The timeless New York Times bestselling guide to parenting that shows the power of inspiring values through example.   A unique handbook to raising children with a compassionate, steady hand—and to giving them the support and confidence they need to thrive. Expanding on her universally loved poem “Children Learn What They Live,” Dorothy Law Nolte, with psychotherapist Rachel Harris, reveals how parenting by example—by showing, not just telling—instills positive, true values in children that they will carry with them throughout their lives. Addressing issues of security, self-worth, tolerance, honesty, fear, respect, fairness, patience, and more, this book of rare common sense will help a new generation of parents find their own parenting wisdom—and draw out their child’s immense inner resources.   If children live with criticism they learn to condemn. If children live with sharing, they learn generosity. If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.   And more wisdom.   Since its publication in 1954, Dorothy Law Nolte's inspirational and educational poem, Children Learn What They Live has been published worldwide, translated into 10 languages, taught in parenting and teaching courses, distributed in doctors offices, and printed on posters and calendars. In Children Learn What They Live: Parenting to Inspire Values , authors Nolte, a teacher and lecturer on family life, and Rachel Harris, Nolte's friend and teaching associate, have taken the classic poem and fleshed it into a small gem of a book. The expanded version maintains the grace and wisdom of the original, yet adds significant insight into the process of encouraging values through example. "If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn," begins the poem (and the book), and so Nolte and Harris suggest effective ways to avoid or prevent constant criticism. As a set of guiding principals, as teaching tools, or as gentle reminders, Nolte and Harris's approach to teaching values to children encapsulates the best in parenting wisdom. --Ericka Lutz This book can help you become the parent you have always wanted to be, and raise the kind of children you can always be proud of. --From the foreword by Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul "If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn...If children live with acceptance, they learn to love." Expanding on her universally loved poem, "Children Learn What They Live," which has nourished countless families since its initial publication in 1954, Dorothy Law Nolte offers a simple but powerful guide to parenting-by inspiring values through example. Addressing issues of security, self-worth, tolerance, honesty, fear, respect, fairness, patience, and more, this book of rare common sense will help a new generation of parents find their own parenting wisdom and draw out their child's immense inner resources. Rachel Harris, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., is a psychotherapist who completed postgraduate training in family therapy and parenting education. She lives with her teenage daughter in Princeton, New Jersey. Rachel has know Dorothy Law Nolte for almost 30 years as teaching associates and co-workers. Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D. is a lifelong teacher and lecturer on family life education, and is the author of the poem "Children Learn What They Live," which has been translated into 20 languages and is used the world over by parents and educators. The mother of three, grandmother of three, and great grandmother of five, she lives and works in southern California. (From the chapter "If children live with acceptance, they learn to love") We use the word "love" to describe the most dynamic and vital human experience there is. What we call love is bigger than anything we can say about it. And most people would agree that there is nothing more important in life than to love and be loved. When we wholeheartedly love our children and accept them unconditionally, they thrive. Love is the soil in which our children grow, the sunlight that determines their direction, the water that nourishes their growth. Children need love from the moment they are born-and even before that. Newborns are totally dependent on our warmth, affection, and loving attention. Our active caring nurtures their feelings of being wanted and belonging. As children mature, they continue to rely on us to show them we love them. They best understand love through our kind and caring actions. Our total acceptance of them is the wellspring of our love. While it is imperative for our children to feel loved, love is a fundamental human need that we never outgrow. As adults, we still want to be wanted. We still need human connection, closeness, affection, and a warm touch. We all want to be accepted for being who we are, and to have friends with whom we feel we belong Our children know they are wanted and loved when we treat them kindly, and when we accompany loving actions with loving words and nurturing touch. It is