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aurigae's review against another edition
3.0
Gentle Discipline is the practice of compassionately teaching children to manage their difficult emotions in order to live happier, better-behaved lives. It focuses on connecting with children who are experiencing behavior problems, giving them the attention and safety they need, and eschews punishment, reward, and other conventional disciplinary techniques. In this book, Ockwell-Smith discusses why other techniques are inferior and presents gentle solutions to several common discipline problems.
The good: The book is easy to read and doesn't feel condescending; the techniques discussed are fairly universal.
The bad: Although the book is called Gentle Discipline, it doesn't really contain a coherent definition of the philosophy. Additionally, the chapters have a tendency to wander, and the author treats all discipline issues - and, to a great extent, children of all ages - as if they are equivalent.
The verdict: The book oversells its case. It devotes too many pages to explaining why common discipline methods are inappropriate, and too few to explaining how Gentle Discipline differs from them and why it may be superior. Although it does acknowledge the fact that parents may sometimes need to use other discipline methods, it fails to explain how this might be done with a gentle mindset and generally lacks concrete, realistic suggestions.
The good: The book is easy to read and doesn't feel condescending; the techniques discussed are fairly universal.
The bad: Although the book is called Gentle Discipline, it doesn't really contain a coherent definition of the philosophy. Additionally, the chapters have a tendency to wander, and the author treats all discipline issues - and, to a great extent, children of all ages - as if they are equivalent.
The verdict: The book oversells its case. It devotes too many pages to explaining why common discipline methods are inappropriate, and too few to explaining how Gentle Discipline differs from them and why it may be superior. Although it does acknowledge the fact that parents may sometimes need to use other discipline methods, it fails to explain how this might be done with a gentle mindset and generally lacks concrete, realistic suggestions.
sparkdust's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
coverjudger's review against another edition
5.0
Honestly this is a book I could probably read 2 or 3 more times. I need this reminder. It’s so so good and has me remembering why I’m going the gentle parent route. It’s hard but it’s so important. Loved it!
karenisreading's review
5.0
This book is absolutely perfect. Most of the things here are also found in other gentle parenting books but I love that it is concise and easy to read
silvia_linn's review against another edition
2.0
Audiobook only: the narrator is a soft spoken British woman who reminds of the guy on headspace which I use regularly to help me sleep. Both are affective and driving was difficult as a result.
This is not one of my favorite parenting books by far. It was ok. Her methods are basically just to let kids do what they do and you just try to remember that they’re kids and can’t control themselves. She usually uses seven as an age where children can begin to understand natural consequences and eek out ideas why they shouldn’t do something. My son is four and is beginning to grasp this pretty well. There are other stupid things such as how she parents her teen son. He went over his screen time by an hour, was asked what his consequences should be, he decided he’d lose the next day’s time. Then he remembered that his friend was coming over then and they wanted to play a game. He asked to move it back a day and she said yes. Fine, but then she says to not have done so would have made it a punishment and punishments are not supposed to be used. Nah, I’d call that a natural consequence.
There were some helpful things. I do need to remember that I am harder on my child than anyone else. I do need to aim to start transforming my own habits and reactions first. I do need to model the behavior I want and recognize if I yell, my kids are more likely to do so.
This is not one of my favorite parenting books by far. It was ok. Her methods are basically just to let kids do what they do and you just try to remember that they’re kids and can’t control themselves. She usually uses seven as an age where children can begin to understand natural consequences and eek out ideas why they shouldn’t do something. My son is four and is beginning to grasp this pretty well. There are other stupid things such as how she parents her teen son. He went over his screen time by an hour, was asked what his consequences should be, he decided he’d lose the next day’s time. Then he remembered that his friend was coming over then and they wanted to play a game. He asked to move it back a day and she said yes. Fine, but then she says to not have done so would have made it a punishment and punishments are not supposed to be used. Nah, I’d call that a natural consequence.
There were some helpful things. I do need to remember that I am harder on my child than anyone else. I do need to aim to start transforming my own habits and reactions first. I do need to model the behavior I want and recognize if I yell, my kids are more likely to do so.
pharp's review against another edition
I think this book can be summarized by, 'be empathetic,' 'be patient.' Might be better for a parent who is struggling with anger, but that's not me.