Christianity Today Book Award-Marriage and Family Half of Christian high school students walk away from their faith after graduation. But parental involvement is the most influential predictor of a child's spirituality throughout their lives. How do we parent our kids in ways that lead to lasting faith? Sarah Cowan Johnson unpacks how parents can have an active discipleship role in forming their children's faith, with age-appropriate insights and strategies for different developmental stages. She shows how we can identify God moments, facilitate spiritual encounters, clarify emerging beliefs, and encourage new faith habits in our children. Filled with exercises and activities for families to do together, this handbook is an essential resource for discipling children with confidence and creativity.

This book, which has been created in the framework of the EU-funded COST Action YOUNG-IN (CA17114), sheds a light on the structural disadvantages and opportunities in family formation among youth, offering an insight into the relevant contextual factors in eleven countries. Analyzing demographic trends and socioeconomic settings, including normative and institutional frameworks (that focus on family policies), the authors have identified and presented the peculiarities of the transition to parenthood, as well as common challenges that young people face in that process.

This book, which has been created in the framework of the EU-funded COST Action YOUNG-IN (CA17114), sheds a light on the structural disadvantages and opportunities in family formation among youth, offering an insight into the relevant contextual factors in eleven countries. Analyzing demographic trends and socioeconomic settings, including normative and institutional frameworks (that focus on family policies), the authors have identified and presented the peculiarities of the transition to parenthood, as well as common challenges that young people face in that process.

We all know that healthy minds are really important but how do we make sure we look after our mental health from a very young age? What's Going On Inside My Head? is a book for children that explores practical ways we can keep our minds in good shape as well as our bodies. By talking about positive self-image, emotional intelligence, relationships and mindfulness, this book will help children develop healthy habits and good coping strategies from the start. Presented in a warm, child-friendly but no-nonsense way it will help establish solid foundations for every child's current and future wellbeing. Perfect for starting conversations with children about their mental and emotional health, What's Going On Inside My Head? is a must for every parent who understands the importance of keeping a healthy mind.

A must-have guide for helping your child conquer worry, fear, and overwhelm

AN OPEN FIELD PUBLICATION FROM MARIA SHRIVER

Kids today are more susceptible than ever to anxiety and stress. As a parent, you want to shield your child from these overwhelming feelings, but it can be daunting in an unpredictable world. Fortunately, there are ways to help, and Raising Calm Kids in a World of Worry shows how.

Psychotherapists and parent coaching team Ashley Graber, LMFT, and Maria Evans, LMFT, introduce SAFER Parenting—a simple yet powerful five-step approach designed to help children ages 6-12 regulate emotions and build lasting self-esteem. Offering real-life examples and drawing on their experience working with thousands of families struggling with anxiety, they outline key practices to reduce worry both in the moment and over time. You’ll learn how to:

• Recognize often-missed signs of anxiety and uncover their root causes
• Manage big feelings and guide your child toward useful coping tools
• Navigate difficult conversations with therapist-approved techniques
• Nurture your child’s confidence and independence
• Create psychological safety at home to increase calm and lower anxiety

When it was rumored that the communist partisans planned to destroy Sremska Mitrovica, Jugoslavia as the German Military retreated, the father persuaded the mother to leave the city for a short time, taking the five children and her mother to a safe place until the fighting was over. They boarded the over-crowded last train going west, away from the terror that was imminent. They had no idea where they were going nor how long they would have to be away from home. The father could not leave the city; he was drafted into a "home guard" and charged with protecting the city. The family never returned to Sremska Mitrovica. Separated during the war, miraculously all family members, except for one son, were reunited in the American Sector of Austria. The second oldest son had been living and working near Berlin, Germany as a foreign worker. "Liberated" by the Russians he was sent "home" to Jugoslavia, which was by then behind the iron curtain leaving him with no chance of joining his family in the west. They endured fear, discrimination and persecution during the post-war years in a country of which they did not even speak the language. The family lived in deplorable conditions in a makeshift "Displaced Person's camp," commonly known as a "D.P.camp." The family survived hunger, displacement and many other hardships with patience and courage while relying on their faith.

Nancy's labor pains were harsh and long, close to seven years, in fact. Conceived by Ukrainian parents, her two adopted children, Alyona and Alec, began their rebirth six years later in an American city near the East Coast shoreline.
"Healing Emotional Wounds-A Story of Overcoming the Long Hard Road to Recovery from Abuse and Abandonment"""is a compelling chronicle of metamorphosis that gives testament to the power of love, encouragement, and resolve over the desperate circumstances of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. This unvarnished story recounts the tumultuous road to recovery of two six-year-olds adopted from Ukraine and takes the reader through a mosaic of emotions from anger and frustration to laughter and bewilderment.
This action-packed drama of the family's first seven years reads like fiction, but it's real. The high-stakes adventure is replete with volatile behaviors, love, intrigue, sadness, police intervention, unwavering faith, doggedness, emotional fluctuations, and humor. Three main characters emerge, along with a large supporting cast of friends, family, neighbors, and community: 1) Alec, born prematurely to a substance-abusing mother, who spent the early part of his life swathed in a blanket cocoon almost devoid of human touch; 2) Alyona, found on the streets at age four or five and returned to the orphanage by her Italian adoptive family after only six weeks due to her aggressive behavior; 3) Nancy, a single, early fiftyish professional who feels called to adopt these children. The antagonist in this saga is the history of abuse and abandonment, but the real heroes are the children, who emerge from the abyss of hopelessness to live lives of confidence, love, and expectation.
"Healing Emotional Wounds-A Story of Overcoming the Long Hard Road to Recovery from Abuse and Abandonment "affirms the hope of healing through commitment, hard work, extensive family and friend support, a "never quit" attitude, and an unyielding resilience and focus.

""Once upon a time I was perfectly happy--complacent even. But then my world came crashing down and I was suddenly a single mum of two small children, losing sleep over how to pay the bills. The things I learned allowed me to retain my sanity, self-esteem, and sense of humour and to help my children get through the experience. I discovered how to release the traumatic experiences and emotions that were holding me back and find more fun, fulfillment, and balance in my life (not to mention my lovely husband )""
You "can" build a happy new life
Are you a stressed-out single mum, juggling childcare, work and home--and struggling to cope with all the emotional and practical demands on you?
You're not alone "The Single Mum's Survival Guide" is packed with words of inspiration, comfort, wisdom and experience from a host of real-life single mums and expert professionals to make life easier, help you on your way, and put your mind at rest with answers to questions such as:
How do I tell the kids? How do I get over this split and move on? Why is my child behaving like this and what should I do about it? How will I feel when my kids meet his new girlfriend? How do I deal with all the legal stuff? How can I manage on this little money? How can I have more energy when I'm so tired all the time? Is it OK to ask for help--and who can I ask? Can I ever forgive my ex? Can I "really" be single and happy? When is it time to start dating again--and how will I know if he's Mr. Right? Vivienne Smith is a writer, trainer, presenter, and certified "n"""e"uro-linguistic programmin"g (NLP) and hypnosis practitioner. She is also a Regional Director of the Athena Group, an international networking, training and development business community for female executives and entrepreneurs. Her experience as a single mum prompted Vivienne to write a book about the subject. It has been the fulfilment of a long term ambition to turn what was at the time a negative and distressing experience into an opportunity to help others get through similar challenges. Now happily remarried, she lives with her husband and two sons in beautiful West Sussex, on the south coast of England.

The world our children are growing up in today is vastly different from the one we recall as we think back to our own adolescence. It is not only the typical changes we see naturally occurring from one generation to the next, but a whole new component to parenting has been added with the development and rapid growth of technology. Couple these changes with the dynamics of what constitutes a family, balancing the busy life of career and home and taking preventative measures to safeguard our children against negativity. We all want our children to excel and lead happy, productive lives, but now more than ever, today s parents need a basic guide that tells them everything they need to know and provide them with the answers they are seeking in the most effective yet simplistic fashion. "Revolutionize Your Child s Life" will do just that for the parent looking to help their child while at the same time empowering them to make their own, sound decisions as they grow and face challenges that lie ahead of them. It will educate you on understanding how your child s mind develops and influences every action. You will be able to identify behavioral issues before they fully develop and repair the ones that have become problematic. You will learn the key to help your child reach success and happiness."

At last, here's a confronting yet humorous look at Mom stereotypes. Think you're not a cliche? Think again "The Mommy Mafia" is a walk-through guide to every conceivable Mom type, with each parenting style brutally revealed. Author LJ Charleston has created "The Mommy Mafia" as a primer to personality profiling for Moms. We all know a Boot Camp Mom, but recognizing you are one is part of the fun of taking a light look at the toughest job in the world - being a Mom.
Olympic, Germ Phobic, Chardonnay, Runaway, Lazy, Wikipedia, or Afraid of the Sun Mom--which mother are you?
"The Mommy Mafia" will make you:
1. laugh and enjoy
2. gain fresh understanding
3. change your perspective of other mothers
4. make changes in your own mothering
Because "The Mommy Mafia" will:
1. poke fun at the mothering types
2. educate women about the different mothering types
3. reveal some of the reasons behind mothers' behavior
4. allow mothers to recognize their own traits--good and bad--and perhaps set about "fixing" negative behavior

MotherScholars (mothers who work as faculty and staff members within higher education) juggle a multitude of roles-leader, researcher, wife, partner, mother, caregiver, advisor, teacher, mentor, volunteer. MotherScholars' Perceptions, Experiences, and the Impact on Work-Family Balance shares how MotherScholars can achieve a work-family balance, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and explores if there truly is a right way to go about achieving this balance. It can be a life-long and, at times, delicate journey as MotherScholars try to choose between the (often too) many opportunities they have before them. Despite the challenges, the opportunity to mother and work in so many capacities as a MotherScholar can lead to satisfaction and fulfilling purpose in a meaningful way as MotherScholars cultivate gratitude while seeking work-family balance, even during a pandemic.

The decision to have a child is seldom a simple one, often fraught with complexities regarding emotional readiness, finances, marital status, and compatibility with life and career goals. Rarely, though, do individuals consider the role of the law in facilitating or inhibiting their ability to have a child or to parent. For LGBT individuals, however, parenting is saturated with legality - including the initial decision of whether to have a child, how to have a child, whether one's relationship with their child will be recognized, and everyday acts of parenting like completing forms or picking up children from school. Through in-depth interviews with 137 LGBT parents, Amanda K. Baumle and D'Lane R. Compton examine the role of the law in the lives of LGBT parents and how individuals use the law when making decisions about family formation or parenting. Baumle and Compton explore the ways in which LGBT parents participate in the process of constructing legality through accepting, modifying, or rejecting legal meanings about their families. Few groups encounter as much variation in access to everyday legal rights pertaining to the family as do LGBT parents. This complexity and variation in legal environments provides a rather unique opportunity to examine the manner in which legal context affects the ways in which individuals come to understand the meaning and utility of the law for their lives. The authors conclude that legality is constructed through a complex interplay of legal context, social networks, individual characteristics, and familial desires. Ultimately, the stories of LGBT parents in this book reflect a rich and varied relationship between the law, the state, and the private family goals of individuals.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Lion in the Living Room comes a fascinating and provocative exploration of the biology of motherhood that "is witty, reassuring, and takes motherhood out of the footnotes and places it front and center--where it belongs" (Louann Brizendine, MD, New York Times bestselling author). Everyone knows how babies are made, but scientists are only just beginning to understand the making of a mother. Mom Genes reveals the hard science behind our tenderest maternal impulses, tackling questions such as why mothers are destined to mimic their own moms (or not), how maternal aggression makes females the world's most formidable creatures, and how a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic can make or break a mom. Weaving the latest research with Abigail Tucker's personal experiences, Mom Genes "is an eye-opening tour through the biology and psychology of a role that is at once utterly ordinary and wondrously strange" (Annie Murphy Paul, author of Origins).

This helpful resource equips you to have important conversations with your daughter about her identity in Christ, her self-image, and how to appreciate and care for her body according to God's design. Popular culture bombards girls with messages that they are not pretty enough, not skinny enough, or just not good enough. How can you counter these lies and help your daughter see the truth-that she is a beautiful child of God, perfectly created to bring Him glory? Dannah Gresh, bestselling author and creator of the True Girl live events, shows that instilling body confidence in your daughter starts with you. Each chapter includes activities, conversation starters, and even fun recipes that will help you and your daughter engage in meaningful talks about God's purpose for her body and how to develop a healthy, positive view of herself. Help your daughter develop body confidence and watch her grow and thrive.

Making Schools and Families Successful introduces to schools a process that reaches the deeper motivation of students that unifies students and teachers. This process is centered on unique potential and character. Since in character development parents are the primary teachers and the home the primary classroom, the school eventually seeks its natural bond with the family. This School-Family partnership establishes the natural foundation for scholarship.

The 2nd edition of Gifted or Just Plain Smart? was revised to address the vast changes in the post COVID educational environment. It is designed to be a useful guide for all who work with gifted school-age children: parents, teachers, principals, and pre-service teachers in university settings. It covers gifted education from its origins and theories to the practical use of current technology at home or in the school. It also addresses strategies to recognize and develop overlooked gifted students such as those who are twice exceptional, those from diverse underserved populations, and those with a variety of gender issues, including students who identify with LGBTQ+ communities. It is an updated practical how-to manual with examples, anecdotes, real-life comments, and includes a guide to free resources.

Pediatrician Carolyn Roy-Bornstein and her husband had a comfortably empty nest after their sons had grown and flown. Soon after, Carolyn noticed that two of her patients struggled after their father died of cancer and their mother became too mentally ill to care for them. As a result, they were both placed in foster care, where one developed a severe eating disorder and the other began self-harming. In a leap of faith, Carolyn and her husband opened their home to these sisters and became their foster parents. Carolyn, despite being a doctor, was unprepared for the harsh realities of severe anorexia, depression and grueling treatment. She had worked as a pediatrician for the Department of Children and Families for years, but still was not equipped for the bureaucratic struggles she would face to save her youngest foster child from a brutal eating disorder. This book outlines the struggles of a fledgling foster family who, despite all odds, remains devoted to one another throughout the healing process.

From the beautiful green mountains of Tumbling Creek, Virginia to the coalmines of West Virginia, came a man, strong, as if carved from granite, with a wife and ten children. They survived the everpresent stench of coal dust; the loud rumble of freight trains loaded with fresh dug coal that spewed billowing black smoke throughout the coal camps night and day. Some will say they lived a gypsy life, but those who lived through the Great Depression will remember the struggles that had to be made in order to survive to keep food on the table and clothes on their backs. Later Tom moved his family several times in order to make a living. These included Cedar Bluff, Tumbling Creek, and then on to Meadowview Farm where the family settled down to farming. Their last move was to Indiana where Tom retired to live among his children who had moved there earlier. You will get to know each child as they grow into adults; laugh at the antics of a large and boistrous family, and cry when tragedy strikes. This is the continuing story of Tom and Dolly and the sequel to Mountain Blossoms.

Taming Aggression in Your Child: How to Avoid Raising Bullies, Delinquents, or Trouble-Makers is a guide to preventing children from developing aggressive behaviors from birth through adolescence. Hostile destructive kids become hostile destructive adults and often create serious problems for society, and Dr. Henri Parens argues that effective parenting can help prevent aggressive behaviors like bullying, delinquency, and even criminal behavior from developing. Parens explains to caregivers and educators what causes aggression to develop in children and how it affects them as they grow, differentiates between compliance (the goal of effective parenting) and obedience (an often mis-used term, signifying an unquestioning yielding to authority), and explains how to achieve compliance in children through effective limit-setting, discipline, and punishment. He also demonstrates how to help children learn to express hostility in acceptable ways, how to handle temper tantrums in growth-promoting ways, and how to optimize the parent-child relationship in order to minimize the development of aggression in children. Offering concrete strategies for dealing with aggression, Taming Aggression in Your Child is a must read for all parents, whether you are frustrated by your toddler's temper tantrums or worry that your older child is bullying siblings or classmates.