There are many books available on the subject
of parenting and how to raise children today - you will find below some
of the best, most useable resources I have had the pleasure to review.
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The Pearls of Love & Logic
for Parents & Teachers Authors - Jim Fay & Foster Cline Publisher - The Love & Logic Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- 119 short, to the point, articles on parenting and raising responsible children, covering topics like -
- limits
- values
- sibling rivalry
- school work
- information for parents of all ages of children
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Love & Logic Magic When
Kids Leave You Speechless Authors - Jim Fay & Charles Fay Publisher - The Love & Logic Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- starts with an explanation on the basics of Love & Logic
- 23 areas of conflict outlined with ways parents can respond and encourage responsible kids
- each topic includes -
- wise words
- explanation of topic
- talking points for parents
- questions to think about
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Parenting with Love & Logic -
Teaching Children Responsibility Authors - Foster Cline & Jim Fay Publisher - Pinon Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- describes the Love & Logic parent
- walks parents through the steps of how to enjoy parenting without power struggles
- shows how to raise children to be responsible
- 23 Love & Logic tips throughout - excellent!
- explains things/traps to avoid in parenting and why
- includes 41 parenting pearls
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Love & Logic Magic for Early Childhood -
Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years Authors - Jim Fay & Charles Fay Publisher - Love and Logic Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- emphasis throughout to -
- build self-concept
- share control-decisions
- empathy then consequences
- share thinking and problem solving
- formula for low self-concept
- formula for high self-concept -
- offer empathy, understanding and unconditional love
- allow kids to struggle and solve own problems
- children learn to succeed by thinking and learning
- each chapter ends with one Love & Logic experiment to help parents put to work what they're learning
- sharing control
- ending whining
- strengthen the bond
- no temper tantrums
- hassle free mornings
- the power of empathy
- have an energy drain
- looks like bedroom time
- end to arguing
- build responsibility and self-esteem with chores
- building trust with children
- setting limits - once, with no warnings
- enforceable statements - what they are and how to make them
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Parenting Teens with
Love and Logic Authors - Foster Cline, M.D. & Jim Fay Publisher - Pinion Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- Part one focuses on the basics of raising teens to be responsible adults
- Part two focuses on specific challenges to understanding teens
- Part three walks you through 33 specific challenges for parenting teens
- real stories - provide great examples
- explains three types of parents -
- helicopters
- drill sergeants
- consultants
- clearly explains the Love & Logic way
- identifies problems teens have with self concept and how to build a healthy self concept
- focus on giving control - choices - to teens to help them learn responsibility and how to solve their own problems
- emphasis on listening to teens
- looks at changes teens go through
- I like the emphasis on a teen's continued need for affection
- information on how to prepare teens for the real world
- three messages for teens -
- I love you
- if you have any questions, ask
- good luck in life!
- four steps to responsibility -
- give teens a responsibility
- trust them to carry it out, while hoping they blow it so they can learn from it
- when they blow it, stand back and allow the consequences while expressing empathy
- give the same responsibility to them again
- no lectures -
- choices, empathy
- consequences
- choices again
- ask questions to help teens think through to the answer
- 33 topics like - arguments, cars, college, curfews, dating, friends and sex and how to respond to these specific problems
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Success in Parenting
By - Foster Cline & Benjamin Bruckner Produced by - Lon Gibby Productions |
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Parenting Doesn't Have
to be Rocket Science By - Foster Cline Produced by - Love & Logic Press |
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Love & Logic Solutions
By Jim Fay Produced by - Love & Logic Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- clearly presents the truths of the Love & Logic way to raising children to be responsible adults
- makes it understandable and memorable
- uses humor and real examples along with role playing to illustrate concepts being taught
- emphasizes the need to take care of myself and give choices whenever I can, allowing consequences with empathy to do the teaching for me
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Making Children Mind
Without Lousing Yours Author - Dr. Kevin LeMan Publisher - Revell |
- Favorite Features:
- written with humor
- uses real examples to illustrate what he is saying
- explains reality discipline and how/why it works
- uses some Scripture to show the Biblical basis for this type of parenting
- each chapter ends with, "to review & apply" questions to help you think through the content
- each chapter ends with ideas to help you put what you are learning into practice
- part one explains reality discipline, why and how to use it
- part two gives specific helps for specific challenges -
- fighting
- selfishness
- toilet training
- bedtime
- peers
- discussion guide for each chapter with -
- questions to recall the chapter
- respond to the text
- reflect together
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Becoming the Parent
God Wants You to Be Authors - Dr. Kevin LeMan with Dave & Neta Jackson Publisher - NavPress |
- Favorite Features:
- practical, real counsel on how to parent effectively to impact children to become responsible adults
- each chapter includes -
- information to work with other parents in large and/or small groups
- questions
- "Note it" in the margin
- prayer to end session
- walk through reality discipline
- importance of helping kids develop healthy self image
- explains birth order
- how to help children with love/limits/consequences
- designed to be utilized in a class setting
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In the Wee Hours
Compiled by Mary Beth Lagerborg Publisher - Zondervan |
- Favorite Features:
- stories to read in the "wee hours" to encourage, touch and refresh
- stories about love, beauty, hope, prudence, courage, faith, gratitude
- 67 stories and poems
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Extending Your Heritage
Authors - J. Otis Ledbetter & Randy Scott Publisher - Cook Communications |
- Favorite Features:
- strong emphasis on need to connect with others and they with us
- heavily encourages us to not only pass on a strong, godly heritage to our own children, but to also "extend our heritage" to those outside our home to help build strong future generations
- re-states and explains briefly what passing on a heritage is all about - excellent!
- excellent focus on being intentional and counting the cost to be most effective as a parent
- true "stories" throughout and in the end - encouraging
- explains steps to take and things to watch out for when extending your heritage
- seven rules for mentoring - excellent!
- explains the "tools" - fragrance, family compass, family tradition and family moments
- lists 40 developmental assets and explains them
- provides a Spiritual Legacy Evaluation - excellent
- information on how to lead a child to Christ
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The Heart of a Father
Author - Ken Canfield, PhD. Publisher - Moody/Northfield |
- Favorite Features:
- nine Father Inventories throughout to help reader evaluate where they are at - excellent!
- four questions to help reader evaluate the impact his dad had on his own life
- how to repair and restart a relationship with your father
- important, vital information on really knowing your kids - excellent
- book suggestions for further reading
- appendix with national survey of fathering practices - interesting
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The Treasure Inside Your Child
Author - Pam Farrel Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- looks at how to help your children learn and develop talents and gifts
- emphasizes how vital prayer and Scripture are for parenting
- explains why parents must show integrity, character and why parents determine what type of legacy they will pass on to their children
- points out four negative traits that entrap our children and how to watch for and identify them in our children
- looks at four key areas to develop in our children and three key traits
- explains making contacts with your children to help them develop the traits
- chart of things kits can do and the ages they can do them
- how to help children discover they are a treasure from God
- looks at personality traits/temperaments and birth order
- challenges parents to catch their kids at being good
- how to parent special needs children and prodigals
- how to build trust and responsibility in our teens
- how to help children know what they believe and know God's will for their lives
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Espresso for Your Spirit -
Hope and Humor for Pooped Out Parents Author - Pam Vredevelt Publisher - Multnomah Publishers |
- Favorite Features:
- realistic look at parenting - with hope and humor
- each chapter ends with "Power Perk" - a sip of humor or taste of hope - with quotes and verses
- stories to encourage and remind there are no perfect parents and although life can be difficult and confusing, God is still there
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Growing a Spiritually Strong Family
Authors - Dennis & Barbara Rainey Publisher - Multnomah Publishers |
- Favorite Features:
- identifies and clearly explains ten factors in raising a spiritually strong family
- ten spiritual "seeds" throughout - ideas to help you grow strong
- includes practical and doable activities to apply what is taught
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The Light of Home
Illustrator - Thomas Kinkade Author - Dr. John Trent Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- combination of Kinkade's artwork with Trent's thoughts and wisdom on what makes a strong family
- 10 pictures of a strong family
- facing up to past mistakes and moving on
- carving out time for close relationships
- marriages marked by serving and sharing
- being there for our children
- affirming courage in our children
- reconciling relationships
- valuing and listening to our seniors
- remembering to smile
- opening our eyes to a strong faith
- becoming people of prayer
- challenge to families to become strong families
- information on how to sign up to be a "Home of Light"
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Everything I know about Parenting,
I Learned from my Puppy Author - Norman Wright Paintings by Jim Lamb Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- truly adorable, almost real, paintings of puppies
- insight, delivered with humor, on how to parent puppies and children!
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The Back Door to Your Teen's Heart
Authors - Melissa Trevathan & Sissy Goff Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- explains how using the "back door" is about building a relationship and connecting with your teen
- encourages parents to use wisdom in dealing with their children by being unpredictable
- looks at who teens are and what they want
- challenges parents not to pass on their fears, insecurities, dreams and sins to their children, but to be purposeful with their children instead
- talks about how a parent's past and present impacts a child
- challenges parents to make home a safe place with structure and freedom
- slow down and keep it simple, laugh and love
- understand your children and encourage their imagination - use prayer
- love your kids with touch and encourage them with words
- give kids hope, purpose and independence
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Together-creating Family Traditions
Authors - Rondi Hillstrom Davis & Janell Sewall Oakes Publisher - Nine Twenty Press |
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- Favorite Features:
- filled with excellent, creative ideas to develop traditions with your children for -
- New Years
- Valentines Day
- Easter
- Mother's Day
- Father's Day
- Fourth of July
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- Christmas
- each event/holiday includes -
- recipes
- crafts
- thoughts for reflection and journaling in special spaces in the book
- unique recipes, such as -
- rose petal jelly
- bunny salad
- fruit leather
- unique crafts, such as -
- handmade paper
- golden apple wreath
- gingerbread man garland
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A Child is a precious Gift
Paintings by - Kathryn Andrews Fischer Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- incredible, realistic, touching paintings of children
- short stories throughout about children from people including, Jim Dobson, Joe White and Gloria Gaither
- quotes and verses throughout
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I'll Wait Right Here
Author/Illustrator - Ron DiCianni Publisher - Harvest House |
- Favorite Features:
- powerful story of a dad impacting his son's life - throughout his life
- excellent illustrations
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Nurturing the Leader
Within Your Child Author - Dr. Tim Elmore Publisher - Thomas Nelson |
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- Favorite Features:
- looks at how parents can encourage their children to be leaders and what parents need to know to do so
- first section focuses on what parents need to know and covers topics such as -
- the millennial generation and the postmodern world - who they are and what defines them
- how to be relevant in your kid's world
- seven ways to stay relevant - excellent!
- how to have a relationship that connects with their heart
- eight ways to get your kid to talk
- second section focuses on what they need to know - topics such as -
- how to develop character, perspective, courage and favor to combine for healthy, effective leadership
- looks at each component, explains it, sums it up and provides real steps kids can take to develop each one - tremendous!
- five myths about leadership and five things real leaders do
- six things a child can do to be ready to lead
- how to be a person of influence
- six stages of leadership, landmarks for each stage and the parent's part in seeing them realized
- seven "c's" to leadership
- part three covers when to seize the moment -
- walks parents through Deuteronomy 6 and summarized the five major principles to become proactive in parenting - tremendous!
- four opportunities for parents to discuss truth with their children from Deuteronomy 6
- how to create memories and capitalize on moments
- six qualities that build strong children with your investment plan after each one to help parents do these things
- part four covers how to pass it on -
- six gift to give your kids
- how to deepen your influence in their lives
- six ways to evaluate leadership ability
- each chapter ends with questions for reflection and response
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How to be a Happy,
Healthy Family Author - Jim Burns Publisher - Word |
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- Favorite Features:
- Youthbuilders Healthy Family Covenant - excellent!
- each chapter looks at and explains one component of the ten parts to the Healthy Family Covenant
- emphasis on parenting as a high calling from god - excellent!
- each chapter ends with books for further reading and discussion starter questions
- 63 ideas of things kids would like to do with parents
- Affection, Warmth and Encouragement based parenting reminder list of deposits and withdrawals
- six tips to tame the tube - excellent!
- questions for parents on alcoholism and drug use/abuse
- emphasis on discipling with consistency
- sample family contract
- stress test to see if child is over-stressed
- test to rate family intimacy quotient
- communication questions and issues for parents
- five family devotions
- emphasis on Parents passing faith on to their children
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Almost Cool
Author - Tim Smith Publisher - Moody |
- Favorite Features:
- focus on how to effectively parent teens
- emphasis on the value of understanding their world
- questions at the end of each chapter to help "Almost Cool" parents understand and apply content of each chapter - makes you think! Excellent!
- information and chart on discipline vs. discipleship
- information on helping teens develop character
- information to help parents talk with their teens, especially about sex, dating, right and wrong
- information on encouraging, connecting and motivating teens
- help for dealing with angry and hurting teens
- what kids want in their parents
Send an e-mail to Lynda at LyndaFreeman@roundaboutthechurch.com