A Very Practical Guide to Discipline With Young Children

by Grace L. Mitchell

What is the right way to handle discipline with young children? With humor and insight Dr. Grace Mitchell uses actual situations to demonstrate her gentle and tested methods. Chapter headings --Getting Them to Bed; --Keeping Them There; --Why Do They Bite?; --Move Over For the New Baby; --Bribes and Rewards; --Swearing and Bathroom Talk; --What are Your Zero Hours?...and much, much more. Dr. Grace Mitchell is an author, lecturer, consultant, and co-founder of a national chain of day care centers. She has had more than 50 years of experience working with young children. Since 1933 she has been a pioneer of nursery school education. She has written three books on child care, received a masters degree from Harvard at age 53 and a PhD at 70. Dr. Mitchell has three children and five grandchildren.

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1982

Reviews

[Gator · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in a thrift store for .50¢ and having three young children thought it looked like a quick, easy and interesting read. I am delighted to say it was exactly that, very insightful and honest. I enjoyed it very much and I love how much I learned from it, no one teaches us how to be a parent, you learn from example of your own I suppose, having said that I see great benefit In reading books about parenting because you learn from the perspective of another.
Never stop learning, especially when it comes to your children, be the best you can be for them and show them by example how to be when they grow up and have their own family's and become parents themselves.

[Rich Yavorsky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this cheaply-published 1982 book in our house while moving some old baby belongings around last month. After looking past the book's 1-star idiosyncrasies (missing paragraph breaks, overuse of exclamations, etc.), the book has good fundamentals:

- Encourage a child's sense of identity ("I am") and ability ("I can")
- Ensure a child sees the sense of behaving or acting in a certain way
- Development occurs across four axes: physical, social, emotional, and intellectual.
- Anticipate, Hesitate, Investigate, Communicate

There's no science in this book--just anecdotes and common sense (that apply equally well to the professional world, I might add). The anecdotes during the final 75% of the book feel like a giant blur after the first 20 pages. Her metaphor of a new baby coming into the house being equivalent to your spouse bringing home a new husband/wife ("you can sleep in your own room now by yourself--so cool!") is quite good. Her support of physical outlets (e.g. punching pillows) seems a bit dated. I generally agreed with her understanding that some undesireable behaviors are natural at the right age and should not be forced otherwise (bedwetting, finicky eating, etc.). Her rejection of reward structures touches upon Alfie Kohn's landmark book 'Punished by Rewards'. Her rejection of corporal punishment seemed to be ahead of its time.

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the emphasis on slowly teaching your child self-control, as I feel this is one of my primary tasks as a parent. I also found her Anticipate-Hesitate-Investigate-Communicate system to be very helpful, and something I immediately began using in dealing with my children.

However, Mitchell is really hung up on the idea that if your child has a healthy self-image, he will behave. Since recent research has found that bullies have tons of self esteem, I have a hard time believing this. My children think they are fabulous, and they act up regularly. The book is also very opposed to pretty much any punishment, but offers almost no alternatives. Mitchell just gives several suggestions of how to help young children effectively deal with anger. Okay, but in the meantime, my son just bit his sister! I really think a punishment needs to be attached to that kind of behavior. Also Mitchell waits til the end of the book to slip in the admission that she didn't learn any of this information until after she had raised her own children.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have owned A Very Practical Guide to Discipline with Young Children for over twenty years and some of the ideas are not currently the way we approach discipline in the preschool environment. It has some basic ideas that are timeless like planning a safe environment, instructing and guiding children in social development and acting naturally and being honest with children and letting them know what you expect of them in the social setting of the classroom, playground and school environment.

[Cayenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on dealing with kids exactly the ages of my children (2-8.) I feel a little overwhelmed by it, but it was very encouraging towards parents and realistic about their weaknesses and strengths. Very positive and I'm guessing ahead of its time.

[Priya Narthakii · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little obvious. but a good skim.

[Chris Chaos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent book concerning dealing with early childhood development..a little short and maybe a good read for a new parent or a new school teacher.