Parenting Pointers: Strengths Based Parenting

Have you heard of strengths based parenting? I had a chance to review the book, and it was a great read. It's practical, providing examples of working with your child's strengths, as well as a way to find your child's innate talents.

Too often as parents, we focus on the weaknesses our children have, to try to improve them. But think about it - as an adult, we try to improve, but we spend most of our time and energy on things we are already good at. I don't spend a crazy amount of time at tennis, but part of my job and hobbies include music, something I've been good at since I was a child.

However, strengths based parenting is more than just talent. It also includes elements of your child's personality to celebrate. Reading the book really helped me re-focus how I engage with my own children, and turn what they are naturally good at into a strength. It's a great book to read to make sure that your are parenting your children in a way that will be encouraging, not setting them up to fail at impossible standards.

 

STRENGTHS BASED PARENTING has the power to change the way parents raise their children with its customized, encouraging and affirmative approach backed by data and proven results. Author Mary Reckmeyer, Ph.D., is the executive director of Gallup’s Donald O. Clifton Child Development Center; daughter of Dr. Donald O. Clifton, the father of strengths-based psychology; and coauthor of How Full Is Your Bucket? For Kids.