| There are many books
about parenting that illustrate three different views. One group illustrates
knowledgeable parenting that is designed to grow discipline and responsibility
within children as a result of give-and-take between parent and child
as taught here in Synergistic Parenting. Other books not listed here
advocate either authoritarian parenting, which tends to produce dependency
or rebellion in many children, or tell how to be laissez faire or
permissive parents.
The following books
add further information and examples. They are listed alphabetically within
groups.
Good introductions:
Don
Dinkmeyer, Sr., Gary D. McKay, and Don Dinkmeyer, Jr.: The
Parenting Handbook. The STEP handbook — see also STEP for infants
and STEP
for teens — cover attitudes and skills.
Thomas Gordon: P.E.T.: Parent
Effectiveness Training. An excellent book revised in 2000, covering
many subjects carefully, and available in paperback. If you buy only one
book, I suggest this.
Elisa Medhus, M.D.: Raising
Children Who Think for Themselves discusses several aspects or facets
of self-directed children in relation to failure, peers, etc.
Judith Warner: Perfect Madness: motherhood in the age of anxiety reports her experience as a new mother in France, then returning to the U.S., she reports the changes in parenting styles and women's self-images driving parents mad, and closes with hopeful possibilities. Thoughtful and scarey.
Discussions of issues:
Lee Canter with Marlene
Canter: Assertive Discipline for Parents
Ellen Falinsky:
Ask the Children. Results of research of parents and working; it
found that work is not as critical as parental attitudes and time spent
with your child.
Haim G. Ginott: Between
Parent and Child
Nicky Marone: How
to Father a Successful Daughter. Ways social and peer pressure reduce
a daughter's motivation and how to counter it.
Chuck Meyer: Twelve Smooth
Stones. Thoughtful notes to a daughter about problems.
Jane Nelson and Lynn Lott:
I'm On Your Side: Resolving Conflict with Your Teenage Son or Daughter
Jane Nelson: Positive
Discipline
Trevor Romain: The Little
People's Guide to the Big World
Martin Seligman: The Optimistic
Child. Building resilience in children.
Daniel J.Siegel and Mary Hartzell:
Parenting from the Inside Out guides us to a deeper self understanding,
and includes exercises.
Catherine M. Wallace: For
Fidelity: how intimacy and commitment enrich our lives. A mother
discusses her work with her teens about intimacy and commitment.
Denise Chapman Weston &
Mark S. Weston: Playful Parenting: Turning the Dilemma of Discipline
into Fun and Games
Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara
C. Unell: Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking.
Conflict between profession
or work and family:
Catherine
M. Wallace: Selling
Ourselves Short: Why We Struggle to Earn a Living and
Have a Life.
Divorce:
Judith Wallerstein and others:
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. A 25-year study yields important
information about children and parents.
Being step-parents:
James D. Eckler: Step-by-Step-Parenting/A
Guide to Successful Living With a Blended Family. Carefully discusses
several different facets and relationships.
Gays and Lesbians:
Rosamund Elsin & Michele
Paulse: Asha's Mums
More difficult to
read, more specialized, or technical:
Dorothy Corkille Briggs: Your
Child's Self-esteem
Rudolph Dreikurs with Vicki
Soltz: Children: the Challenge
Erik H. Erikson: Childhood
and Society
Erich Fromm: The Art of
Loving
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