I am a mother of three children, two boys and one girl, ages three, six and eleven. As an avid reader and consumer of parenting books and magazines I just want to say that this is the most wonderful, family oriented book I've run across since our firstborn. Having just found out that we are expecting our fourth child (! ) we will be able to use this book from cover to cover (it covers children ages pre-birth through 12) to help each of our children to learn to appreciate music and develop their potential from very fresh perspectives. This book is a priceless resource for parents looking for fresh, new ways to educate and entertain their children. This is a very well organized, easy to read book that has hundreds of musical (and sound) ideas for family oriented occasions and activities. More importantly, however, it suggests many unique ways of speaking with, and listening to our children to help promote their self-esteem, avoid unnecessary conflicts, and develop good social skills. My favorite part? This is not just another book suggesting that parents use classical music for everything under the sun. Although classical music is surely covered, parents will delight to learn of the many ways that the music many of us grew up loving--pop, rock, jazz, country, soul...from 50's rock through 90's hip-hop-- can be used in nurturing ways we never imagined! (and it costs less than a single CD!)

Marie Jordan, mother and homemaker, Sarasota, Florida

As both an educator serving hundreds of children over the past 12 years, and a mother of three I have found this sensational, practical book a wonderful resource. Parents, teachers and caregivers will find in this well organized, clearly written book a wealth of information for situations that all of us who nurture children encounter throughout our daily interactions. A true, sensitive delight filled with hundreds of user friendly exercises, fresh ideas and insights into how the world sounds to children today. Helen Shaw, secondary school teacher

Nurturing Your Child with Music by John Ortiz fills what, to now, was a significant void in every parent's and educator's bookshelf. The topics he addresses; speech and language,listening and learning styles, relaxation and stimulation, restlessness at bed time, the development of confidence and a positive self-identity, and others are ones that all of us involved in raising or educating children struggle with throughout their crucial periods of development. His sensible approaches and

unique ways of using both music and sound to help children conquer these life events are exemplary. Later in the book he shares a large number of witty exercises and techniques to get children involved in areas such as helping with household chores, building "sound" relationships with their elders and peers, and using a wide spectrum of musical styles (classical as well as pop, jazz, new age, children's, world beat, country & western and many others) for spicing up family time be it the home, the playroom, or the road. His list of resources, including family oriented music, books, parenting organizations, and even internet sites is the most comprehensive I've seen in any parenting book. I recommend this book very highly to both parents and educators.

This is an incredible book. I gives som many interesting ideas and examples.

So many times, before I know it, I'm launching into telling my son what to do, how, where, why... Without giving him a chance! And I've already read most of the book! It is so important how we talk to our kids. If we say the wrong words too often, we build up a wall in them. They need to express themselves and work out their own problems and feel SAFE expressing EVERYTHING with you and TRUSTING YOU while not compromising your morals and beliefs. It's amazing how much happiness there is between parent and child. It's the best thing in the world! Yet I fear, it is so easy to watch it all disappear without knowing why. This book gives you a chance NOW, to hear yourself and gives you the instructions to hold on to that joy and pride. I KNOW when I have said the RIGHT thing. This book taught me things you just don't get with trial and error! Instead of grasping at the vapor fumes of youth's departure, I know, I'm doing the best I can to be there always, with love being true. Do NOT forget this: #1 ALL PARENTS MUST ALWAYS READ ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN. (Trust the wealth of literature! Really! Don't fool around with trial and error. A child is NOT your first model airplane where you didn't read the instructions beforehand!) #2 THIS BOOK SHOULD BE ON THAT REQUIRED LIST!

Thanks for reading! Take the stand. Be there for your kids.

You can find a lot of books about parenting, but many of them are just pop psychology, the solitary opinion of the author.
Gottman is definitely not one of them. He is known as one of the leading psychologists in the area of family and marriage psychology. This book presents the essence of his research findings about raising emotionally intelligent children.
His advise is surprisingly easy and is based on a 5 step model:
1. Be aware of your child's emotion
2. See your child's emotions as an opportunity to be close together
3. Actively listen to your child and validate the feelings
4. Help your child to verbalize his feelings
5. Help your child solve problems, while setting clear limits

Gottman clearly explains how you can implement this 5-step-model in daily life and what to do when problems arise. His real life examples make reading really fun.
All in all, an excellent parenting book! As a supplement, I can also recommend the book by M. Seligman: "The optimistic child"

Hersey was justly acclaimed for his fine journalist's eye that was so evident in his Hiroshima and A Bell for Adano. But his scathing social commentary of White Lotus and this book probably have not received the attention they deserve, perhaps because of the fantastic, science-fictional feel of their portrayed worlds.

Told strictly as the minutes of a state congressional hearing, this book details the events that follow when Mr. Wissy Jones, from United Lymphomiloid, arrives in the town of Peqoud and presents an offer to outright purchase an exceptional child, Barry Rudd, who is blessed with an extreme intelligence and a maturity beyond his years, for some unspecified project that will 'aid the national defense'.

As we proceed through the hearings, we are treated to some fine characterization of the witnesses, from the sharply opinionated and articulate principal of the school Barry attends to Barry's mumbling, street-wise but not too intelligent blue-collar friend. But the hearings also expose the first of Hersey's sharply satirical looks at our society as we see the conduct of the various senators running the hearing, obviously meant to remind the reader of the McCarthy hearings, with their forcible cutting off of any testimony that does not fit the pre-defined expectation of what the outcome of the hearing should be, denigration of witnesses' lifestyles, and panel members who clearly do not have the intelligence to even understand what testimony is given.

More horrifying, though, is the picture of the educational system presented, from the ivory-tower intellectual theories that have no relation to the classroom, to the constant attempts to make all students fit one pre-determined mold, to the administrative power struggles, to the bizarre web of psychological testing, to the clueless PTA, to the rigid and hypocritical moral code that schools use to bludgeon non-conforming students. Where in this morass is the place for the truly gifted child, or for that matter one who is intellectually challenged? Hersey's points strike like daggers, for even though this book was written more than forty years ago, our schools still have every problem that is shown here.

And what of the moral outrage that should adhere to the concept of selling a child? Once more, Hersey's pen is savage, showing how easily Barry's parents sell out for a few material goods, how the senators are converted by the mere statement that it's for the 'national defense', how the general township is so easily convinced to get rid of this 'different' kid, and, most poignantly, how even Barry, with full knowledge of what the program entails, reacts to the concept.

A very moralistic tale, told sharply and with defining moments of humanity, bringing a near surrealistic concept into the all-too-possible realm of reality.

Mr. Wissy Jones, from United Lymphomiloid, arrives in the New England town of Pequod on a corporate mission; he is to purchase children of exceptional intelligence. His matter-of-fact offer to buy Barry, a fat kid with a high IQ instigates a congressional inquiry.

Meanwhile, Jones skillfully garners support from every quarter in Pequod, from the pioneer-stock, six foot female principal of the elementary school and Barry's closest ally, to his own mother, a slatternly lower class housekeeper who's obviously the source of Barry's brains. Everyone has an opinion about Barry, usually not too good, ranging from jealousy, misunderstanding to just plain contempt (he's fat.) Meanwhile Barry and his street-wise blue collar friend seek to prevent his sale by a hilarious act of sexual misconduct.

What happens to the children purchased by U. Lymphomiloid is openly discussed by Wissy Jones during the trial. Yet despite the shocking revelation, Jones has manipulated the town to his side and even co-opts some surprising allies.

This isn't just an examination of an education system that strives to produce a bland mediocrity and mistrusts talent, it is the story of the intolerance of society for individuals and members of minority religions, race, anyone different than the mass average. There is a lot behind this readable book and it is fresher than every.

Discrimination is declining in modern western societies. After struggles, there are now laws against discrimination of sex, race and religion. In some places there already are laws against the discrimination of homosexuals, and before long there will be laws against the discrimination of age groups (especially elderly). You can be sure of that.

The Child Buyer is sketching the discrimination of people with extreem high IQ (HIQ's), something that isn't even an issue in real life (yet). Mediocracy rules the world.

The Child Buyer is a heart wrenching, but at times also hilarious, description of the trial in which must be decided if a HIQ young boy should be sold or not to a company, because that would be good for national security, even though the boy refuses to be merchandise. The book shows how the people of a small village abandon the boy in his lonely struggle, partly because they see him as uncomfortably different, partly because they think it's for his own good to be separated from the rest, and partly because it turns out to be in their own best financial interest if the cooperate...

Hersey has structured his book around the trial. It contains only the dialogue, that is recorded in the courtroom. This may seem odd in the beginning, and perhaps slowing things down a little when all the characters are introduced, but the author succeeds very well in showing the diffence in characters. And in exhibiting the gross stupidity of some of them, as well as the way people choose for there own wellfare, above anything else.

This book was way ahead of it's time, when it was published in 1960, and - unfortunatly - it still is.

I can highly recommend it.

I randomly came across this book in the library while looking up something else. I thumbed through it a bit and then ended up checking it out and taking it home, where I have proceeded to read it almost constantly over the last couple of days (with occasional breaks for comparatively less compelling things like eating, sleep, class, and hanging out with friends). I'm always a bookworm and am used to becoming absorbed in what I read. However, this is the first time in quite awhile that I've been so caught up in a book, particularly a non-fiction book.

I like this book so much because the authors worked hard at giving a thorough and unbiased look at the juvenile justice system and the kids stuck in that system. Of course, remaining completely unbiased is impossible; however, they tried to give a variety of points of view. They also tried to keep from vilifying any one group (parents, children, social workers, judges, police, the community, and so on), while still indicating the complexity of the problem. Case-studies were carefully chosen not to be sensational, but rather to exemplify the typical issues dealt with by kids in the justice system. Finally, they interspersed the information from the case studies with general information about the law, the way such cases are usually handled, and so on, then applied this new information that they had given back to the case study. This made it possible to learn a great deal about the system in general, while keeping it interesting because you could see the immediate application to one particular kid that you had learned about. This added to the book's general readability. All in all, this book is an excellent, well-written book that has the possibility of moving us a long way towards an understanding of these complex issues.

This is a textbook of the juvenile dependency system that reads like a page-turner novel. I was unable to put it down for 2 days. The authors' treatment of their material is even-handed and true-to-life. I have worked for the past 4 years as a Court-Appointed Special Advocate and Guardian Ad Litem for these children in my local juvenile court and the cases featured in the book closely mirror the actual cases I've seen over and over again in the courts. The book raises problems in the system to which there are no easy answers, and the authors don't attempt to offer any simplistic solutions: What does the system do with severely emotionally disturbed kids who blow through one placement after another? How do you know when to give up on parents and terminate parental rights? Do you wait until the child's crucial childhood years are mostly over, waiting for the parents to get their act together? How do we place children in good homes when there is such a shortage of foster and adoptive families? I urge anyone interested to get involved with the system as a volunteer. There are over 700 advocate programs around the country and the minimum time commitment is only 12 hours a month.

I have been in the field for over 20 years and this is the most accurate account of the Juvenile Justice system. The stories are real and moving. I could not put this book down. I did not agree with everything in the book, however, if you want to know the real story then this is a must read.

My mother and oldest son were killed in an automobile accident seven months ago. I have read over a dozen books on enduring the loss of a child. This one was the best I have read. It offered such practical advice. I plan to purchase some for gifts for others who have lost children. If you have lost a child, this is one book you definitely need to read.

My husband and I lost our fifth child, Ana-Lauren Gabrielle, when she was 16 mos. old, in 1998. We have both devoured books to help us deal with our indescribable grief and this is one of the best, if not the best, books I have ever read on the subject of child loss to date. It is easy to read and covers the whole spectrum of what we have felt and dealt with personally and gives great advice to those experiencing the same thing and those who are striving to understand what we are feeling and going through. While no two experiences are the same, ever, we certainly felt as though, John and his family had gone deep inside our hearts and heads and expressed what is almost impossible to put into words in an impeccable way.

I found this book by John Bramblett to be the greatest source of help since losing our 11 month old son in July to a very rare and rapid infection. I cannot count the books I've read just since July but this is by far the most honest, encouraging book I have read so far. I finally felt like I was normal. The author tackles the issue head-on and he has helped me tremendously in learning about the grief process. My husband and I are using it as a resource for a teaching on grief in our Sunday School class. I would recommend it for anyone to read. If you have not lost a child, just read it to help others who have lost people that meant the world to them.

This is an exceptional book. Biblical, practical, lots of examples and useful tools. This book is excellent, not only for raising children who have anger problems, but great for raising any child.

The subtitle says "Practical" and the advice really is! Not pie-in-the sky psychobabble, but direct, concrete, specific steps toward figuring out what lies behind the anger and knowing how to address it. I especially appreciate how the book doesn't waste time trying to place blame or point fingers. It just helps the parent get to work addressing the attitudes and behaviors that need correction.

I have three little boys and I was concerned about some of their behaviors. Fighting, yelling, getting really mad at each other. This book answered so many questions for me it was great. He backs up everything he says with Bible verse and there are examples to help also. A lot of books hint at what could be the root of the problem but this guy lays it out in a way that is easy to understand and I have seen great improvement in my boys just in the first few days. It isn't just a book for children it is for anyone that needs to deal with an anger problem. I have felt a lot better after reading it. It heled me to see what actions I was taking that were upsetting the kids and giving them a bad example. It isn't a book that makes you feel you are a bad person. It just points out things that everybody does to some degree and just taking time to notice which things apply to you is a great help. I think everybody should get at least two of this book because it is the kind of book you want to give to a friend. If everybody read this book the world would be a better place to live in.

I read this book when I was in middle school and I am now 27 years old and have never forgotten this horrible story of a girl who could have been me. Ursula was close to my age and I even went to school with a girl who brought a picture of her to school since their mothers were friends. I was so saddened by this that is has made a mark in my heart forever. I feel that I have become a better parent and moreso aware of my surroundings with child abuse and how to deal with it. I believe her mother is a sorry excuse for a mother and should have fried for allowing this.....but God will deal with her in the end

I first read this book when I was in the sixth grade. I am now 27 years old and have been searching for this book ever since. I could not remember the title or author but was able to find it ... . Thank you ... . This book touched my heart so much. People often asked why would you want to read a book so horrible - it is not the content but how the book made you feel. It is an amazing book and it will surely make you weep. I am very happy I was able to find it after all this time.

My name is Lauren, and I live in Florida. I am in a class called Child Development at my high school and we were made to read this book as a class. It hit me with how lucky I am and how my parents could treat me like that, but don't. I don't think anyone will ever be able to really realize what Ursula had to go through. This book gives many great details of the torture she went through but we won't ever know how she really felt. What makes the story even worse is that the mother did nothing to prevent her boyfriend, Don, from hurting her daughter. This book has impacted my life tremendously and I hope it has yours also. For all those ones who find out a child or friend has been abused, go and report it-you may spare their lives instead of being killed from the pain and torture of being abused. This is a wonderful, powerful, touching book that should be in every home across the nation, and all the parts of the world.

This book has helped my husband and I to not only be on the same page with our dicipline methods but also to really focus on how our 3 kids behaviors right now in the present will affect their future when they are on their own. It has helped us to set boundaries for them and is also teaching our kids to learn to set firm boundaries on their own with their lives. I had yet to find a book on raising children that is so clear and effective and really guides you through how to be an effective parent for the good of your kids future. I also highly recommend the book "Raising Great Kids" which is by the same authors.

This book has been an answer to my prayers. If you want to be a good parent and do what's best for your children, you need to learn how. Boundaries with Kids teaches you how and ties the how to biblical scripture. Most parents want to do things for their kids in hopes that they will like them. That doesn't equate to buying lots of things or giving in to their every desire. Raising children is not a congeniality contest, it is an awesome responsibility. If you truly care for your children and want to do what's best for them you need to raise them to become independent. To teach them moral values and the difference between right and wrong. If your struggling with raising your child but want to do what's best for him or her. Get started by buying this book, its a winner.

Having read the Boundaries book, I was excited to read this book directed at parents. I was not disappointed. With the same common-sense approach that I found in the original, the authors give encouragement and direction for floundering parents. Since I was already aware of the principles of the book, the greatest benefit to me was the encouragement - the affirmation that my focus and energy were well aimed. I would highly recommend this book to any parent who is not certain that he or she IS the parent - the leader - in his or her home...or any parent who has become confused in light of well-intentioned, but not accurate or Biblical, pop-psychology that encourages a hands-off approach to parenting. This book reminds us that we ALL appreciate boundaries - and children might appreciate them even more than adults do.

This book is so true. If you're looking for guidance on how to begin to teach your children this is the place to start. This will put you on the right track!!!!

Anyone who works with children or is interested in education and psychology will enjoy John's interesting ideas. Most of this book is anecdotes about John's experience with different young children and his thoughts about how children learn in different areas that are based on those experiences.

How Children Learn
By John Holt

5 stars

Holt didn't have children of his own, and his first opinions of children and learning came from being a schoolteacher in an elite private school, where he taught math to 5th graders. He was exposed to younger children and babies who were friends and relatives, and began forming different opinions about learning, which he shares in this book. Holt is fascinated by the notion that children accomplish so much before formal schooling begins and realizes that the way school is set up goes directly in opposition to what is natural and has worked for these children up to the point they are sent off to school.

The beginning of the book covers the age ranges from birth up through age 3 to 5, that is, before children go to school. Holt talks about a certain type of important learning that takes place up until the time a child enrolls in school at which point the experience of schooling changes their personality. The book starts off with how children succeed in learning many important things and huge feats such as speaking and with proper grammar and pronunciation and walking without formal schooling and that children accomplish much learning without an adult being the facilitator of it. In general the style of writing is that Holt describes a situation and then gives his opinions of the learning experience. Sometimes Holt does little experiments such as introducing a toy or a non-toy (such as a typewriter) to young children to see how they react to it and what they do with it. Holt observes with delight and amazement, these young children who are friends and relatives (they are not his students or participants in a research projects). It is clear that Holt enjoys these young children and he respects them and relishes the time he spends with them.

This revised edition makes clear which text is original then what was added-which is new perspective as he had spent more time around children and his theories matured and changed a bit. Seeing the two perspectives clearly was very interesting and educational.

Regarding the discussions about babies and toddlers there are good observations here and I appreciate them. As a stay at home parent, I have already witnessed much of this (and more) and for some of the chapters I felt I wasn't learning anything I hadn't already witnessed with my own two eyes. However, readers who are childless will definitely learn much about how learning happens from infancy and up. I highly recommend that anyone interested in going into the profession of teaching read this book, or any current teacher who is childless. Holt gives the children much-deserved respect for their innate ability to learn and figure out the world around them.

Later chapters get more analytical as Holt integrates his own observation of schooled children (about grade 5 and below) and compares and contrasts with other educators, scientists and child psychologists. (It doesn't seem to me that Holt is analyzing preteens or teenagers.) Here is where Holt exercises his ability to write clearly and concisely drive home his point in a convincing manner.

Again and again Holt shows how a child to is forced to "learn" things (such as in public and most private schools) is actually having their personality changed in the process. The act of being forced to do things and to prove oneself over and over via testing and not being trusted by adults changes their personality. Holt feels the schooling procedures have negative consequences on all children; albeit some children are more negatively affected than others. The child can develop anxiety, mistrust, and fear of all adults not to mention self-esteem problems or just killing their curiosity or interest in learning.

Great quotes from other books on education and learning are included here with Holt's reactions. A short list of books on school reform is included. The summary alone is almost worth the price of the book.

For more specific information about what goes on in school and how children learn to play the school game and how forced teaching is not always effective, read Holt's "How Children Fail".

This would make a great gift for expectant parents, I feel it would point out to them that babies deserve a lot of respect for being able to figure out the world around them. This notion of being in awe of and respectful of children starting at birth is seldom written about...so many of us were under the misguided notion that an adult must be the one to force learning onto babies and children (me included until I birthed my babies and saw firsthand how smart they are).

This book was a delight. Marchese not only
re-habs the house, but the relationship with his
father as well. A very pleasant read.

I wasn't sure what to expect when a friend recommended this book to me. I'm not a son, and I've never really understood the relationships between fathers and sons. This book helped me glean some insight into my own husband's tussles with his father--and gave me hope that someday they, too, will forge a more meaningful relationship. Besides that, it made me laugh out loud. I recommend this very highly, both for men and for the women who love them.

I LOVED this book! It's a wonderful depiction of the relationship between two very different people who so happen to be father and son. I admire the author for his very candid, humorous and whimsical portrayal of how important it is not to lose sight of what matters most....family. What a great book!