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Growing Great Boys
There is no doubt that parenting is a special challenge in today's fast-paced, media-driven world. In Growing Great Boys, parenting guru Ian Grant shows how to work with the essential character of boys, using understanding and emotional support to raise loyal, passionate, hard-working, sensitive, funny, fearless and strong men.
Growing Great Boys is brimming with practical, positive and informative parenting advice for raising great sons, from the vital preschool years through to the challenges of teens. It includes chapters on the roles of mums and dads, and on the special challenges faced by solo parents. Hot tips, quotes and action labs encourage parents to take a hands-on approach, coaching their sons to succeed in the game of life.
Growing Great Boys is brimming with practical, positive and informative parenting advice for raising great sons, from the vital preschool years through to the challenges of teens. It includes chapters on the roles of mums and dads, and on the special challenges faced by solo parents. Hot tips, quotes and action labs encourage parents to take a hands-on approach, coaching their sons to succeed in the game of life.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 18, 2016
Contains good ideas for middle school age. Author does his best trying to avoid the word "Religion" in earlier chapters.
Will definitely read again when the kids are teenagers.
Will definitely read again when the kids are teenagers.
December 31, 2014
Enjoyed this book, there were some great practical tips and some very straightforward, common sense advice.
I suppose that pretty much the only problem I had with the book was that there was so much good advice in it that it was hard to decide how to remember it all! Maybe a handy wrap up at the end or something, not sure how to do it better but I feel that I'd have liked a few pages that I could reread as a quick reminder rather than having to dig through the whole book again.
Really good advice though, look forward to using it
I suppose that pretty much the only problem I had with the book was that there was so much good advice in it that it was hard to decide how to remember it all! Maybe a handy wrap up at the end or something, not sure how to do it better but I feel that I'd have liked a few pages that I could reread as a quick reminder rather than having to dig through the whole book again.
Really good advice though, look forward to using it
September 27, 2016
I'm not normally the sort of person who reads parenting books. This one contained a whole heap of useful advice and is useful for any dad raising a small mini me. I marked it down to three stars as it was vomit inducing in a couple of places - e.g. suggesting families have some sort of corporate mission statement and a family minute book. Worth looking past that and reading the whole thing.
May 4, 2021
Ono što je po meni izdvojilo ovu knjigu jeste što je autor konkretno naveo razlike između vaspitavanja devojčica i dečaka i naveo primere za korisne aktivnosti. Meni lično, je dosta značilo da pročitam o nekim stvarima i shvatim razvojnu fazu deteta.
January 3, 2019
Worth reading at least once. But not a lot to take away. Final message is quite straightforward.
June 9, 2022
A thoroughly written book. Well thought out and marvelously helpful.
September 15, 2014
I've already put so much of this into practice. Some of the things felt weird but seemed to go over really well with my twelve year old. I bought this book directly from Ian Grant after seeing him speak in August 2014. Great speaker event and an excellent book for parents of boys who will soon be teens.
June 7, 2013
This is the first parenting book specifically aimed at parents who have sons.
I found it easy and straight forward to read and came away with techniques and things I can do and implement immediately. The book will tell you how to work with the character of your son.
I found it easy and straight forward to read and came away with techniques and things I can do and implement immediately. The book will tell you how to work with the character of your son.
Read
September 11, 2008A must read for parents of boys.
Currently reading
October 2, 2010Early years are so key, setting up their life ahead.
September 11, 2012
This book was ok and I got some good ideas, but it certainly wasn't an eye opener.
April 14, 2017
Definitely not revolutionary, but a good book with some interesting practical ideas. If you want to get the main idea of the book there are helpful bullet point summaries at the end of each chapter.
Interesting points raised
Grant mentions Dr Christopher Green author of Understanding ADHD and Dr Michael Gurian author of The Good Son when speaking about ADHD. Gurian looks particularlyly interesting in this respect, because he believes that a lot of boys suffering from ADHD need a lot less electronic stimulation and more calm routines and outdoor activities. This could be worth a follow up read if you are interested in boys and ADHD.
Another great idea I took from this book is the 'Weekend Away' p132 in my copy. This is a weekend away with your son when he is about 11. It is to be anticipated as a special event and planned in advance with the child. It's a weekend where you talk with your son about how over the next few years you are going to be giving him more freedoms and choices as he rewards your trust in him, and you have the opportunity to talk to your son about what qualities you admire in him, and the qualities you want him to develop as an adult. During this weekend you also listen to Preparing for Adolescence (Dr James Dobson from Focus on the Family) or something similar which covers physical chances and social and psychological challenges that teenagers will face such as self-esteem, romantic love, ethics and spirituality.
It seems that Ian Grant is quite big on rites of passage. He also has another section near the end of the book where he talks about an event you should have for when your boy turns 14, and another 'male blessing' when he turns 16 (p191). I'm not big on this sort of thing, but reading this section made me think there could be something in it.
Grant also believes in the importance of the family meal table. He suggests that this is the place where you can instill family values into your children. He gives ideas as to how you can go about this, from reading followed by questions, to asking your boys what they think, feel, and what if type questions, to asking them to rate their day and why they gave it that rating. He also has a whole bunch of questions that can help jump-start conversations on p112.
He concludes with 12 things he wants his sons to know. Included in these were 'know what love is', 'never quit', 'life isn't fair', 'take responsibility for your own actions', 'watch your tongue', 'play to your strengths' and 'cultivate a best friend'. Good advice for your son indeed!
Interesting points raised
Grant mentions Dr Christopher Green author of Understanding ADHD and Dr Michael Gurian author of The Good Son when speaking about ADHD. Gurian looks particularlyly interesting in this respect, because he believes that a lot of boys suffering from ADHD need a lot less electronic stimulation and more calm routines and outdoor activities. This could be worth a follow up read if you are interested in boys and ADHD.
Another great idea I took from this book is the 'Weekend Away' p132 in my copy. This is a weekend away with your son when he is about 11. It is to be anticipated as a special event and planned in advance with the child. It's a weekend where you talk with your son about how over the next few years you are going to be giving him more freedoms and choices as he rewards your trust in him, and you have the opportunity to talk to your son about what qualities you admire in him, and the qualities you want him to develop as an adult. During this weekend you also listen to Preparing for Adolescence (Dr James Dobson from Focus on the Family) or something similar which covers physical chances and social and psychological challenges that teenagers will face such as self-esteem, romantic love, ethics and spirituality.
It seems that Ian Grant is quite big on rites of passage. He also has another section near the end of the book where he talks about an event you should have for when your boy turns 14, and another 'male blessing' when he turns 16 (p191). I'm not big on this sort of thing, but reading this section made me think there could be something in it.
Grant also believes in the importance of the family meal table. He suggests that this is the place where you can instill family values into your children. He gives ideas as to how you can go about this, from reading followed by questions, to asking your boys what they think, feel, and what if type questions, to asking them to rate their day and why they gave it that rating. He also has a whole bunch of questions that can help jump-start conversations on p112.
He concludes with 12 things he wants his sons to know. Included in these were 'know what love is', 'never quit', 'life isn't fair', 'take responsibility for your own actions', 'watch your tongue', 'play to your strengths' and 'cultivate a best friend'. Good advice for your son indeed!
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews