affect children if they are reluctant to talk about it???
So, children are affected, but they're not. They don't want more time, but they really do. Is it 15% or 39%? Most of the research is either bad or of the "duh!" type. If you are doing serious research, look elsewhere; if you want some feel good stuff because you're feeling guilty, stick to the parent magazines.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference on how to raise teenagers, March 26, 2001

By A Customer

This book is very well-written and well-structured. It assisted me a great deal to write a graduate paper on how teenagers are affected when parents do not play an active role in their child's life. The learnings from the study are very interesting and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a parent.

Enjoy!