PARENTING MADE PRACTICAL - Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think Review

Do you get tired of repeating yourself a million times to your kids?  How many times have you had to have a lecture with your kids about the same thing?  Have you ever repeated your self so much that you start feeling like you are the bad person?  Maybe you have fussed so much that you start to feel like maybe what you are fussing about is really not a big deal after all.  I know I am not alone in this.  I was just beginning to think it was part of parenting.  You know, one of those things you have to do until they get older and it finally sticks.  I was tired of nagging and fussing because I didn't want to be that mama.  The one that is always fussing about something.   Being apart of the Homeschool Review Crew has given me so many opportunities to review and be exposed to things that I would not have considered on my own.  Being able to review the Parenting Made Practical book Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think and the DVD with the same title was one of those opportunities.  I was happy because I already love to read and I'm tired of fussing and lecturing about the same thing every day.  It's not just tiring it's exhausting!

What I received:  

I received the Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think book and the DVD by Joey and Carla Link.

About the Book

Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think was written by Joey and Carla Link, a husband, and wife.  The book has Twelve chapters (144 pages) and is followed by Appendix, Bibliography, and some additional resources.  I think it would definitely fall under the parenting genre.  Joey and Carla Link discuss the importance of not always repeating yourself to your kids, constantly reminding them to do things, and getting them to think on their own without mom and dad having to constantly do it for them.  They also go into great detail on how to implement their parenting suggestions.  At the end of each chapter is a short story from different parents sharing their experience.  The advice and tips in the book are recommended for kids ages 8 - high school.

About the DVD

The DVD is an actual recording of the Links at a parenting presentation.  It's part of their, A Parent's Night Out series.  The DVD's total time is 53 minutes.  You get access to download the class outlines which has fill in the blanks notes.  The answers to those fill in the blanks can be found on the DVD throughout the presentation. This helps keep you engaged.  The Links provide tips and advice on how to get your kids to start thinking on their own, take ownership of their actions, and they discussed the different temperaments.  Joey used their daughter as part of a demonstration of what it looks like to lecture your child about something they already know they shouldn't be doing and how not to lecture them but get them to think about what they did and why they did it, how to hold them accountable for their actions.

About the Authors

The Links are parent educators and have been helping parents for over twenty years.  They have three grown children and two grandchildren.

What We Thought

Now for my thoughts and honest opinion.  Overall I think Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think was very resourceful and full of some great advice and tips. However, like with all parental advice you have to take from it what works for you and ignore the rest if it does not work for you and your family.  As a parent of four kids, I have quickly come to the realization that what works for one kid very well may not work for another kid.  As parents, it's our jobs to know our children!  With all that being said here are some things that I took from the book as beneficial or some things that I just thought were great tips.

One of the first things that jumped out at me was the dialogue vs. monologue asking questions to allow your child to think and take ownership of their actions.  Instead of always talking to them ask questions.  This is something that I was already doing sometimes depending on the situation, but I now want to try to implement it more.  So for me, I normally fuss and let them know why I am so upset with them or what they should have done differently.  I plan to approach it a little differently now maybe something like this, "I notice there are still dishes in the sink and the kitchen is not clean, why?" After hearing the excuse asking, "so is it better to, whatever their response was, or follow my instructions?" Something like that I'm still working on the details.
This book also helped me to realize some areas I  myself need to improve on.  For instance, it's ok for me to expect the kids to do their chores without me having to remind them, but I need to have a walk through with each of them to see what their idea of clean is versus my idea of clean and I may need to adjust my perfection just a little if it's not a reasonable expectation.
Making sure my kids have teachable hearts is another great tip from Joey and Carla Link.
Another great point they made was in order for consequences to be effective they must be painful, given consistently (I fall short in that area), and they must be given the first time your kids show they have no intention of doing what they were told to do.

This is definitely one of those books I will pick up and read again.  There was a lot of valuable information and some may not be applicable to me now, but I may need it later.


Ok, so the information that they give on the DVD is great however, it is harder to follow than the book. I watched it all the way through, but it was a struggle for me.  I think the main reason it was difficult for me to follow along is that I am more of an interactive learner.  So because it was a recording of an actual presentation I felt like I was there and  I like to ask questions in a learning environment so because I couldn't interact back with them it made it hard for me to stay engaged.  The DVD did not cover as much as the book, but it still hit on valuable points.

My Husband's thoughts
My husband did not read the book, but he watched the DVD with me and this was his thoughts,
"I think it was uh, a good recording.  It had a lot of valuable information that can be applied to certain kids, all kids are different and may not need to be questioned like that to get to the bottom of why they made a certain decision.  Their approach was good and it did give good examples of how to ask good questions to get a better understanding of why your kids do certain things or make a certain decision.  Overall it was direct straight to the point.  I would not use this approach with all of our kids but I would possibly use some of the tips.

So, I enjoyed the book more than the DVD, but they were both great.  My husband liked the overall approach of the Links from the DVD.  We would recommend Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think both the book and the DVD to other families with kids ages 5 and up.

All the crew members did not review the same thing from Parenting Made Practical.  Here are some of the different products we were able to review.









If you would like to see what other families have to say about Taming the Lecture Bug and getting kids to think, Why Can't I Get My Kids to Behave, Navigating the Rapids of Parenting, Dating Courting & Choosing a Mate... What Works, or What Every Child Should Know Along the Way click the banner below to check out their awesome reviews.



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