Raising Kids with Character shows parents, clinicians, and policy-makers how the love relationship between parents and children is the workshop of the child's maturing personality, connecting everyday moments in family life to the growth of the child's sense of values and meaning. The book explains how children develop into fine, morally strong adults through their identification with loving parents, and combines practical wisdom about ordinary family experiences with an in-depth discussion of emotional development from birth through adulthood. Elizabeth Berger, MD, is a child psychiatrist and nationally acclaimed parenting expert. Her book looks beyond the parent's response to "negative behavior" to understand the meaning of the child's behavior within the growth process, while helping parents gain mastery of their own emotional reactions as a key to assisting this process. Rich vignettes of ordinary families, along with professional case studies of trouble youngsters in therapy, make this intelligent and well-written book the essential tool for parents and others looking not just to "manage" children but to understand and to nurture their spirits.

William Kilpatrick's recent book Why Johnny Can't Tell Right from Wrong convinced thousands that reading is one of the most effective ways to combat moral illiteracy and build a child's character. This follow-up book--featuring evaluations of more than 300 books for children--will help parents and teachers put his key ideas into practice.

Why do some children succeed while others fail? The story we usually tell about childhood and success is the one about intelligence: success comes to those who score highest on tests, from preschool admissions to SATs. But in How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter most have more to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, optimism, and self-control. How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough traces the links between childhood stress and life success. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. Early adversity, scientists have come to understand, not only affects the conditions of children’s lives, it can also alter the physical development of their brains. But innovative thinkers around the country are now using this knowledge to help children overcome the constraints of poverty. With the right support, as Tough’s extraordinary reporting makes clear, children who grow up in the most painful circumstances can go on to achieve amazing things. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book has the potential to change how we raise our children, how we run our schools, and how we construct our social safety net. It will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.

Formation of Character is the fifth volume of Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling series. The chapters stand alone and are valuable to parents of children of all ages. Part I includes case studies of children (and adults) who cured themselves of bad habits. Part II is a series of reflections on subjects including both schooling and vacations (or "stay-cations" as we now call them). Part III covers various aspects of home schooling, with a special section detailing the things that Charlotte Mason thought were important to teach to girls in particular. Part IV consists of examples of how education affected outcome of character in famous writers of her day. Charlotte Mason was a late nineteenth-century British educator whose ideas were far ahead of her time. She believed that children are born persons worthy of respect, rather than blank slates, and that it was better to feed their growing minds with living literature and vital ideas and knowledge, rather than dry facts and knowledge filtered and pre-digested by the teacher. Her method of education, still used by some private schools and many homeschooling families, is gentle and flexible, especially with younger children, and includes first-hand exposure to great and noble ideas through books in each school subject, conveying wonder and arousing curiosity, and through reflection upon great art, music, and poetry; nature observation as the primary means of early science teaching; use of manipulatives and real-life application to understand mathematical concepts and learning to reason, rather than rote memorization and working endless sums; and an emphasis on character and on cultivating and maintaining good personal habits. Schooling is teacher-directed, not child-led, but school time should be short enough to allow students free time to play and to pursue their own worthy interests such as handicrafts. Traditional Charlotte Mason schooling is firmly based on Christianity, although the method is also used successfully by s

This book shows parents the communication skills they need to teach their children to govern themselves. With the proper family environment and understanding of childhood behaviors homes can become happier.

John and Susan describe how both parents and children can intentionally grow in character through the normal, daily events in life. They highlight eight essential character traits: integrity, faith, a teachable spirit, a servant's heart, self- discipline, joy, compassion, and courage. Questions at the end of each chapter and a leader's guide in the back of the book make this an excellent book for a group of parents to study together.

Grade level: 2, 3, 4, 5, p, e, i, t.