i know lot of parents who need a "parenting guidance" and support to be more effective! but parents who "sit" on their babies don't need a book to teach them how to do a better job, they need to be childless
This slim work offers some fresh ideas on keeping order in classrooms of very young children, suggesting that offering choices, using renewal time as a genuine alternative rather than an isolating punishment, and providing discussion work better than traditional methods of discipline.
The author has some good ideas, and every teacher should keep what she says about children as individuals in mind. But her examples are often far-out, the "typical" response to misbehavior always characterized as the most sadistic and selfish comments on the part of the teachers, whereas in the alternative examples, the children are never shown to react badly to genuine alternatives and discussion --- which, at times, they will do. So it was an unscientific book, and slanted too heavily in the author's point of view, but a good working tool for beginners.
I got this book for my parenting class in college. I read the assigned chapter and then put the book on the shelf. I finally read the whole thing and I really liked it. It helped me to see life through the a child's perspective and to improve my communication with kiddos. The whole book is about nonpunitive discipline. It is really great for toddlers and since I don't have any older children I can't say for older kids, but I think that it would still work great.
I saw the title to this book and the year printed (90's) and thought that it might not be what I was looking for....man was I wrong. This book had great examples of the subjects Cherry was covering and the subjects themselves I had a hard time finding in other books. I would rate this as one of the best parenting books I've read so far...surprise, surprise!
My copy is titled "Please Don't Sit on the Kids: Alternatives to Punitive Discipline" and is written for teachers in the classroom. I am not sure if the listed title is a different edition or what but I suspect it is either similar or adapted for parents. Anyway, it is an excellent book for either teachers or parents...
This book should win awards for the worst cover and worst title ever, but it's a useful little book nonetheless and always helped me improve as a mom. The author ran a child care center (and is a mother and grandmother) and her input would be helpful for anybody who spends time around children.