Raising Resilient Children . Fostering Strength, Hope, and Optimism in Your Child

Customer Reviews

Becoming An Awesome Parent

2008-07-29
The really refreshing piece of information in ths book is that our kids won't change unless we do. They are our mirrors. So really it's about how to change your parenting style. If what you're doing now is not getting a positive response you need to change what you're doing. As this book points out, this is the strategy we use in all other areas of our lives we should also use it in our parenting. This book shows you how. "Raising Resilient Children" could be called "Becoming an Awesome Parent".

Very little to do w/ resilience

2008-06-18
I was really disappointed with this book. In general it's about building up children's self-esteem, but doesn't focus on helping children develop resilience with daily disappointments or problems (bullies, not making a soccer goal, etc.) Self esteem is very different from resilience. Instead, I'd recommend two books: Blessings of the Skinned Knee and Mindset. Blessings is based on practical/current applications from the Torah; I am not Jewish and still found this book to be very helpful/wonderful. The books don't have chapters on "resilience", but the overall info from both has been very helpful in that area.

The Most Helpful Book I Ever Read

2007-04-12
I would recommend this book to any mother but especially mother's of young children who feel their kids or their lives with their kids aren't what they imagined they would be. This book helps you love the child you've got without any "but if you'd onlys." This book shows you the possibility of unconditional love and appreciation for your child that can be mixed with guidance and strengthening support.

A mother of two school aged children LOVES THIS BOOK

2006-11-21
I must say I'm tempted to give away every single other parenting book I own. This book is the first book to ever "speak" to me. I've spent some time trying to figure out why this book touched me so much. It hit me - resilience is the BIG picture - I CAN operate and understand the big picture and then apply it to my life as a parent. I've spent most of my life as a parent searching for solutions to the little picture problems which change daily and spontaneously. I was never ready.

Reading Dr. Brooks' philosophy made me want more than ever to adequately prepare my children for the joys and upsets of life and in two short weeks I'm beginning to feel prepared to do so. In the moments of chaos I feel more connected to the long term and my parenting has changed. Funny how my heart seems to have grown for our two adorable kids as well.

Case Study after Case Study

2006-05-11
Oy! If I have to read one more 'great save' case by these authors/psychologists, I will pull out my hair. This book was one case study after another outlining in great detail what their patients said and did and how wonderfully the authors managed to break through in each case, solving all problems for the troubled family, leaving them all happy and saved as the doctors ride gloriously into the sunset. Ugh! I wanted more substance, more "this is what you need to do". There was plenty of good advice in this book, but usually it came in the first sentence or at the end of a case study. By the end of the book, I was skipping all the case studies and just searching around for the moral of the story and looking for their not bad advice. I think if the authors had simply printed out their observations and suggestions in outline form, the book would be much more helpful and most importantly, shorter.

Sensible Guidance towards Positive Change

2005-04-05

TOP CHILD PSYCHOLOGISTS OFFER EXPERT INSIGHT AND PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR RAISING STRONG KIDS IN TODAY'S COMPLICATED WORLD

"Thoughtful and sound in its approach, practical and clear in its suggestions, direct and supportive in its tone, Raising Resilient Children is the perfect book for parents searching for a caring method to help their children grow into healthy, happy, loving, and mature adults."William Pollack, Ph.D., author of Real Boys

". . . the down-to-earth strategies ensure this title will be used as well as read . . . truly valuable material." Publishers Weekly

" . . . a remarkable book that pulls together the research on resilience and makes it readable, understandable, and practical."Work and Family Life

"A very important work. This not-to-be-missed book debunks the paradigm ('Good enough for me: I turned out OK') and replaces it with a new model fostering resilience capable of meeting obstacles head-on."Library Journal (starred review)

For parents' workshops, perhaps for teacher in-service ed...

2003-06-25
This curriculum workbook springs from Goldstein's and Brooks' book, Raising Resilient Children, which (for some reason I do not know) is no longer available through Amazon.com (you would have to buy it used). (Perhaps the authors are planning a second edition?)

This is a 9-week course covering: (1) Teaching and conveying empathy; (2) re-writing negative scripts; (3) Discplining in ways that promote self-discipline and growth; (4) Making decisions, solving problems; (5) loving children in ways that help them feel special and appreciated; (6) learning from mistakes; (7) Expecting success, "islands of competence"; (8) hope and courage.

It is accompanied by a video tape (not available from Amazon.com) but which would be good for persons planning parent groups or in-service for teachers.

The age-group that the authors write about is children, but with some modifications (especially with discipline) it could be applied to adolescents.

This book is an easy beginning to the practical aspects of resilience education. It is graphically good looking and substantively good.

"Good parenting" from a cognitive-behavioral viewpoint 2003-06-18
The authors, both clinical psychologists and professors, state ten principles which they believe lead to "resilience" in children. Resilience is defined as "the ability of a child to deal more effectively with stress and pressure, to cope with everyday challenges, to bounce back from disappointments, adversity, and trauma, to set clear and realistic goals, to solve problems, to relate comfortably with others, and to treat oneself and others with respect" (p. 1)

These ten principles are "idealized" child "mindsets," which parental behavior supports. The authors do not criticize parents for not supporting their children all the time. Instead, they give numerous suggestions and examples of what a parent can do to improve their communication with their children.

The tone of this book is "talky" and easy to read. Perhaps 2/3rds of the examples are about children; the rest, adolescents. Almost all examples come from the authors' extensive psychotherapy and family therapy practices.

I have some quibbles with the logic of some of their conclusions, but, in general, parents will find this an easy and helpful read. Although the topic of "resilience" is a part of the newly emerging field of "social-emotional learning" (SEL), educators will find this book harder to use. The children in the examples attend schools, but there is no description of how to implement a resilience curriculum.

The authors also publish a workbook, "Raising resilient children: A curriculum to foster strength, hope, and optimism in children." This workbook is tied to a video that the authors have produced (but which is not sold with the workbook; the video must be ordered from the publisher and I have not seen it on Amazon.com). This workbook provides exercises with which they can build the competence to support their children. This workbook also gives the gist of their argument, and teaches parents directly how to implement the skills to support their child.

Comprehensive and Helpful 2002-07-12
As an occupational therapist and mom of a child with a unique learning style, this book has helped me articulate abstract thoughts that help children, in real time, with real issues, succeed. Parents find the book's ideas profound but the tone simple enough to easily implement. As a therapist, I find ideas to integrate into treatment and to help me explain to parents their role in supporting their child's ultimate success or failure. I think families would be so much more successful if this were required reading before they brought their bundles home from the hospitals.

One of many average parenting books 2002-04-18
This tended to be an average book about parenting with basically good ideas, but surprising weak in dealing with childhood crises that call upon resilience. As a parent whose child had gone through a traumatic experience, it failed to provide the type of support necessary for the challenging times in parenting.