Parenting with Courage and Uncommon Sense

Book excerpt: What passes for parenting “common sense” today often falls short of the mark. Many of the most common ways parents try to get kids to behave only adds to their stress and frustration, with little resulting improvement in children's behavior.Now there is Parenting With Courage and Uncommon Sense, a book written to show parents what really works when it comes to raising children who grow up to be good people, not just good kids.The book was written by the founder of one of the largest and most successful non-profit parent education programs in the U.S., the Parent Encouragement Program (also known as PEP) that has flourished for more than 30 years. Linda E. Jessup, the founder of PEP, partnered with family therapist Emory Luce Baldwin to write this comprehensive parenting guide for Moms and Dads.Unique among most parenting books, Jessup and Baldwin illustrate their points with the story of a family struggling with familiar problems. Each chapter shows how the parents' growing understanding and skills remedy their most frustrating problems while also creating more harmonious relationships between family members and a calmer, less stressful environment in the home.The lively format and true-to-life examples entertain readers, while also showing parents how to: • Understand why their children behave the way they do;• Help children end their repeated, disturbing misbehaviors;• Discover ways to encourage children to try harder to improve and deal better with their mistakes; and• How to use love, respect, and encouragement to teach children to grow kinder, more cooperative, and more helpful. Written as a book to support PEP's parent education program, Parenting With Courage and Uncommon Sense is loaded with “take-away points” and detailed appendices that show readers how the ideas in the book can used in their own families. Parents will find this book a valuable resource to return to again and again, as their families grow more courageous and more uncommonly sensible.