Description:
"All children have talent and all children have potential. So do all parents." So assert Sandra Burt and Linda Perlis, authors of Parents As Mentors: A New Perspective on Parenting That Can Change Your Child's Life. To the familiar four talents that most parents try to encourage in their children--artistic, musical, athletic, and academic--Burt and Perlis add six more: empathic listening, idea generation, natural leadership, natural comic ability, spatial aptitude, and negotiation skills. The authors assert, "to identify their strengths, we need to recognize how children function." Through discussions and illustrations, the authors provide tools for finding each child's innate talents and discovering new ones. They help parents learn to listen to their children's interests and provide support and guidance for those interests. They also suggest ways to expose children to new experiences. Parents As Mentors is organized into subjects such as "Alone Time," which stresses children's need for privacy and time to think and create; "Technicalities," a chapter about computers, TV, multimedia, and how parents can help focus the child on positive uses of technology; "Family and School," a discussion of how parents can partner with the school system; and "Teamwork," giving parents ideas on how to help make the best of their child's membership in a team or group. Children need their parents as active participants in their lives. This book will help parents encourage their children to grow, change, and develop to their full potential. --Ericka Lutz
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