The self-motivated kid

"Child psychiatrist and mother of three, Dr. Shimi Kang shows us how to empower and motivate our kids--putting them on the path toward lifelong happiness and success. Drawing on the latest neuroscience and behavioral research, The Self-Motivated Kid shows why pushy or permissive parents actually hinder self-motivation. Dr. Kang proposes a powerful new parenting model: the intelligent, joyful, playful, highly social dolphin. Dolphin parents focus on maintaining balance in their children's lives and gently yet authoritatively guide them toward developing traits that will help them thrive in an increasingly complex world: adaptability, community-mindedness, creativity, and critical thinking. As the daughter of immigrant parents who struggled to give their children the "best" in life--Dr. Kang's mother could not read, and her father taught her math while they drove around in his taxicab--Dr. Kang argues that often the simplest "benefits" we give our children are the most important. Life is a journey through ever-changing waters, and dolphin parents know that the most valuable help we can give our children is to assist them in developing their own inner compass"-- "Child psychiatrist and mother of three, Dr. Shimi Kang shows us how to empower and motivate our kids--putting them on the path toward lifelong happiness and success"--

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Self-Help. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.