Showing titles in Children's Studies

When Sky and her older sister Avril were taken into care, the social workers knew this was a case like no other. Raised by unhinged parents who hoarded compulsively, creating horrific conditions no child should live in, the two girls arrived at foster carer Louise's home, neglected, malnourished and indoctrinated. Louise had to draw on all of her experience as one of Britain's leading foster carers to rehabilitate and change the course of their lives.

In The Orchid and the Dandelion, Dr W. Thomas Boyce - one of the world’s foremost researchers in the field of paediatric health - presents findings that children have two very different responses to their environments. While some children are like dandelions and can thrive in almost any environment, there are others who, like orchids, are much more reactive and susceptible to their surroundings. Now we finally have a scientific framework to understand these children and how to address their unique needs to help them find their fullest potential.

A word-of-mouth best seller which has become one of the best loved and most successful books in the parenting field. Steve Biddulph's Raising Boys is to be released on audio with some startling new research on what helps - and what harms - boys. In this expanded and updated audio edition, Steve Biddulph shares and gives practical and honest advice to parents so they can recognise the different stages of boyhood and learn how to raise happy, confident and kind young men.

The safeguarding and child protection challenges in education have never been more complex, nor the legal duties on schools and colleges more stringent. The criminal and sexual exploitation of children, FGM, radicalization, and online safety are sadly all now part of the remit, as are self-harm and mental health issues. And these safeguarding challenges are found not only in urban communities but also in leafy suburbs and rural idylls throughout.

Why America's sons are underachieving, and what we can do about it. Something is happening to boys today. From kindergarten to college, American boys are, on average, less resilient and less ambitious than they were a mere 20 years ago. The gender gap in college attendance and graduation rates has widened dramatically. In Boys Adrift, Dr. Leonard Sax delves into the scientific literature and draws on more than 20 years of clinical experience to explain why boys and young men are failing in school and disengaged at home.

The Highly Sensitive Parent is the only audiobook of its kind, written specifically for parents who think deeply about every issue affecting their kids, experiencing strong emotions as a result and face unique stressors that do not impact parents without high sensitivity. Parenting is the most valuable and rewarding job in the world, and also one of the most challenging. This is especially true for highly sensitive people.

Tracking deep into our evolutionary history, anthropological science has begun to unravel one particular feature that sets us apart from the many, many animals that came before us—our uniquely long childhoods. Growing Up Human looks at how we have diverged from our ancestral roots to stay ‘forever young’—or at least what seems like forever—and how the evolution of childhood is a critical part of the human story.

The Invention of Childhood explores how gender, geography and ethnicity has impacted the development of children throughout the ages. Beginning from the year 1000, Cunningham studies the many important events in history for our children, ranging from Britain's earliest child-care guru in the Middle Ages to the first ever Foundling Hospital in the 18th Century. This hugely enjoyable piece of teaching that delves into the idea of how childhood has been constantly reinvented through the centuries, and why the role of children in society continues to obsess us today.

Children today grow up in an increasingly volatile, complex and uncertain world. Theirs is a generation disempowered from steering their lives while society’s systems are failing to provide the support they need. Yet, a country only prospers when its children—from all walks of life—thrive, meaning that the United Kingdom now faces some consequential choices. Raising the Nation builds a compelling case showing why we must nurture smart, strong and kind children to one day inherit the stewardship of society.

This national best-seller chronicles the true story of two brothers coming of age in the Henry Horner public housing complex in Chicago. Lafeyette and Pharoah Rivers are 11 and nine years old when the story begins in the summer of 1987. Living with their mother and six siblings, they struggle against grinding poverty, gun violence, gang influences, overzealous police officers, and overburdened and neglectful bureaucracies. Immersed in their lives for two years, Kotlowitz brings us this classic rendering of growing up poor in America’s cities.

This well-researched book identifies the wide-ranging harms resulting from mother- and father-loss, and it provides a roadmap for effective children’s rights advocacy. Whether you’re seeking to make sense of your own fractured childhood, or yearn to prevent similar struggles for the next generation, Them Before Us will equip you to be the adult who should have advocated for you as a child. By defending children’s rights, we protect the heart of every child and set a course that will decimate a myriad of the social ills currently plaguing our world.

All forms of recreational digital consumption—whether on smartphones, tablets, game consoles, or TVs—have skyrocketed in the younger generations. Most media experts do not seem overly concerned about this situation: children are adaptable, they say, they are "digital natives," their brains have changed and screens make them smarter. But other specialists—including some pediatricians, psychiatrists, teachers, and speech therapists—dispute these claims, and many parents worry about the long-term consequences of their children's intensive exposure to screens.

In Girls on the Edge, psychologist and physician Leonard Sax argues that many girls today have a brittle sense of self-they may look confident and strong on the outside, but they're fragile within. Sax offers the tools we need to help them become independent and confident women, and provides parents with practical tips on everything from helping their daughter limit her time on social media, to choosing a sport, to nurturing her spirit through female-centered activities.

Class does make a difference in the lives and futures of American children. Drawing on in-depth observations of black and white middle-class, working-class, and poor families, Unequal Childhoods explores this fact, offering a picture of childhood today. Here are the frenetic families managing their children's hectic schedules of "leisure" activities; and here are families with plenty of time but little economic security.

A word-of-mouth best seller which has become one of the best-loved and most-successful books in the parenting field. In this expanded and updated edition, Steve Biddulph shares and gives practical and honest advice to parents so they can recognise the different stages of boyhood and learn how to raise happy, confident, and kind young men.

A fascinating look at the evolution of behavioral science, the revolutionary way it's changing the way we live, and how nurturing environments can increase people's well-being in virtually every aspect of our society, from early childhood education to corporate practices. If you want to know how you can help create a better world, listen to this book.

This generation of students who have grown up in the 21st century are the most social, the most empowered, and also the most anxious youth population in human history. If you are struggling to connect with and lead them, you are not alone. The latest research presented in this audiobook, however, illuminates a surprising reality: The success of the next generation doesn’t depend entirely on them. Their best chance of success starts when adults choose to believe in them, challenge them, and walk with them through the nine greatest challenges today’s youth will face.

A difficult home life. A missed diagnosis. A disrupted education. Falling in with the wrong crowd. Every year thousands of children fall through the cracks in our society and become victims of a destructive cycle that ends in exploitation, violence, and lost life chances. As Commissioner for Children in England, Anne Longfield CBE witnessed the devastating effects of this cycle as vulnerable young people were failed by systems too underfunded and overstretched to protect them. Young Lives, Big Ambitions is a plan to fix our broken system and give every young person the chance to succeed.

Most of us are fortunate enough to be born to loving, caring and nurturing parents. We are encouraged and looked after, treated well and inspired. But what if that wasn’t you? What if your parents didn’t care for you in the way they were supposed to, and you are still suffering from that? In this book, Dealing with Immature Parents: How to Recover From Narcissistic, Rejecting or Abusive Parenting, you can learn some of the lessons of how to deal with the lasting effects, through chapters on: parenthood and parenting styles, mature and immature parenting, and more.

What is new about how teenagers communicate through services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram? Do social media affect the quality of teens' lives? In this eye-opening book, youth culture and technology expert danah boyd uncovers some of the major myths regarding teens' use of social media. She explores tropes about identity, privacy, safety, danger, and bullying. Ultimately, boyd argues that society fails young people when paternalism and protectionism hinder teenagers' ability to become informed, thoughtful, and engaged citizens through their online interactions.