Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen


Book Description

The fourteen essential conversations to have with your tween and early teenager to prepare them for the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead, including scripts and advice to keep the communication going and stay connected during this critical developmental window. “This book is a gift to parents and teenagers alike.”—Lisa Damour, PhD, author of Untangled and Under Pressure Trying to convince a middle schooler to listen to you can be exasperating. Indeed, it can feel like the best option is not to talk! But keeping kids safe—and prepared for all the times when you can't be the angel on their shoulder—is about having the right conversations at the right time. From a brain growth and emotional readiness perspective, there is no better time for this than their tween years, right up to when they enter high school. Distilling Michelle Icard's decades of experience working with families, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen focuses on big, thorny topics such as friendship, sexuality, impulsivity, and technology, as well as unexpected conversations about creativity, hygiene, money, privilege, and contributing to the family. Icard outlines a simple, memorable, and family-tested formula for the best approach to these essential talks, the BRIEF Model: Begin peacefully, Relate to your child, Interview to collect information, Echo what you're hearing, and give Feedback. With wit and compassion, she also helps you get over the most common hurdles in talking to tweens, including: • What phrases invite connection and which irritate kids or scare them off • The best places, times, and situations in which to initiate talks • How to keep kids interested, open, and engaged in conversation • How to exit these chats in a way that keeps kids wanting more Like a Rosetta Stone for your tween's confounding language, Fourteen Talks by Age Fourteen is an essential communication guide to helping your child through the emotional, physical, and social challenges ahead and, ultimately, toward teenage success.




Teenagers Learn What They Live


Book Description

Parenting by example. Using the simple, powerful message that turned Children Learn What They Live into an international bestseller with over 1.5 million copies in print, Drs. Dorothy Law Nolte and Rachel Harris bring their unique perspective to families with adolescents. Structured, like the first book, around an inspirational poem, Teenagers Learn What They Live addresses the turbulent teenage years, when a stew of hormones, pressures, and temptations makes for such extreme challenges for parents and children. Teenagers addresses popularity and peer pressure ("If teenagers live with rejection, they learn to feel lost"); the responsibilities of maturity ("If teenagers live with too many rules, they learn how to get around them./ If teenagers live with too few rules, they learn to ignore the needs of others"); body image and the allure of cigarettes, drugs, and alcohol ("If teenagers live with healthy habits, they learn to be kind to their bodies"). Central to the book are ways for parents to communicate with their teenage children-including how to deal with being "tuned out" and when to start the conversation again-and how to strike the right balance between holding on and accepting a teen's growing independence. Hundreds of examples of parent-child interactions cover everything from the all-night graduation party to problems of sexual identity, providing great guidance as well as effective conversation starters.




Surviving Your Child's Adolescence


Book Description

Expert suggestions for guiding your child through the rough teenage years Does it sometimes seem like your teenager is trying to push you over the edge? Learn what your child is going through and what you can do to help your teen navigate this difficult period in this practical guide from psychologist and parenting expert Carl Pickhardt. In an easy-to-read style, Dr. Pickhardt describes a 4-stage model of adolescent growth to help parents anticipate common developmental changes in their daughter or son from late elementary school through the college age years. Provides unique advice for dealing with arguing, chores, the messy room, homework, and many other issues Offers best practices for teaching effective communication, constructive conflict, and responsible decision-making Includes ideas for protecting kids against the dangers of the Internet, bullying, dating, sexual involvement, and substance use An essential road map for parents looking to guide their children on the path to adulthood.







Feeding the Mouth That Bites You


Book Description

"There are times when parenting seems nothing more than feeding the mouth that bites you." - Peter De VriesParenting teenagers can be hard. Maybe you already know that. The question is, does adolescence really need to be a frustrating time for parents and teenagers? If your child isn't a teenager yet, can you make preparations now to avoid many of the pitfalls parents of adolescents go through? With so much information and differing viewpoints, how can a parent really know that they are "doing it right?"In Feeding The Mouth That Bites You, Dr. Ken Wilgus outlines a clear and practical path through the confusion of parenting adolescents in today's world. Engaging, accessible, and funny, Feeding The Mouth That Bites You summarizes Dr. Wilgus's best teachings on how to parent teenagers, collected over twenty-five years of work with adolescents and their families as well as two decades of teaching on parenting.Though trends and technology will always change, the adolescent need for autonomy remains the one foundational issue that is the largest obstacle to a healthy parent/teenager relationship. Feeding The Mouth That Bites You explains this need and the effect it has on a wide range of teenage behavior. Dr. Wilgus clearly outlines his method for safely and effectively meeting this need: Planned Emancipation. Once parents clearly understand adolescents' needs and know how to respond, parenting a teenager becomes much less frustrating. Even their teenagers join in to help out!Knowing what your teenager needs and being able to provide for that need is truly the art of Feeding The Mouth That Bites You.




The Parent Compass


Book Description

Bragging rights and bumper stickers are some of the social forces fueling today’s parenting behavior—and, as a result, even well-intentioned parents are behaving badly. Many parents don’t know how best to support their teens, especially when everyone around them seems to be frantically tutoring, managing, and helicoptering. The Parent Compass provides guidance on what parents’ roles should be in supporting their teens’ mental health as they traverse the maze of the adolescent years. For anyone daunted by the unique challenge of parenting well in this pressure-laden and uncertain era, The Parent Compass offers: Advice on fostering grit and resilience in your teen Strategies to help your teen approach life with purpose Guidance on how to preserve your relationship with your teen while navigating a competitive academic environment Clear explanations of your appropriate role in the college admission process Effective ways to approach technology use in your home, and much more! Using The Parent Compass to navigate the adolescent years will help you parent with confidence and intention, allowing you to forge a trusting, positive relationship with your teen.




Parenting beyond the Rules


Book Description

Parenting teens is one of the most challenging seasons of parenting, isn’t it? While this can be a difficult time of transition for parents and teens, there is hope. You can parent well and build a stronger relationship even through the teen years. After 30 years of parenting five children and 20 years of working with teens, Connie Albers has witnessed the negative impact of well-intentioned but misguided parenting styles, all focused on managing teens rather than guiding them. But through learning to focus on the hearts of your teens, you can avoid those pitfalls and build relationships that last beyond the transition years as you intentionally learn about, connect with, and listen to your teens. In a world filled with distractions and devices, it is possible to guide their hearts and remain the primary influence in their lives. In Parenting beyond the Rules, you will discover how to raise a teen according to his or her strengths, talents, and personality type, as these things equip teens to manage life. Join Connie Albers in discovering practical solutions for every parent trying to raise a responsible, godly teenager.




Love Her Well


Book Description

Now an ECPA Best Seller—Kari Kampakis's Love Her Well gives moms ten practical tips for how to build strong and lasting relationships with their daughters. For many women, having a baby girl is a dream come true. But as girls grow up, the narrative of innocence and joy changes to one of dread as moms are told, "Just wait until she's a teenager!" and handed a disheartening and too-often-true script about a daughter's teenage season of life. Author, blogger, and mom to four daughters Kari Kampakis thinks it's time to change the narrative and mind-set that leads moms to parent teen girls with a spirit of defeat instead of strength. Love Her Well isn't a guide to help mothers "fix" their daughters or make them behave. It's about a mom's journey, doing the heart-work necessary to love a teenager while still being a steady, supportive parent. Kari offers wisdom about how moms can: Choose their words and timing carefully. Listen and empathize with her teen's world. See the good, and love her for who she is. Take care of themselves and find a support system in the process. By working on the foundation, habits, and dynamics of the relationship; mothers can connect with their teen daughters and earn a voice in their lives that allows moms to offer guidance, love, wisdom, and emotional support. Kari gives mothers hope, wisdom, and a reminder that all things are possible through God, who is the source of the guidance and clarity they need in order to grow strong relationships with their daughters at every age—especially during the critical teen years.




Confident Parents, Confident Kids


Book Description

Confident Parents, Confident Kids lays out an approach for helping parents—and the kids they love—hone their emotional intelligence so that they can make wise choices, connect and communicate well with others (even when patience is thin), and become socially conscious and confident human beings. How do we raise a happy, confident kid? And how can we be confident that our parenting is preparing our child for success? Our confidence develops from understanding and having a mastery over our emotions (aka emotional intelligence)—and helping our children do the same. Like learning to play a musical instrument, we can fine-tune our ability to skillfully react to those crazy, wonderful, big feelings that naturally arise from our child’s constant growth and changes, moving from chaos to harmony. We want our children to trust that they can conquer any challenge with hard work and persistence; that they can love boundlessly; that they will find their unique sense of purpose; and they will act wisely in a complex world. This book shows you how. With author and educator Jennifer Miller as your supportive guide, you'll learn: the lies we’ve been told about emotions, how they shape our choices, and how we can reshape our parenting decisions in better alignment with our deepest values. how to identify the temperaments your child was born with so you can support those tendencies rather than fight them. how to align your biggest hopes and dreams for your kids with specific skills that can be practiced, along with new research to support those powerful connections. about each age and stage your child goes through and the range of learning opportunities available. how to identify and manage those big emotions (that only the parenting process can bring out in us!) and how to model emotional intelligence for your children. how to deal with the emotions and influences of your choir—the many outside individuals and communities who directly impact your child’s life, including school, the digital world, extended family, neighbors, and friends. Raising confident, centered, happy kids—while feeling the same way about yourself—is possible with Confident Parents, Confident Kids.