Book Nook: Raising Can-Do Kids

I recently had a chance to review Raising Can-Do Kids: Giving Children the Tools to Thrive in a Fast-Changing World . There's no doubt that today's world does change quickly. As parents, we want our kids to be successful - but sometimes we have a very different idea of success and how to get there than our kids or other parents do. Although it's tempting to want to do things to make sure our kids succeed, it's actually better for them to give them the skills to be able to do things on their own.

In this book, developmental psychologist Richard Rende and entrepreneur Jen Prosek discuss how some trends in parenting are actually hindering development in entrepreneurial traits valuable for today's world (optimism, resilience, industriousness, opportunism, creativity, camaraderie, compassion, street smarts). When we pave the way for our kids to sail through life, they don't have the struggles that create resilience, street smarts, or industriousness. When we plan too much for our kids, they can't take advantage of opportunities or be creative. And when our kids are under too much pressure and competition, they lose out on optimism, camaraderie, and compassion.

I liked this book. Granted, I'm the kind of parent that already encourages my kids to do as much as they can for themselves, so I agreed with most of what was written in this book. It's worth a read to either confirm you're on the right track, or make you think about why you parent the way you do, and how you could improve it for the sake of your kids. Even if you already use many of the strategies and philosophies in this book, it's worth reading to continue to instill important entrepreneurial values in your children.