How to Handle Hard-to-Handle Parents
Purchase
Description
"As a school administrator and teacher, I have learned that parents are our most valuable asset. This book provides tremendous lessons to help school personnel maximize this priceless resource and positively impact the lives of students and families. Thank you, Marlyn, for a wealth of ideas and strategies for parents and teachers across the nation!"
—Lindsey Pollock, Principal
Houston Independent School District, TX
Discover strategies for positive partnering with all parents—even the difficult ones!
This must-have resource helps educators work effectively with all parents, even the most difficult ones, and prevent problems before they happen. Maryln Appelbaum offers targeted strategies, solutions, and skills to establish positive and harmonious relationships with all parents, overcome adversity, enhance the home-school connection, and boost student performance.
How to Handle Hard-to-Handle Parents helps develop specific skills for communicating with all parents, including parents who are difficult, angry, overprotective, or overbearing. Packed with sample forms, letters, scenarios, and vignettes, plus techniques for involving families whose first language is not English, this guide helps educators:
- Establish relationships with parents of all backgrounds
- Recognize, and work with, characteristics of difficult people
- Be proactive in getting parents to cooperate and follow through at home
- Conduct expert parent conferences
- Handle all types of parents, including "Know-It-All's," "Blamers," "Helicopter Parents," and more
Indispensable for teachers, school leaders, counselors, and all educators, this will become a much-referenced resource for building cooperative parent-teacher relationships that positively impact students' academic success.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Figures
Preface
Preface
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Author
Introduction
- 1. How to Reach Parents and Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- The Changing Face of Families
- What Parents Want From Teachers
- Reasons Parents Do Not Come to School
- Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- Making Diverse Groups Feel Welcome
- Opening the Doors to the School for All Families
- 2. About Hard-to-Handle People
- What Is a Difficult Person?
- Characteristics of Difficult People
- The Six "Nevers" With Hard-to-Handle Parents
- Five Ways Parents Can Make You Lose Your Cool and How to Choose Healthier Responses
- 3. How to Handle the Hard-to-Handle Parent: Strategies for Success
- The Right Way to Say No
- The Opposite Response for Parents Who Are Negative and Argumentative
- Repetition Response
- Don't Get Sidetracked
- Agree With the Person
- Apologize
- Use the Mirror Response
- Stand
- How to Handle Angry Parents
- The Nine-Step Intervention
- 4. How to Handle Parents With Bad Attitudes
- How to Handle the "Know-It-All"
- The "Blamer"
- The Defensive Parent
- The "Helicopter" Parent
- The "Negative Cynical" Parents
- The "Backstabber"
- The Parent Whose Child "Does No Wrong"
- Parents Who Think You Are Not Fair
- Parents Who Are Extremely Angry
- 5. Listening Skills for Hard-to-Handle Parents
- The Communication Process
- Power Listening
- Once the Door Has Been Opened
- The Greatest Gift
- 6. How to Talk so Parents Listen
- Five Styles to Manage Frustration and Anger
- Keys to Being Assertive
- Power Request
- Power Persuasion
- Practice Makes Perfect
- 7. Parent Conferences: An Ounce of Prevention That Prevents a Pound of Problems
- Set the Scene: The Focus Factor
- The Conference
- Key Points to Enhance Conferences
- The Five-Step Approach to Telling Parents Negative News Checklist
- 8. Parents as Partners: Enhancing Collaboration and Teamwork
- Forming the Partnership: A Collaborative Relationship
- How to Get Parents to Follow Through at Home
- Conclusion
- A Parent's Plea to Teachers
References
References
Index
Index
Description
"As a school administrator and teacher, I have learned that parents are our most valuable asset. This book provides tremendous lessons to help school personnel maximize this priceless resource and positively impact the lives of students and families. Thank you, Marlyn, for a wealth of ideas and strategies for parents and teachers across the nation!"
—Lindsey Pollock, Principal
Houston Independent School District, TX
Discover strategies for positive partnering with all parents—even the difficult ones!
This must-have resource helps educators work effectively with all parents, even the most difficult ones, and prevent problems before they happen. Maryln Appelbaum offers targeted strategies, solutions, and skills to establish positive and harmonious relationships with all parents, overcome adversity, enhance the home-school connection, and boost student performance.
How to Handle Hard-to-Handle Parents helps develop specific skills for communicating with all parents, including parents who are difficult, angry, overprotective, or overbearing. Packed with sample forms, letters, scenarios, and vignettes, plus techniques for involving families whose first language is not English, this guide helps educators:
- Establish relationships with parents of all backgrounds
- Recognize, and work with, characteristics of difficult people
- Be proactive in getting parents to cooperate and follow through at home
- Conduct expert parent conferences
- Handle all types of parents, including "Know-It-All's," "Blamers," "Helicopter Parents," and more
Indispensable for teachers, school leaders, counselors, and all educators, this will become a much-referenced resource for building cooperative parent-teacher relationships that positively impact students' academic success.
Contents
List of Figures
List of Figures
Preface
Preface
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Author
Introduction
- 1. How to Reach Parents and Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- The Changing Face of Families
- What Parents Want From Teachers
- Reasons Parents Do Not Come to School
- Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- Making Diverse Groups Feel Welcome
- Opening the Doors to the School for All Families
- 2. About Hard-to-Handle People
- What Is a Difficult Person?
- Characteristics of Difficult People
- The Six "Nevers" With Hard-to-Handle Parents
- Five Ways Parents Can Make You Lose Your Cool and How to Choose Healthier Responses
- 3. How to Handle the Hard-to-Handle Parent: Strategies for Success
- The Right Way to Say No
- The Opposite Response for Parents Who Are Negative and Argumentative
- Repetition Response
- Don't Get Sidetracked
- Agree With the Person
- Apologize
- Use the Mirror Response
- Stand
- How to Handle Angry Parents
- The Nine-Step Intervention
- 4. How to Handle Parents With Bad Attitudes
- How to Handle the "Know-It-All"
- The "Blamer"
- The Defensive Parent
- The "Helicopter" Parent
- The "Negative Cynical" Parents
- The "Backstabber"
- The Parent Whose Child "Does No Wrong"
- Parents Who Think You Are Not Fair
- Parents Who Are Extremely Angry
- 5. Listening Skills for Hard-to-Handle Parents
- The Communication Process
- Power Listening
- Once the Door Has Been Opened
- The Greatest Gift
- 6. How to Talk so Parents Listen
- Five Styles to Manage Frustration and Anger
- Keys to Being Assertive
- Power Request
- Power Persuasion
- Practice Makes Perfect
- 7. Parent Conferences: An Ounce of Prevention That Prevents a Pound of Problems
- Set the Scene: The Focus Factor
- The Conference
- Key Points to Enhance Conferences
- The Five-Step Approach to Telling Parents Negative News Checklist
- 8. Parents as Partners: Enhancing Collaboration and Teamwork
- Forming the Partnership: A Collaborative Relationship
- How to Get Parents to Follow Through at Home
- Conclusion
- A Parent's Plea to Teachers
References
References
Index
Index
Reviews
August 2009 | 136 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 01/02/2026 | 9781412964418 | $37.95 |
| Lifetime | 01/02/2026 | 9781452272986 | $35.00 |
"As a school administrator and teacher, I have learned that parents are our most valuable asset. This book provides tremendous lessons to help school personnel maximize this priceless resource and positively impact the lives of students and families. Thank you, Marlyn, for a wealth of ideas and strategies for parents and teachers across the nation!"
—Lindsey Pollock, Principal
Houston Independent School District, TX
Discover strategies for positive partnering with all parents—even the difficult ones!
This must-have resource helps educators work effectively with all parents, even the most difficult ones, and prevent problems before they happen. Maryln Appelbaum offers targeted strategies, solutions, and skills to establish positive and harmonious relationships with all parents, overcome adversity, enhance the home-school connection, and boost student performance.
How to Handle Hard-to-Handle Parents helps develop specific skills for communicating with all parents, including parents who are difficult, angry, overprotective, or overbearing. Packed with sample forms, letters, scenarios, and vignettes, plus techniques for involving families whose first language is not English, this guide helps educators:
- Establish relationships with parents of all backgrounds
- Recognize, and work with, characteristics of difficult people
- Be proactive in getting parents to cooperate and follow through at home
- Conduct expert parent conferences
- Handle all types of parents, including "Know-It-All's," "Blamers," "Helicopter Parents," and more
Indispensable for teachers, school leaders, counselors, and all educators, this will become a much-referenced resource for building cooperative parent-teacher relationships that positively impact students' academic success.
Table Of Contents:
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Introduction
- 1. How to Reach Parents and Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- The Changing Face of Families
- What Parents Want From Teachers
- Reasons Parents Do Not Come to School
- Prevent Problems Before They Happen
- Making Diverse Groups Feel Welcome
- Opening the Doors to the School for All Families
- 2. About Hard-to-Handle People
- What Is a Difficult Person?
- Characteristics of Difficult People
- The Six "Nevers" With Hard-to-Handle Parents
- Five Ways Parents Can Make You Lose Your Cool and How to Choose Healthier Responses
- 3. How to Handle the Hard-to-Handle Parent: Strategies for Success
- The Right Way to Say No
- The Opposite Response for Parents Who Are Negative and Argumentative
- Repetition Response
- Don't Get Sidetracked
- Agree With the Person
- Apologize
- Use the Mirror Response
- Stand
- How to Handle Angry Parents
- The Nine-Step Intervention
- 4. How to Handle Parents With Bad Attitudes
- How to Handle the "Know-It-All"
- The "Blamer"
- The Defensive Parent
- The "Helicopter" Parent
- The "Negative Cynical" Parents
- The "Backstabber"
- The Parent Whose Child "Does No Wrong"
- Parents Who Think You Are Not Fair
- Parents Who Are Extremely Angry
- 5. Listening Skills for Hard-to-Handle Parents
- The Communication Process
- Power Listening
- Once the Door Has Been Opened
- The Greatest Gift
- 6. How to Talk so Parents Listen
- Five Styles to Manage Frustration and Anger
- Keys to Being Assertive
- Power Request
- Power Persuasion
- Practice Makes Perfect
- 7. Parent Conferences: An Ounce of Prevention That Prevents a Pound of Problems
- Set the Scene: The Focus Factor
- The Conference
- Key Points to Enhance Conferences
- The Five-Step Approach to Telling Parents Negative News Checklist
- 8. Parents as Partners: Enhancing Collaboration and Teamwork
- Forming the Partnership: A Collaborative Relationship
- How to Get Parents to Follow Through at Home
- Conclusion
- A Parent's Plea to Teachers
- References
- Index
- Foreword by Marty Appelbaum