Haim Ginott

This site is dedicated to the work and memory of Dr. Haim Ginott (1922-1973) — a psychologist, a parent educator, and a sorely missed man.

I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom [or home]. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher [or parent], I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.
-Haim Ginott

If you have ever struggled with your child (or with a student), Dr. Ginott’s Between Parent and Child is for you.

Featured

Mister Rogers - Handling Strong Emotions

“What do you do with the mad that you feel?”

Mirroring Emotions

We can do a lot for children with just a little…

Outbursts are not OK

There is a time and place for sharing one’s feelings.

Fish swim, birds fly, and people feel

“Many people have been educated out of knowing what their feelings are.” Haim Ginott

Should you love your children equally?

"Children do not yearn for equal shares of love: They need to be loved uniquely, not uniformly. The emphasis is on quality, not equality." Haim Ginott

As a teacher, you create the climate

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion…”

Words can cut

“We are unaware that words are like knives…”

Becoming mature

When we treat children with respect, as if they are capable of change without an adult enforcer at every turn, they tend to rise above our expectations.

The need to be loved

"Most parents love their children, but it is important that they not have an urgent need to be loved by them every minute of the day." Haim Ginott

Helicopter parent

The original 'helicopter parent', coined by Haim Ginott

The power of words

"Words have the power to build and energize or to frighten and devastate." Haim Ginott

The hidden asset

"It is said that nature always sides with the hidden flaw. Teachers have the opposite role: to side with the hidden asset." Haim Ginott

The listening game

To teach listening one school instituted this practice: One hour, every other day, students engage in a discussion of personal and social issues about which they feel strongly. One unusual rule is observed...

Treating our children as we do our guests

"Where do we start if we are to improve communication with children? By examining how we respond." Haim Ginott

Homework

"From the first grade on, parents' attitudes should convey that homework is strictly the responsibility of the child and the teacher." Haim Ginott

How NOT to encourage lying

Parents are enraged when children lie, especially when the lie is obvious and the liar is clumsy.

Teaching humanity

On the first day of the new school year, all the teachers in one private school received the following note from their principal.

Parents are not for hitting

Children should never be allowed to hit their parents.

The burnt toast story

Suppose it is one of those mornings when everything seems to go wrong. The telephone rings, the baby cries, and before you know it, the toast is burnt.

Solution-oriented

"When things go wrong, a responsible person does not look for culprits. He looks for solutions." Haim Ginott

A choice and a voice

"Give children a choice and a voice in matters that affect their lives.” Haim Ginott