Everything Voluntary – Parenting Resources

Table of Contents
Previous – Section Five – Chapter 30 – “Born to Explore” by Missy Willis

Parenting Resources
Books

Unconditional Parenting, by Alfie Kohn
“One basic need all children have, Kohn argues, is to be loved unconditionally, to know that they will be accepted even if they screw up or fall short. Yet conventional approaches to parenting such as punishments (including ‘time-outs’), rewards (including positive reinforcement), and other forms of control teach children that they are loved only when they please us or impress us. Kohn cites a body of powerful, and largely unknown, research detailing the damage caused by leading children to believe they must earn our approval. That’s precisely the message children derive from common discipline techniques, even though it’s not the message most parents intend to send.” (Amazon.com)

Playful Parenting, by Lawrence J. Cohen
“From eliciting a giggle during baby’s first game of peekaboo to cracking jokes with a teenager while hanging out at the mall, Playful Parenting is a complete guide to using play to raise confident children. Written with love and humor, brimming with good advice and revealing anecdotes, and grounded in the latest research, this book will make you laugh even as it makes you wise in the ways of being an effective, enthusiastic parent.” (Amazon.com)

Connection Parenting, by Pam Leo
This book is “based on the parenting series Pam Leo has taught for nearly 20 years. Pam’s premise is that every child’s greatest emotional need is to have a strong emotional bond with at least one adult. When we have a bond with a child we have influence with a child. Pam teaches us that when we strengthen our parent-child bond we meet the child’s need for connection and our need for influence.” (Amazon.com)

The Natural Child, by Jan Hunt
“In this insightful guide, parenting specialist Jan Hunt links together attachment parenting principles with child advocacy and homeschooling philosophies, offering a consistent approach to raising a loving, trusting, and confident child. The Natural Child dispels the myths of ‘tough love,’ building baby’s self-reliance by ignoring its cries, and the necessity of spanking to enforce discipline. Instead, the book explains the value of extended breast-feeding, family co-sleeping, and minimal child-parent separation.” (Amazon.com)

Parenting for a Peaceful World, by Robin Grille
This “is a fascinating look at how child-rearing customs have shaped societies and major world events. It reveals how children adapt to and are influenced by different parenting styles and how safeguarding their emotional development is the key to creating a more peaceful, harmonious, and sustainable world.” (Amazon.com)

Nonviolent Communication, by Marshall B. Rosenberg
“In this internationally acclaimed text, Marshall Rosenberg offers insightful stories, anecdotes, practical exercises and role-plays that will dramatically change your approach to communication for the better. Discover how the language you use can strengthen your relationships, build trust, prevent conflicts and heal pain.” (Amazon.com)

The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman
“In The Five Love Languages, Dr. Gary Chapman talks about how different people express love in different ways. Some people are verbal, expressing their love in words. Others may never speak their affection, yet they show it by the things they do. Sadly, many couples look to receive love the same way they give it, misunderstanding their spouses. This can lead to quarrels, hurt feelings, and even divorce. However, if you understand each other’s love languages, you can learn to give and receive love more effectively.” (Amazon.com)

Websites

NaturalChild.org, from their About Us page, “Our vision is a world in which all children are treated with dignity, respect, understanding, and compassion. In such a world, every child can grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust. Our society has no more urgent task.” This website is a wealth of articles ranging on such topics as Gentle Guidance, Living with Children, and Life Learning.

JoyfullyRejoycing.com is a site about peaceful parenting and unschooling. “But overall it’s about living more joyful family lives. If I had to summarize it the message would be ‘Put the relationship first and then figure out how to fit everything else around that.’”

DrMomma.org, from their Facebook page, “Peaceful Parenting is essentially the effort to mother and father our babies and children in a manner that leads to their optimal health, happiness, and well-being. Peaceful parenting is as old as humanity itself, and is coherent with listening to our own mothering and fathering instincts, as well as tuning into the cues our little ones provide for us. As parenting that is normal, natural, primal and innate, it is *not* exactly the same as the pop-culture definition of ‘attachment parenting’ and it is *not* a set of hard, fast methods or laws to follow. Peaceful parenting does no intentional harm. It is parenting based not only in natural human and mammalian experience, but also in hard science and evidence-based research.”

Parental-Intelligence.com is a parenting and alternative education newsletter published biweekly by unschooling dad, Bob Collier.

Next – Afterword

Save as PDFPrint

Written by 

Selected content picked by the editor of Everything-Voluntary.com.