Great resource for raising kids
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I have read a lot of the Sears' books and agree with what he has to say about parenting. I found them extremely helpful. Even though alot of what he talks about is repetitive from book to book (ex: attachement parenting is a theme he devotes many pages to in all his books), I didn't mind this too much...but some people might. I don't really agree with his co-sleeping ideas, but to each his own. Overall, I think this book covers many topics that are relevant for parenting in today's society. My child is not even born yet, but I think that anyone from being pregnant to having a teen can benefit and gleen information that they deem relevant from this book.
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If You've Read One, You've Read Them All
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This book contains a lot of practical advice on how to foster desirable, pleasant behaviors and attitudes in children, which naturally contribute to their success in life. However, it has several fundamental flaws in its execution. The first and biggest is that, as many other reviewers have noted, the entire book is little more than a propaganda piece for attachment parenting. Because of this, there is never a moment in the book where he addresses ANY of the challenges his theories have faced. It is also filled with endless gross generalizations such as "The connected child will do what's right because doing what's wrong makes him FEEL wrong." ["Connected child" is his term for children who are raised according to his dictates. If you disagree with any of his tactics, you're in danger of raising a "disconnected" i.e. sociopathic failure of a child.) And "Children who are on the receiving end of sensitive parenting become sensitive themselves." Ad nauseum. Literally. The book is filled with obsequious overgeneralizations. There are dozens of little "interviews" from, I guess we're supposed to believe, patients (although the speakers are NEVER identified, making it very confusing when the sidebar refer to "our son Matthew" while knowing Dr. Sears has a son Matthew too). These "interviews" produce hysterically unbelievable and melodramatic accounts of miraculously empathic (and boy howdy, ARTICULATE!) 2 year olds, shrewd psychological insight imparted by kindergarteners, etc. Oh, and of course, the book is riddled with obliquely validating comments such as "Research has shown," yet the book fails to have a bibliography or reference section. One eventually has to question why the book ends up seeming more like a sales pitch for attachment parenting than any real compilation of advice. As the parent of a 6yo child with high-functioning autism who DID/does practice many of the things the Sears deem as "attachment parenting" to the letter, I can tell you that while I don't disagree that his child-sensitive approach to parenting does engender trust and emotional intimacy between parent and child, it is in NO way a blueprint for raising "successful" children, nor is it a recipe for producing any kinds of desirable traits in your children. There is little room for variables in Dr. Sears' tract, if any. I don't think following these practices would hurt any child, but I think that the claims Dr. Sears makes are, at best, spurious, and should be questioned and challenged a lot more than they currently are.
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Excellent - The Science Behind Well Rounded Children!
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I've read quite a lot of Dr. & Martha Sears' books and agree with some previous reviewers who have said that some of their most recent releases are just rehashes of old stuff [something I began to find very frustrating!]. However, this book was well worth my money! I was pleasantly surprised to find a well organized book taking a "bird's eye view" of childrearing - not getting so bogged down in babyhood, but looking at the long term goals and results. I found the research quoted throughout fascinating and really enjoyed their synthesis of scientific study. I liked seeing their logic on how their suggestions for raising babies, preschoolers, and elementary age kids on up are likely to result in the attributes I want for my own children. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Siblings [something they are obviously experts at after 8 children!], Raising Moral and Responsible Children, and Sexuality; as well as the numerous suggestions and ideas for raising older children. This book is an excellent follow up to "The Baby Book" - what to do when the baby isn't a baby any more! Even if you are not the least bit inclined towards Attachment Parenting, this book would be an interesting read just as a counterpoint to your own philosophy. I'm very excited to have found such a useful book!
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Don't be a Dr. Sears Clone!!
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The first Dr. Sears book I read was "The Baby Book", which I found helpful and somewhat insightful as many other parents that are gentle in raising their children. But I became very turned off by this book and the entire Dr. Sears following that has thousands of parents looking to him as the guru of child care. This book, like all the others in the "Sears library" of books is a carbon copy of his other books and reiterates the same beliefs. He uses this book as a medium to promote his attachment parenting beliefs and uses the title "the successful child" to make parents believe that his parenting beliefs are the rule rather than the exception. Yes, I know that Dr. Sears has eight kids and is a well renowned pediatrician, but that doesn't make him the authority on parenting and child development and other issues that he has written books on including family nutrition, pregnancy, and childbirth, and to suggest so would make his books utterly self-congratulatory other than proven techniques that work across the board. I hope the parents of his patients don't feel that they have to conform to his beliefs in terms of how they choose to raise their children. It is good to take what is useful to you as a parent from various sources such as this book; but I refuse to see Dr. Sears as an authority on my child's development and on my role as a parent just because he has written dozens of books that are regurgitations of each other. As a parent, you must learn to think for yourself as well as seek out information from other sources.
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Excellent guide for raising children
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This book does an excellent job of discussing what parents can do to help their children become successful people. It delves into diverse topics such as responsibility, academics, compassion and communication. I highly recommend this to parents of children from toddlers to teenagers. I would also recommend a book the by co-author of this one, Elizabeth Pantley, called Kid Cooperation: How to Stop Yelling, Nagging and Pleading - as a guide to the practical aspects of using the tools described in The Successful Child.
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