Book Review - 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children Ages 2-12

About the Book
The award-winning, best-selling 1-2-3 Magic book provides practical and easy-to-learn parenting techniques that WORK for children ages 2-12. You won't need to study child psychology to understand the three simple steps in the program and get results quickly!

Step 1: Control Obnoxious Behavior. Learn a simple technique to get your kids to STOP doing what you don't want them to do (whining, arguing, tantrums, sibling rivalry, etc.).

Step 2: Encourage Good Behavior. Learn several effective methods to get your kids to START doing what you do want them to do (cleaning rooms, going to bed, homework, etc.).

Step 3: Strengthen Relationships. Learn four powerful techniques that reinforce your bond with your children.

You will also learn how to manage the Six Kinds of Testing and Manipulation, how to handle misbehavior in public and how to avoid the Talk-Persuade-Argue-Yell-Hit Syndrome.

Other topics include "When Do You Talk?", "Overparenting" and "Real Magic: One-On-One Fun."

1-2-3 Magic is also available as a DVD and an audio CD. Spanish language editions in all formats are also available.


My Take on the Book
As I have mentioned in the past, we have a five year old that can be a hand full and her sister (who is 2) is starting to learn some of the same habits. We have tried a number of different approaches to deal with some of the behavioral issues that we see in Diva-J but after a certain point the approaches tend to lose their effect, so we are always on the lookout for new things to try.

In some situations our girls are very well behaved, but in others, they definitely need some assistance (as do we as parents). I had heard good things about this book, so I was excited to read it and try out the principles. Some of the things in the book we were already doing, while others were definitely new. At this point, the techniques do seem to be making a difference and I am hopeful that as we continue with this, it will only continue.

One of the tactics that the book talks about is counting to three. I have been using this technique in a different way, but I liked how this book examined and explained this concept. It gave me some new insights and reminded me of some others that I had tried in the past that I plan to revisit again now after reading this.

If this book sounds like one you would like in your own library you can find it on Amazon!



All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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Book Review - You're Not The Boss Of Me

About the Book

What parent hasn’t thought her child was a brat at one point or another?  Whether your child really is a brat, is at risk of becoming one, or is simply trying to grow up in a world filled with temptations and distractions, Betsy Brown Braun, bestselling author of Just Tell Me What To Say, has written the ultimate hands-on guide to cultivating, character traits that are tried and tested brat busters including gratitude, respect, honesty, independence and self reliance, among others.

Betsy’s down-to-earth advice and no-nonsense practical “tips and scripts” are derived from her expertise working with thousands of children (from toddlers to teens) and parents for over three decades. With Braun’s humorous, supportive and authoritative voice as a guide, parents can navigate some of the more difficult aspects of these formative years and lay the groundwork for their child’s future with confidence.

About the Author
Betsy Brown Braun, best selling author of the award winning book Just Tell Me What to Say: Sensible Tips and Scripts for Perplexed Parents (HarperCollins, 2008), is a child development and behavior specialist, parent educator, multiple birth parenting consultant and founder of Parenting Pathways, Inc.

Betsy leads parenting groups, seminars, and offers private parent consultations throughout the nation. With over 35 years of experience in public and private early childhood and elementary education, Betsy has directed and founded school programs, taught in both public and private schools, has been a school director, and was the founding director of Wilshire Boulevard Temple’s Early Childhood Center. She holds an MA in Human Development and teaching credentials from Pacific Oaks College.

In 2001 Betsy founded, Parenting Pathways, Inc. to provide guidance  to parents seeking the skills and confidence needed to negotiate the often-challenging parenting pathway. Her bestseller now in its 4th printing, Just Tell Me What To Say, presents the tried and true tools her clients use daily to handle situations that inevitably accompany raising children ages 2-6 and beyond. Just Tell Me What To Say has been translated into Greek, Korean, Portuguese, and Russian. Her second book, You’re Not
The Boss Of Me: Brat Proofing Your Kids will be released in April 2010.

Betsy’s parenting expertise has been featured in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Cookie, Family Circle, Nick Jr., Parents, Parenting, Pregnancy and Newborn, Toddler, Twins, and Woman’s Day, among other publications. She has shared her expertise on the Today Show multiple times. Other television appearances have included The Early Show, Entertainment Tonight, Good Morning America, KNBC, and Fox News LA. She contributes to KNX news radio on child development, and has been a guest on countless radio programs nationwide, including NPR. Betsy is a frequent speaker at educational conferences, schools, and businesses.

Betsy and her husband Ray Braun are parents of adult triplets.

My Take on the Book
As a and parent I am always looking for advice on how to do better and be a better parent for my girls. As any parent knows, there are definitely no true guidebooks to being a parent, and much of what we learn is hands on, which means that at times we make mistakes (but isn't that how we learn?).

This book is a treasure trove of resources that were very down to earth. I enjoyed how easy this book was to read and how user friendly the advice was. I found myself taking bits and pieces of each chapter and trying to implement them within my own family with positive results.

What I loved most about the book was that in every section of the book there were numerous examples of how a parent could implement the strategies, this alone was worth the read!

I completely recommend this book to any parent trying to get a bit more help with their child, you will not be disappointed, I know I wasn't!

If you you would like to have this book as a part of your own collection, you can find it on Amazon!

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Priceless Parenting - A Great Training Instrument For Parents

I was pleased to be offered the opportunity to review a great parenting resource over the past few months called Priceless Parenting.

I had the opportunity to interview Kathy prior to accessing the content of her site and I can tell you that she truly is a down to earth individual who is all about helping parents become better parents while at the same time working to let parents lower their stress levels while increasing the responsibility of children.

Not only does Kathy maintain her company's website and the free and paid resources that are included, she also maintains the priceless parenting blog that provides parents with wonderful tidbits and helpful hints about being a better parent.


The Priceless Parenting Course


The Priceless Parenting course is a must have for parents no matter how veteran. The topics that she covers impacts all ages from infant to adult children.

The program is very user friendly. It is a web based training that is broken down into 7 Lessons with topics including:

• Parenting basics


• Sharing control


• Problem ownership


• Letting your kids think


• Consequences


• Chores


• Bringing it all together

The program is very accessible with a secure login for people taking the course. Each lesson is supposed to take about an hour. I was able to get through some of them a bit quicker, but if you were going to take this with your spouse/partner (I would highly recommend it), it may take longer as you discuss issues and topics as they are presented.

The lessons are narrated by Kathy and uses down to earth, real life examples which truly makes the training that much more pertinent. Each lesson even has a homework section that you and your partner can work on together.

Unlike many parenting programs out there, this program is completely self paced. The program allows you to move as quickly or slowly as you would like. The online format/video based format of the program allows you to use forward and back arrows as much or as little as you like to move seamlessly between the topical areas that you know and the areas you may need to hear again. This toolbar also allows you to pause the program as needed, so if you have a parental disturbance (as many of us do) you can deal with it and then go back to the class, starting up where you left off.

The program is somewhat similar to the ideals brought up in some of the other parenting books I have read in the past. Kathy commented that she had tried to use the best of the resources that she was aware of to develop this program adopting the best of the best and taking out the parts that just did not work. She also put in personal and other examples to make the training even more meaningful.

I truly appreciated all of the material that was covered within the training. I have never gone through a formal training like this before and I found myself always looking forward to the next lesson and the learning that it would impart. I already find myself using the knowledge from this course with my eldest (Diva-J). One of the biggest things that I have been trying lately from the training is the idea of choices and providing choices for Diva-J to allow her the freedom to make mistakes and offer learning moments.

I also have to put in a plug for the cartoons that she uses in parts of the lessons. As a fan of the Baby Blues cartoons, she uses these cartoons well to emphasize her points.

This training is inexpensive in terms of what you get and in terms of what else is out there on the market for parenting courses. For 3 months access to the site you pay only $65, and Kathy will even let you register on her site for access to the first lesson to try things out.

For those of you who do not know Kathy, let me shed some light on who she is... from her website itself, Kathy Slattengren is:

a noted parenting educator and presenter who created Priceless Parenting in 2007. She has a deep commitment to teaching parents the critical skills needed for effectively responding to misbehavior while guiding children to becoming responsible and respectful.

While raising her own two children, she learned many wonderful
parenting techniques from classes, seminars and books. Through studying
research, she discovered a universal body of knowledge about how effective
parents do their job. Her Masters of Education degree from the University of
Washington combined with her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Computer
Science from the University of Minnesota has enabled her to pull together
parenting research into a course that is easy to understand and apply. After
teaching numerous parenting classes, she knew that parents really benefited when
they learned more effective parenting techniques.

Parents reported how much happier and calmer their homes were after using
the new techniques. Wanting to share this valuable information with parents
everywhere, she created an online course so parents could learn these valuable
skills at their own pace and from the comfort of their own home.

I whole-heartily encourage all of you to check out Priceless Parenting to become an even better parent!

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