How to raise successful kids- without over-parenting: [TED Talks] By loading kids with high expectations and micromanaging their lives at every turn, parents aren’t actually helping. At least, that’s how Julie Lythcott-Haims sees it. With passion and wry humor, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford makes the case for parents to stop defining their children’s success via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the oldest idea of all: unconditional love.
7 Rules For Raising Self-Reliant Children: [Forbes] Jessica Lahey’s highly-anticipated new book, The Gift Of Failure: How The Best Parents Learn To Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed, looks at the unique challenges of child-rearing in current times. Lahey, who is best known for her writing at The Atlantic and The New York Times, is both a parent and a teacher. And the book combines the wisdom of personal experience with the authority of careful research. I have long been a fan of Lahey’s writing, and her sensible perspective and subtle sense of humor comes through just as clearly in long form. Certainly there were occasional parts of the book where the philosopher in me cringed at her reliance on popular epistemological constructions, but overall, I’m impressed by this book.
7 Tips for Raising Independent Children: [Thrive Global] Independent children feel competent and capable of taking care of themselves. Under their parent’s watchful eye, children are able to grow, flourish at their various stages of growth and development, and are more confident in being who they are. Here are a few simple tips on how to encourage independence in our children, even in a hospital setting, where the lack of freedom and control are quite difficult for many children to contend with.
Parenting: Raise Independent Children: [Psychology Today] One of your most important goals as a parent is to raise children who become independent and self-reliant people. Certainly, in early development, your children count on you. As infants, they rely on you for nourishment, cleaning, and mobility. As your children grow, they become more independent in these basic areas of living but still depend on you for love, protection, guidance, and support.
Flying Solo: Raise an Independent Kid: [Parents.com] Parents ask me questions about how they can help their child get over fears, learn to take risks, or become more responsible. No matter how loving the parents, it often seems to me that they are not going to be able to help their child through this challenge. Perhaps the child’s friends or an uncle will give him the courage he needs. Here’s a paradox: A 19-year-old camp counselor — a stranger — is often better at getting a kid to pick up his clothes than the child’s 39-year-old parent is.