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Resourceful Reading for a Well Informed Parent - Introverted & Shy Children

References of Interest:

The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child: Helping Your Child Thrive in an Extroverted World
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Book Description from Amazon.com:
Introverted children are often misunderstood, even by their parents, who worry about them. Engaged by their interior world, they’re often regarded as aloof. Easily overwhelmed by too much stimulation, they can be seen as unmotivated. Content with just one or two close friends, they may be perceived as unpopular. Parents fret that they are unhappy and maladjusted. But the truth is quite different: Introverted children are creative problem solvers. Introverted children love to learn. Introverted children have a high EQ (emotional IQ) and are in touch with their feelings. They take time to stop and smell the roses, and they enjoy their own company. They are dependable, persistent, flexible, and lack vanity.

How can parents help their introverted children discover and cultivate these wonderful gifts? Help is here. Written by Dr. Marti Olsen Laney, author of The Introvert Advantage with 74,000 copies in print, The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child fully explains introversion as a hardwired temperament, not a disability, and tells just what parents need to do to help their child become the person he or she is meant to be—and succeed in an extroverted world. Beginning with a 30-question quiz that places a child on the introvert/extrovert continuum, The Hidden Gifts shows parents how to foster a climate that allows introverted kids to discover their inner strengths; schedule ways for a very young innie to recharge those batteries and teach an older child to do it for him- or herself; create a harmonious household with siblings, and parents, of different temperaments; help innies find success at school, sports, parties, and other group activities.

From the Back Cover: Do you have a child who hangs back at birthday parties? Who dreads being called on in class? Who hugs the sidelines, and who surprises you by seeming withdrawn or aloof in public but turns into a chatterbox at home?

The plight of the introverted child is to be often misunderstood. Parents, siblings, classmates, teacher, and—most devastatingly—the child himself feel that there's something wrong with him. With The Hidden Gifts of the Introverted Child, Dr. Marti Olsen Laney brings wisdom and science together to provide parents with an essential guide to raising a successful, well-adjusted innie. It covers the hard-wired introvert temperament; introvert-extrovert family dynamics; navigating school, sports, and social life; and especilly, how to draw out your introvert's hidden gifts, which may include a love of learning, empathy, creativity, and flexibility—virtues easily lost in the bluster of an extroverted world.

The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them
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Book Description from Amazon.com:
The bestselling author and psychologist whose books have topped 240,000 copies in print now addresses the trait of “high sensitivity” in children–and offers a breakthrough parenting guidebook for highly sensitive children and their caregivers.

With the publication of The Highly Sensitive Person, Elaine Aron became the first person to identify the inborn trait of “high sensitivity” and to show how it affects the lives of those who possess it. Up to 20 percent of the population is born highly sensitive, and now in The Highly Sensitive Child, Aron shifts her focus to highly sensitive children, who share the same characteristics as highly sensitive adults and thus face unique challenges as they grow up.

Rooted in Aron’s years of experience as a psychotherapist and her original research on child temperament, The Highly Sensitive Child shows how HSCs are born deeply reflective, sensitive to the subtle, and easily overwhelmed. These qualities can make for smart, conscientious, creative children, but with the wrong parenting or schooling, they can become unusually shy or timid, or begin acting out. Few parents and teachers understand where this behavior comes from–and as a result, HSCs are often mislabeled as overly inhibited, fearful, or “fussy,”or classified as “problem children” (and in some cases, misdiagnosed with disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder). But raised with proper understanding and care, HSCs are no more prone to these problems than nonsensitive children and can grow up to be happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults.

In this pioneering work, parents will find helpful self-tests and case studies to help them understand their HSC, along with thorough advice on:
* The challenges of raising an highly sensitive child
* The four keys to successfully parenting an HSC
* How to soothe highly sensitive infants
* Helping sensitive children survive in a not-so-sensitive world
* Making school and friendships enjoyable

With chapters addressing the needs of specific age groups, from newborns through teens, The Highly Sensitive Child delivers warmhearted, timely information for parents, teachers, and the sensitive children in their lives.