Personal Development For Kids

Attention, mood, emotions, behaviors, organization communication, social interactions, learning, and confidence all have one thing in common—the brain learning. Your child’s brain mines how they take in, process, and react to the world around them, influencing everything, from their thoughts and feelings to actions and interactions. Brain development is an active process that has no true end point, as the brain continues to evolve and improve throughout life. Yet all too often parents and educators take a passive role in this process, wishing, hoping, and praying for growth and change.

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.

The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O'Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses.

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.

You don't want to spend months worrying if you are doing things "right", while your child struggles to understand what you're trying to teach. Stephany Hicks knows the ins and outs of toilet training, and tried every approach under the sun when she was raising her own three children. Now, she's compiled all you need to know in order to take your child out of diapers and into the next stage of their development as easily and quickly as possible.

In Launching Financial Grownups, popular personal finance expert Bobbi Rebell gets candid about the very real-life challenges of getting young adults to choose to be financial grownups and develop their own financial foundation and security. She shares her own personal setbacks and solutions (both from her own past, and as a parent), and walks listeners through the ups and downs of financial adulting milestones.

You don’t need to have the perfect relationship with your ex for the kids to be happy. Life can be better for you after separation or divorce. Some couples aren’t meant to stay together.

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.

There are many books out there to teach you how to handle your children after they graduate from diapers, but none tells you how to proceed once they graduate from high school. As new patterns emerge in the lives of young adults, parents find that their grown children have bigger problems than they did just a few years ago. How to Raise Your Adult Children is a manual for anxious moms and dads.

In the whirlwind of modern parenting, it's easy to lose sight of what our priorities should be. But at the end of the day, your primary job is to nurture an authentic faith in your kids. Addressing the unsettling trend of young adults abandoning their faith soon after leaving home, author and speaker Barrett Johnson offers a clear blueprint grounded in the model of Jesus and His twelve disciples.

If you're wondering how your bright, motivated little kid became such an unmotivated adolescent, you're not alone. Fortunately, help is at hand! Read by the author, this compassionate guide explains that kids who have lost the will to do anything (other than play video games) need more than simple encouragement or the “right” school, teacher, or coach to get back on track. Psychologist and learning expert Ellen Braaten helps you understand the myriad biological, psychological, and social factors that affect motivation.

In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that our children, if free to pursue their own interests through play, will not only learn all they need to know but will do so with energy and passion. Children come into this world burning to learn, equipped with the curiosity, playfulness, and sociability to direct their own education. Yet we have squelched such instincts in a school model originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.

Parent–child conflicts in some households revolve around technology. Children demand more screen time and parents lack strategies to know how to intervene, leaving them feeling guilty and powerless. But it doesn't have to be this way. In Breaking Kids Free From Screen Addiction, Richard Bass, a seasoned educator with a wealth of experience in childhood disabilities and mental health disorders, offers modern parenting advice and solutions on how to understand and combat the effects of excessive screen time for children of all age groups.

Parenting a child with ADHD is tremendously challenging, but your child also faces weighty struggles every day. Their difficulty regulating and expressing themselves is as frustrating for them as it is stressful for you.

If you have a child with anxiety, you need quick, in-the-moment solutions you can easily use now to help your child face their fears and worries. Created by a psychologist and expert in childhood anxiety, this guide offers proven-effective cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and exposure skills you can use at home, in social settings, or anywhere anxiety takes hold.

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!

As a parent, your role changes drastically after your kids grow up. You fear heartache and strained relationships when your children choose difficult—even seemingly wrong—paths. Love, Pray, Listen is the gracious, practical resource you need for navigating the rocky terrain of parenting grown-ups. Mary DeMuth offers a robust theology for long-term parenting gleaned from the discipleship model Jesus exemplified, one carefully applying his way of expressing love. This is your invitation for spiritual growth and a path toward fulfilling relationships with your adult children.

Help your kids grow into confident, creative, and independent little people by creating spaces in your home that foster independent play. Myriam Sandler, creator and founder of Mothercould, helps you give your kids the tools they need to unlock their imaginations and encourage kid-directed, kid-executed, and ultimately kid-enriching independent play using the materials and spaces you already have. Not only will this system help your children grow, it will also help foster a more connected, more productive, and happier home for your entire family.

Most parenting approaches end up encouraging children to ask the wrong questions about life: What’s in it for me? Are you going to pay me for that? What’s the minimum I need to do to get by? But God’s Word gives us a better way to parent, one that builds strong internal motivation in children. When parents change the way they parent, kids change the way they live. This practical book explores a theology of internal motivation and then gives parents real-life solutions to equip their kids for life.

If it feels as if your child is at a point of no return and there’s nothing you can do to turn the situation around, don’t despair. Your child’s future is golden, and the joy of every parent is to see to it that their little one becomes the best version of themselves. Every tool, strategy, or idea you need to guide your child in the right direction is in this handbook. Continue fighting for the future of your child, and they will thank you when they’re strong and independent adults living their best lives.