The Big Book of Parenting Solutions: 101 Answers to Your Everyday Challenges and Wildest Worries (Child Development) (Paperback)

~ Michele Borba Ed.D. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Product Description

In this down-to-earth guide, parenting expert Michele Borba offers advice for dealing with children's difficult behavior and hot button issues including biting, temper tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, sex, drugs, peer pressure, and much more. Written for parents of kids age 3-13, this book offers easy-to-implement advice for the most important challenges parents face with kids from toddlers to tweens.

• Includes immediate solutions to the most common childhood problems and challenges
• Written by Today Show's resident parenting expert Michele Borba
• Offers clear step-by-step guidance for solving difficult childhood behaviors and family conflicts
• Contains a wealth of advice that is easy-to-follow and gets quick results
• Author has written outstanding parenting books including Building Moral Intelligence, No More Misbehavin', Don't Give Me that Attitude, and more

Each of the 101 issues includes clear questions, specific step-by-step solutions, and advice that is age appropriate.

Top Ten Proven Parenting Solutions
Content from Dr. Michele Borba

Here is just a sample of the hundreds of proven and simple tips from Dr. Borba’s latest book, The Big Book of Parenting Solutions. The best news is that these solutions work for all ages, take less than a minute to do, are based on proven research and when consistently used will reap lasting change.

1. Get attention: Lower your voice almost to a whisper and then say your request. Kids aren’t used to a quiet request.

2. Increase positive behavior: Research shows that giving kids the right kind of praise (called “positive reinforcement”) is one of the best ways to shape new behavior. So, catch your kid doing the action you want. Just make sure your praise is specific and tells your child exactly what he did right. (Adding “because” or “that” takes your praise up a notch. “I’m so impressed that you started your homework all by yourself this time.”)

3. Stretch persistence: Praising the child’s effort (“You’re working so hard”) and not inherent intelligence (”You’re so smart”) is proven to enhance perseverance and performance, but the child is also more likely to bounce back from a mistake—all because he feels success is not mixed.

4. Reduce fear: Expose your child to a fear in small manageable doses and help them develop a statement to speak back to the worry (“Go away worry!” or “I can do this!”)

5. Curb a tantrum: The longer you give attention to a tantrum the longer it lasts. Ignore, ignore, ignore!

6. Nurture kindness: Encourage your child to use the Two Praise Rule everyday. “Say or do at least two kind things to someone.” Random acts of kindness really are catchy!

7. Increase assertiveness: Stress: “Look at the color of the talker’s eyes.” Using eye contact helps kids appear confident. Strong body posture also helps a child be less likely to be bullied.

8. Friendship builder: The two most commonly used traits of well-liked kids are “smiling” and “encouraging.” Reinforce those traits in your child to boost his friendship quotient.

9. Develop healthy eating habits. Eating relaxed family meals regularly enhances kids’ psychosocial well- being, boosts grades and deters behaviors like smoking and drinking and eating disorders as well as teaches the child healthy eating habits.

10. Curb nagging. Say "no" the first time and don’t back down. The average kid nags nine times knowing the parent will give in.

Review

Borba, author and Today Show regular, employs a cookbooklike approach in her latest volume: rather than read through the entire tome, parents can flip to topics pertinent to their family. Borba opens with a friendly overview, noting that contemporary parents feel more stressed and find their roles increasingly difficult (June Cleaver, she points out, didn't have to deal with cyberbullying or Facebook). With characteristic wit, Borba identifies the seven deadly parenting styles, including helicopter, buddy, incubator, bandage, paranoid, accessory parenting (judging themselves by their kids' accolades) and secondary parenting (relinquishing power to such outsiders as marketers or the media). In nine sections on family, behavior, character, emotions, social scene, school, special needs, day-to-day and electronics, the author urges readers to roll up their sleeves and get back to basic, instinctual parenting. As she tackles 101 issues ranging from sibling rivalry, lying and peer pressure to cell-phone use and TV addiction, Borba helps readers identify the reason underlying the behavior or problem, and work with 10 essential principles of change. With her no-nonsense yet compassionate voice, Borba once again delivers an indispensable resource for parents of toddlers to 13-year-olds. (Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, July 20, 2009)

A Recommended Read for Moms by Working Mother magazine: "Educational psychologist and Today show parenting expert Dr. Michele Borba has compiled 101 answers to your most perplexing kid conundrums, from early childhood challenges like thumbsucking and tantrums to later behaviors like bullying and drug use to universals like adoption and divorce. The easy-to-use problem/solution format will have you battling your biggest parenting crises with confidence." (October 2009)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 736 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass (September 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787988316
• ISBN-13: 978-0787988319
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,955 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is Something I Wish I Had Four Years Ago, September 24, 2009

By	Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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As a mom, I am always on the look-out for parenting books. There have been days when I am overwhelmed with raising kids and wish for some common-sensical guidance and this book is a huge resource for all parents. It's full of parenting resources and the topics are geared from children age 3 to 13. It is a huge book ... I definitely wasn't expecting this size. I am not kidding when I say it's a doorstopper ... with almost 700 pages full of advice, ideas and reading suggestions. She has even included "Late-Breaking News" with a little section on the topic of whatever chapter she's on.

For example, on the "Dependent" chapter, she breaks it down into "The Problem." Then she includes, the red flag, the change to parent for, the explanation for why change, signs and symptoms, a little blurb of the "late-breaking news," and then she provides The Solution. She often puts in other solutions in a box ... with ideas to help parents communicate to the children. Then she provides steps, such as The Solution (like I mentioned above), Rapid Response, Develop Habits for Change, and importantly, "What To Expect by Stages and Ages." This is all covered in one short chapter on "Dependent."

The graphics are crisp and clean. The writing style is precise and helpful. She includes suggestions, reading titles and more. She even offers advice from other parents that have worked for them. She covers a wide range of subjects such as Materialistic to Not Knowing From Right From Wrong to parenting twins/multiples, to Internet Safety. Each section may be short but she writes clearly and offers other resources that can provide parents more reading material to go in more depth of the subject she's writing about. She even provides cross-references to other subjects for parents to get a better understanding of the issue on hand.

I have never heard of Michele Borba. I just picked this book because I do like parenting books and there are days when I wish I had some answers for myself whenever I come across a difficult issue. I definitely didn't expect a resource of this size and it's great! My twins are only 7 and this will come in handy as they approach more issues at school and in their growing up years.

9/24/09

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You Are Looking For One Book, One Resource To Help Parent Toddlers To Teens, The BIG Book of Parenting Solutions is it!, September 9, 2009

By	Cammie "MomsMaterial.com" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

When you see this book, you will realize this includes Michele Borba's work over the last 20 years. It is one BIG BOOK! She has accumulated over 20 years worth of research and includes the most up to date issues parents face today. This is not meant to read through in one sitting. It is meant to be a reference book that you come back to again and again.

This book includes up to date topics such as cell phones, video games, cyberbullying, and internet safety. One section addresses school and includes topics on special needs ranging from ADHD, Gifted, Learning Disabilities, Weight Issues and even Depression. In addition, Michele Borba addresses issues related to family, behavior, character and emotions. For the most part, any topic you will need to address from toddler to tween is included.

Dr. Michele Borba is frequently featured as a Parent Expert on the TODAY Show. Just this past month, I have seen her on the show 3 times. I enjoy watching her because she comes across as if she is having a conversation with you instead of just passing along information. It is easy to pick up on her passion for parenting when you watch her talk. This book is where she shares practical information and solutions that she has collected over the years.

As a parent that needs one book, one resource to go to, I highly recommend this book.

If you only get one parenting book, this is the one I would recommend for dealing with kids ages 3-13.

Cammie

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, well written parenting resource: 4.5, November 1, 2009

By	GamePlayer30 "RW112" (Baltimore, MD) - See all my reviews

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The BIG BOOK of Parenting Solutions by Michele Borba is a great reference book for people with children ages 3-13. It addresses 101 tough problems parents face and how to deal with them. The introduction is very helpful. It first covers the seven deadly parenting styles, then addresses change, and effective mechanisms for parenting for real and lasting change.

This book is very comprehensive, and thoroughly covers many topics: family, behavior, character, emotions, social scene, school, special needs, day to day, and electronics. Throughout the book, red flags are listed for most problems, and the changes to parent for, and the reasons to do it, are very clear. One of the things I most appreciate about this book is the emphasis placed on early intervention, because I believe that the sooner issues are addressed, the less likely it is for them to become bigger problems. Many times it is important to "dig deeper" to find the real root or underlying reasons for a problem because often these have to be addressed before the change can occur. The type of rapid response necessary, and how to develop habits for change are very well covered and insightful.

Of course one book, not even a book this big, could cover every aspect of raising children in full depth. Within many of the sections, more references are listed for acquiring additional information under "more helpful advice", and the notes at the end of the book list many additional references.

Overall, this book does a great job of covering topics ranging from "smaller" types of parenting problems (disorganized, indecisive, tattles, whining, etc.) to very major issues (autism spectrum disorder, depression, attention deficit, etc.) in a clear and organized way. I highly recommend it; it really may be the only parenting book you ever need.