Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family by Paul David Tripp: Tripp walks systematically through every aspect of parenting. This book is helpful for parents of children of all ages 0-18 years. Tripp lays the foundation of biblical parenting and the high calling parenting is to shepherd the next generation. He assures parents that God gives the grace needed for this huge task. Tripp explains that while parents are called to teach God's law and God's grace, parents cannot save their children or change their children's hearts. Chapters 7 - 14 dive into heart issues, both the parents and children's heart issues, and helps parents keep focused on the root sin and not just behavior. There are no study guide questions in this book.
Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp: This book is for parents of all ages but parents of young children will benefit the most. Tedd Tripp explains everything a parent needs to know to parent to the heart worship issue in children, and not just address the behavior issues. The majority of the book is principle oriented with specific examples given for how a "heart" conversation would go versus just a discipline for wrong behavior. The final chapters are broken down into Infancy to childhood training procedures, training objectives, and training procedures. Just one chapter is devoted to teens (see Age of Opportunity for teenage parenting). There are study guide questions at the end of each chapter.
Instructing a Child's Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp: This parenting book is geared to parents who have school aged children. After learning and understanding the importance of the heart and addressing the heart in early years of discipline, the Tripps move on to teaching and training biblical principles during the school years. The topics include teaching the sowing and reaping principle, authority as God's plan, giving children a vision for the glory of God, wisdom versus foolishness, and the importance of the church. The final portion of the book is application. The Tripps do an excellent job of showing examples of corrective conversations that keep the gospel front and center. There are no study guide questions.
Age of Opportunity by Paul David Tripp: This book is for parents of teenagers, even if they haven't read the books for young children and school age children. Paul Tripp starts with the focus on the heart of the parents and the idols parents have that interfere with biblical parenting. Tripp spends two chapters on the importance of family and God's design to shepherd and teach our children about God's law and grace. He encourages parents to help their teens develop a war-time mentality. Life is not just fun, but there is a real battle between the flesh and the Spirit and we must all be ready to fight the flesh. Tripp helps parents understand the importance of teens developing convictions based on the wisdom of God's Word and clearly spells out how our culture and the idols of relativism, individualism, emotionalism, materialism, autonomy, and others can vie for teens attention and worship. Tripp includes helpful goals to set to know when your teen is ready to leave home. The final section is practical strategies for parenting. A study guide is at the back of the book.
The Faithful Parent by Martha Peace and Stuart Scott: This book is for parents of children of all ages. The authors spend two chapters laying out the biblical foundation and principles of parenting. Then, each chapter is on a different age of children including infant, toddler, preschooler, school-aged children, and teenagers. The last couple of chapters address parents with topics like what it is to provoke your children, dealing with children who go astray and even a chapter for "special cases" like being a single parent, blended families, unequally yoked families, divorced parents sharing custody of children, etc. This book is practical and gives a fantastic overview of parenting through the entire range of ages. There are questions for each chapter.
Get Outta My Face! by Rick Horne: This book is for parents of teenagers who are angry. Horne helps you understand your child biblically and sets the stage of having the parent identify their own "log" first and to commit to honor God regardless of how the teen responds. The practical section of dealing with the teen gives very specific ideas and principles for being a good listener. This includes listening to what your teen wants, doesn't want, and reading body language. This "listening" also includes listening to yourself and examining what you "hear" from our own communication. After listening for the wide range of topics and emotions, Horne encourages the parent to help the teen frame his/her desires into "wise wants" that honor God and the show the teen the consequences of choosing well and not choosing well. This chapter leads the parents through very specific and helpful language and suggestions for how to implement change of conversation and direct your teen to Godly choices. The next chapters deal with helping the teen see the wisdom of wise choices from past experiences and to make plans that are specific and measurable to encourage change. No study guide questions are available.
You Never Stop Being a Parent by Jim Newheiser and Elyse Fitzpatrick: This book is for parents who have grown children. This book addresses the many difficult issues that come with having adult children. For example, an adult child living at home - what rules to set, how money and jobs should work and what expectations can and should be set in this circumstance; how to deal with an adult child who is not professing faith in Christ; how to handle money issues of borrowing or lending to an adult child or if to leave an inheritance; how to handle the issue of marriage and new in-laws and how involved to be in decision making processes. This book is helpful to parents of children who are grown, but are still dependent or highly involved with their parents. Study guide questions at the end of each chapter.
Parenting the Difficult Child: A Biblical Perspective on Reactive Attachment Disorder by Linda J Rice: This book is for counselees who have adopted children who are struggling or are diagnosed with "Reactive Attachment Disorder" or "RAD". The author is a parent of international adopted children who struggled to bond and respond to her and her husband. Linda acknowledges the challenges of parenting but gives hope that struggling children need to be parented for heart change, and not just deal with the angry outbursts or excuse the behavior because of the adoption/abandonment as a baby. This book offers practical suggestions for parenting situations and what discipline would like in your home.