The Gentle Art of Communicating with Kids

By Suzette Haden Elgin

Book Overview

Do you ever feel as if you and your child speak different languages? Does your teenager fly into a rage when you ask a simple question? Does your toddler wage the Battle of Bedtime each night? Here's help from bestselling communications expert Suzette Haden Elgin. As the mother of five and grandmother of nine, Dr. Elgin has spent a lifetime talking with kids both personally and professionally. In this refreshingly direct and down-to-earth book, she shows you how to talk to your child about anything and everything--positively, productively, and above all, peacefully. Her personal approach employs realistic parent/child scenarios and dialogues to illustrate how it is possible to have communication without confrontation. Her techniques will help you: * Be a better listener * Speak firmly, yet compassionately * Spot early warning signs such as anger, sulking, and moodiness * Handle a wide variety of problems, from bedtime and bathtime encounters to more serious issues such as self-esteem, teen pregnancy, and drug abuse * Give special attention to the needs of a technically savvy "cyberchild"

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047103973X
• ISBN13: 9780471039730
• Release Date: August 1970
• Publisher: Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, John
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 1.08 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

If you have children, read this!

Really. Truly. This is the BEST advice on raising and living with kids. It got me through some tough times, and I even use Ms. Elgin's wisdom when working with teens. Suzette Hayden Elgin is brillant!

I've given over sixty copies of this book away

I admit. The publisher eventually gave me the institutional bulk discount, I bought so many copies. If you want to talk to a child, if you are a child who wants to talk to an adult, if you want gentle conversation rather than anger, if you want to understand, this book deals with the tools and skills you need. Elgin may have sold well over a million books, but this is one of her best, and it is clear, direct, and easily applied.