. . if only for a little while.   In an age when it’s the rare child who walks to school on his own, the thought of sending your “little ones” off to sleep-away camp can be overwhelming—for you and for them. But parents’ first instinct—to shelter their offspring above all else—is actually depriving kids of the major developmental milestones that occur through letting them go—and watching them come back transformed.   In Homesick and Happy, renowned child psychologist Michael Thompson, PhD, shares a strong argument for, and a vital guide to, this brief loosening of ties. A great champion of summer camp, he explains how camp ushers your children into a thrilling world offering an environment that most of us at home cannot: an electronics-free zone, a multigenerational community, meaningful daily rituals like group meals and cabin clean-up, and a place where time simply slows down. In the buggy woods, icy swims, campfire sing-alongs, and daring adventures, children have emotionally significant and character-building experiences; they often grow in ways that surprise even themselves; they make lifelong memories and cherished friends. Thompson shows how children who are away from their parents can be both homesick and happy, scared and successful, anxious and exuberant. When kids go to camp—for a week, a month, or the whole summer—they can experience some of the greatest maturation of their lives, and return more independent, strong, and healthy.

    Storytelling portions are coupled with copious illustrations to help describe the basic tenets of 1-2-3 Magic—such as positive reinforcement, charting, and the docking system—while a question-and-answer section outlines common situations, including What if I don’t go to my room? Will I still be counted if I have a friend over? and What kinds of things can we do for one-on-one fun? Crossword puzzles, word searches, and journal suggestions further encourage children to apply what they’ve learned about the methods.

    From Simon & Schuster, Teaching Your Children Joy is the next great work from Linda and Richard Eyre.Filled with invaluable know-how, this easy-to-follow guide from the authors of the #1 national bestseller Teaching Your Children Values presents practical advice for teaching children how to take a joyful, positive, and optimistic approach to life.

    Children who are validated feel reassured that they will be accepted and loved regardless of their feelings, while children who are not validated are more vulnerable to peer pressure, bullying, and emotional and behavioral problems.The Power of Validation is an essential resource for parents seeking practical skills for validating their child’s feelings without condoning tantrums, selfishness, or out-of-control behavior. You’ll practice communicating with your child in ways that instantly impact his or her mood and help your child develop the essential self-validating skills that set the groundwork for confidence and self-esteem in adolescence and beyond (Amazon).One of the authors (Melissa H. Cook) is a parent and a psychotherapist who came up with the idea for this very book by her research in the field as a counselor and by her own experiences as a mother to her own three children. The Lollipop Story, which is a story in the beginning of the book, is a a true interaction between Melissa and her oldest son.

    Originally published entitled: Don't shoot the dog!: how to improve yourself and others through behavioral training, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1984.

    Chapters cover every age from newborn to teen with aromatherapy remedies for typical problems--from diaper rash to bedwetting to asthma. The book features information for pregnant mothers and physically challenged children and appendices with reference charts, safety data, and supplier information. This is a valuable book for every concerned parent.

    YOU ARE YOUR CHILD'S FIRST TEACHER introduces a new way of understanding the human being so that parents can be best equipped to serve as their own children's best teachers. Chapters include: Caring for the Newborn, Helping Your Toddler's Development, The Development of Fantasy and Creative Play, Nourishing Your Child's Imagination, Rhythm and Discipline in Home Life, Readiness for School, and more.

    Surprisingly, many of these ideas remain unknown to most of us.     In Mindware, the world-renowned psychologist Richard Nisbett presents these ideas in clear and accessible detail, offering a tool kit for better thinking and wiser decisions. He has made a distinguished career of studying and teaching such powerful problem-solving concepts as the law of large numbers, statistical regression, cost-benefit analysis, sunk costs and opportunity costs, and causation and correlation, probing how best to teach others to use them effectively in their daily lives.      In this groundbreaking book, he shows that a course in a given field--statistics or economics, for example--often doesn't work as well as a few minutes of more practical instruction in analyzing everyday situations. Mindware shows how to reframe common problems in such a way that these powerful scientific and statistical concepts can be applied to them. The result is an enlightening and practical guide to the most powerful tools of reasoning ever developed--tools that can easily be used to make better professional, business and personal decisions.

    Raising a Modern-Day Princess stresses the importance of creating a rite of passage for teen girls--a defining moment in which girls can be blessed by significant adults in their lives, and a call for their families and communities to celebrate and support them as they enter womanhood. This book offers practical help in raising a generation of women to see themselves as God sees them--as daughters of the King.

     In today's achievement culture, many girls seem to be doing remarkably well--excelling in honors and sports and attending top colleges in ever greater numbers--but beneath the surface, girls are stressed out and stretched too thin as they strive to be "perfect." In their efforts to juggle schoolwork and extracurriculars, family life and social lives, friends and frenemies, as well as relationships online and IRL (in the real world), many girls begin to lose sight of who they really are, and instead work overtime to please their friends, parents, teachers, and others. With honesty, empathy, and a fresh perspective, "The Myth of the Perfect Girl "presents advice to empower both parents and girls themselves to discover what true success and happiness means to them -- and how to work to achieve it.

    What about some quality time for the grownups? Author Christie Mellor's hilarious, personal, refreshing, and actually quite useful advice delightfully rights the balance between parent and child. In dozens of short, wickedly funny chapters, she skewers today's parental absurdities and reminds us how to make child-rearing a kick. With recipes, helpful hints, and illustrations, this high-spirited book is the only book parents will really need and enjoy.

    The best way to lose weight is by developing a style of eating you can live with, because it’s flexible and probably unique to you. But often that’s easier said than done.You’ve no doubt tried some different things already. Maybe you’ve been advised to eat only when hungry and stop when full; to overeat your favourite foods so you’d learn to get over them; to find the right kind or combination of carbs, proteins and fats, or micronutrients; to deal with your emotions in order to stop wanting to eat so much.None of this takes into account what happens in your brain when your natural, survival drive to eat (and eat and eat) becomes activated. The purpose of this drive is to get you through the next famine, but in these times of plenty it’s a disaster. In the face of this, nutritional advice may not make much of a difference. You can know what’s healthy, but find it impossible to stick to for long enough.Do you feel hungry after a meal, no matter what was in it? Do you lose weight only to yo-yo back again? Do you think about food too much of the time? Would you like to stop dieting and eat ‘like a normal person’?<b>DITCHING DIETS</b> explains how to stop eating so much by thinking in a way that’s the opposite of dieting. The opposite because it’s the dieting mindset – especially the prohibitions - that contribute to the problem in the first place.You will discover how to eat in ways you truly want to live with, rather than ways you later regret; how to eat less without following any rules, either your own or those taken on from others; how to develop the motivation to make changes, and stay in touch with that motivation long term.You will learn how to eliminate:• persistent cravings and obsession with food• feeling deprived, miserable or irritable when you don’t overeat• an all-or-nothing relationship with food• rebellious overeating and bingeing.<b>DITCHING DIETS</b> will give you control around food so that you can lose weight – and maintain that weight loss in the longer term. This is about how to make a shift in your thinking about food that will last, and once you’ve made that shift there will be no need to diet again.<b>DITCHING DIETS</b> is easy to read, with thought-provoking and practical advice that the author has taught in seminars for many years. Not a book on nutrition, this is a common sense, gimmick-free approach that enables you to overcome your attraction to all that food you don’t really need. <i>“Her way of achieving a healthy lifestyle and junking diets for ever has to be the only way forward in my life.” </i>ELLE<i>“I can sense the shift in my thought process and I am no longer grazing from the fridge all night.” </i>The Daily Telegraph<i>“I am eating healthier food and less of it. What I like most is the idea of never going on a diet again.” </i>The Independent<b>A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR</b>Many years ago I signed up for a liquid diet programme, and the day I was to begin I woke up with a strong desire for a large, fried, English breakfast. The thing was, I didn’t ever eat breakfasts like that at that time.

    Instead of glowing theyre glistening. Theres morning sickness. And suddenly a favorite pair of jeans no longer fits. Erin MacPherson has created a comprehensive guide thats packed with information that every newly pregnant Christian mama needs including exercising while pregnant, a detailed guide to each trimester (including sleep, doctor check-ups, pregnancy sex), how to use your Bible as your pregnancy resource, and how to use this time of waiting to really draw closer to God through prayer. Filled with helpful tips (how do you quell that not-just-in-the-morning sickness?), humorous accounts (doesnt everyone crave peanut-butter-and-olive sandwiches?), and supportive spiritual advice (what does a godly pregnancy attitude actually look like anyway?). The Christian Mamas Guide to Having a Baby has the advice a mama-to-be wants to hear. Erin MacPherson assures, at the end of nine months, you really will be glowing.

    Yet parents do not have the information they need to make their baby's life as stimulating as it should be. How Smart Is Your Baby? provides parents with all the information required to help their baby achieve full potential. The authors first explain infant growth, and then guide parents in creating a home environment that enhances brain development. A developmental profile allows parents to track their child's progress, determine strengths, and recognize where additional stimulation is needed.

    Self-image is your child's most important characteristic. How to help create strong feelings of self-worth is the central challenge for every parent and teacher. The formula for how is spelled out in Your Child's Self-Esteem.A member of Phi Beta Kappa and other honoraries, Dorothy Corkille Briggs has worked as a teacher of both children and adults; dean of girls; school psychologist; and marriage, family and child counselor during the last twenty-five years. Since 1958 she has taught parent-education courses and training in communication and resolution of conflicts.