December 1, 1990
Wyckoff, a family therapist and professor of human development and family life at the University of Kansas, and Unell, founder and editor of Twins magazine, define discipline as ``a teaching system that leads to orderliness and self-control'' and emphasize that parents should view behavior in perspective, accepting the child no matter how unruly he or she acts. In telegraphic style, each paragraph addresses aspects of problems that range from knuckle-crunching and talking back to sibling rivalry and poor study habits. Interspersed throughout are short narratives showing how a parent deals firmly and compassionately with a child and his or her specific problem. Typical advice to the parent: ``Say, `Here are your choices: You can do what I have asked and then be able to do what you want; or you can refuse to do what I've asked and then give up your playtime. You choose how you want to spend the day.' '' While this is a handy, sound reference book, the format, which includes many bold-faced, all-capital paragraph heads, makes it a difficult cover-to-cover read. Wyckoff and Unell are coauthors of Discipline Without Shouting or Spanking.