Today's (9/3/2010) New Book Releases on Parenting & Families

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The Nursing Mother's Companion Breastfeeding Diary by Kathleen Huggins, Jan Ellen Brown - 128 pages
For 25 years, new mothers have turned to The Nursing Mother's Companion for guidance as they breastfeed their babies. Now, Kathleen Huggins and Jan Ellen Brown present The Nursing Mother's Companion Breastfeeding Diary to help nursing moms log the time and frequency of feedings, naps, and diaper changes with a simple chart. There's also extra space for journaling, as well as an inspirational quote and a helpful tip about what to expect each day of the first two months of nursing. The small trim size is perfect for on-the-go moms, and fits easily into a diaper bag or pocket.
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Meet the Teacher: How to Help Your Child Navigate Elementary School by Betty Borowski, Laura Mayne - 176 pages

Two veteran teachers guide parents through the challenging waters of a child's elementary school years.

Parents want their child to succeed in school. This book helps them promote smooth sailing for their child through all those important early school years, encouraging them to communicate with teachers early and regularly. The authors, two teachers who are also mothers, share ways to establish positive parent-teacher relationships and provide an insider's understanding of how schools actually work. Here is outstanding practical advice that parents need to help their child thrive in school.

Tips for parents cover a variety of topics, including:

  • Establishing a positive relationship with teachers and the school
  • Managing homework
  • Interpreting report cards
  • Suggestions for successful parent-teacher interviews
  • Addressing conflict
  • How to prepare young children to enter school
  • Early reading and writing development
  • Effective home-school communication
  • Improving their child's study skills
  • Tips for parents who need to help their child deal with peer pressure and bullying

Special chapters include information on the different ways children learn, legal and medical matters and special education concerns. There are also fun and educational activity pages for family-oriented activities that support school curriculum topics.

Borowski and Mayne have extensive experience sitting on both sides of the parent-teacher conference table, and they offer valuable insights from both perspectives.

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The Parents We Mean To Be: How Well-Intentioned Adults Undermine Children's Moral and Emotional Development by Richard Weissbourd - 256 pages
Harvard psychologist Richard Weissbourd argues incisively that parents—not peers, not television—are the primary shapers of their children's moral lives. His original field research reveals surprising, real threats to children’s moral and emotional development. Parents’ intense focus on their children’s happiness and success is turning many children into self-involved, fragile conformists. Many of us are organizing children’s lives around achievement, and sending hypocritical messages to our kids that erode our influence as moral mentors.
 
Weissbourd highlights the inspiring parents, teachers, and coaches, as well as concrete strategies for raising moral and happy children. Most importantly, he makes the case that rather than focusing narrowly on our children’s happiness or self-esteem, we should promote their maturity, including their ability to manage destructive impulses, to appreciate and to take responsibility for others—qualities that are at the heart of both morality and lasting well-being.