Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking by Jerry Wyckoff and Barbara C. Unell

This book is old. I believe my mom used it when I was little, and this is that same copy. Somehow, I found it in my sea of books and since the title sounded good, I thought I'd give it a shot.

I liked this book. Not every bit of advice will be right for each family, but there are some gold nuggets of information. This book is very easy to read and short, but covers a wide range of behaviors that a child can have and what to do about them. Each chapter is very short, being only several pages to devote to each problem. There's a case study/example for each behavior mentioned.

Just as this title implies, there is no shouting or spanking, which are philosophies we follow in our house. We definitely don't do spanking because we believe it's counterproductive, but sometimes, it's easy to get upset and yell. So, this book gives parents tools to use and follow, even when you're mad, so that you don't feel the need to shout and can stay in control. Sounds pretty good to me.

So, as I've shared in previous reviews, we were having some backtalking issues with my son. I've read several books on how to deal with this issue, some of which were not so good and didn't work. This book did work, however. I do believe backtalk has a lot to do with how the parent speaks to their child as well, but the advice reccommended in this book is easy, simple, and unique. So, basically, whatever word or phrase the child said that wasn't kind, the parent is to set a timer (one minute for each year of age) and the child is to repeat what it was they said for that amount of time. Let me say, it works like a charm. My son had to do it one time, that's all it took. Not only did that one unkind word go away, but all traces of backtalk did as well. I was quite pleased.

This book utilizes a timer quite often to produce the results a parent is looking for. Children can race against the timer to do their tasks or the timer says when a certain punishment is over. I can't see our family personally using the timer quite as much as recommended in the book, but the one time we used it, it worked.

The book also recommends using "Grandma's Rule" a lot, which is as soon as you do what it was I told you to do, you may do what you want to do. So, for example, say to your child, if you're ready to go with your coat and shoes on by the time the timer rings, you can play ten extra minutes before we leave.

For the most part, the advice in this book is good and can help a parent stay calm and in control while dealing with pesky early childhood behaviors. Simple and easy to follow, this book is totally recommended.