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mnstucki's review against another edition
4.0
I was a little wary at first, thinking that maybe this book was going to be kitschy and full of platitudes, but Monke's Masters in psychology combines with her bubbly personality to make this both an engaging and useful read.
The thing that I enjoy about reading parenting books is that even when they are intended for parents a little farther along in their parenting journey than I am (I have an almost-2-year-old and I am expecting baby #2 in December), I still find lots to glean from it and find that quite a bit of it is applicable to my work as a teacher. I teach 1st grade, so a lot of the social-emotional skills that are a highlight of the positive guidance style of parenting that Monke is highlighting here are the nitty-gritty of my everyday experiences with my students. It also, of course, gives me a lot of perspective about what course to chart moving forward with my own kids.
I love all of the actionable ideas she includes in the book... she really is laying out a game plan for how to teach certain skills and values to kids and it feels very doable.
I especially loved the chapters on helping kids be kind and teaching them the social skills they'll need to make friends. She comes at it from a very reasonable perspective of helping kids develop the skills they need rather than intervening for them (the whole book is framed that way but I feel that explicitly teaching these particular topics is something that is missing from a lot of parenting books).
As a teacher, I also really appreciated the time she spent clarifying bullying vs. rudeness vs. meanness. Very often parents hear from their kids about things going on at school and either a) assume their child is being bullied, or b) don't want to overreact and do nothing, sometimes to the detriment of their child's wellbeing. Monke gives us very specific definitions and questions to ask to determine what is actually happening so we know how to move forward.
The resources included in the back of the book (and at happycampersbook.com) are useful and help provide jumping-off points for what she shares in the book. I will definitely want to revisit this a few times as my kids get older.
The thing that I enjoy about reading parenting books is that even when they are intended for parents a little farther along in their parenting journey than I am (I have an almost-2-year-old and I am expecting baby #2 in December), I still find lots to glean from it and find that quite a bit of it is applicable to my work as a teacher. I teach 1st grade, so a lot of the social-emotional skills that are a highlight of the positive guidance style of parenting that Monke is highlighting here are the nitty-gritty of my everyday experiences with my students. It also, of course, gives me a lot of perspective about what course to chart moving forward with my own kids.
I love all of the actionable ideas she includes in the book... she really is laying out a game plan for how to teach certain skills and values to kids and it feels very doable.
I especially loved the chapters on helping kids be kind and teaching them the social skills they'll need to make friends. She comes at it from a very reasonable perspective of helping kids develop the skills they need rather than intervening for them (the whole book is framed that way but I feel that explicitly teaching these particular topics is something that is missing from a lot of parenting books).
As a teacher, I also really appreciated the time she spent clarifying bullying vs. rudeness vs. meanness. Very often parents hear from their kids about things going on at school and either a) assume their child is being bullied, or b) don't want to overreact and do nothing, sometimes to the detriment of their child's wellbeing. Monke gives us very specific definitions and questions to ask to determine what is actually happening so we know how to move forward.
The resources included in the back of the book (and at happycampersbook.com) are useful and help provide jumping-off points for what she shares in the book. I will definitely want to revisit this a few times as my kids get older.
jeannettesharp's review against another edition
5.0
This was a library book, but it was so practical I ordered a copy to highlight and have on hand for reference.
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