Kids Development

As a global pandemic shuttered schools across the country in 2020, parents found themselves thrust into the role of teacher — in more ways than one. Not only did they take on remote school supervision, but after the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests, many also grappled with the responsibility to teach their kids about social justice — with few resources to guide them.

It's difficult for those on the front lines of parenthood to not feel intimidated when we look at the world we are raising our kids in. The selfie-obsessed, sexually confused, entitled, morally bankrupt, and far-from-God culture around us is causing many parents to retreat in fear. But fear is not of God, and it's time to stop fixating on the darkness and start focusing on the light. Sheltering our kids from evil is not the goal. Instead, we must focus on consistently exposing them to our Jesus and all of his goodness, so they willingly follow after him.

Our preteen years, ages nine to 13, can present some of the most difficult times in our young lives, a period of tremendous physical and emotional change. We're eager to leave the "kid" stage, yet we're uncertain about what adolescence will bring; we start hearing the familiar refrain "wait until you're older" far too often. Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul is a companion guide for these transitional years.

Parenting Bright Kids Who Struggle in School guides parents through the challenging and often unfamiliar landscape of raising kids who have been labeled with learning differences, including dyslexia, ADHD, autism, sensory processing disorder, and more. Drawing from her own experience as a parent of a child with learning differences - who is now a highly successful adult - the author outlines clear lessons from a quarter century of advocating for kids who learn differently.

Parents and kids pitted against one another, opposing forces pulling in different directions, both determined to win! Every family experiences power struggles, but these daily tugs of war are not inevitable. In Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles, Mary Sheedy Kurcinka presents real strategies for getting to the root of the emotions and needs that can create daily hassles.

The problem is just that we haven’t been taught how to think in a way that sets us up for success in life. You don’t learn it in school, but what is it really that separates the successful people from the unsuccessful, the wealthy from the poor, the healthy from the unhealthy, and the happy from the unhappy? Is it their life circumstances or their actions? Sure, those things definitely play a role. But, perhaps, even more so, they are separated by the way they think.

With so many “experts” touting different approaches to raising thriving children, how do you know which is the best one? Dr. Rhonda Spencer-Hwang, professor of public health at Loma Linda University and mom of three, had the same question. As a member of a community known worldwide for its health and longevity, often referred to as a Blue Zone, she decided to study the area’s many centenarians to find out what they - or their parents - did right in childhood to make them so resilient to stress, disease, and the adversities of life.

Early and social interaction skills are essential for every child to get the best start in life. Skills like language, eye contact, and self-regulation are just some of the things your child needs in order to excel - personally and academically! Since the pandemic, both parents and teachers are becoming more concerned about children’s abilities to interact. On top of that, there are delays in referrals to specialists. As early interaction is so important, you are probably thinking that you don’t have the qualifications to make a difference. This is not true!

Many years ago, when I was a young father of little girls, I told myself I had two choices; I could raise them on accident or raise them with purpose. Noting how loaded the word “beautiful” is for women, I decided to redefine the word with three foundational values I found to be significant and slowly eroding in the world: brave, smart and kind (BSK).

Best-selling author Michele Borba offers a nine-step program to help parents cultivate empathy in children, from birth to young adulthood - and explains why developing a healthy sense of empathy is a key predictor of which kids will thrive and succeed in the future.

Our children can be our greatest teachers. Parenting expert Susan Stiffelman writes that the very behaviors that push our buttons - refusing to cooperate or ignoring our requests - can help us build awareness and shed old patterns, allowing us to raise our children with greater ease and enjoyment.

Is your kid or teen facing anxiety, depression, or thoughts of suicide? Whether you're a parent, youth leader, teacher, or caring adult, not knowing how to help those dealing with difficult emotions can leave you feeling intimidated, powerless, and discouraged. It can feel scary. But we want you to know there is hope. This audiobook will help you: Understand how the brain works when someone is in despair and discover simple yet powerful tools you can use every day to connect with a kid or teenager to help them heal.

Leading expert Dr Nick Fuller has outlined six principles that will allow you to create a research-based lifestyle plan for the whole family. By following them you will be able to help even the fussiest child establish a healthy relationship with food, exercise and sleep, ensuring they have a natural optimum body weight throughout their life, are full of energy and flourish.

If your kids aren’t learning about sex from you, what are they learning about sex, and who is teaching them? Having "the talk" with your child does not have to be a terrifying and awkward event. Armed with The Sex-Wise Parent, Dr. Janet Rosenzweig’s groundbreaking book, you may find you never have to have "the talk". Dr. Rosenzweig shows you how you can help protect your children from sexual abuse, trauma, and bullying through your everyday interaction with them.

If we judge the West by the state of its families, the West is sick. Millions of children barely see their parents, or for only a few minutes a day. One in two families break down, for better or worse. The casualties throng the family courts. Our maladjusted system has made the ideal of 'mom' and 'dad' - i.e. a loving, constant, adult presence in a child's infancy - a rarity. To speak of the 'maternal instinct' still elicits scorn or embarrassment from some feminists, who continue to mock 'holy motherhood'.

We see it everywhere: at the park, in restaurants, and inside our homes and cars - kids connected to handheld devices and disconnected from the world around them. According to the latest research, the average 13-year-old spends eight hours per day, seven days a week, glued to a screen. Yes, this is problematic, but for every problem there is a solution. In Disconnected, renowned psychotherapist and longtime school counselor Tom Kersting explores the device-dependent world our children live in and how it is impacting their mental and emotional well-being.

Help prepare the children and teens in your life to face life’s challenges with grace and grit. In this award-winning guide, author and pediatrician Dr. Ken Ginsburg shares his seven crucial Cs: competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control. You’ll discover how to incorporate these concepts into your parenting style and communication strategies, thereby strengthening your connection. And that connection will position you to guide your child to bounce back from life’s challenges and forge a meaningful and successful life.

Tantrums. Talking back. Throwing toys or food. Meltdowns. Slamming doors. Kids know just how to push your buttons. You've tried all sorts of methods, but nothing seems to work. That's because you're not addressing the root reasons for why kids misbehave, says international parenting expert Dr. Kevin Leman. In this book, he reveals exactly why kids misbehave and how you can turn that behavior around with practical, no-nonsense strategies that really work...and are a long-term win for both of you

Sometimes kids show big emotions and we as parents do not know what to do to help them through these feelings. When kids feel big emotions, they often don’t know how to manage them and what they need to do to help themselves. As parents, it is our job to help our children grow and become better at managing their emotions. This book is a short listen on some ways to help your child become better at managing and understanding their feelings.

In this supportive, life-saving resource, the New York Times best-selling author of The Gift of Failure helps parents and educators understand the roots of substance abuse and identify who is most at risk for addiction, and offers practical steps for prevention.