Children: The Challenge gives the key to parents who seek to build trust and love in their families, and raise happier, healthier, and better behaved children. Based on a lifetime of experience with children — their problems, their delights, their challenges — Dr. Rudolf Dreikurs, one of America’s foremost child psychiatrists presents an easy-to-follow program that teaches parents how to cope with the common childhood problems that occur from toddler years through early adolescence. This warm and reassuring reference helps parents to understand their children’s actions better, giving them the guidance necessary to discipline lovingly and effectively, all while fostering a healthy environment in which children will grow and develop into successful teenagers and adults.

Encouragement is the basis for development of human potential in children and adults. It is the source of motivation for effective actions, goals and interpersonal relationships. Encouragement permits individuals to overcome setbacks and adversities, to have respect for self and for others, to be optimistic and to meet life's challenges. In an era that has witnessed high rates of depression, anxiety, suicide and violence, Encouraging Children to Learn provides crucial and well tested encouragement methods for improving attitudes, goals and actions.

This book, based on Adlerian psychology, applies the techniques of motivation modification to realistic classroom problems, dealing step-by-step with handling behavior difficulties and providing the background that enables student teachers to understand the group dynamics of various classroom situations. The book is divided into five parts with 30 chapters. Part 1, "Theoretical Premises," includes (1) "Development of the Child's Potential," (2) "Goal Directed Behavior," (3) "The Four Mistaken Goals," (4) "Private Logic: A Diagnostic Technique for Understanding Behavior," (5) "Changing the Child's Goals," (6) "The Family Atmosphere," and (7) "The Family Constellation." Part 2, "Effective Democratic Methods," includes (8) "The Democratic Versus the Traditional Classroom," (9)"Discipline and Order," (10) "Winning Over the Child," (11) "Encouragement," (12) "Logical Consequences Versus Arbitrary Punishment," (13) "The Structure of the Group," (14) "Group Discussions in the Classroom," (15) "Specific Techniques: Group Discussions," and (16) "Training Children to Understand Behavior Through the Use of Stories." Part 3, "Coping with Special Academic Problems," includes (17) "Learning Disabilities," (18) "Reading Difficulties," (19) "Culturally Deprived Children," (20) "Pseudoretardation Referred to as Stupidity," (21) "Gifted Children and Homogeneous Grouping," and (22) "I.Q. Tests." Part 4, "Coping with Special Behavior Problems," includes (23) "The Adolescent," (24) "Juvenile Delinquency," (25) "Stealing," (26) "Lying and Swearing," and (27) "Fighting." Part 5,"Parental Involvement," includes (28) "Parent-Teacher Conferences," (29) "The Family Council," and (30) "Parent Education." (SM)