Parenting Matters

Parenting Matters
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 525
Release: 2016-11-21
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0309388570

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Parents Under the Influence

Parents Under the Influence
Author: Cécile David-Weill
Publisher: Other Press, LLC
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2020-01-14
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 1590510569

Part American and part French, part memoir and part guide, this book offers a fresh, unique, and powerful perspective on the challenges of parenting and how to find a rewarding path forward for parents and children alike. How should we raise our children? It should be a simple enough question to answer but in fact it is an intimidating and complex one. We often address it by deciding to do either exactly what our parents did or just the opposite. After that we rely on a cocktail of love and instinct, hoping it will be enough to overcome the difficulties ahead. Far from having perfect free will, however, we are all under the influence. The child still within us confuses, influences, or undermines all our aspirations as parents and prevents us from sticking to the philosophy we initially hoped to follow. These unresolved emotions drive us to reproduce the upbringing we received, including the behaviors that have hurt us the most. In Parents Under the Influence, Cécile David-Weill draws on her own parenting blunders and successes as well as concrete examples, case studies, and works of fiction to guide readers, helping them heal from the past and become effective, nurturing parents.

See Yourself as God Sees You

See Yourself as God Sees You
Author: Josh McDowell
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 210
Release: 1999
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780842318327

Because of the author's profound shift in his understanding of identity issues, this bestselling book has been revised to help readers find victory over faulty views of the self and help them align their view of who they are with God's view.

Parenting with Influence

Parenting with Influence
Author: Roger Smith MD
Publisher: WestBow Press
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2022-06-12
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 166426390X

Is Your Home a Combat Zone? Conflict between parents and their children has become the expected norm in today’s culture. Frustrated parents are often told to “just hang on” until the child either “grows out of it” or moves away. But it doesn’t have to be like this! Stop conflict with your child! Dr. Roger Smith offers you a fresh perspective with realistic hope that the parent/child relationship can be more than better—it can actually be GREAT. Shift your approach! Discover principles in this book that, if applied, will renew the relationship while setting your child on a proven path for success in life. By trading control for influence, both you and your child WIN. Enjoy your children! The best time to lay a sure foundation for a loving, lifelong relationship was when your child was in diapers. The second-best time is now. Let Dr. Smith show you how you can lighten your load, restore your smile, and begin building lasting memories TOGETHER.

Children's Influence on Family Dynamics

Children's Influence on Family Dynamics
Author: Ann C. Crouter
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 459
Release: 2003-04-02
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1135632812

Any parent who has raised more than one child is likely to be keenly aware of subtle or even striking differences among their offspring. The central premise of this volume is that children bring personal qualities to their relationships with other family members that help shape family interaction, relationships, and even processes that family researchers have called "parenting." The chapters address how children's personal qualities make their mark on families in ways that may in turn influence children's subsequent development. The volume is based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on "Children's influence on family dynamics: The neglected side of family relationships" held at the Pennsylvania State University, as the ninth in a series of annual interdisciplinary symposia focused on family issues. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different aspect of the topic. Part I sets the stage by focusing on the features of children that make a difference, as well as the kinds of research designs that are likely to shed light on the role of child influences. Part II focuses on early childhood, particularly the role of infant temperament and other individual differences in very young children in shaping their parents' behaviors, reactions in turn that feedback and influence the developing child. Part III focuses on adolescence, a time when young people are able to exert more choice in how they spend their time and who they spend it with. Part IV pulls the themes of the volume together and points the way for future research.

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids

Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids
Author: Bryan Caplan
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2012-05-08
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9780465028610

In Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, contrarian economist Bryan Caplan argues that we've needlessly turned parenting into an unpleasant chore, and don't know the real plusses and minuses of having kids. Parents today spend more time investing in their kids than ever, but twin and adoption research shows that upbringing is much less important than we imagine, especially in the long-run. Kids aren't like clay that parents mold for life; they're more like flexible plastic that pops back to its original shape once you relax your grip. These revelations are wonderful news for anyone with kids. Being a great parent is less work and more fun than you think—so instead of struggling to change your children, you can safely relax and enjoy your journey together. Raise your children in the way that feels right for you; they'll still probably turn out just fine. Indeed, as Caplan strikingly argues, modern parents should have more kids. Parents who endure needless toil and sacrifice are overcharging themselves for every child. Once you escape the drudgery and worry that other parents take for granted, bringing another child into the world becomes a much better deal. You might want to stock up.

Parental Development

Parental Development
Author: Jack Demick
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2014-02-25
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1317782054

This volume seeks to identify and define the parameters of a relatively new problem area -- parental development. Drawing on the grand developmental theories of Sigmund Freud, Lawrence Kohlberg, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Heinz Werner, and their descendants, this book has the potential to generate an area of common concern for those interested in either child/adolescent or adult development through the novel application of developmental principles and considerations to the ecological context of parenting. To that end, this volume brings together theory and research from the subfields of adult and child/adolescent development. Chapter authors place the problem area of parental development in theoretical context and examine selected psychological part-processes implicated by focusing on cognitive and psychosocial development. The authors then deal with a range of issues that are perhaps less traditional and/or more in line with the complex character of everyday life. That is, they utilize either relatively novel comparison groups or treat parents at later stages of development rather than those in young adulthood as is often the case. Finally, the authors uncover both similarities and differences among their theoretical perspectives with an eye toward delineating some possible future research directions.

Influence

Influence
Author: Sara Shepard
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2021-01-05
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
ISBN: 0349003564

Get ready to see the world of teen influencers they'd never want you to share . . . From the bestselling author of PRETTY LITTLE LIARS Sara Shepard and actress and social media star Lilia Buckingham 'Literally could not put this book down. Absolutely loved it!' Annie LeBlanc Delilah is Internet-famous, in LA and at the start of something incredible. Everything is going to change . . . but not necessarily in the way she imagines. Jasmine is a child star turned media darling. Her selfies practically break Instagram. But if the world knew who Jasmine really was? Cancelled. Fiona is everyone's best friend, always smiling. But on the inside? The girl's a hot mess. If they discovered her secret, it wouldn't just embarrass her: it would ruin her. Scarlet isn't just styled to perfection: she is perfection with a famous boyfriend and an online fanbase devouring her every move. But every perfect thing has a fatal flaw. To everyone clicking, DMing, following and faving, these girls are living the dream; but are they really? The sun is hot in California . . . and someone's going to get burned.

The Nurture Assumption

The Nurture Assumption
Author: Judith Rich Harris
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 486
Release: 1999
Genre: Child development
ISBN: 0684857073

Harris takes on the "experts" and boldly questions conventional wisdom of parents' role in their children's lives, asserting that it's not the home environment that shapes children, but the environment they share with their peers.

Love, Money, and Parenting

Love, Money, and Parenting
Author: Matthias Doepke
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 382
Release: 2020-11-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0691210160

Doepke and Zilibotti investigate how economic forces shape how parents raise their children. They show that in countries with increasing economic inequality, such as the United States, parents push harder to ensure their children have a path to security and success. Economics has transformed the hands-off parenting of the 1960s and '70s into a frantic, overscheduled activity. Growing inequality has also resulted in an increasing 'parenting gap' between richer and poorer families, raising the disturbing prospect of diminished social mobility and fewer opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The authors discuss how investments in early childhood development and the design of education systems factor into the parenting equation, and how economics can help shape policies that will contribute to the ideal of equal opportunity for all. --From publisher description.