strategies that help parents identify their own discipline philosophy—and master the best methods to communicate the lessons they are trying to impart Connect and Redirect: Let your child feel that you hear him/her (connect emotionally to show them they are seen) before redirecting (deciding how to react) (translation: listen before you speak!) Finally, I want to share two interesting tidbits from “The Whole Brain Child” approach that contradict standard parenting advice but perfectly align with my parenting instincts:

This book taught me more than anything I could have read on google when trying to decipher my daughter’s outbursts and outlandish behaviour. The Whole-Brain Child comes with helpful suggestions for how parents might respond to everyday parenting situations. The authors suggest that the twelve strategies above can enable parents to help their kids connect the left and right brain (and the “upstairs” and “downstairs” brain) and, in so doing, produce kids who are “happier, healthier, and more fully themselves”. There are many interesting parenting ideas to help parents understand and change some elements of their children’s behaviour. The book provides age-appropriate strategies for dealing with everyday challenges associated with parenting, such as anxiety and tantrums. First things first: I'm a dad with a 2 years old child and probably share every moms and dads usual issues and questions. By the way, we split everything that involves our child at home, meaning I do half of ALL. I was excited to learn a bit more about child psychology in this book, however once I started reading it I was disappointed. As other reviewers mention, this book talks down to you in a very condescending manner.Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., is an internationally acclaimed author, award-winning educator, and child psychiatrist. Dr. Siegel received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He is currently a clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, where he also serves as a co-investigator at the Center for Culture, Brain, and Development, and is a founding co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center. In addition, Dr. Siegel is the Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute. Some cute kid anecdotes, some of which were pleasantly mind-opening for me since I don't spend much time around very young kids (er... yet). This book isn't about how to make your kids behave or how to turn your kid into a genius. Instead, its focus on how a "whole brain" that is fully integrated will help a child grow into a more functional adult. I also liked that Siegel didn't make me feel that these are things that we need to be working on with our children ad nauseum. Having fun and relaxing with your kids are important, too. Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind, Survive Everyday Parenting Struggles, and Help Your Family Thrive

But it doesn't just have to be good times. The final strategy is to "connect through conflict." If our children argue or complain about something someone said to them, we can ask them to explore the other person's perspective. They can look at why they thought this person responded differently, and explore another's reactions without being defensive. They can observe someone's non-verbal behavior to understand what emotions they might have. We can also teach them to fix things after a fight by discussing how they can make amends. This could be through a kind act, or a letter of apology. In Conclusion This is also known as the "me-we" connection. Sometimes children need a little bit of help with their empathy and to recognize others' needs and perspectives. Enter the fascinating discovery of mirror neurons. Our brains are activated to respond to the actions of somebody else. We can nurture this built-in wiring in our children to create more empathy. For example, if we see someone in tears, we often become tearful too. Our bodies automatically respond to someone else's emotions and actions. We mirror them. Hence, our kids can learn to empathize with others, without losing their sense of who they are.SIFT: Help children pay attention to the Sensations, Images, Feelings, and Thoughts within them so that they can make better decisions and be more flexible. Connect through Conflict: Help your child recognise others’ points of view (the “we”) to encourage empathy. The Whole-Brain Child: The pros

An upstairs tantrum occurs when a child essentially decides to throw a fit. . . . A downstairs tantrum is completely different. Here, a child becomes so upset that he’s no longer able to use his upstairs brain.” With respect to the former, parents ought to follow standard advice, ignoring the antics and enforcing pre-established boundaries; when the latter type of fit is in play, however, “a completely different parental response is called for . . . much more nurturing and comforting.” Name It to Tame It: Corral raging right-brain behavior through left-brain storytelling, appealing to the left brain’s affinity for words and reasoning to calm emotional storms and bodily tension. Whole-Brain Strategy #7: Remember to Remember: Making Recollection a Part of Your Family’s Daily Life

We want to help make the information in this book accessible to as many parents as possible, so we have provided below links to parent discussion guides by chapter as well as links to blog posts (written by Annie McClellan at Tapestry) detailing each of the 12 strategies in the book. It fits in very nicely with our family's go-to discipline philosophy, Positive Discipline (as taught by Jane Nelson) This erudite, tender, and funny book is filled with fresh ideas based on the latest neuroscience research. I urge all parents who want kind, happy, and emotionally healthy kids to read The Whole-Brain Child. This is my new baby gift.”—Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author of Reviving Ophelia and The Shelter of Each Other Here's a strategy that might help children to integrate implicit and explicit memories. It's called "using the remote of the mind." Name It to Tame It: Corral raging right-brain behavior through left-brain storytelling, appealing to the left brain’s affinity for words and reasoning to calm emotional storms and bodily tension.