Parenting With Purpose: Progressive Discipline from Birth to Four

by Lynda Madison

Once the foundation of a house begins crumbling, there is no quick fix -- only panicked patchwork to keep it from completely caving in. The time to prevent problems is when the foundation is originally laid. When raising a child, it is this structure, provided by parents in the child's early years, that will prevent behavior problems down the road. Parenting with Purpose provides parents with the principles needed to guide the interaction with their child beginning in the toddler years, thereby laying the foundation for a happy, independent adult.Few, if any, parental discipline books focus on toddlers. And yet, studies reveal that most behavioral and discipline problems develop early in childhood. This unique book helps parents confront and resolve these potential problems before they become habits.The book outlines how behavioral problems typically begin and how to recognize them. Then it explores the key ingredients of successful being committed to your child, build

Genres: Parenting

235 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Dr. Lynda Madison is the author of The Feelings Book and is a coauthor of What I Wish You Knew. A licensed psychologist and the director of family support and psychological services at Children’s Hospital in Omaha‚ Nebraska‚ Madison is also the author of Parenting with Purpose and Keep Talking: A Mother-Daughter Guide to the Preteen Years. She lives in Omaha.

Reviews

[Meagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far my favorite parenting book (and I have quite a few!)...it's great for helping you come up with discipline ideas that are age appropriate, positive, and that your child will grasp and respond well to.

[Lynn S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good parenting/discipline book for kids 1-4. It teaches parents how to respond to your children with love and respect, and how to respond to them in ways that are appropriate for their age. She starts with making the point that all the 'techniques' in the world don't help unless you think about your parenting philosophy.

For example, timeouts can work, but when and why do you use them? If you can answer these questions, then you'll be more consistent and fair in your discipline. Once I realized that I needed to give timeouts to give me and the child a break so that we can start again, I stopped worrying about enforcing a certain number of minutes. I had been using them both for a break and as punishment. As punishment, I was trying to enforce a number of minutes. That was leading to huge power struggles and not teaching my kids anything. When I became clear that timeouts = cooling off period, they began to work.

I also love the fact that she has different chapters for 1, 2, 3 and 4 year olds. Many discipline books try to get you to do the same things for a 1 year old that work for a 3 year old - and clearly they are very different beings! Very few parenting books make this important developmental distinction.

Yes, a lot of this is common sense, but for parents who didn't have a good model, it's really helpful. Even for parents who did have a good role model, it contains lots of useful, developmentally appropriate discipline information.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just OK. Some of what she said was helpful to me, but mostly I felt like it was overkill. I don't necessarily agree with her perspective on spanking - but because I don't want to use it in my parenting (for different reasons than hers) her methods mostly compliment my own.
Most of what she was teaching I already do naturally and instinctively. And there were some things I felt were over the top or didn't agree with. So, like with any book or opinion about child rearing, take what you can from all sources but don't feel like anything is "law". Everyone is so different in parenting styles or opinions, and each child is so different. Do what works for you. But I am always open to new ideas or perspectives, and this book provided a few.
I would say this book would be most helpful to those parents who find themselves yelling a lot or feel like their child is out of control and don't know why or what to do about it.

[Lonica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked what Madison had to say, but much of it was just common sense. A good point of view, though, when it comes to parenting.