3-Step Discipline for Calm - and Happy Parenting

Our child's psychologist recommended this for my husband and I. We are just starting this technique with our 4yr old. He has add, adhd, ocd, odd, anxiety, and mild aspergers. Our day to day is a challenge, but this book has helped.

Excellent book. A friend suggested this book to help us develop better discipline technigues. It arrived quickly and was in excellent condition. We are still working on putting it all into practice, but so far we're already seeing improvements in her behavior and our parenting skills.

I would recommend this book for anyone jumping into parenting. It is really helpful, and I love the fact that it gives me permission to not argue with my son. I have been using 1-2-3 Magic with my son for over a year, and everyone notices the difference. The greatest thing is how well he now behaves in public. We can actually go out to eat without worrying if he will have a fit.

The most amazing book written in history about behavior management in class. I have to warn you, "YOU MUST BE READY TO READ AND APPLY THE TECHNIQUE THE BOOK MENTION', as the author says: it requires patience, dedication and consistency.

Easy to listen too. Real life examples every parent can relate too. Th it s gave me a plan to deal with my 4 year old when I had no plan and was winging it. Life is better within one week and continues to get better.

This book is great for an effective way to discipline a child. Our three year is extremely strong willed and has an attitude that could send a bird to the moon and back. This was our last option before possible behavioral therapy to help control him and it worked very well. I would recommend this to anybody that is having issues with their child's behavior.

We bought this book after having seen the first 123 Magic DVD. The results have been amazing. Such a simple solution, but if you follow it consistently and all adults who care for your children are willing to follow it, it really works!! No more yelling, lecturing, and wasting hours on trying to get your kids to buy into your logic for why they should or shouldn't be doing certain things. My kids initially tested (eerily similar to the way that Dr. Phelan predicted that they would)but gave in rather quickly and my son even told me he likes the system because there is no more yelling. I think it would be a little more difficult for kids under 4, but for kids over that age,it's fantastic! I highly recommend it!!!

My friend's therapist recommended this book, so she could learn a way to handle her granddaughter's problematic behavior. I watched how it changed things for my friend and her granddaughter. I figured it would help me, if I needed to set some guidelines at my house for my grandchildren. So far, it's not been an issue.

This program works great and even my child was on board after reading the kids version of this book. It was recommended to me and I would recommend this book to anyone hoping for changes in their kids while also learning more effective parenting strategies. It's a very easy read with some excellent advice!!

Nothing will blow you away about this book. However, the simple steps are very effective. I did as instructed and read the first half and applied it. It worked. The only downside is my wife has not yet read the book and tries to incorporate the message by watching me. This is very ineffective. My recommendation, as is the book's, is to have both parents read and apply.

This book came recommended, which normally I roll my eyes around and say "Yeah! Right!" .. this time they were correct in saying how good this book is. Very easy to understand, in everyday language. The first few chapters were a bit, well, boring... but get past those & you'll be glad you did! EASY to use steps in helping your children and help yourself to understand why taking these steps really do help.... WORTH EVERY PENNY SPENT!!

Even die hard older parents can learn new tricks! This has been an awesome tool for us as parents and for our children. Highly recommend it in conjunction with the original book and the 1-2-3 Magic for the kids. It has changed our family for the best!

It's clear, straightforward and useful book. The bottom line that it works very well regardless if some people do not like the methods. It helped our family, and I already purchased a second book for a mother of 3 kids that I know as well. Explaining and trying to deal with my 5 years old as a 'little adult' backfired a great deal, we ended up arguing and yelling at each other on a regular base because it really did not matter what was the reason to do homework etc. when she just did not want to do it though she was able to fabricate great 'excuses' or points in some cases, the point was that I was not in control as it was necessary to be able to run things smoothly at home. Motherhood started to be a bad experience and the relationship between me and my 5 years old daughter was going bad to worse until someone offered me to read this book. How glad that I got this message after all my praying. I highly recommend this absolutely great common sense book that deals with reality instead of ideals.

You may be concerned by the reviews here, which fall into exactly two camps: 5 stars-over-the-moon and 1 star-hated-it. I think there are good reasons for this, but first: I liked 1-2-3 Magic. It is a short, well-written, direct, easy-to-use manual for the common "counting" discipline method that we all (think we) know.

The part of the book that deals with "stop" behaviors is particularly good because it gives you a parenting tool for discipline and boy does it work! Used according to the book (and within the context of good, healthy parenting, not as a sole remedy to all problems), I've found that I can be much more in control of those problem moments that used to vex me and which led to tears, bribery, long talks, and which used to leave me feeling inadequate as a parent.

The over-the-moon reviews generally mention the success story moment when "that's one" stops the Badness right in its tracks. If you adopt this method, you will have that moment, and really quickly too. Mine was at the local pool, where my son was hitting another kid (and, yes, there were "reasons", but that wasn't important: the hitting has to stop). All I had to say was "Dashiell, that's one" and the behavior just stopped. The other parent ended up with a long-winded diatribe resulting in a crying kid being led from the pool. There but for the grace...

Of course there are limits to the use of any parenting tool. You still have to be aware of your child's moods, fears, lack-of-rest, etc. Counting is not a panacea.

The last third of the book, which deals with "start" behaviors (things you want your child to start to do, as opposed to stop doing NOW), is less useful if not useless. The techniques there really require more active effort and parental involvement anyway. Common sense says that encouraging good behaviors and habits (as opposed to stopping bad ones) is harder and can't be "plugged in".

In any event, this book does give the tips to solving the "discipline monster" without hitting, screaming or yelling, and with amazingly few tears (for everyone involved). It's not really "magic", but used wisely it really produced the results it promised to me.

These videos are really handy. I've read both the 1-2-3 Magic book and watched both videos and I have to say the tips and techniques work for me and my 5y ADHD boy. The book works well in familiarizing yourself with the content at your own pace. And the VDO is a good recap. The content in the book is the same as the VDO so you could use either one and get the same info. My husband hates reading, so to get us both involved I read the book first and then watched the VDOs with him. The More 1-2-3 Magic VDO builds upon what was in the first book and doesn't have a book version.I would say you could also get by just by watching the 2 VDOs. The VDOs do have the advantage of seeing the scenarios played out, and the whole contents of the 1-2-3 &more Magic can be covered in just a few hours. Meaning that you could get started sooner. The VDOs pretty much cover it for teachers too, although the 1-2-3 book for teachers gives you more scenarios and suggestions how to tackle some specific issues such as how to use the techniques with a classroom full of kids simultaneuosly. There are also chapters on "Teaching and Your Personality", "Getting the Schoolwork Done" and other topics specific to the school setting.

The pediatric attending in our PICU recommended this book to me as I was seeking assistance in teaching my 2-year old how to not hit. 4 months in and it has really helped us!! I do like this book and the premise of it as well.

I LOVE this book! I work with parents of children who have (sometimes extreme) behavioral issues. This is an amazing resource to help frustrated parents take a refreshing and effective approach to discipline.

very helpful for my crazy difficult child. I have had this book for a couple of years and my difficult child is now 4 and I occasionally pick up the book to refresh my approach. Great for parents & teachers!

My husband and I read this book together because we were having difficulty getting our headstrong daughter to behave appropriately. It is very simple and this works! The book is a quick and easy read, and we were able to start right away. After just a couple of days, our daughter started to comply age-appropriately. For us, we found we would waffle on our discipline and this was a mistake. We didn't want to give our wonderful child a time out. She knew that if she misbehaved, sometimes she got a time out, and sometimes she didn't. She was more than willing to give it a chance. However, we found that as soon as we stopped talking, got rid of the emotion, and started counting, we had a much calmer household.

I would recommend that if you are looking for guidance or confirmation, read, and start this program NOW. You won't be sorry.