“Kids don’t come with an instruction manual” is an old adage I heard a lot when I first became a mom. But based on the vast number of parenting books and blogs that now exist, that expression may not be as true for my generation. Knowing which of the hundreds of instruction manuals are worth diving into is actually the bigger challenge. When my boys were babies, I gobbled up books with tips on how to get them to sleep, how to bathe them, when to feed them, and all the daily details of infant and toddler life.
After they graduated from toddlerhood, I took a break from the Parenting aisle of the bookstore for many years. Now that my boys are tweens and quickly approaching teenager status, I’ve found myself once again looking for instruction manuals with ideas to help me navigate this next phase of life. This time, it’s less about their physical milestones and more about their social-emotional growth, moral values, and educational goals.
Here are five of my favorite parenting and education books that relate to five core values we are working to instill in our family. All of these books offer great food for thought as well as practical tips for how to support my tweens as they grow into independent, happy, and successful contributors to the world.
See the book recommendations on Brightly.com here.
