Parenting can be a hard thing – every day. However, there is nothing like the love between a parent and child. I’m always on the look out for resources that can help me be a better parent. Below are my current top 10 books on parenting:
The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans by Josh Shipp
Parenting is hard. Parenting babies is tiring. Parenting toddlers is time-consuming. Parenting children is an adventure. Parenting teenagers is like visiting a different planet. The world teenagers are growing up in today is much different than any other generation. Parents need all the help they can get navigating this new territory. The Grown-Up’s Guide to Teenage Humans is full of roadmaps and advice.
Read the full review here.
Parenting is difficult, especially when it comes to disciplining. Many parents just think that if their children would listen, parenting would be so much easier. On the flip side, knowing what your children are thinking and feeling could help parents understand their children better. It’s really all about communication. How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber explores how parents can improve communication with their children.
Read the full review here.
Parenting can be hard, even with “easy” kids. When you have a strong-willed child, parenting can become a daily battle of wills. You Can’t Make Me gives parents insight into how a strong-willed child thinks, what motivates him or her and how to best interact with that child to encourage good behavior. The worst thing to do to a strong-willed child is to say, “or else!” The best thing to do is give choices and consequences, explain why and then gently persuade a child you have a solid relationship with.
Read the full review here.
What is the best way for a nation to educate its children? Amanda Ripley explores that question in The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way. The author looks at education systems in four countries – America, South Korea, Poland and Finland. The book is not just full of facts and statistics; it is full of personal stories from children, parents, educators and school staff on how the different education systems work. The book follows three American high school students who participate in exchange programs with Finland, South Korea and Poland – all countries that score high on the PISA, an assessment used to compare education systems worldwide. It tests 15-year-olds every three years.
Read the full review here.
Financial advice is something most people could use in some aspect or another. For parenting, it can be a topic that isn’t often broached, but should be, especially for teenagers. Money management is a skill that should be learned before leaving the house and living at college or on your own. The best way to learn money management is at home over time. Teaching kids how to use money wisely is a long process involving steps that build upon each other, which is what is talked about in Smart Money, Smart Kids.
Read the full review here.
Are you a parent having difficulties with a preteen or teenager? If so, you’ll find some great tips to help you in Have a New Teenager by Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman. The book starts with an overview of the goals parents should have in raising their children. He reviews the three types of parents: permissive, authoritative and authoritarian. Permissive parents allow their children to be in charge or they tend to give in a lot. Authoritarian parents are always telling their children what to do with little regard for what they children want or feel. Authoritative parents are the ones who stay in charge, but let their children’s be participants so the children feel heard and loved (which doesn’t always mean happy.)
Read the full review here.
Is there any science that can explain teenage behavior? The Clarks explore this idea in Your Teenager is Not Crazy: Understanding Your Teen’s Brain Can Make You a Better Parent. Teenagers’ brains are rapidly changing and learning how to process feelings and information. Learning the biology of how teenagers are developing can help parents more readily understand and prepare for the teenage years.
Read the full review here.
How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims
In How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims, parents can find a plan and directions for how to raise a child into an adult. The author was a student dean at a university and a parent of two children when she started noticing young adults still acting like children and having overdependence on their parents. She sought advice and did research on why this phenomenon was happening.
Read the full review here.
Siblings Without Rivalry is a great complement to How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen to Kids Will Talk if you are a parent of more than one child. It is written in the same format with the authors talking to a group of parents who go through one tip a week to help their children get along better. It was originally going to be in the first book, but there was so much material, it became a second book. The best tips come with making a concerted effort to make each child felt heard and treasured as an individual and to treat each child as a individual without comparing them. I highly recommend this book to parents. It is a very good resource!
Read the full review here.
I am fascinated by personality studies and birth order. Reading People is all about that. While most books just focus on one type of personality test or one idea of birth order traits, Anne Bogel explores many different personality tests in Reading People. If you’ve ever wanted to learn more about why you are how you are and why you do what you do, it would help to find out what kind of personality you have. Rather than pick one set idea of personalities, I would recommend a person start with this book and get an overview of several different tests and then delve deeper into specific tests.
Read the full review here.
Do you have a go-to parenting book? Share it in the comments below!