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These websites, book,s and video recommendations are a combination of secular and Christian and are not a substitution for receiving professional help or guidance. Please speak with a trusted individual i.e. coach, mentor, pastor, etc., or find a therapist if you are encountering problems.  Also, please note that these are not affiliates links - we do not receive anything for sharing these resources on our website. They are here for information purposes only.  All book descriptions are taken from Amazon.

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Parenting
Resources

Websites

 

Andrea Nair
Parenting Educator. Andrea provides rich resources and practical advice for parents raising young children.

Child Mind Institute
A national nonprofit organization with resources to help children with mental health and learning disorders

Dr. Coulson's Happy Family
Australia's leading expert in parenting, relationships, and wellbeing.

Emotion Coaching

Though not a blog, this resource is a terrific 5-step video program ($89 and instantly accessible via the web) created by Dr. John & Julie Gottman to help parents become "emotion coaching" parents that focuses on growing emotional intelligence. They offer the first chapter for free which you can check out before purchasing the entire program. But we're pretty sure that you'll want to & guarantee that it will be worth the investment.  

Hands Free Mama
This website helps to ground parenting in ways no "book" can (although the author has written two books since launching her site). Rachel Stafford's writing is beautiful, inspiring, and helpful. And although the last two sites have referenced "mama's," it's for the "papa's" out there too! ;-)

Imperfect Families.com
Great resources, articles & blogs from Nicole Schwarz, online Parent Coach & Child Therapist

Yummy Mummy Club
Don't let the name fool you. This Canadian-based site has plenty of "helps" here. 

Family Life

 

Focus on the Family
A well-known faith-based resource that has been helpful to many Christians throughout the years.

Family Life
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Another great faith-based site with helpful resources.

PBS Parents
Everyone's familiar with and loves PBS! We appreciate this popular public station for how they have expanded their resources over the years. This site provides a variety of resources for families that may be worth checking out.

Smart Step Families
Marriage is hard enough but the unique challenges of a second marriage and perhaps a blended family, require special attention. This is one website that will offer resources to help you grow a strong marriage and/or blended family.

Books

 

Boundaries with Kids

Join Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend, authors of the New York Times bestseller Boundaries, as they share the research and guidance you need to raise your kids to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions. What Boundaries has done for adult relationships, Boundaries with Kids will do for you and your family.

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Boundaries with Teens

The teen years: relationships, peer pressure, school, dating, character. To help teenagers grow into healthy adults, parents and youth workers need to teach them how to take responsibility for their behavior, their values, and their lives. From best-selling author and counselor Dr. John Townsend, Boundaries with Teens is the expert insight and guidance you need to help your teens take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions and gain a deeper appreciation and respect both for you and for themselves.

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How And When To Tell Your Kids About Sex

In How and When to Tell Your Kids About Sex, Stan and Brenna Jones offer help for establishing a biblical view of sexuality and talk about why that is so important in today's "value-neutral" society. Building on a biblical foundation, they discuss how to talk with your children about sexual issues and when it's appropriate to tell them what. You'll find important, helpful information on concerns your children face from infancy through adolescence. 

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How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk

Internationally acclaimed experts on communication between parents and children, Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish 'are doing for parenting today what Dr. Spock did for our generation' (Parent Magazine). Now, this classic includes fresh insights and suggestions as well as the author’s time-tested methods to solve common problems and build foundations for lasting relationships.

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How To Talk So Teens Will Listen & Listen So Teens Will Talk

Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish examine the inevitable stresses faced by parents of teenagers. Through role play and discussion, they show how to keep communication open with rebellious offspring, how to let go gracefully and yet retain respect and some degree of cooperation throughout these difficult years.

 

How We Love Our Kids

Based on years of research in the area of attachment and bonding,  How We Love Our Kids shows parents how to overcome the predictable challenges that arise out of the five love styles and helps parents cultivate a secure, deep connection with a child of any age.  Retool your reactions and refocus on how you love.

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iGen

A highly readable and entertaining first look at how today’s members of iGen—the children, teens, and young adults born in the mid-1990s and later—are vastly different from their Millennial predecessors, and from any other generation, from the renowned psychologist and author of Generation Me.

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Parenting from the Inside Out

In Parenting from the Inside Out, child psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., and early childhood expert Mary Hartzell, M.Ed., explore the extent to which our childhood experiences shape the way we parent. Drawing on stunning new findings in neurobiology and attachment research, they explain how interpersonal relationships directly impact the development of the brain, and offer parents a step-by-step approach to forming a deeper understanding of their own life stories, which will help them raise compassionate and resilient children.

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Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child

Based on 20 years of research at the University of Washington studying parent-child interactions, award-winning research psychologist John Gottman and his team have developed Emotion Coaching - a technique parents can use to teach their children self-awareness and self-control and to foster good emotional development. This proven technique has demonstrated a positive effect on children's physical health, academic achievement, and emotional well-being.  

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Talking To Your Kids About Sex
Teaching your child about sex can be a rewarding, relationship-strengthening experience. You just need to be equipped with the right tools: clear, easy-to-explain information; critical questions to ask; good timing; and a sense of humor. Often touched on only lightly in schools, sexual knowledge is one of the most important parts of your child's education. Help encourage positive thought, relationships, and decision-making with Dr. Berman's resourceful, reassuring, and comprehensive book.

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The Intentional Father: A Practical Guide to Raise Sons of Courage and Character

Self-initiation is killing our young men. Without strong mentors, boys are walking alone into a wilderness of conflicting messages about who they should be as men. It's no wonder that our sons are confused about what the world expects from them and what they should expect of themselves. The Intentional Father is the antidote. This concise book is filled with practical steps to help men raise sons of consequence--young men who know what they believe, know who they are, and will stand up against the negative cultural trends of our day. Jon Tyson lays out a clear path for fathers and sons that includes specific activities, rites of passage, and significant "marking moments" that can be customized to fit any family.

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The New Puberty: How to Navigate Early Development in Today's Girls

In this reassuring and empowering guide, Louise Greenspan, MD, and Julianna Deardorff, PhD—two leading experts on the root causes and potential consequences of early puberty in girls—deliver vital advice on how to prevent and manage early puberty. They explain surprising triggers—from excess body fat to hormone-mimicking chemicals to emotional stressors in a girl’s home and family life—and offer highly practical strategies, including how to limit exposure to certain ingredients in personal care and household products, which foods to eat and which to avoid, ways to improve a child’s sleep routine to promote healthy biology, and more.

 

The Opposite of Spoiled - Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money

Written in a warm, accessible voice, grounded in real-world experience and stories from families with a range of incomes, The Opposite of Spoiled is both a practical guidebook and a values-based philosophy. The foundation of the book is a detailed blueprint for the best ways to handle the basics: the tooth fairy, allowance, chores, charity, saving, birthdays, holidays, cell phones, checking accounts, clothing, cars, part-time jobs, and college tuition. It identifies a set of traits and virtues that embody the opposite of spoiled, and shares how to embrace the topic of money to help parents raise kids who are more generous and less materialistic.

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The Whole Brain Child

In this pioneering, practical book, Daniel J. Siegel, neuropsychiatrist and author of the bestselling Mindsight, and parenting expert Tina Payne Bryson offer a revolutionary approach to child rearing with twelve key strategies that foster healthy brain development, leading to calmer, happier children. The authors explain—and make accessible—the new science of how a child’s brain is wired and how it matures. The “upstairs brain,” which makes decisions and balances emotions, is under construction until the mid-twenties. And especially in young children, the right brain and its emotions tend to rule over the logic of the left brain. No wonder kids throw tantrums, fight, or sulk in silence. By applying these discoveries to everyday parenting, you can turn any outburst, argument, or fear into a chance to integrate your child’s brain and foster vital growth.

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Untangled

In this sane, highly engaging, and informed guide for parents of daughters, Dr. Damour draws on decades of experience and the latest research to reveal the seven distinct—and absolutely normal—developmental transitions that turn girls into grown-ups, including Parting with Childhood, Contending with Adult Authority, Entering the Romantic World, and Caring for Herself. Providing realistic scenarios and welcome advice on how to engage daughters in smart, constructive ways, Untangled gives parents a broad framework for understanding their daughters while addressing their most common questions.

Videos

 

Some of our favorite TED Talks that challenge growth, life, and perspective:

How To Raise Successful Children

Without Over Parenting

What's Your Sexual Footprint?

How To Raise Emotionally

Intelligent Children

How Every Child Can Thrive By Five

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