Great Books for Parents
Want some great book options that provide parents helpful tips in raising all kinds of kids: brilliant, financially aware, tech-savvy, safe, and wonderful readers?
Confession: I read the What to Expect book but few others when I was pregnant. Beyond that, parenting books basically confused me. I've heard good things about Love and Logic and Chicken Soup, but it is not the section of the bookstore I know well. However, these books have caught my interest. Take a look - - it might be just right for parents your age!
The Call to Brilliance, by Resa Steindel Brown. A memoir on her own experience, Brown bases her book on the premise that all children are born brilliant. I love that idea! She quotes a diverse set of sources from Albert Schweitzer, Stephen Covey, Erma Bombeck, Maria Montessori, to T.S. Elliot. The concept of mass education doesnt fare well in Ms. Browns eyes. Artificial barriers of grade levels and the failures of standardized testing are vividly illustrated. But it is not a rant - - (she has) turned childrens challenges into strengths and their gifts into passions. A great resource for homeschoolers, parents and educators alike.
Yes, You Can! Raise Financially Aware Kids, by Jack Jonathan. Where was this book when I was growing up? This book was named a winner of the Learning Magazine 2007 Teachers ChoiceSM Award for the Family. Jonathan and Dr. Sheelagh Mannheim, a child development expert, take the principles of child development and apply them to basic financial concepts that children need to experience. They teach parents to manage wants versus needs! Even the story of Jack and The Beanstalk becomes a discussion of bartering that cow away! Maybe some parents will learn a thing or two as well.
e-parenting: keeping up with your tech-savvy kids, by Sharon Miller Cindrich. Bigger Kids, Bigger Problems. Have you ever heard of that one? Well, the whole technology thing is growing exponentially bigger. Cindrich has written a smart and insightful guide that will help parents get plugged in. She has tools for making technology work for the parent as well as the child. Not only the standard topics of computer basics and surfing the net, e-parenting covers GPS systems, cell phones, travel blogs and digital cameras and DVRs.
364 Ways to Keep Kids Safe, by Don Keenan. Keenan, an internationally recognized child advocate and attorney, has seen many of the same preventable injuries to children over his 30 year career. The statistics in this book will scare you. Chapters are divided into danger areas in the home, the neighborhood, and during recreation, like sports, swimming pools and summer camps. The book also covers daycare and school safety, transportation and hidden predators - - sit down when youre reading THAT section. It is common sense in some areas, but absolutely surprising in others. A great resource for everyone.
The Read Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease. This 6th edition of a wonderful parent resource has recently come out in paperback. It lists over 1,200 books which are classics to share together, because honestly, you might not want to read Judy Blume ALOUD to your child. There are great articles about silent reading, comic books, the Oprah Book Club and Harry Potter Phenomena, the Internet and even the topic of censorship. Trelease teaches parents how reading aloud improves language skills, how to choose the right books for YOUR child, how to create an atmosphere that welcomes reading, and how to compete against the influences of television, internet and video games. He has been a champion for literacy for decades, and has always been on my bedside table.
Julie Hubble lives in Leawood, Kansas and could probably read more parenting books if she would stop reading childrens books