As the title would suggest, this book’s best feature is the practicality, allowing it to be a resource not just for educators, but for families and even students themselves. Van Gemert is an engaging writer and provides vivid antidotes that will speak to any reader with their own issues in perfectionism. The length is also perfect, providing the most important and impactful information in a concise format. And (perhaps due to her own perfectionism) Van Gemert ensures readers fully comprehend the content by offering end-of-chapter key idea lists as well as action steps. I love the action steps because they provided me with very real, applicable things to do to immediately apply the new information and some lists also referenced resources for further reading or interventions, making this a compendium of excellent strategies to battle perfectionism.
I read this as part of professional development as an educator. The author provided good insights into perfectionist tendencies, particularly in gifted children, and I was able to identify where I have seen some of these characteristics in my own students or even myself. The book’s primary target audience is parents of gifted children. I felt that educators are the secondary audience since much of the strategies provided are more for implementation in the home. Some of the strategies provided for educators are practical, while others will require systemic changes that are beyond the average educator’s control.
The book was self-published and needed quite a bit more editing.
If you have a kiddo in your life, especially a gifted one, who is a perfectionist, you need to read this book. It validates all of the trials and tribulations gifted parents feel about kids who struggle with perfectionism and gives actionable steps to help them, and yourself. I’m super interested in this topic , because also as a teacher, I see this in my classroom. Perfectionism is one of those things that can fly under the radar for a while and then when it fears its head, it could be troublesome. I’d prefer to have the knowledge I need to say the necessary things when they need to be said.
As an adult, I picked this up on a whim because I struggle with perfectionism (it's geared towards parents of sensitive, gifted children) I LOVED it. This is such a great book written by an educator who obviously knows she is talking about. It is both insightful and practical, which you can't say for all nonfiction books. If you are someone who struggles with perfectionism (no matter your age), I highly recommend you give this book a try.
Oops! Perfect! Good ideas for managing the perfectionist in ourselves and our students. Actionable steps at the end of each chapter provide an easy reference for implementation.
There are some wonderful strategies and insights in this book to help parents and teachers that interact with perfectionist. However, I feel like there have to be some fundamental changes to our society and educational system for many of these suggestions to work.
Written mainly for parents of perfectionist children, yet the reader gains a lot of insight about adult perfectionism as well. There are many action points to learn as well, so this is truly a practical guide.
This book gives great insight into dealing with perfectionism in an adult or child. I appreciate the application activities as well. It is encouraging knowing my family isn't alone on this journey of dealing with perfectionism.
Interesting book which included practical tips on ways to assist people with perfectionistic tendencies. I especially like the rewording examples and definitions through other subjects to help explain it.
Fun and readable. I got some insight into not just my children but myself as well. One of the most helpful ideas to me was that there are different ways that perfectionism manifests.