Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success is written by Madeline Levine, PhD who is the New York Times Best Selling Author of The Price of Privilege.
As a respected psychologist, Madeline Levine brings together both cutting-edge research and her thirty years of clinical experience to explode once and for all the myth that good grades, high test scores, and college acceptances should define the parenting endgame.
One of the greatest things Madeline Levine teaches in this book is the difference between authentic success and apparent success. Apparent Success being what people can see from the outside, your child’s performance and their judgement by others. Authentic Success is internal success, the concluding feeling of an individual that their life has purpose and meaning. She argues that if we teach our children to listen to their themselves to define healthy choices and create a good sense internal sense of right and wrong, then we are preparing them to hold fast to their value(s). Which, I must say, I wholeheartedly agree.
We are in a very competitive culture and while reading this I was thinking of certain things going on in the news lately about schools, teachers, children’s education and overall, how we best define our children’s life successes. Madeline Levine hits so many points straight on the head that after reading it I was left with a lot to think about, a lot to be proud of as a parent and it really had shown through me to my son as he embraces high-school. What I have always viewed as the last road towards a successful life. In many ways I had to step back and realize that he is already successful in himself and instead of putting myself down about certain inconsistencies, to know I have done the best job giving him the ability to realize his value outside of statistics.
Teach Your Children Well has three parts to it. Starting with the Introduction: Courage Parenting – Taking the Long View, each chapter is also broken down into sections. These are the main parts to the book.
- Part One: Authentic Success: It’s Not About Bleeding Hearts Versus Tiger Moms
- Part Two: The “School Years” Are Not Just About Academics: A Primer On Child Development
- Part Three: The Resilience Factor: Seven Essential Coping Skills
She begins the book by breaking down the barrier. “The Kids Are Not Alright (and Neither Are Their Parents)” takes you on a journey through conversation of personal experiences with parents and their children. What Misconceptions there are about what success truly is and how to get it as well as how to raise a successful child.
We move through the ‘Tasks of Elementary School Years’, which goes through the basics of a child’s health, from sleeping properly, staying healthy, how parents can help and how to talk with your school about adjusting things for the child’s well-being. This also moves into, on a higher level, ‘Tasks of High-School Years’. In the end she brings us to how to cope with certain things, a child’s maturity and the challenges we face with that, their different stages of development, weaknesses and interests. It helps to teach your child to find solutions to problems instead of always asking for us (parents) to do everything, getting them to have enthusiasm; to pursue creativity and what I found most important: The Dos and Don’ts on what we should expect.
In the back of the book it dispels certain myths, such as Is Parenting Hereditary? How Peer Pressure isn’t just for teenagers, it’s also in our communities and our “parental peers”. Which I am sure all of us would agree on.
This was a wonderful, insightful and extremely well written book. I was very impressed with the writing style on this subject, which was not at all overbearing but written more as a helpful listener / friend. It left me with much to think about, to enjoy in my life and to know that I am doing okay. We all need to hear that sometimes. More importantly, it gave me the assistance in knowing the path to helping my child have authentic success in his life.
Connect: You can learn more about Madeline Levine, PhD on their website.
Purchase: You can purchase Teach Your Children Well: Parenting For Authentic Success for $16.45 on Amazon. There is also the enhanced eBook option available on Harper Collins that includes 7 exclusive video chats with Madeline Levine.
