Discipline Methods (e.g. time-out)
John's Most Recent Articles
'Parenting' vs. Child-Rearing
Posted on 8/23/2022
“The goal of parenting is not to control, coerce or punish children into being ‘good.’ The goal of parenting is to grow children who can feel all of their feelings and become empathic...
Read MoreDiscipline Differences Between Divorced Parents
Posted on 5/10/2022
Q: We see my husband's 9-year-old son every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. He has major issues in school with both behavior and doing his work. He's well behaved when he's with us, but...
Read MoreWhen To Use Time-outs
Posted on 1/4/2022
I was once an orthodox believer in the power of time-out—the practice of having a child sit in a somewhat isolated chair for five minutes or so immediately after said child has misbehaved. I...
Read MoreTime Out for Disrespectful 6-Year-old
Posted on 12/21/2021
Q: Whenever—and I most definitely mean every single time—I ask my six-year-old daughter to do something, she becomes very disrespectful. She stomps her foot, yells at me that I make her do...
Read MoreKids Don’t Need Curing, They Need Correcting
Posted on 5/18/2021
No small number of today’s parents view their children through psychological lenses, especially when it comes to misbehavior. Instead of regarding a given misbehavior as simply an error that needs...
Read MoreThe Drama of a Child's Feelings
Posted on 4/20/2021
One of the more unfortunate consequences of relying on advice from mental health “experts” concerning parenting matters has been a one-dimensional understanding of child discipline. Because of the...
Read MoreDiscipline vs. Punishment
Posted on 2/9/2021
Misusing terminology is not simply a matter of semantics. A person who confuses the meaning of words is likely to behave accordingly. That occurred to me during a conversation with...
Read MoreParents Can Recover From Not Getting Over the 'Hump of Parenting'
Posted on 10/20/2020
Q: In a recent column, you identified toddlerhood as “the hump of parenting.” As a grandmother who managed to raise five kids who were out of the house in their early twenties and are responsible...
Read MorePunishment Does Not Cause Mental Health Issues
Posted on 12/31/2019
This is the second in a series on “parent-babble,” as in the same-old, same-old nonsense the mental health industry has been passing off as sound parenting advice since the late 1960s. ...
Read MoreUse 'Alpha Speech' to Get Child to Obey
Posted on 5/14/2019
Q: My 7-year-old son, an only child, is giving me fits. He’s overly active and will not cooperate in any instruction I give him. In addition, if I tell him not to do something, it’s a guarantee...
Read MoreRecent Questions
"PERSNIKETY" 32 MONTH OLD RUNS THE HOUSE
Posted yesterday
We have a very particular 32 month old. We've followed John's teachings for our other two from toddlerhood but this kid has us scratching our heads. This child of ours had a rough start to life;...
Read MoreMentally Drained Mom Seeking Advice
Posted 4 weeks ago
We have a 9 year old girl, 6 year old boy, and 4.5 year old girl. I've read Parenting by The Book twice and The Well Behaved Child twice in the past month. Our 9 year old is the biggest challenge,...
Read MoreRaising Believers
Posted on 8/30/2022
We just started the ticket system and we have one target misbehavior for our 4 year old. Following directions. For example, when he loses a ticket because he doesn’t listen when we ask him to...
Read More2 YEAR OLD TOO STRONG FOR MOM
Posted on 8/16/2022
We have a 2-year-old that refuses to listen and his favorite answer is no. For example, just this morning I was trying to get him ready to go to daycare and I asked him to sit down so I could...
Read MoreTime to Reel In 5-Year-Old
Posted on 8/16/2022
We have a 5 year old who has come a long way with behavior but lately hasn't been great at listening when told to do something. She will almost pretend we didn't say it or will just say "I will in...
Read MoreSometimes all you need is a hug and a dutch door.
Posted on 8/13/2022
When my 4 year old son loses all his privileges for the day, we cannot get him to stay in his room. What is something we can try? We calmly put him back in his room each time he runs out, but it...
Read MoreGet Creative
Posted on 7/24/2022
Greetings! Our usually cheerful and happy 4yo daughter does not seem to react normally to punishment. At first she gets upset and cries, but very shortly into a time out or being sent to her room...
Read More"Boxers on the Noggin'": The Silliness of a Boy--and his Disobedience
Posted on 7/19/2022
This is regarding the card system. The rules we initially established are: no hitting/kicking, no throwing and do what mom and dad say. So, sometimes we will be getting dressed and he’s being...
Read MoreNighttime Woes Wearing Mom Down
Posted on 7/18/2022
How can I best use tickets or charts for my daughter (just turned 7) when she's having the majority of her behavior issues at bedtime? She's pretty good throughout the day though there are...
Read More3-Year-Old in Hyper Mode
Posted on 6/22/2022
My 3.5 year old will get hyper and annoying when he is overtired or overexcited. When he’s in a “hyper mode”, he’s running around, trying to roughhouse, jumping into people, being loud and...
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- ADHD and other disorders
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- Daycare/Preschool
- Depression/Self-Harm
- Developmental Issues (e.g. late talking)
- Discipline Methods (e.g. time-out)
- Disobedience/Defiance
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- Miscellaneous Editorial Columns
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- Terrible Twos
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