Happy Children through Positive Parenting is a parenting book with a difference. It does not tell parents how and when to potty train or when to introduce children to solid food. Instead it argues what really matters is helping children to grow up feeling secure and good about themselves, enabling them to gain positive self-esteem. Knowing and liking yourself is so often the key to success in life - affecting personal relationships, general motivation and success in work. Using key words such as 'praise', 'play', 'time', 'touch' and 'talk' Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer speaks to new and experienced parents alike about what helps children to develop and what blocks progress. No matter how difficult parenting may have seemed in the past, this book offers a clear and simple way forward in the most influential relationship of all - that between parent and child.

What do we wish most for our children? Next to being healthy, we want them to be happy, of course! Fortunately, a wide array of scientific studies show that happiness is a learned behavior, a muscle we can help our children build and maintain. Drawing on what psychology, sociology, and neuroscience have proven about confidence, gratefulness, and optimism, and using her own chaotic and often hilarious real-world adventures as a mom to demonstrate do’s and don’ts in action, Christine Carter, Ph.D, executive director of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, boils the process down to 10 simple happiness-inducing steps. With great wit, wisdom, and compassion, Carter covers the day-to-day pressure points of parenting—how best to discipline, get kids to school and activities on time, and get dinner on the table—as well as the more elusive issues of helping children build healthy friendships and develop emotional intelligence. In these 10 key steps, she helps you interact confidently and consistently with your kids to foster the skills, habits, and mindsets that will set the stage for positive emotions now and into their adolescence and beyond. Inside you will discover • the best way avoid raising a brat—changing bad habits into good ones • tips on how to change your kids’ attitude into gratitude • the trap of trying to be perfect—and how to stay clear of its pitfalls • the right way to praise kids—and why too much of the wrong kind can be just as bad as not enough • the spirit of kindness—how to raise kind, compassionate, and loving children • strategies for inspiring kids to do boring (but necessary) tasks—and become more self-motivated in the process Complete with a series of “try this” tips, secrets, and strategies, Raising Happiness is a one-of-a-kind resource that will help you instill joy in your kids—and, in the process, become more joyful yourself.

“Instead of trusting kids with choices . . . many parents insist on micromanaging everything from homework to friendships. For these parents, Stixrud and Johnson have a simple message: Stop.” —NPR “This humane, thoughtful book turns the latest brain science into valuable practical advice for parents.” —Paul Tough, New York Times bestselling author of How Children Succeed A few years ago, Bill Stixrud and Ned Johnson started noticing the same problem from different angles: Even high-performing kids were coming to them acutely stressed and lacking motivation. Many complained they had no control over their lives. Some stumbled in high school or hit college and unraveled. Bill is a clinical neuropsychologist who helps kids gripped by anxiety or struggling to learn. Ned is a motivational coach who runs an elite tutoring service. Together they discovered that the best antidote to stress is to give kids more of a sense of control over their lives. But this doesn't mean giving up your authority as a parent. In this groundbreaking book they reveal how you can actively help your child to sculpt a brain that is resilient, and ready to take on new challenges. The Self-Driven Child offers a combination of cutting-edge brain science, the latest discoveries in behavioral therapy, and case studies drawn from the thousands of kids and teens Bill and Ned have helped over the years to teach you how to set your child on the real road to success. As parents, we can only drive our kids so far. At some point, they will have to take the wheel and map out their own path. But there is a lot you can do before then to help them tackle the road ahead with resilience and imagination.

Every parent wants his or her child to be happy and grow into a productive, fulfilled adult . . . and according to parenting expert Maureen Healy, the secret to that success is in providing a foundation of inner confidence. Parents and teachers know that confidence and inner strength are important attributes, but in an era where self-worth is often measured by possessions and attractiveness, most have no idea how to model true inner confidence for their kids or how to help them cultivate it. Real power—or inner confidence—is necessary to overcome obstacles, pursue our unique dreams, and be truly happy. Maureen Healy, a spiritual teacher with twenty years of experience as a child development expert, literally traveled the world from the Bronx to the base of the Himalayas to learn the connection between inner confidence and lasting happiness, and she shares that wealth of knowledge in Growing Happy Kids. Combining her Buddhist training, her background in child psychology, and the latest scientific research, Maureen shares her revolutionary model that defines inner confidence and cultivates a child's sense of optimism and connection. She explores each part of her system, which she called The Five Building Blocks of Confidence, with the mind of a scientist, yet the softness of a real parent who wants to raise strong, happy children. By using those building blocks—biology, beliefs, emotions, social, and spiritual—parents, teachers, and anyone who touches the life of a child can gain the skills necessary to foster happy kids who are strong, self-reliant, and confident. "In Growing Happy Kids, Maureen Healy has given us rich and valuable tools to assist us in honoring and supporting our children in building their self-confidence and helping them become happier. It is a MUST read for all parents, educators, and people who care." —Edwene Gaines, author of The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity "Drawing on her own extensive research and experience, Maureen Healy wisely leads parents and caregivers into the heart of awakening and activating the innate confidence with which every child is born. This is a book that parents will read over and over again." —Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul's Potential

With all the parenting information out there and the constant pressure to be the “perfect” parent, it seems as if many parents have lost track of one very important piece of the parenting puzzle: raising happy kids. Parenting today has gotten far too complicated. It’s never been the easiest job in the world, but with all the “parenting advice” parents are met with at every corner, it’s hard not to become bewildered. It seems that in the past it was a good deal simpler. You made sure there was dinner on the table and the kids got to school on time and no one set anything on fire, and you called it a success. But today everybody has a different method for dealing with the madness--attachment parenting, free-range parenting, mindful parenting. And who is to say one is more right or better than another? How do you choose? The truth is that whatever drumbeat you march to, all parents would agree that we just want our kids to be happy. It seems like a no-brainer, right? But in the face of all the many parenting theories out there, happiness feels like it has become incidental. That’s where The Happy Kid Handbook by child and adolescent psychotherapist and parenting expert Katie Hurley comes in. She shows parents how happiness is the key to raising confident, capable children. It’s not about giving in every time your child wants something so they won’t feel bad when you say no, or making sure that they’re taking that art class, and the ballet class, and the soccer class (to help with their creativity and their coordination and all that excess energy). Happiness is about parenting the individual, because not every child is the same, and not every child will respond to parenting the same way. By exploring the differences among introverts, extroverts, and everything in between, this definitive guide to parenting offers parents the specific strategies they need to meet their child exactly where he or she needs to be met from a social-emotional perspective. A back-to-basics guide to parenting, The Happy Kid Handbook is a must-have for any parent hoping to be the best parent they can be.

What are the keys to raising happy and healthy children? First andforemost are the life force, wisdom, and love of the parents.Happy Parents, Happy Kids will give all parents essential guidance todevelop themselves as they face the challenges and worries of raisingthe next generation. The SGI president’s warm and broad-mindedadvice will serve as reliable guideposts as mothers and fathers seekto build happy families.Topics include:* Respecting each child’s individuality* Dealing with delinquency* The importance of parents changing themselves first* How best to discipline* School and studies* Contributing to society

As an experienced therapist, a parenting expert on television and radio, an award-winning columnist, and a parent, Dr. Jenn Berman provides insightful and informative advice to parents as they guide their children through early childhood. The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids addresses twenty-six of the most important issues that modern parents face. Each self-contained and easy-to-read chapter covers a different topic, allowing busy parents to quickly find and read what they need. You’ll turn to this great resource again and again as your children grow.