Thursday, November 5, 2015

Book Review: Safe House by Joshua Straub

FTC disclaimer:  I received a copy of this book for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.  This post contains affiliate links.


My husband and I are in classes to train us so we can either foster or adopt children. When Family Christian offered me a chance to review Safe House by Joshua Straub I was excited to read this book.

This book was a bit of a slow read for me.  I never, never, never dog ear a book.  This one had so much great information in it, that it was the exception to my rule.  This went along with what I have been learning in class, just in more detail.



One of the things our teacher said one time is the word "safe" is a loaded word.  If you have been living in a chaotic place and an adult says to you "You are safe now," your perspective of how you have been living makes you feel like that situation had been safe.  This book is a great guide to show how to create a safe living environment for your children.

I really believe every parent should read this.  I believe that so much so that I recommended it in two different classes I was in, including our non-violent de-escalation class.  I also give an example out of this book.  Children often act out on how they are feeling, and this book gives an example of a girl wanting to go to a high school football game, and her dad telling her no.  It gets heated, and she tells him she hates him.  He responds with "Why is this game so important to you?"   When asked in a non-accusatory, non-threatening way, hopefully she will open up and discuss the situation.  The example in the book is it was the first time some girls invited her to join them and she didn't want to feel left out.

Page 122 suggests we give our children an EAR -- with EAR as a acronym for Empathy, Assertiveness, and Respect.  Page 64 discusses the idea about if a child is giving you a difficult time, or if they are having a difficult time and possibly not able to communicate that effectively.   This book is full of great advice on how to communicate with children so they can express themselves and feel safe doing so.

I am going to keep this book for reference and also ask my husband to read it.   That's how much I think of it.  I can't recommend this book enough! If you want to purchase it, Family Christian has it for sale here.

1 comment:

  1. Jennifer, wow! Thank you so much for your kind and gracious review of the book! Would you mind posting this on Amazon as well? I would be so grateful! If there's anything I can do to help you please let me know. I'm grateful!

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