Marshall Duke, university professor, clinical psychologist, and best-selling author (Helping the Child Who Doesn’t Fit In) and his wife, Sara Duke, a learning-disabilities specialist, have edited a collection of essays featuring advice for parents from forty professionals who have worked with children for at least twenty-five years—each a rich store of experience that adds up to one thousand years of wisdom. Teachers, pediatricians, social workers, guidance counselors, youth leaders, coaches, psychologists, clergy, and others across the country offer observations and insights gained from a life devoted to working with children.

The essays are divided into three thematic chapters: Creating An Environment for Healthy Growth; What to Do? Specific Issues in Childrearing; and Shaping Our Children: What Is Important to Us?. In addition to providing salient information on topics such as discipline, health, education, organized sports, and child development, the contributors also discuss how working with children has affected their ideas, emotions, and spiritual lives. What emerges from these essays is the powerful message that a lifetime with children changes and challenges our ideas of what is of real importance—and what is not.

* The authors and editors of this book are proud to donate their royalties to Save the Children.

Do you know what nonverbal language is? Even if you can’t define it, you speak it every day through your postures, gestures, facial expressions, and tone of voice, and you must constantly read these same signals from others. In fact, nonverbal messages can carry up to 90% of the meaning of human interaction and contribute significantly to social, academic, and professional success.

Yet even though we recognize the importance of nonverbal communication, we have generally left the teaching of this essential language to chance. Now parents and teachers can help children develop nonverbal skills so that they will be able to communicate more effectively and to interact with others more successfully.

In Teaching Your Child the Language of Social Success, clinical psychologists Marshall Duke and Stephen Nowicki and educator Elixabeth Martin describe and explain the methods and rules of nonverbal communication. Together they have created an easy-to-use guide which offers definitions and techniques for assessing a child’s strengths and weaknesses in this unspoken realm, as well as case studies, illustrations, and exercises for teaching or improving nonverbal skills at home or in the classroom.

Few things cause parents more worry than whether their children have friends and are well integrated into their social communities. While some kids seem to relate to others and make friends easily, others have more difficulty. A small number of children remain friendless or struggle to make and keep friends.

In Starting Kids Off Right, clinical psychologists Stephen Nowicki, Marshall Duke, and Amy Van Buren offer parents, teachers, and caregivers insights—gathered from decades of professional experience—into the hows and whys of relationship building from infancy up to the age of twelve. Written in easy-to-understand, jargon-free language, the book begins with overviews of social development, human relationship theory, and the role of nonverbal language in forming relationships. The book is then broken down into chapters by developmental stages: infancy (birth to two years), childhood (two to five years), and juvenile era (five to ten years).

Within each section the authors look at the expectations and opportunities—as well as special challenges—of building, deepening, and keeping relationships at every stage of child development. To make the text even more accessible, they have included numerous illustrative scenarios and exercises called “parent skill builders.” The result is an easy-to-use guide that clearly demonstrates techniques for assessing a child’s strengths and weaknesses in developing relationships. It shows parents how to start kids off right with healthy relationship-building skills, as well as how to help their children become more confident in using those skills as they mature.

This comprehensive guide features practical solutions for surviving and succeeding as a single mother. Anderson offers real answers to real problems, covering:

• Children
• Careers
• Finances
• Credit
• Taxes
• Insurance
• Retirement
• Affording your own home
• Post-divorce legal concerns
• Wills
• Home Repair
• Burglar-proofing your home
• Blended families
• Resources
• Romance
• Physical and emotional well-being
• Starting your own single mother’s group

Parenting a preschooler is not for the faint of heart but Carol Baicker-McKee, Ph.D., shows parents how to make the most of the magical years of three and four by helping their children successfully negotiate new expectations and situations in the wider world.

The book focuses on the numerous transitions that occur as a child moves from a dependent toddler to a more social, independent preschooler. Each chapter begins with an introduction that highlights specific challenges, discusses relevant developmental issues, and offers ideas, strategies, and resources for how to handle new and often stressful situations. The book also considers the emotional challenges a preschooler can face whether it’s learning to make friends or managing separations through divorce or death.

In this one-of-a-kind parenting book written specifically for parents of preschoolers, Baicker-McKee shows moms and dads that there are few preschool problems that can’t be solved with a little patience, a spark of ingenuity, and lots of humor.

This practical and easy-to-use workbook provides forty-six individual writing projects that adults can share with children ages five to fourteen. Each writing excercise also describes the skills and concepts being taught so they can be easily adapted for teachers’ lesson plans.

The Magic Pencil requires no previous writing experience for parents. The necessary supplies are found in most homes, and Shelnutt encourages parents to help young readers realize that their own lives are the best possible sources of material. She also includes a recommended reading list organized by grade level.

So bring your imagination, and come along for a ride with The Magic Pencil.

Remember the kids who just didn’t fit in when you were a child? Maybe they stood too close or talked too loud. We called them hurtful names and they never understood why. Clinical psychologists Stephen Nowicki, Jr. and Marshall Duke call these children dyssemic, and they have some ideas about how to help them.

Dyssemic children do not comprehend nonverbal messages in much the same way that dyslexics do not correctly process the written word. Nonverbal language plays a vital role in our communication with others, and children who understand or misuse it may face painful social rejection, which becomes a part of their lives for the rest of their lives.

In Helping the Child Who Doesn’t Fit In, Nowicki and Duke reveal the range of dyssmia that may affect a child, and show parents and teachers how to simply assess the extent of a child’s problems. Simple exercises at the end of each chapter offer guidance for educating yourself and your child nonverbally.

Whether parents are running errands with toddlers in tow or packing up the family for a long vacation, traveling with children can be a challenging experience. Boredom, delayed flights, long car rides, longer waits, and sibling squabbles can easily interrupt any adventure. Here is a one-of-a-kind survival guide for parents filled with practical strategies, activities, and ideas for making family outings successful, safe, and fun!

The first part of the book looks at the special circumstances and unique challenges of everyday outings, including managing trips to the grocery store and visits to the dressing room, keeping children entertained in restaurants and waiting rooms, and negotiating public transportation. The second part focuses on longer trips and vacations and covers topics such as: successful trip planning; entertaining activities to occupy restless kids; managing car, plane, train, bus or boat travel; and keeping kids clean, well fed, and well rested on the road. Sidebars throughout highlight important information and offer helpful suggestions and safety tips.

As a mother and child development specialist, author Carol Baicker-McKee understands well the special rewards and difficulties of traveling with children. Using the ideas in this resourceful guide, parents can end grocery store tantrums and car ride meltdowns, and transform any trip with young children into an enjoyable and memorable outing.

Here is a unique parenting book filled with coping strategies, activities, and ideas for successfully managing day-to-day life with preschoolers. Arranged chronologically over the course of a day, chapters address such topics as waking up, dressing, and managing the morning rush; successful napping without struggles; managing sibling rivalry; making the most out of outdoor play; and, finally, winding down, bath time, and bedtime. Special attention is given to helping preschoolers cope with transitions, meal times, and changes in routines.

Each chapter begins with an introduction that highlights common problems, discusses relevant developmental issues, and offers general suggestions to avoid troublesome moments. Detailed, individual activities with easy-to-follow instructions, rhymes, and games follow. Sidebars include important, relevant information on safety issues, real-life anecdotes, and references to enriching resources, such as book and music suggestions. Using the ideas in the book, parents can transform boring or aggravating at-home tasks into experiences that kids—and adults—may find pleasurable and stimulating.

With an advanced degree in clinical child psychology and years of professional experiences in child and youth services, author Carol Baicker-McKee recognizes the special needs and abilities of toddlers. As a three-time veteran of the delivery room, she brings personal experience, humor, and hard-won insight into the special joys and struggles of day-to-day life with young children.