Pick Up Your Socks . . . and Other Skills Growing Children Need!: A Practical Guide to Raising Responsible Children

by Elizabeth Crary, Pati Casebolt (Illustrator)

Responsibility is a skill you can teach. Hard to believe? Not with the no-nonsense advice in this classic book. For more than a decade, parents have been relying on Elizabeth Crary's step-by-step guyide to getting kids to both accept and learn responsibility. Whether you're teaching a small child to pick up his socks or a teenager to handle peer pressure, you'll appreciate the real-life examaples, complete with consequences. Crary also helps parents be realistic in their expectations. She explains normal developmental stages and learning styles, so we understand how our kids best absorb and retain information.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Becki]

This book is subtitled ��and other skills growing children need! A Practical Guide to Raising Responsible Children.� In it, Ms. Crary tackles such topics as responsibility versus obedience, basic responsibility skills (memory, motivation), chores, school responsibility, and independent living skills.\nI read this book with mixed thoughts/feelings. A lot of it seemed to go too far towards negotiating and rewarding your children for every little thing they do. However, I was able to pull out a few nuggets. I think when introducing a new skill or chore, a reward chart of some kind (where they color a square for each success and once X spaces are filled, they receive a reward). Also, I�m going to talk to the husband person about possible setting up a contract for A. and her homework. That continues to be a struggle�and has been off and on since second grade when her mom told her she didn�t really care about her schoolwork. I�m not sure that a contract will work to motivate her (it didn�t help with her special Challenge program she was removed from for not challenging). But we are quickly running out of ideas, and we haven�t tried this one yet.\n

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent tips for children of all ages....very interesting!

[Megan]

from recommended reading list in How Much is Enough?

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it has some relatively good suggestions, and it's a fast read.