Category: Parenting – Resources
Parenting Books & Resources
Parenting Books:
Here are some parenting books and resources we have enjoyed and gleaned from.
Family Devotional Resources:
Here are some books and resources that have been helpful for our Family Devotional time.
Personal Devotional material for Children:
Here are some resources for guiding children in having their own personal devotional time.
Children’s Bibles, Books & Music:
Here are some of our favorite children’s bibles, music, and videos.
Resources for talking to children about Sex:
Here are some of our favorite resources for talking to children about purity and sex.
Advent Resources:
Here are some resources for family Advent celebrations. See also this blog post.
Resources for Navigating Technology:
Here is a post I wrote on how our family has handled technology.
Summer Rhythms
Summer is a sweet time of “sabbath” for children – rest from the labors of school work and most organized activities. While the down time and less rigorous schedule can be a gift, it can also create stress for both mom and children if things are too carefree. To that end, I created a daily “checklist” for each of my children to help provide a little routine in our days, while still allowing for the needed down time. Each child’s check list is different but it includes things like this:
- Make bed/ clean up room
- Eat breakfast
- Clean up kitchen/dishwasher load or unload
- Bible study time
- Laundry
- Practice piano or guitar
- 1 chapter in a required summer reading book
- 1 chapter in a pleasure reading book
- Review bible verses on Scripture Typer
- Review math facts/ other school review
I laminated their lists, and put a magnet on the back so they stick to the refrigerator. They manage it themselves by crossing off each item with a dry erase marker. When they have completed their checklist, they can have their media time for the day. The reward of media time at the end is enough to keep them motivated when working on math facts is less-than-exciting. Then the rest of the day is free to play outside, swim, have friends over, or play a game.
This routine also serves to set parameters on media time. Playing electronic games is a privilege and reward after working hard on other things. And on a given day, if there isn’t time for Bible study or summer reading, there probably isn’t time for video games! However, this system assumes that electronic games are not available to children at all times. It won’t work if your kiddos have access to video games on their devices (or yours) at any time they want. Our children do not have video games on their phones, and are require to “check-out” their iPads or play Wii only when it is designed media time. (See this post for more on how we have handled electronics in our home.)
While summer can be a much-needed break for the children, I’ve learned that it’s more of a time of rest for my children than for me as a mom. I can find myself even busier during the summer as I strive to help them have a fulfilling summer. It has been helpful for me to recognize this and set expectations.
Often in the summer we are out town, at camp, or doing something fun for the day and there is no time for the check list. However, on the days we are home, this provides just the right amount of routine and accomplishment. It allows me to feel like we have some rhythm and have been somewhat productive, and then I feel free to let the rest of the day feel lazy and carefree.
For the Love of Books
We love good books in our family! Well, maybe not all our children would naturally have inclined that way, but we have created a culture of reading in our home – a little healthy “peer pressure” towards reading!
When the kids were little, I read books aloud at the lunch table. We always had a story going. As often as possible, we have “family read time” where we all sit down and read together, including Mom & Dad, modeling for our children a love for reading. We also have created a rhythm at night of having the older children have the choice of reading together on the couch or going to bed – even the less eager readers will choose to read in that scenario.
The majority of books I read these days are Junior Fiction. I actually really enjoy them! My husband and I giggled as we eagerly devoured the Harry Potter series in order to “preview” them for our oldest. We read as many of our children’s books as we can to preview them, but also to have a shared experience. My husband and daughter have enjoyed many books together. Most of our family has read the Ranger’s Apprentice series. I started it to encourage my son who is the least eager reader in the family, and it worked! He’s on book 5… I’m on book 10. I’m hooked!
We have also made a tradition of listening to audio books on road trips. I pick a book to download for each trip and we listen together as a family – it becomes a precious shared experience between the hours of other car entertainment.
As far as finding good content, I try to research books before buying them – there are many good parent preview websites available. I am more careful about what books we own (and therefore will be read over & over) versus a book we might borrow or check out from the library and read once.
What am I most careful about? The age of the main characters. If my 8 year old is reading a book with teenage main characters, I might need to pay more attention. Adult characters acting like adults are usually fine. I am much more concerned about the influence of teen romance in books than most other things. I think that to “stir or awaken love” before its time is a much more realistic concern for our children than their becoming wizards, for example. As for violence, we try to look at the context. Is the book about soldiers or knights, and is it historically appropriate, or is it modern day teens acting violent in ways that seem realistic to our children, and behavior they could pattern?
I’ve made a list of some books we have enjoyed. As you can see, we are especially drawn to series. For one reason, some of my children read so fast it’s hard to keep up with providing good books for them. A series keeps them busy longer. It also allows us the joy of lingering longer with the characters and story.
Book Recommendations: (* our personal favorites)
Series for Younger Readers:
- Imagination Station*
- Magic Tree House
- Nate the Great
- Boxcar Children
- Little House on the Prairie*
- American Girl books
- In Grandma’s Attic
Series for Elementary Readers:
- Narnia (Christian fiction/allegory)*
- Roman Mystery (Christian historical fiction)
- The Door Within (Christian fiction)
- Ranger’s Apprentice (fiction)*
- Royal Ranger series (fiction)
- Green Ember (Christian fiction)*
- Wingfeather Saga (Christian fiction)*
- Wormling Series (Christian fiction)
- Wilderking Series (Christian fiction)
- Kindgom’s Dawn (Christian fiction/allegory)
- Dragons in Our Midst (Christian fiction)
- Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew (the classic version)
- 39 Clues
- The Black Cauldron series (fiction)
- Mysterious Benedict Society (fiction)
- Anne of Green Gables (classic/ fiction)
- YWAM Christian Heroes: Then & Now biographies*
Series for Middle School Readers:
(content where the main characters are teens)
- Harry Potter*
- Percy Jackson (Books 1-5 only)
- Anomoly (Christian fiction)
- Artemis Fowl series (fiction)*
- Muirwood (fiction)
- Seven Wonders (fiction)
- The Arinthian Line series (fiction)
- Stormlight Archives series (fiction)*
- Mark of the Thief series (fiction)
- Theodore Boone series (mystery/ fiction)
- Path of the Ranger series (fiction)
- Kingfountain series (fiction)
Stand Alones:
- The Hobbit*
- Swiss Family Robinson
- Tom Sawyer
- Robin Hood
- Dangerous Journey*/ Pilgrim’s Progress
- King Arthur
- Treasure Island
- Space Trilogy
- Screwtape Letters
- Lamplighter Stories
- Patricia St John Books
- The Secret Garden
- The Hiding Place*
Favorite Read Alouds:
- Trumpet of the Swan*
- Charlotte’s Web
- Mr. Poppers Penguins
- Hardy Boys* (Father/Son read aloud favorite)
- Homer Price
- Cricket in Times Square
- The Hobbit*
- Farmer Boy*
- Narnia books
- Stories with the Millers
- The Railway Children*
Favorite Audio Books:
- Classic Pooh stories
- Beatrice Potter stories
- Narnia series (Focus on the Family Radio Theater)*
- Jim Weiss audio books
- Wizard of Oz
- Lamplighter stories
- A Christmas Carol
Advent traditions
The Christmas season provides many meaningful opportunities to talk to our children about the Lord. It can be overwhelming, though. Which traditions should we participate in? Which are helpful? Which are distracting? How do we impress upon our children the significance of Jesus’ birth amidst the glitz and glitter of the season?
Participating in the historic celebration of Advent has been a beautiful way for our family to focus our hearts on the coming of Jesus this time of year.
Here are some traditions and resources that have been helpful to us as we have tried to be intentional in making Christ the focus of our Christmas celebration.
Treasuring God in our Traditions by Noel Piper: This book is full of creative ways to create meaningful traditions in our homes for both holidays and ordinary days. It has shaped many of our Advent traditions.
Decorations: We try to be intentional in decorations that point to Christ. For example, lights provide an easy way to incorporate biblica
l truth. We use John 8:12, John 1:5 and Isaiah 9:2 to talk about Jesus as the Light of the World.
Nativities from different countries that we’ve been to proclaim that Jesus is Lord of the nations.
A special nativity under the Christmas tree reminds us that it’s not presents, but Jesus who is the greatest gift.
We have chosen not to put gifts out in advance under the tree – just to limit the natural tendency to look at the gifts and focus on “Which gifts are for me? “What am I going to get?” Instead, we wait until Christmas morning to bring gifts out.
Advent calendars:There are many different Advent calendars that you can use to teach the Christmas narrative. We have a Advent calendar tha
t hangs on the wall in the kitchen, with a nightly reading of a the Christmas story that goes along with it. We also have a Jesse Tree on which we place an ornament every day that reminds us of a different aspect of God’s character.
This advent candle wreath on our coffee table gets brighter each day leading up to Christmas.
Advent wreath: We have a simple Advent wreath on our kitchen table with 5 candles. Every week we light a new candle and review what we learned in church that weekend about the coming of the Savior.
One thing we’ve discovered in parenting is that if we want something to become a part of our family routine, it needs to be visible. If it’s in the center of the kitchen table, hanging on the wall, or sitting on the coffee table the children will to hold us accountable to making it happen.
Donation Gift Catalogs: A special gift we give our children every year is a budget to choose items from these donation catalogs for others in need. These are the only magazines we have lying around – not toy or clothes catalogs. Let’s dream about what we can give, not get! We don’t ask our kids to make
“wish lists” for themselves – we know what our kids like and can surprise them with something fun – but rather to make wish lists for what they will give! I love overhearing their conversations, “I might give 1 goat, 3 chickens and 4 soccer balls this year,” or “Maybe we can pool our money together a buy a fish pond.”
Serving others: We’ve tried to build some traditions into our holiday season of serving others. In November we go shopping to pack our Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes. (See link below for more information.) We take a special trip to the Dollar Store for each of our children to fill a box for a child his or her age. We volunteer over Thanksgiving break for a homeless outreach. We do an outreach with our Chin Refugee family we mentor. I have to plan these service opportunities before our calendar fills up with parties and activities, otherwise they probably won’t happen.
Santa: One tradition we have chosen not to participate in is Santa Claus. We feel that it’s too much of a distraction for little ones in keeping their hearts focused on Jesus, and want to always be forthright with our children. When we tell them God is real, we want them to have full confidence that He isn’t a myth or a story. However, our children know that Santa is a game that some families like to play, and we aren’t going to spoil the game for others. We also have taught our children the beautiful story about the historical man, Saint Nicholas.
Our pastor reminds us at the beginning of each Advent season that the traditions of the holidays are shadows that point to something deeper and more real. The shadows aren’t bad or wrong – they can be a lot of fun! But we want to keep our hearts focused on the real thing, which is the coming of Immanuel, God with us. I pray these can be helpful tools for you in shepherding your family towards that end.
Here are links to some Advent books, websites and other resources.