1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 – A Book Review
My son had just turned two and had transformed into a child-sized monster before my very eyes. I mean, I had heard about the terrible twos, but I hadn’t expected this!
I told my doctor about my frustrations at our next check-up, and she recommended I read 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 by Thomas W. Phelan.
I honestly didn’t believe a simple book could help us. As a former teacher, I had spent years learning child psychology and behavior management. What could one book possibly offer that I hadn’t already learned?
Fortunately for my family, that was the best medicine I’ve ever been subscribed.
Once you begin reading 1-2-3 Magic, you can apply the techniques immediately, before you finish the book. Dr. Phelan starts out by explaining why many parents can’t manage their kids’ behavior. He believes we go wrong when we try to reason with our children instead of parent them. Children, he reminds the reader again and again, are not miniature adults, and should be treated like children.
Dr. Phelan gives step-by-step guidance for every discipline that arises with young children, whether you want the child to stop a behavior or start a new one. He also gives several true-to-life examples of how the program looks when used correctly and when used incorrectly.
We’ve used this program with our two children for over 10 years, and we haven’t encountered a situation where we couldn’t apply 1-2-3 Magic, or where it didn’t work like, well, magic.