Why will no one play with me? The Play Better Plan to help children of all ages make friends and thrive

Caroline Maguire

Book - 2019

Every parent wants their child to have friends, to be successful, to feel comfortable in his or her own skin. But many children lack important social and executive functioning skills that allow them to navigate through the world with ease. Maguire has worked with thousands of families dealing with chronic social dilemmas, ranging from shyness to aggression to ADHD, and more. Here she shares The Play Better Plan to help children of all ages gain the confidence to make friends and get along with others. -- adapted from jacket.

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Subjects
Published
New York : Grand Central Publishing 2019.
Language
English
Main Author
Caroline Maguire (author)
Other Authors
Teresa Barker (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
xxiv, 354 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages [325]-342) and index.
ISBN
9781538714836
  • Introduction
  • Part I. What's the Story?
  • 1. What's the Story?
  • 2. Executive Function: The Brain's Ship Captain for Social Navigation
  • 3. Parenting with a Playbook: You're a Natural, Coach
  • 4. The Seven Things Everyone Needs to Be Able to Do to Be Socially Successful
  • Part II. The Ploy Better Plan The Coach's Playbook: Coaching Guides, Questionnaires, and Tools
  • 5. The Eight Elements of Highly Effective Social Skills Coaching
  • 6. The Processing Style Questionnaire: Assessing Your Child's Strengths, Interests, and Processing Style
  • 7. The Executive Function Questionnaire: Assessing Your Child's Executive Function Social Skills
  • 8. The EFQ Lesson Tracks at a Glance: Bridge to Betterment and How Will You Know?
  • 9. Introducing the Play Better Plan to Your Child: The Interactive Conversation Guide
  • 10. Home Advantage: In-Home Coaching and Practice Build Basic Skills
  • Part III. The Play Better Executive Function Social Skills Tracks
  • 11. The Starter Track for Everyone!
  • 12. Flexible Me: Flexibility/Adaptability
  • 13. Mind Your PEAS and Cues: Reading the Room
  • 14. Who Is Your Audience?: Shifting Communication to Meet the Needs of the Audience
  • 15. Build on That: Friendship Communication
  • 16. Friendship Is a Two-Way Street: How Fast Do You Go?
  • 17. Learning to Walk in Someone Else's Shoes: Taking Another Person's Point of View
  • 18. Once Was Enough: Self-Regulation
  • 19. Never Let Them See You Sweat: Emotional Regulation
  • Part IV. The Ploy Better Plan: To Playdates and Beyond
  • 20. The Playdate Planner: How to Line Them Up and Plan Them Well
  • 21. Playdates: Coaching from the Sidelines
  • 22. How'd It Go?: Debriefing and the Post-Playdate Huddle
  • 23. Troubleshooting: How to Make the Most of Snags, Setbacks, and Resistance
  • 24. You've Got This!
  • Acknowledgments
  • Appendix
  • Playdate Observation Log
  • Playdate Planning Checklist
  • Reward Chart
  • Social Spy Badge
  • The Play Better Pocket Coach
  • References
  • Index
  • About the Authors
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

This thoughtful, compassionate primer to helping children overcome social challenges from Maguire, a coach for children with ADHD and their families, puts a full roster of tools, along with some encouragement, into the hands of parents. Taking the attitude "If they could, they would," Maguire tasks readers with running scheduled, structured coaching sessions and practice playdates for their kids, complete with specific goals and debriefing discussions. She also includes general directions for parents on reflective listening, open-ended questioning, and praise and prompting; diagnostic tests to assess a child's executive function skills and other areas; and beginner and advanced lessons directed toward particular challenge areas. Though Maguire claims the system will work for all ages, the language used and style of parent/child interaction assumed make it most appropriate for elementary school learners. It does not explicitly address family dynamics, except for Maguire's admonishment to parents to keep their own emotions out of the process. Definitely labor intensive, Maguire's primer nonetheless breaks down an issue that can seem overwhelming into practical, bite-size chunks, and parents willing to prioritize her solutions should find this guidebook comprehensive and usable. Agents: Steve Troha and Dado Derviskadic, Folio Literary. (Sept.)

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