Product Description

Rita Emmett, the bestselling author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook, returns with a book every parent, teacher, and caregiver of a procrastinating child needs and has been waiting for.

Children pay an enormous price, with their self-confidence and self-esteem, for procrastination. Procrastination keeps children from accomplishing short- and long-term goals and it damages their relationships with other children and adults. Without intervention nearly every procrastinating child will grow up to be a procrastinating adult.

Rita Emmett understands the damage that procrastination can have on a child, and in The Procrastinating Child draws her advice for parents, teachers, caregivers from her own childhood, her parenting seminars, and the real-life stories of people who have overcome procrastination.

Whether avoiding chores or homework or neglecting goals -- or in dozens of other situations -- children of all ages procrastinate for many reasons:

• Feeling overwhelmed or confused and not knowing where to begin
• Lack of motivation
• A dislike of the task
• Poor time management skills

In each case, Emmett provides strategies for breaking through a child’s defense mechanisms or reluctance to talk, and for establishing rules and guidelines that encourage young children and teenagers alike to face obligations in a timely way.

Lighthearted, bighearted, The Procrastinating Child is as entertaining as it is rewarding.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #599621 in Books
• Published on: 2002-12-17
• Released on: 2002-12-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.ca
In The Procrastinating Child, author Rita Emmett provides strategies for adults who want to help children end the debilitating habit of putting things off. The author, who first helped adults to blast away procrastination in her seminars and best-selling book The Procrastinator's Handbook, points out that procrastination is not an intractable personality trait but a habit that can usually be changed. Left unchecked, the problem can lead to children with damaged self-confidence and increased anxiety. Emmett helps readers to look for signs that dawdlers are fearful, overscheduled, or overwhelmed by perfectionism. She advises parents to tie in house rules with a loss of privileges and let children decide which reward will get them going: "The children soon figure out that they make the choices whether they are going to enjoy themselves or not, depending on whether they do what they are supposed to do."

Emmett's aim is a more harmonious household with chores finished, homework completed, and goals achieved. She notes that parents and caregivers often experience another benefit as they tackle a child's procrastination--they make changes that improve their own life as well. Parents, teachers, babysitters--really, anyone who interacts with children--can learn to give up energy-draining prodding in favour of loving, effective, and creative strategies that reward children for their success. But one suspects those who should really rush to buy the book are children who want their parents to stop nagging. --Carolyn Leitch

From Publishers Weekly
Parents frustrated by their child's tendency to delay starting a book report or cleaning her room will find this guide by Emmet (The Procrastinator's Handbook) to be a valuable resource. Emmet points out that schools rarely teach time management; this handbook fills in the gap, helping parents understand why their children procrastinate and how they can help kids organize their schedules and assignments. While parents may find procrastinators to be frustrating, Emmet notes that kids who delay aren't doing it just to irk mom and dad; rather, the child may feel overwhelmed, distracted and helpless. Perfectionism and procrastination, she claims, often go hand in hand, so parents need to communicate that it's okay to make mistakes. Helping children break tasks into small steps will also waylay the daunting fear that often accompanies procrastination. Emmet's approach is practical (helpful summaries at the conclusion of each chapter keep readers on task) and her argument that procrastination is a bad habit that can be corrected will be reassuring news for young procrastinators and their parents. (Sept.)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Emmett follows up The Procrastinator's Handbook with a look at the price children pay for procrastinating, the reasons they do so, and how parents can help them stop. Each chapter is devoted to a particular cause: habit, poor time management skills, feelings of being overwhelmed, hating a task, lacking time to perform perfectly, fears and anxiety, and being swamped with other activities. Emmett uses vignettes to illustrate how children waste time and how parents can teach them to be more productive by setting firm rules, using rewards, and making lists. The book is aimed at helping parents determine when a child is procrastinating and when they're just being children, and how to achieve balance between being too controlling and being permissive. Emmett offers basic suggestions--no television until homework is done--as well as solutions spelled out in acronyms to help parents and children remember them. Emmett's lighthearted style makes this an easy-to-read, helpful resource for parents. Vanessa Bush
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