Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book! The title and this beautiful cover drew me in and i was excited to read this book! I will be recommending this book to others for readers advisory.

This is such a good read for all parents. Figuring out the balance between being too strict or too accommodating is so hard. This book helps clarify that line.

Deborah Winking's 'Raising Capable Kids' is a practical and insightful guide filled with useful strategies for fostering independence and resilience. A well-organized and encouraging resource for parents seeking to empower their children.

I think many readers will find the book to be empowering and encouraging, helping them to see their children's potential and capabilities in a new light. The book emphasizes the importance of focusing on a child's strengths and celebrating their achievements, rather than dwelling on their weaknesses, providing practical tips and strategies for raising capable children. I found the book generally well-written and engaging. Deborah Winking offers a refreshing perspective on child-rearing.

The book champions a strengths-based approach, encouraging parents to shift their focus from what their child "can't" do to their unique abilities and potential. This empowering mindset can significantly impact a child's self-esteem and motivation. Winking also emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive and supportive narrative around a child's challenges. By reframing difficulties as opportunities for growth and learning, parents can help their children develop resilience and a strong sense of self-worth. While not a step-by-step guide, the book offers valuable insights and practical strategies for fostering independence, problem-solving skills, and a growth mindset in children. These strategies can be adapted to various parenting styles and individual child needs (which I thought was great).
Winking weaves personal anecdotes throughout the book, making it relatable and engaging. These stories illustrate the power of positive parenting and offer hope and inspiration to parents facing similar challenges.
Overall, Raising Capable Kids could be a valuable resource for parents seeking to nurture their child's potential and create a supportive environment for growth and development.
Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for my review copy, all opinions are my own.

As a teacher, and mom to nine of my own, one thing I know is that every child is different. This book has some great ideas on how to help every child succeed and become their best self.

A great, informative read. I have a neurodivergent child and the 12 habits were things which are positive and achievable.

I'm a big fan of books on parenting and helping our kids grow to be their best selves, and this book makes my list of recommended ones. As a parent of a ND kid and stepparent to another, books like this will help give us a chance to figure out how to work with our kids and help them build the skills and traits they need to succeed in life. We're working on a lot of home skills right now, which is great. There are days where it doesn't feel doable, but books like this helps put things back in perspective.

"Raising Capable Kids: The 12 Habits Every Parent Needs Regardless of their Child’s Label of Challenge" is a really helpful guide for parents of kids with special needs. The book breaks down twelve habits for caregivers to develop, with steps, reflections, and exercises to help both parents and children cope better.

As a parent of a child who is neurodivergent, I appreciated this insight a lot, and will be using these tips as I navigate parenting in the future. She makes it feel actually doable, which I really appreciate since parenting can be so overwhelming.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, Deborah & the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC of this resource for parents of capable kids!

I really appreciate the depth of information, the supportive way it's presented and the summary boxes to help reinforce the key points. Not to mention the worksheets at the end!

I think if there's a follow up to this book, some images would help. Or some other formatting to help break up the sections. It felt a little overwhelming at times, mainly at the beginning, but the summary boxes really helped to solidify and absorb what I'd read.

This will be a valuable and reliable guide when things seem tough, and that's so important! I know I catastrophize - I also put a lot of pressure on myself and both of these in turn affect how I am able to care for my neurodivergent daughter. But I also know there are tools like this book available to help. As parents we want to do our best, but we can get a little lost in the weeds sometimes and I hope this reaches the families that need it!

Definitely appreciated this book! It was an easy read, but still informative. Will recommend to all of my mom friends. I liked especially how there were a lot of break points.. so as a mom, it was easy to close the book and come back to it while you’re busy watching the little ones!

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

Raising Capable Kids: The 12 Habits Every Parent Needs Regardless of their Child’s Label of Challenge, by Deborah Winking, is a self-help parenting book for caregivers learning how to support kids with special needs. The book is separated into different habits that each caregiver can follow and provides steps that they can take to build those habits. At the end of each habit lies reflections and exercises that caregivers can practice to build healthy coping skills for themselves and their children. Winking offers realistic solutions to caregivers who struggle with understanding their child and provides a comforting ear to combat burnout.

I appreciate how Winking incorporates person-centered approaches and emphasizes the need to build a working relationship with the child (keyword being working). It’s not a secret that, whether you’re a therapist, a teacher, a caregiver, or someone who enjoys helping kids with different perspectives in life, to get someone to learn, you have to have some rapport with them. This book wholeheartedly rejects the “do what I say, not as I do” attitude and instead tries to get caregivers to comprehend their child's perspectives of the world. I enjoyed the vignettes throughout the book; the book becomes more digestible and encourages the reader to learn more about how they were able to be successful. Profesionally-wise, I would use this book as a supplement to other parenting curricula, such as Nurturing Parenting.

I can also see this book being put to use for adult children struggling with severe mental illness and who are living with their parents. Is the situation ideal? No, especially when one year, your adult child was living independently and doing well for themselves, and then the next, they’re suddenly struggling with activities of daily living. It’s not uncommon to see some regression for those with mental illness, especially those diagnosed with a form of schizophrenia or PTSD. Sometimes, it can feel like you really are teaching a child all over again. Despite that, I can pinpoint certain situations in my practice where I felt a habit listed in the book would help a parent understand more of what their children are going through.

A side note: the book reminded me of when I was younger and struggled with reading. We’re not just born knowing how. We need to be able to sound out words, understand those words, understand the words that make up different phrases, and understand how to properly string them together into a coherent paragraph. But though I hated reading, the tone Winking uses reminded me of all those patient, patient teachers who willingly worked with me. It’s a nostalgic memory that adds to the book’s value.

This is a valuable read and I enjoyed the tone and information in it. I will be recommending this to other parents I know.

4/5 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Jessica Kingsley Publishers for this eARC of Raising Capable Kids by Deborah Winking.

This was very helpful for a parent of special needs kids. It has a lot of valuable information that I would definitely recommend to another parent/caregiver. This book actually helped gain additional confidence when I had to attend one of my child's recent IEP. I don't think I would be able to give this book to a new parent being introduced to the special needs/disability world yet, because it does take the parent to come to that realization, but I would list this book as a resource once the parents are ready. I do like that this book doesn't guilt or shame the parents to feel like they're not doing enough and celebrating the small victories are still awesome victories. I'm not trying to show off but I am really proud of us (the hubby and myself) for teaching our oldest nonverbal son how to finally communicate with us by using his AAC device(s).

Not exactly what I was expecting, but in a good way. telling real world examples to show how to change & build better habits and how they work for our kids is really interesting.
Definitely going to be putting some of these habits into practice.

This book has so much valuable information for a parent with any child who has a disability or neurodivergence. I loved the clear structure of the chapters, including the science about why each habit was important. The reflections and questions at the end of each chapter are fantastic (and brilliant to have them all together at the end as worksheets). I felt like all the reflection questions would be better than months and years of therapy. I’m a child welfare lawyer, and would love it if all parents going through the IEP/504 process with schools read this book so they could get clear on the expectations for their child, service providers, and of course it always starts with the parents own views and mindset.

A great book for parents of special needs kids! I do not have a neurodivergent or high medical need kiddo, but I do have friends that I will definitely be pass this book along to. It gives great action steps throughout the book and at the end with a great appendix. It also doesn't shame or make a parent wonder if they're doing enough, rather reframing how to deal with the here and now and celebrate the small wins over a long, hard road ahead.

Lots of great ideas. Loved the chapters that were given and the advice. This is a great discussion book. Discussion will enhance the content.