Kids Development

Former English teacher and homeschooling mother of three, Jessica Smartt felt the weight of helping prepare her kids for life, especially with all the outside pressures and influence of the world. She struggled with how she could raise her children with a sense of adventure, self-confidence, manners, faith, and the ability to utilize technology wisely. Let Them Be Kids is Jessica's offering of grace and confidence to moms, giving them practical ideas to meet these challenges.

Parenting can be such an overwhelming job that it's easy to lose track of where you stand on some of the more controversial subjects at the playground (What if my kid likes to rough house - isn't this ok as long as no one gets hurt? And what if my kid just doesn't feel like sharing?). In this inspiring and enlightening book, Heather Shumaker describes her quest to nail down "the rules" to raising smart, sensitive, and self-sufficient kids.

Most parents understand that free, unstructured playtime is great for children’s development. What they may not know is that playful interaction with parents is also a powerful way for kids to cultivate healthy emotional development and resilience. Kids often want their parents to play with them, but many parents don’t know how to play or see it only as an (often boring) way to kill time. Playing with your kids doesn’t have to mean enrolling in countless parent-and-me classes or getting on all fours and making toy car sounds; the little daily moments together can make the most impact.

At once a memoir, a cookbook, a how-to handbook, and a delightful exploration of how the French manage to feed children without endless battles and struggles with pickiness, French Kids Eat Everything features recipes, practical tips, and 10 easy-to-follow rules for raising happy and healthy young eaters - a sort of French Women Don’t Get Fat meets Food Rules.

School discipline is broken. Too often, the kids who need our help the most are viewed as disrespectful, out of control, and beyond help, and are often the recipients of our most ineffective, most punitive interventions. These students - and their parents, teachers, and administrators - are frustrated and desperate for answers. Dr. Ross W. Greene, author of the acclaimed book The Explosive Child, offers educators and parents a different framework for understanding challenging behavior.

The law of attraction is based on the idea that everything in the universe has a polarity, meaning that everything - from the food you eat to the people you talk to, to the things you say to the things you think - contains either a positive or a negative kind of energy. Notice that being with people who complain or rant a lot tends to make you feel bad, even though you're not exactly experiencing what they're going through - that's the law of attraction working its magic. When you focus on negative stuff, then more negative stuff will happen.

Empower your kids to respond well to the hard questions that threaten their faith. It's no secret that children of all ages are being exposed to negative criticism of Christianity as they spend time at school, with friends, or online. Are you prepared to talk with your kids about how they can effectively answer the tough questions that come their way? In Keeping Your Kids on God's Side, you'll find 40 of the most common challenges kids face - along with clear, easy-to-understand responses you can discuss together.

Your kids are the most important people in your lives. In this increasingly competitive and confusing world they need you to help them be their best. They need you to guide them in developing traits for success and happiness. Grit for Kids will teach you how to help your child to develop their own grit in just 16 easy-to-follow chapters. Each one contains real stories of real kids facing common situations, proven steps to take in these situations, and the outcomes after the steps were taken.

Bringing Up Bébé meets Last Child in the Woods in this lively, insightful memoir about a mother who sets out to discover if the nature-centric parenting philosophy of her native Scandinavia holds the key to healthier, happier lives for her American children.

In this 10th-anniversary edition of Don't Alienate the Kids attorney, mediator, and therapist Bill Eddy shows listeners how to protect children from the harm of alienation and high-conflict divorce, boosting their resilience by teaching them to think flexibly, manage their emotions, and moderate their behaviors.

The number of anxious, depressed, hyperactive, and withdrawn children is staggering—and still growing! Millions have experienced bullying, violence (real or in the media), abuse, or sexual molestation. Many other kids have been traumatized from more “ordinary” ordeals such as terrifying medical procedures, accidents, loss, and divorce. Trauma-Proofing Your Kids sends a lifeline to parents who wonder how they can help their worried and troubled children now.

Parenting advice isn't hard to find. There are thousands of books on the subject, as well as a multitude of websites. Much has also been written on the science of child development. What's been lacking, however, are sources of reliable advice that bring together the scientific research and its real-world applications.

There's nothing more frustrating than watching your bright, talented son or daughter struggle with everyday tasks like finishing homework, putting away toys, or following instructions at school. Your "smart but scattered" child might also have trouble coping with disappointment or managing anger. Drs. Peg Dawson and Richard Guare have great news: There's a lot you can do to help.

Are your kids pummeling you with demands and bossing you around with impunity? Have your once-precious preschoolers become rebellious, entitled, and disrespectful to authority? While there are plenty of so-called experts who might try to validate your convictions that you have done all you can to “fix” your “difficult” children, the hard truth is, they’re not doing you any favors by placing the responsibility solely on your children. Therapist and parenting expert Sean Grover untangles the forces driving family dysfunction, and helps parents assume their leadership roles once again.

Gary John Bishop has helped millions of people break free of self-sabotaging behaviors. Yet we all seem to feel like we’re failing at this thing called parenting. Common wisdom isn’t working—our kids are struggling. Gary argues we don’t need more tips, tricks, and techniques, we need an overhaul of who we are. We’re never going to measure up to the “perfect parent” model we’ve built up in our heads—a Frankenstein version of mom and dad cobbled together from our childhoods, our parents, cultural ideals, social media, and everything in between.

As parents, we all have, at one time or another, wondered: Where did this child come from? Am I doing something wrong? You are not doing anything wrong, and there is very likely nothing wrong with your child! When you understand your child's unique temperament, you will have the key to unlocking his behavior, moods, and motivational forces. Art and Laraine Bennett provide an accessible synthesis of classical wisdom, modern counseling, science, Catholic spirituality, and wonderful storytelling to the four basic temperaments that serve as the foundation of one's personality and approach to life.

Empower your family to thrive, even when ADHD feels overwhelming. Parenting Kids With ADHD provides practical, research-backed strategies to transform your family life with clarity and empathy.

You discovered your kid is cutting, leaving you with a sinking feeling in your stomach. Cutting is the behavior that tells you something is definitely wrong and that your kid needs immediate understanding and help. Dr. J.J. Kelly has been working with teens and young adults for the last 15 years, and she is the person whom other professionals send their self-harm patients to.

Whether your goal is to prepare your child for a healthy relationship to technology or to curb unhealthy amounts of time spent gaming, How to Raise a Healthy Gamer will help you better understand, communicate with, and—ultimately—empower your gaming enthusiast to live their best life.

In 52 Ways to Connect with Your Smartphone Obsessed Kid, author Jonathan McKee offers just the help you need to have meaningful interaction with your kids instead of always overreacting to their unhealthy consumption of technology and media. In a world where over 80 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds now own a smartphone, parents are searching for ways to pry their kids' eyes from their devices and engage them in real, face-to-face conversation.