Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links; thanks for your support.
One of the biggest areas I struggle in is parenting. I never feel like I know what I’m doing. I’m impatient and lazy and once they start having their own will AND ability, I am lost. I’m too lazy to be super strict, but I can’t get into the super “attachment parenting” thing either. I’ve read some great books about parenting from the heart, but they just left me at the door.
Motivate Your Child is the book that bridges the gap between telling you how wonderful it is and HOW to do it when you’ve never seen it. I have read it twice and taken 8 pages of notes! In fact, I even purchased the accompanying book, Motivate Your Child Action Plan. While the book has a full picture of how to motivate your child’s heart, I am busy and need a little more hand holding :).
Divided into two main sections, Motivate Your Child first goes over how children develop morals. It discusses areas such as internal vs. external motivation, strategy, valuing integrity, encouraging compassion, taking initiative and even consequences. The second section goes into the spiritual development of children. It begins with God’s plan and then spends several chapters talking about Family Time — the what, how & whys. The last few chapters talk about how to teach children their faith.
I loved all the tips for me on what is really important. My favorite parts of Motivate Your Child were the real examples from real families on how each tip might look. I just don’t have the mental energy to think outside of my rut right now, so I bought the Action Plan book :). The Family Time plan is kind of a fun idea, but the final chapters at the end we’re not really useful to me.
As a Catholic, we have a theology & sacrament/training program for kids built into every parish. It’s also a little more complex than just bring a child to Jesus and having him accept the Holy Spirit. We pretty much just teach our beliefs as truth from birth. As a practicing Catholic, we do most of what they advise in a way that supports our faith. If you don’t have a strong faith background, though, the final chapters are probably an excellent resource & place to start.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent book. I’m excited to work through this book as well as the accompanying Action Plan book. If you have read of touching a child’s heart but we’re at a loss as to how to begin, Motivate Your Child is the answer. I totally recommend this book for anyone who wants to be more purposeful about reaching their child’s heart AND wants to know how to teach them difficult things like self-monitoring.
Did you have a good parenting mentor?
