Raising decent, caring, and responsible children is the most complex and challenging job in every parent’s life—and an increasingly difficult one in today’s society. Here is the most authoritative book available on this crucial subject, a valuable and sensitive guide for parents who want their children to grow up with lifelong positive values. Based on fascinating research, this groundbreaking work by psychologist and educator Dr. Thomas Lickona describes the predictable stages of moral development from birth to adulthood. And it offers you down-to-earth advice and guidance for each stage: • Seven caring ways to discipline “terrible twos” • Why your preschooler “lies” and how to handle it • What to do about a four-year-old’s back talk • How to handle your seven-year-old’s endless negotiations about what’s “fair” • Why teens have trouble with peer pressure—and how to help them • How to talk to your child about drugs, drinking, and sex • How to help children of any age reason more clearly about what’s right and wrong PLUS . . . A list of more than one hundred children’s books that teach moral values, and much more. “An excellent book on a vastly neglected aspect of raising children.”—Dr. Fitzhugh Dodson, author How to Parent, How to Father “We have been waiting for a book like this for a long time—a readable work that translates a moral development into parents’ language and experience.”—Dolores Curran, author of Traits of a Healthy Family “Truly integrates a moral development theory into a consistent approach to childrearing. . . Word-of-mouth recommendations from parent to parent may lift it to the level of popularity once held by Dr. Spock’s book on child care.”—Moral Education Forum

Raising Good Children explores the pressures and difficulties of bringing up children in the twenty first century, from babies and toddlers through to problematic teenagers. This is a guide which suggests ways in which the young can be given direction through love and security to help them embrace their responsibilities and become useful members of society. The author draws upon a life-time of working with children to identify behavioural problems and then answers them by using scripture and Christian teachings. She argues that the self-centred attitudes of many youngsters today emanate from a lack of meaning in their lives, which can be provided by following the guidelines given by Jesus and by adhering to the laws of God. She quotes many examples to show how following these guidelines helps to solve the problems of antisocial behaviour so often associated with the young together with the difficulties connected with adolescent behaviour. The aim is to instil good qualities in children, to help them to have a meaningful relationship with their Father-Mother God and to become respectful and thoughtful adults. The author argues that many of the problems with young people are the fault of society. She suggests that the seductive presentation of legal drugs adversely influences those who are young and vulnerable. It is this, she maintains, which has led to the widespread problems with illegal drug abuse and its associated crimes. Although addressed mainly to parents, Raising Good Children has much to offer to teachers and to all who are involved with the education of children.

First published 50 years ago, this is a treat for today's parents: an excellent, commonsense approach to raising good Catholic children.

What does it take to raise great kids? If you've read any books on parenting, conflicting opinions have probably left you feeling confused. Get tough! Show acceptance. Lay down the rules. Lighten up, already! There's got to be a balance--and there is. Joining their expertise with the wisdom of MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers), Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend help you provide both the care and acceptance that make grace real to your child, and the firmness and discipline that give direction. Avoiding the twin extremes of permissiveness and over-control, Drs. Cloud and Townsend show how you can help your child cultivate six necessary character traits: attachment, responsibility, reality, competence, morality, and worship/spiritual life. At last, here is an effective middle ground for raising up children who will handle life with maturity and wisdom. Raising Great Kids will help you equip your son or daughter to accept life's responsibilities, grow from its challenges, and freely and fully explore all that it has to offer.

Raising kids of character is a daunting task, so there's no better time to start than when they're young! The first few years of life is the most critical period of growth and development. Infants start the process of trusting the love of Mom and Dad and God, toddlers begin experiencing freedom and responsibility, and children start understanding how to function in the real world. In short, this is the period in which a child's soul is developed. As a parent, you are right at the center of that process. It's impossible to overestimate how important a role you play in rearing your child. As the Bible teaches, God shows us how to trust in him even at my mother's breast (Psalm 22:9). But most parents feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the job. With so many things to worry about, how do you know the real tasks and goals of parenting? Many moms and dads become discouraged or don't know where to start. We wrote Raising Great Kids and developed this curriculum to help you. In this video curriculum just as in the book we offer you a structure for approaching parenting. We provide a road map for creating character in your children the ability to function as God designed them to function in the world. The biblical principles set forth in the book apply to all ages and stages of kids, so you can use them as a guide for all the years you parent. This video curriculum, however, deals specifically with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. It addresses, in a practical, hands-on manner, situations and issues you encounter with children five years old and younger. Our goal is to help empower parents of these children moms and dads like you to become intentional and effective in your parenting. We're glad you've decided to invest the time and effort in your children by working through Raising Great Kids for Parents of Preschoolers. We pray that God will use this study to help your parenting be the successful and worthwhile relationship he designed it to be. We appreciate your labors as a parent---and may God bless you!

Nice is not enough. We are raising a generation of "nice" kids. Nice kids are well behaved and look good on the outside, but they often lack courageous character inside. Offering practical wisdom gleaned from his experience as a parent and family coach, Tim Smith helps you move your kids from simply polite to truly compassionate. He targets nine key qualities children need but often lack and shows you how to build them into your children by modeling core values and biblical practices. Your kids can be--and indeed, are meant to be--kingdom builders who help bring God's light and life to others through their decisions and influence. "Being nice won't help them stand apart," Tim says. "We need to strategically train our children to engage and challenge the popular views of our culture." Here is a clear, down-to-earth resource that will help you do just that. But be prepared for change--in you, in your kids and in the world.

Tolerance, respect, compassion and other values start at home, in healthy, strong relationships between the generations. These stories provide practical, insightful tips for parents and grandparents looking to strengthen their families and raise successful children. As role models, parents and grandparents teach good values, like tolerance, accepting differences, shedding prejudices, and making good decisions. And having those traits makes us more successful as adults, too. The personal stories in this collection not only show adult readers how to be their best selves, but also offer great advice on how to raise resilient, confident, upstanding kids — kids who exhibit all the qualities of acceptance, courage, and inner strength. These stories provide practical, insightful tips for parents and grandparents looking to strengthen their families and raise caring, confident, successful children. This book harnesses the power of storytelling to inspire and teach while also entertaining readers. Key issues such as bullying; religious, ethnic, and lifestyle tolerance; values; and making good decisions are addressed in stories selected from Chicken Soup for the Soul’s vast library of bestselling books, representing the best on these topics from the company’s 22-year history. This book is a joint project of Chicken Soup for the Soul and The Boniuk Foundation, which are working together to promote tolerance, respect, and compassion, inspiring young people and adults to embrace their differences, reject stereotypes, and make good choices. It’s part of a larger effort that includes additional books for kids and preteens, teens, and college students, as well as a family television show every Saturday morning starting in October.