Product Description

The Introduction of the original 1997 version from page XVII beginning to page XXI up to but not including

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95932 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-22
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 252 pages

Amazon.com
The renowned Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has once again produced a remarkably wise and useful reference for parents. Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop is spot-on when he says in the foreword that the book "should revolutionize parenting for many readers." That is, especially for those parents who are tired of euphemistically referring to their kid as a "spirited child" and find themselves frequently exhausted and embarrassed by their child's temper tantrums, insensitive remarks, and general impatience, self-centeredness, and irritability. Instead of merely advocating ways to discipline behavioral problems, this book will help you fathom just where your child's inscrutable (but normal) outbursts are coming from--to prevent and better manage them in the future.

During his 30 years of research into childhood and adolescent behavior, author Dr. William B. Carey has found that temperament is about 50 percent genetic. So even if you were a little monster and have found your fruit hasn't fallen far from the tree, there's that whole other 50 percent that can be improved upon. He's also found that temperament can be separated into nine aspects: activity, adaptability, distractibility, initial reaction, intensity, mood, persistence and attention span, regularity, and sensitivity.

Once Dr. Carey has walked you through the process of profiling your child's temperament according to these easy-to-comprehend factors (and the ways it affects you that you're probably unaware of), you'll learn specific techniques for managing your child's behavioral problems both at home and at school. He also offers tips for parenting siblings whose temperaments may be quite different from each other; helpful facts on temperament's relationship to learning disabilities; and its influence on common physical problems such as sleep disorders, bed wetting, and obesity. With page after page of enlightening tips, Understanding Your Child's Temperament is certainly a sanity saver for exhausted parents.

From Booklist
Learning about and understanding children's temperaments or ways of reacting are increasingly important parenting tools because they influence how well parents and children get along. A poor "fit" of parents and children may lead to problems in children's development, behavior, school performance, and even physical health. Carey draws on research, clinical practice, and case studies to describe nine temperamental traits (activity, regularity, initial reaction, distractibility, etc.), a simple technique for assessing them, the ways children's temperaments affect parents, and tips for managing differences to avoid behavioral problems. Clear and concise, Carey's book provides a basic reference for parents unfamiliar with the depth and scope of temperament and with the impact temperament has on children's development. Kathryn Carpenter

Customer Reviews

Not as helpful as other books out there
I found the descriptions of the personality types good, but the practical advice in how to deal with those types and specifically the combinations of types lacking.
I went back and read some of my other child development books and found they not only had a lot of the same information, but much more practical advice in how to deal with them. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles is a terrific one. The information on the temperament types is more brief, but again, you can get the gyst pretty easily, and the practical side is much richer... and that, for me, was more important. In addition, the Power Struggles book also covers the parent's personality type and how to work your temperament WITH your child's and know where the danger zones are.

Fascinating insight into children's behavior
Even though I am only an aunt to two children - and not a parent - I found that this book provides valuable information for anyone dealing with children. Dr. Carey dispells the myth that babies and children are 'blank slates' that can be regulated, scheduled and expected to behave in certain ways. One of the most heartening aspects of the book is that Dr. Carey shows both the "positive" and "negative" aspects of each type of termperament he identifies, avoiding completely the categorizing of any sort of personality as 'problematic.'

His argument against the use of Ritalin is very persuasive, as so many of the children prescribed the drug are actually exhibiting behaviors that are within the range of "normal." Parents having "trouble" dealing with their child's behavior would learn a great deal from this book, particularly how modifying their own actions can influence an individual child's "fit" with his or her environment.

The writing is quite accessible, with concrete examples to illustrate the key points and strategies that can be applied when dealing with children. I've recommended this book to several of my friends and colleagues with children, and they have all found it thoroughly useful and informative. And I, merely as a party interested in behavior and children, found it an accessible and fascinating book that taught me a great deal about how to deal with my own niece and nephew!

temperment analysis is a powerful tool to figure out a child
this temperment approach makes sense of a lot of my two children's behavior over the last few (9 &5) years. I've seen way too many children on ridelin and agree with the author that temperment has to be considered before we start doping up our kids with speed to make them temporarily easier to deal with. The case studies are carefully selected and get across the author's theories effectively while making the book understandable to any parent interested in children's behavier.