The New Strong-Willed Child

I bought this book when my son was 3, so 1991. It was great! He didn't care for it much, he tried to hide it from me, now a very sweet memory. Dr. Dobson's parenting advise is timeless, in that, it is from a biblical perspective. It is founded on the Rock, a solid foundation anytime.

Ordered the updated version 2004 I believe was the print date and the description said it was an updated version of the classic. What I received was the 1978 second printing of the original. Not what the description I ordered said it would be.

Arrived on time Good book

Since the advent of the fMRI, we have been able to image the brain and physically view a developing child's brain states. The methods in this book are outdated and potentially damaging, especially if you have a child who has experienced trauma. I recommend skipping this book and looking for trauma informed and/ or positive parenting techniques that are currently recommended. Dr. Becky Bailey's Conscious Discipline is a good place to start.

This book is right on the money and this workbook is perfect if you want to go through the book in a group setting.

Dobson combines common sense, excellent stories and biblical principles in his book. These features are weaved together to make the book compelling and practical. Children are born with a will. Some have a compliant will and some a stronger will, and some a "bulldozer" will - they are born with an inner sense of their own drivenness. That drivenness may make them successful in the business or sports world one day, but until then, mom, dad and the siblings have to put up with this little guy! How? Parents must establish their AUTHORITY. There are a number of ways they can do this. Some of the reviewers seem to dwell on Dobson's discussion of spanking. That really is only a small part of his approach to parenting. Parents can use a number of means to establish their authority and have their children obey them. Out of frustration many parents resort to ANGER in dealing with their children. Dobson calls this the parents' most common mistake. Anger demonstrates impotence in the parenting role. Rahter than getting angry, it is better for the parents to take deliberate ACTION. Teach your children what you expect of them and take various levels of action if they don't obey. Dobson gives suggestions. "Anger does not influence behavior unless it implies that something irritating is about to happen. By contrast, disciplinary action does cause behavior to change." (p.78). "How much better to use action to achieve the desired behavior and avoid the emotional outburst." (p.80). Parents get angry because of their inability to establish authority with their children and get their respect. This book is VERY practical. As a minister and teacher, I recommend this book to all parents, young and old!

Very good and helpful. I learn a lot more if I write them out, but the workbook made me think about what I read then take it a step more and helped me apply it to my life. Very good buy!

I almost didn't buy this book because of many negative reviews it got. However, I am so incredibly glad that I went with some personal recommendations about the author and tried it out. Many of the people who wrote reviews obviously either didn't read the whole book or pick and chose sections to listen to. Taken out of context, things can often sound very different than what they mean. In all situations in life, I think you need to be very careful when taking things out of context. Yes, Dr. Dobson does advocate spanking (as do many, many other professionals out there.) If you are absolutely against spanking, and feel so strongly about it that you are unwilling to be open minded to any opinions otherwise than this is probably not the book for you. However, this book does NOT revolve around spanking. It is not the main point of the book, just simply one item that is discussed. This book does give many examples of strong willed children, which for me were extremely encouraging to read about and know that I was not alone. It helped me to realize that there was hope for reigning in my son but NOT breaking his spirit--which Dr. Dobson gives strong advice about being careful not to do. If you have a difficult child this book can definitely give you hope and some perspective. Like any self-help type book, you should read with an open but analytical mind. There are many different ideas out there advocated by different professionals, and at least for me, I have done best by looking at lots of different information but then finally having to figure out for myself what works for me and my family. May God help you to do the same!