1-2-3 Magic: Training Your Children to Do What You Want!

Previously available as a booklet in conjunction with a workshop and as a video, clinical psychologist Phelan's simple, effective child-management program has now been issued as a trade paperback. The gist of the plan is to enable parents to discipline children, ages 2 to 12, by instituting a system of counting and time-outs, delivered straightforwardly and unemotionally. How the regimen is used to stop undesirable behavior, stimulate desirable conduct, and cope with children's testing is conveyed in Phelan's candid style, filled with common sense, concrete examples, and lots of reassuring humor. Time-and parent-tested, the methods are applied in identifiable situations (pouting, bedtime, dressing) as well in the all-too familiar incidences of children testing and manipulating their elders. Best of all, the method enables parents to control their kids without yelling . . . or worse. In addition, Phelan covers homework, active listening, self-esteem, behavior in public, and the use of his method in schools. An excellent, workable, and supportive resource for parents and educators. Irene Wood