Just what are "Suggestion Circles" anyway?

"Suggestion Circles" are part of our "Parents Helping Parents" feature. Jean Illsley Clarke, our current Guest Columnist, has given us permission to use excerpts from her book entitled:

HELP! For Parents of Children from Birth to Five: Tried and True Solutions to Parents' Everyday Problems.

"Suggestion Circles" do not present theory, but rather practical solutions (previously given by parents in the U.S. and Canada), for handling typical parental concerns regarding children. The parents had participated in groups led by a facilitator trained in the techniques employed by "Self Esteem: A Family Affair" classes. The suggestions were not obtained by "brain storming" with parents, nor were they offered by a "professional". These suggestions are the best suggestions that worked for the persons who offered them in the "circle". Each suggestion is offered by an "authority" (e.g., parent, daycare provider, aunt, uncle, grandparent). Every answer is correct since it worked for the person who discovered it -- sometimes after many years of experience.

Concerning the suggestions:

• You may occasionally notice that suggestions given contradict one another. This needn't bother you. Parents, children, and homes differ, and what works for one may not work for another or at another time.
• Any suggestion advocating violence has been eliminated. (Child abuse is illegal, and violence does not benefit children.)
• Suggestions implying either that parents or children are helpless, or that a problem was not serious have been eliminated.
• We hope that the variety of suggestions encourages flexibility in your caregiving as well as a new way of perceiving the situation you may be experiencing.

We at "Educarer World of Infants" plan to weekly update our site with a new "Suggestion Circle" question. Each question is numbered in correlation to the numbered item in Jean Illsley Clarke's book, the title of which is given in white text above.