July 5, 2009

Don’t give me that ATTITUDE- a book review

Dominique Thoughts

Michele Borba’s books are simply fascinating. This particular book- Don’t give me that Attitude-24 things kids do and how to stop them is a really handy guide to all parents and teachers.

In her book she covers twenty four attitude makeovers.(Here are some out of her list which I find interesting)

• Arrogant
• Bad-Mannered
• Bad -Tempered
• Poor Loser
• Lazy
• Uncooperative
• Insensitive
• Irresponsible

Many of these attitudes are prevalent in the behaviours  in the kids I face in school and in the boys.

Behaviour correction needs to start from young. Many parents/adults assume that when a child grows older he/she will “grow” out of all these bad habits and learn to be a better person. This is UNTRUE!!  For a child to improve in his attitude corrective measure need to be taken to nip the habit when they are young.

Borba has listed for each BAD attitude a  step-by-step approach on how parents can

1. convey their attitude expectation
2. identify the warning signs
3. teach ways for the child to control himself
4. teaching alternative behaviour or ways of expression
5. reinforcing the preferred behaviour.

She also  has a 4 week attitude changing plan which parent and child can go through towards achieving the desired results. I am intending to try it out with some of my school kids so that it would make the learning environment better for all in class.