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Parenting Made Practical is the teaching ministry of Joey and Carla Link -- parents and grandparents who offer encouragment and practical, GODLY advice as parent educators. Joey and Carla have been-there, done-that and know that although parenting is one of life's greatest joys, it's not always easy. They share their wisdom with parents by walking alongside us to equip us to raise obedient, respectful, and responsible children. {Now, who doesn't want their children to be known as obedient, respectful, and obedient? I know I certainly do.} The Links are personable and they are real and what I like most is that they lovingly teach us how to apply GOD's Word to every situtation that may arise with our children. They help us to better understand these words from Deuteronomy 6:5-9 and put them into practice:
Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I have been blessed by What Every Child Should Know Along the Way and Navigating the Rapids of Parenting. These are both resources that I have added to my parenting arsenal and I'm recommending that the parents in our children's ministry do the same. I would love to share them with you, as well.
The What Every Child Should Know Along the Way book (softcover, 151 pages) can be used as a handbook of sorts for parents to use to know what practical life skills should be taught at every stage of life (seriously, EVERY stage of life from preschool to college). This survival manual was written by Gail Martin and offers great advice on the how and why. It explains WHY certain skills and principles need to be taught and HOW to best implement them with our children at the appropriate age levels. The seven chapters include discussions on Dynamic Devotional Living, Cultivating Family Unity, Gifts and Talents, Biblical Character Traits, Manners, Practical Living Skills, and Personal Safety and teach us to apply all of these prinicples based on what we find in GOD's Word.
Gail offers bulleted lists, charts, and checklists and encourages parents to copy them and really USE them as they love their children to adulthood. She teaches us HOW to have a family devotion and shares the importance of a family prayer journal. What I like is that she acknowledges that while family worship time may seem awkward at first, it will become customary, normal, and treasured by our children once we begin. She makes it easy for us to implement and even gives a simple chart right in the book that you can begin using to pray together immediately -- what a beautiful way to cultivate family unity.
Gail offers suggestions for family time and shares a fun list of family activities. She encourages us to make time to BE with our own family. My very favorite principle that she teaches is how to plant seeds in the hearts of our children so that they will "live together in unity" as directed in Psalm 133:1. I am the mom of four and I have always told my children that they are each other's very best friends. Now, I'll admit that they haven't always believed me, but I've continued planting those seeds. Family is everything and when you've got no one else, you've got each other. Friends change, but family remains. Oh, how much I appreciate the encouragement offered in these pages for me to stay the course when it comes to family.
Another fun section of What Every Child Should Know Along the Way is the Practical Living Skills chapter. The included checklist chart makes suggestions for what your children can reasonbly learn and be accountable for from age 2 up. My "baby" is 16 so I have been able to use the Age 16 and Up checklist to make sure that we are exactly where we should be in practical skills. Her checklist begins with "Read the Bible and pray everyday, Be able to clearly communicate the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST and how to receive HIS gift of salvation, and Be able to share a personal testimony of GOD's redeeming work in your life." Y'all! This.is.perfect. It starts with the NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING in our world -- JESUS -- and then makes sure we are also teaching the basic skills that kids need to survive on their own: cook, clean, sew, drive, pay bills. We have JESUS, but I now have an idea of other things we need to add to our homeschool this year and next. This book should be required reading (and implementing) for every parent, everywhere. It's just that good.
The other blessing that I received from Parenting Made Practical is the Navigating the Rapids of Parenting DVD. This teaching video is for parents of children ages 2 through college and I like it so much that I will be offering it as a Parent's Night Out session at church this Spring. Divided into two sessions, Navigating the Rapids of Parenting walks you through the stages and phases of growing up that your children wade through and teaches you how to help them survive to adulthood without being thrown out of the boat. It helps you to realize the three main goals you have for your children: Immediate Obedience to Parents because they HAVE to, which leads to Submission to Parents because they WANT to, which leads to full Submission to GOD.
Taught by the Links in front of a live audience, the first session covers Birth through Middle School (42 minutes) and the second session covers Middle School through College/Adulthood (44 mintes). Through these two sessions, I was reminded to pour into my kids the values and beliefs that I want to pass on to them as we work to create a family identity. I often tell parents that our children aren't our "friends" until they earn that right and the Links teach me again how to reinforce that belief. They remind us of the Biblical principles that our parenting techniques should be based upon and lovingly reprimand us when we slide from those truths. It is important that our children learn to IMMEDIATELY obey us in the early years so that we can prepare them to be servants of CHRIST in the later years. When GOD calls their names, we want them to hear HIM and immediately say "YES, LORD!".
I cannot tell you how very much I enjoyed watching this video and following along with the outline provided online. You are going to want to watch these sessions with colored pens at the ready. I took so many notes and I even ordered the books that they recommended for further study. This may be my favorite parenting resource yet.
Gail offers bulleted lists, charts, and checklists and encourages parents to copy them and really USE them as they love their children to adulthood. She teaches us HOW to have a family devotion and shares the importance of a family prayer journal. What I like is that she acknowledges that while family worship time may seem awkward at first, it will become customary, normal, and treasured by our children once we begin. She makes it easy for us to implement and even gives a simple chart right in the book that you can begin using to pray together immediately -- what a beautiful way to cultivate family unity.Gail offers suggestions for family time and shares a fun list of family activities. She encourages us to make time to BE with our own family. My very favorite principle that she teaches is how to plant seeds in the hearts of our children so that they will "live together in unity" as directed in Psalm 133:1. I am the mom of four and I have always told my children that they are each other's very best friends. Now, I'll admit that they haven't always believed me, but I've continued planting those seeds. Family is everything and when you've got no one else, you've got each other. Friends change, but family remains. Oh, how much I appreciate the encouragement offered in these pages for me to stay the course when it comes to family.
Another fun section of What Every Child Should Know Along the Way is the Practical Living Skills chapter. The included checklist chart makes suggestions for what your children can reasonbly learn and be accountable for from age 2 up. My "baby" is 16 so I have been able to use the Age 16 and Up checklist to make sure that we are exactly where we should be in practical skills. Her checklist begins with "Read the Bible and pray everyday, Be able to clearly communicate the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST and how to receive HIS gift of salvation, and Be able to share a personal testimony of GOD's redeeming work in your life." Y'all! This.is.perfect. It starts with the NUMBER ONE MOST IMPORTANT THING in our world -- JESUS -- and then makes sure we are also teaching the basic skills that kids need to survive on their own: cook, clean, sew, drive, pay bills. We have JESUS, but I now have an idea of other things we need to add to our homeschool this year and next. This book should be required reading (and implementing) for every parent, everywhere. It's just that good.
The other blessing that I received from Parenting Made Practical is the Navigating the Rapids of Parenting DVD. This teaching video is for parents of children ages 2 through college and I like it so much that I will be offering it as a Parent's Night Out session at church this Spring. Divided into two sessions, Navigating the Rapids of Parenting walks you through the stages and phases of growing up that your children wade through and teaches you how to help them survive to adulthood without being thrown out of the boat. It helps you to realize the three main goals you have for your children: Immediate Obedience to Parents because they HAVE to, which leads to Submission to Parents because they WANT to, which leads to full Submission to GOD.Taught by the Links in front of a live audience, the first session covers Birth through Middle School (42 minutes) and the second session covers Middle School through College/Adulthood (44 mintes). Through these two sessions, I was reminded to pour into my kids the values and beliefs that I want to pass on to them as we work to create a family identity. I often tell parents that our children aren't our "friends" until they earn that right and the Links teach me again how to reinforce that belief. They remind us of the Biblical principles that our parenting techniques should be based upon and lovingly reprimand us when we slide from those truths. It is important that our children learn to IMMEDIATELY obey us in the early years so that we can prepare them to be servants of CHRIST in the later years. When GOD calls their names, we want them to hear HIM and immediately say "YES, LORD!".
I cannot tell you how very much I enjoyed watching this video and following along with the outline provided online. You are going to want to watch these sessions with colored pens at the ready. I took so many notes and I even ordered the books that they recommended for further study. This may be my favorite parenting resource yet.
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There are even more resources available to you from Parenting Made Practical. My fellow Crew members have had the opportunity to review so many of them and I can't wait to read their reviews of Taming the Lecture Bug and Getting Your Kids to Think, Why Can't I Get My Kids to Behave, and Dating, Courting, & Choosing a Mate . . What Works? . I would absolutely love to read and share more of these with the families at church. How about you?
For more information about the Parenting Made Practical resources, please visit the following Social Media sites:
I was given the opportunity to review the What Every Child Should Know Along the Way and Navigating the Rapids of Parenting DVD from Parenting Made Practical as a member of the Homeschool Review Crew. You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought of these great parenting resources (or just click on the banner below.)
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