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A review by rosietomyn
Raising Human Beings: Creating a Collaborative Partnership with Your Child by Ross W. Greene
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Raising Human Beings by Ross W. Greene is a good read for parents of children of all ages. I wouldn't necessarily say anything really new is covered, but Greene's communication strategies offer a unique framework for parents wanting to maintain strong connections with their kids.
Throughout the book, Greene uses dialogue-based examples to highlight the ways parents can build (or maintain existing) positive, guiding relationships with their kids. He uses specific examples, but they work to highlight how to apply parent communication strategies to many different ages and situations.
The book's primary focus is how to collaborate with children to solve problems, and how to use open dialogue to set goals and expectations while also building a foundation for kids to learn compassion, resilience, and grit.
Greene clearly identifies why coercion, bribery, and physical punishment do harm. He shares the importance of teamwork so that kids understand that pitching in and teamwork is an important part of being a family, home, etc. He shares that if we want children to understand right from wrong, selfishness from compassion, they have to learn that doing the right thing doesn't always have an intrinsic reward - and doing the wrong thing doesn't have to mean there is punishment.
The biggest takeaways are the dialogue-based strategies for establishing (or enhancing) a strong, open relationship with your child so that issues, goals, expectations and concerns can be tackled as a team.
I appreciated the final chapters that address the importance of clear expectations that encourage compassion, prioritize putting others first, establish clear communication, and promote the flexibility to try something again or try something new. Greene points at the importance of working against rapidly increasing trends toward selfishness, isolation, rigidity, and the inability to value differing opinions.
The author makes clear that this generation of kids is going to need strategies to make a difference in an incredibly divided, and often harmful, world. It's going to be increasingly important that we as parents prepare them.
Throughout the book, Greene uses dialogue-based examples to highlight the ways parents can build (or maintain existing) positive, guiding relationships with their kids. He uses specific examples, but they work to highlight how to apply parent communication strategies to many different ages and situations.
The book's primary focus is how to collaborate with children to solve problems, and how to use open dialogue to set goals and expectations while also building a foundation for kids to learn compassion, resilience, and grit.
Greene clearly identifies why coercion, bribery, and physical punishment do harm. He shares the importance of teamwork so that kids understand that pitching in and teamwork is an important part of being a family, home, etc. He shares that if we want children to understand right from wrong, selfishness from compassion, they have to learn that doing the right thing doesn't always have an intrinsic reward - and doing the wrong thing doesn't have to mean there is punishment.
The biggest takeaways are the dialogue-based strategies for establishing (or enhancing) a strong, open relationship with your child so that issues, goals, expectations and concerns can be tackled as a team.
I appreciated the final chapters that address the importance of clear expectations that encourage compassion, prioritize putting others first, establish clear communication, and promote the flexibility to try something again or try something new. Greene points at the importance of working against rapidly increasing trends toward selfishness, isolation, rigidity, and the inability to value differing opinions.
The author makes clear that this generation of kids is going to need strategies to make a difference in an incredibly divided, and often harmful, world. It's going to be increasingly important that we as parents prepare them.