Toughlove vs Your child at play

Both "Your child at play" by Marilyn M. Segal and "Toughlove" by Phyllis York are popular choices for readers interested in Child development and Creative activities and seat work. This comparison helps you decide which to read first — or whether both belong on your list.

Shared Themes

Child rearingParentingFamily & Relationships
Cover of Toughlove

Toughlove

Phyllis York

1980

How do you love an “impossible” teenager? “An effective way of uniting parents to square off against the youngsters’ own powerful peer group that endorses drugtaking and rebelliousness.”—Time Thousands of parents are finding new hope in dealing with rebellious teenagers through Toughlove, a self-help program which has grown to over eight hundred groups throughout the United States and Canada in less than six years. Now, for the first time in book form, the founders tell how Toughlove works. “You need Toughlove if you feel helpless and unable to cope with your teenagers’ behavior or if you feel victimized by them, disappointed in yourself as a parent, guilty because you think you have done a rotten job and are frightened bythe potential for violence in yourself and your children. . . . Remember, you have the right to a night’s sleep without where your kid is—or being awakened by a phone call from the police or a hospital or a drunk teenager who’s stranded somewhere.”—Ann Landers

Published 1980
Books like Toughlove
Cover of Your child at play

Your child at play

Marilyn M. Segal

1985

Packed with learning activities, games, poems, and recipes, as well as anecdotes and advice, the eight sections focus on: Individual Differences and Common Threads (distinguishing between real and pretend; concern with fairness; self-awareness) The Questions Children Ask (the physical world; the natural world; the social world) Friends (best friends; controversies and conflicts; sibling play) Active Play (contact and cuddling; physical feats; sports) Creative Play (music; art; crafts; storytelling and jokes) Pretend Play (actor play and dressing up; imaginary playmates; reemergence of pretending) School Play (reading; writing; arithmetic; collecting facts; science) Family (attachment and separation; family continuity; traditions)

Published 1985
Books like Your child at play

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is easier to read: Your child at play or Toughlove?
Reading difficulty depends on your familiarity with the genre. Check each book's page count and subject matter above, and start with whichever aligns better with books you've enjoyed before.
Can I read Your child at play and Toughlove in any order?
Yes — these are standalone works. You don't need to read one before the other unless they're part of the same series.
Which book is better for beginners?
If you're new to this genre, look at the shorter book with broader appeal and start there. You can always come back for the other.

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