Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful | Louise Bates Ames

Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful | Louise Bates Ames | Out of date advice, but 'bang on' observations

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Your Four-Year-Old...

	Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful Louise Bates Ames Dell, 1980 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What is it about four-year-olds that makes them so lovable? What problems do four-year-olds have? What can they do now that they couldn't do at three? Drs. Ames and Ilg, recognized authorities on child behavior and development, discuss these and scores of other questions unique to four-year-old girls and boys, and they offer parents practical advice and enlightening psychological insights.

A MUST READ for all parents ...

I recommend these books (Your ONE Year Old, Your TWO Year Old, Your THREE Year Old, Your FOUR Year Old, Your FIVE Year Old, Your SIX Year Old, Your SEVEN Year Old, Your EIGHT Year Old, Your NINE Year Old, Your TEN-to-FOURTEEN Year Old. These books were writtten by Louise Bates Ames, PhD, Fances L. Ilg, MD and Sidney M. Baker MD of the Gesell Institute of Human Development. They are NOT a "how to" book for parents -- but rather provide a perspective of life from the child's various ages. I found the books to be of such value that I purchase the entire series for new parents. Somehow I forgot to purchase these books for my niece when she started her family. She expressed some concerns about her seven year old son's behavior (that I knew from experience to be that typical of seven year olds). I purchased the books from the series that will help my niece from here on. She LOVES them! I have a feeling she will use them and pass them along to other parents. My original set are part of my permanent library. I highly recommend these books for your permanent library as well!

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Out of date advice, but 'bang on' observations

I remembered this series from its assitance in raising my "first litter" of kids, who are now in their mid and late twenties. I have just finished re-reading this title in honour of my four year old youngest.

I gave the book four stars rather than five because, as other reviewers have noted, the book is 30 years old and in some places it's obvious that it hasn't been updated since then. I was occasionally really surprised at the flashbacks I got in reading what was once the "gold standard" in child development advice and realizing how odd it soudns today. There are places, especially in the second half of the book, where observation gives way to opinion and advice that is a relic of its time. (TV is good, kids 'need' to be ghettoized in schools 'for their own developmental good', and a goodly dose of "girls behave this way and boys behave that way, and you can predict behavior based on body type [whaaa?!?!].)

But kids themselves don't change that much -- kids develop today much the same way they developed 30 years ago and 300 years ago. (Oh, their interests and our expectations have changed a lot, but kids and their development patterns haven't.)

So if you're a reader who can sort observation from the opinions based on those observations, I would still recommend this book as a really good primer on what to expect from your child's physical, emotional, and intellectual development over the course of the fourth year. She pegs the changes in the developing child very accurately -- even if her ideas about what that means are sometimes a little wierd.

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Helped me understand our daughter!

I was looking for a short, easy to read overview about 4 year olds. I felt like I had a pretty good grasp on 1-3, but when our daughter hit 4, all control and understanding was lost! Ames' book really put the age in perspective -- she does a great job describing what's normal for 4. As a result, my husband and I felt a bit less isolated, more secure, and confident as parents.

Outdated in parts, but still a good guide to development

What can I say, I love reading parenting books from the 1970s. It's not just the nostalgic pictures of kids wearing loud plaid pants and boys in wide belts that remind me of my own childhood, there's more to it than that. Having a four-year-old myself, I'm trying to figure out why there seems to be such a generation gap in the parenting style of the 1970s when I was raised and the present style. I'm sure one could make a whole dissertation on the subject which isn't my intention to do here, but one thing I notice that is refreshing about these old-fashioned parenting books is that they aren't so full of guilt-inducing admonishments like many books of today are. Of course, you need to use your own good judgement and common sense when reading the advice given here. For example, the authors say that most four-year-olds can play alone outside unsupervised and can run "small errands" as long as crossing the street isn't involved. Can you imagine any book or child expert giving such advice today?

As others have said, the real value of the book is that it describes the developmental behaviors that children at age four tend to go through. It's not exactly an advice book, and I wouldn't use it as such, especially as since many people have noted much of the advice is either out-of-date (rubber pants, for example) or objectionable to many people.

So why am I giving it four stars? Besides the fact that I love the "historical" nostalgic aspect, even if I didn't agree with all of the content, it is an honest book on a child's development. And when you can understand more about why your child is doing certain behaviors, it's much easier to deal with those behaviors.

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fantastic resource for parents

Developmental pediatrics in under 125 pages! Who could ask for more? This book explains where your child is developmentally and describes what is happening in the minds and bodies at a given age. You can incorporate this information in to how you parent. It has the power to change how you see parenting and your child in a very powerful way. Enjoy!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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