The Procrastinating Child; A Handbook for Adults to Help Children Stop Putting Things Off

x, 180 pages. Illustrations. Index. Signed by the author on the half-title page. Rita Emmitt (1943-2019) was an acclaimed author of four best selling self help books and a nationally known self help speaker. Rita Emmett described herself as a "recovering procrastinator," and it is this experience that forms the foundation for her books. She had a long career as an educator and in public relations. Emmett earned a license to teach Parent Effectiveness Training and has certification for Systematic Training for Effectiveness Training. She has been involved for several years in parenting seminars through a social service agency in the Chicago area. She got a B.A. from Northeastern Illinois University in English and psychology. In 1985 she was awarded a master's degree in adult education from Louis National University. She was an effective public speaker and often conducted seminars on procrastination for various organizations, when she was motivated enough to schedule them. The author uses a friendly approach to assist parents in understanding why children procrastinate. In a review of the book in Publishers Weekly Emmett was praised for making the observation that schools almost never include time-management skills in the curriculum. In addition to this, children are often confused and afraid to make mistakes. With these factors in mind, the author makes suggestions designed to divide tasks into manageable segments, teaching techniques of task and time management. Each chapter ends with a helpful summary. This book is a contribution to Emmett's work in the area of teaching parenting skills. In The Procrastinating Child, parents and children are offered the means to change a bad habit into something efficient and productive. Parents, grandparents, teachers, supervisors, even baby-sitters, can be driven to distraction by a child's repeated procrastination. However, their distress is nothing compared to the toll procrastination takes on the child, eroding self-confidence, undermining self-esteem and relationships, increasing anxiety, and paving the way for similar behavior as an adult that can be even more costly. Helping a child stop procrastinating is one of the best gifts an adult can share, and Rita Emmett's informative and engaging new book is the place to start. Based on her own procrastination and parenting seminars and on interviews with hundreds of people about what works and what doesn't, Emmett offers proven techniques to defuse the frictions caused by youthful procrastination. Her central point is that, far from being a character flaw, procrastination, in children as in adults, is usually a habit that can be changed. Whether avoiding chores or homework or neglecting goals, or in dozens of other situations, children of all ages procrastinate for many reasons: - feeling overwhelmed or confused and not knowing where to begin; - lack of motivation; - a subversive desire to assert control by not doing what's asked; - a dislike of the task; - subconscious fears or anxieties about failure; and - poor time management skills. In each case, Emmett provides strategies for breaking through a child's defense mechanisms or reluctance to talk, and for establishing rules and guidelines that encourage young children and teenagers alike to face obligations in a timely way. Lighthearted and rewarding, The Procrastinating Child is an invaluable resource. In an interview published in the Seattle Times, Emmett described chronic procrastination as a behavioral problem rather than a character defect. Procrastination as a stress-producing behavior is described in some detail. Unattended it can result in financial, emotional, and physical stress for the individual and have a correspondingly negative effect on the environment. Emmett argues that procrastination often takes hold as a response to an uninteresting or intimidating project, feelings of being overwhelmed and fear not only of failure but also of success. The author takes a practical appr.…