Temperament Tools: Working with Your Child's Inborn Traits - Softcover

Neville, Helen F.; Johnson, Diane Clark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1936903253 ISBN 13: 9781936903252

Verlag: PARENTING PR INC, 2015

Inhaltsangabe

The most recent and respected research on how temperament can affect a child's progress toward developmental milestones and responses to new experiences.
 
Research shows that many challenging behaviors are connected to a child's inborn temperament, the unique set of characteristics that each child is born with. When adults who work with children understand what makes a child tick, they can adapt their parenting, teaching, or treatment protocols to the individual needs of each child. Coauthor Helen Neville has updated the contents of the original edition of Temperament Tools to reflect the latest understanding about inborn temperament and its effects on behavior. Certain behavior clusters go with certain combinations of temperament traits and some clusters result in a child who can be quite a challenge. This book describes many types of children and offers strategies to help deal with behavior resulting from inborn temperament. Parents fill out a temperament chart to help define and understand their child, then consult the appropriate chapter that refers to that type of child. Temperament Tools avoids the use of psychological jargon while featuring the extensive practical understanding of children and their parents' questions and needs for skills. Adults using the book find the sections on practical ways to handle kids with temperament in mind to be valuable for restoring peace in home or school.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Helen F. Neville, BS, RN, is a longtime pediatric nurse and a parent educator who directed the Temperament Project at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Oakland, California. She is the author of Is This a Phase?; Mommy! I Have to Go Potty!; and What to Do About Sleep Problems in Young Children, 12 Months to 5 Years. Diane Clark Johnson is the coauthor of the first edition of Temperament Tools.

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Temperament Tools

Working with Your Child's Inborn Traits

By Helen Neville, Diane Clark Johnson

Parenting Press, Inc.

Copyright © 2015 Helen F. Neville
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-936903-25-2

Contents

Foreword, 
1. Gifts from Birth, Inborn Traits, 
2. What Makes My Child Tick?, 
3. Temperament Tango, Parent & Child Together, 
4. Pawly Puppy, 
5. Cam Chameleon, 
6. Tarita Turtle, 
7. Fenson Fawn, 
8. Tegan Tiger, 
9. Walla Whale, 
10. BayLee Bluebird, 
11. The Bear Cubs, 
12. Shared Behavior Issues of Many Temperament Types, 
Recommended Reading, 
More Helpful Books from Parenting Press, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Gifts from Birth, Inborn Traits

Most parents now know that children are different from birth. Not so long ago, researchers believed all children were born the same, but turned out differently because of how they were raised. We now know that outcome depends on both nature and nurture — parenting, education, and community. Children differ from birth, and they remain different. The goal of this book is to help you understand and bring out the best of your child's inborn temperament.

Pioneering researchers, Stella Chess, M.D., and Alexander Thomas, M.D., identified inborn traits that affect how babies take in and respond to the world. Temperament has since been studied around the world. Children everywhere are born with the same traits, even though cultures may appreciate and support different ones.

Temperament is responsible for many different behaviors. Some babies are very sensitive to clothing textures, flavors, and temperature. Some toddlers are very persistent. Children may be high or low in energy; they may have intense or mellow emotions.

Understanding temperament makes your job easier. Imagine that your new baby is like a mysterious island. A map would help! Temperament is the map that makes exploring easier and more enjoyable. When you know what to expect, you can travel with more confidence.

James Cameron, Ph.D., continued the work of researchers Chess and Thomas. He studied hundreds of temperament evaluations and found that children with similar traits often have similar behavior issues. He then explored temperament-based management tools. His work is the basis of this book.

Understanding temperament can prevent many behavior problems because parents can work with rather than against inborn traits. When parenting style and environment fit with temperament, children can thrive and grow.

How can you tell if behavior is due to temperament or something else? Ask yourself, "When did this behavior begin?" If it goes way back, it's likely related to temperament. If it just started a few days (weeks or months) ago, it's more likely due to illness, a step in development, or a reaction to personal, family, or social stress.

Understanding temperament helps avoid unnecessary blame and guilt. Though there are no bad traits, some take more work. With practice, parents can learn to appreciate and work with their child's traits. They learn not to blame children for their temperament.

It takes more skill to manage an airplane than a bicycle, and more skill and effort to manage a spirited child than a mellow one. Parents need not feel guilty when they have a harder time. Those who criticize often have easy children, and mistakenly believe their ease is due to their parenting ability.

Are traits good or bad? No. Just as bicycles, cars, and airplanes each have their own pros and cons, so it is with temperament. Sometimes it's better to be very curious, sometimes very cautious. Sometimes it's helpful to be very flexible and at others very determined. The goal is to discover where and how one's traits are valuable.

How does temperament relate to personality? Personality is like a layer cake. The bottom layer, temperament, is there at the beginning. Other layers get added: growth and development, relationships with family, friends, health, school, community, and all the adventures of life. Temperament affects how each child takes in and reacts to each new layer. Over time, because of inborn temperament, children are attracted to different experiences in life. This book is about the powerful bottom layer, temperament.

Does temperament change over time? Some inborn traits continue. Active babies usually become active adults. Emotional intensity generally remains high or low, as it was in the beginning. Over time, children can learn to manage their traits more effectively: the intense child learns to use words rather than hit and bite. Experience is also important. Many toddlers who are cautious or shy around new people and places are much less so by elementary school. This is simply because much more of the world is already familiar. Caution may reappear when future life changes come along.

CHAPTER 2

What Makes My Child Tick?

Parents generally know their children better than anyone else. Fill in the temperament chart below by thinking carefully about your baby or young child. One baby always cried and arched her back in her infant seat. Her twin sat wide-eyed and still in his seat, causing the pediatrician to remark, "Some babies soak up the world with their eyes." If you have more than one child, you may have seen such differences soon after birth. However, many babies need the first few months to settle in, so their true temperament is more reliably visible at 4 months.

Temperament Chart

For each of the traits, read the descriptions and consider whether your child's temperament falls at one extreme or another or is somewhere in the middle. Many children are middle of the road in most traits, but may be extreme in one or two. More rarely (and more challengingly), some are extreme in several, or most, traits. Notice that there are extremes at each end of each temperament line. Sometimes it helps to ask your partner, the child's grandparents, a child care provider or teacher, or someone else who knows the child well.

1. Activity

Low energy. This infant relaxes in the infant seat and high chair. He sleeps peacefully. As a toddler he snuggles contentedly on your lap or sits with toys in the center of the room. Arms and legs relax as you dress him. As a preschooler, he usually moves slowly and uses hands more than feet. He manipulates small toys, enjoys art work, puzzles, or building.

High energy. This infant kicked vigorously before birth and likely walked early. Even when asleep, she wiggles across the crib. Arms and legs fly during diaper changes. As a toddler, she hates being imprisoned in high chair or car seat. As a preschooler, she talks fast and moves fast. She loves large spaces for play, dances while watching videos, and wiggles while listening to stories.

2. Adaptability

High (Flexible). This infant glides comfortably through daily transitions — waking, being picked up, bathed, put down, and falling asleep. As a toddler, she quickly settles into new situations. She drinks milk from breast, bottle, red cup or blue one. As a preschooler, she gets along easily with playmates and goes with the flow when family plans change.

Low (Natural planner). This infant may cry upon waking and going to sleep. His body stiffens when he's picked up or moved and he doesn't like having his face washed. Even as a toddler, he often has...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PARENTING PR INC
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2015
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1936903253
• ISBN 13: 9781936903252
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 126
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar