I ran across an interesting piece here on BigThink which touches on Dr. Sam Wang's indictment of "Tiger Mom" principles:
“An important point here,” says Wang, “is that willpower [i.e. self-discipline] training in children is most effective when the child is having fun.” Intense stress is a poor learning tool at best, and potentially harmful to the developing brain, especially in sensitive children. Gently guided play, a powerful approach exemplified by the school program “Tools of the Mind”, can incorporate self-discipline training into the imaginative play that children naturally engage in and enjoy."This roused my curiosity about Tools of the Mind as I was not familiar with this program. Check out this NPR article for more background on the methods. The program focuses on improving executive function;
"good executive function is a better predictor of success in school than a child's IQ.... executive function is the ability to regulate one's own behavior — a key skill for controlling emotions, resisting impulses and exerting self control and discipline."

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