Your Child's Strengths

Your Child's Strengths: Discover Them, Develop Them, and Use Them; A Guide for Parents and Teachers by Jenifer Fox.

The basic premise of the book is that too much emphasis is placed on trying to fix what's wrong with kids, rather than trying to leverage what their strengths are. And, by strengths, she means not strictly what someone is talented at, but what makes someone feel strong ("...strengths are the things that we do that make us feel energized and alive when we do them"). The example she used, which I kind of like, was when she asked her dog if she wanted to play ball - immediately the dog's ears perked up. That's the kind of engagement and interest she wants to leverage in children.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I like a lot of what this book is about, how the author's approach looks to value every child. On the other hand, it comes across a bit too self-righteous like so many self/child-improvement/positive psychology books. She wants every school to adopt her program and really thinks it's what's missing across the country both in schools and in people's lives generally.
However, she really doesn't back up her theory with much besides her personal experience as an educator - no studies, research, or even a very coherently laid out model/theory.

While I haven't made it through the last workbook-like section, I'm a bit leary. However, I plan to at least read through and hope to gain some tips. Maybe I'll feel different after or at least gain a few useful nuggets.