Customer Reviews

Growing Kids God's Way: Biblical Ethics for Parenting

5 star:		(29)
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1 star:		(36)

 

 

I decided a couple of weeks ago to order and re-read the Ezzos book, as my husband and I had taken a "Growing Kids God's Way" course in Bible college 5 years ago and had given our original copy (after reading it a couple of times first) to an expectant couple a few years back.

Deciding I would read it as a refresher because I was sure there was some things I had forgotten and, of course, revisions, I'm glad I did. After reading it a third time I'm happy to report that I STILL believe that the wisdom and advice the Ezzos share in their book is wonderful, and believe them to be caring and sincere Christians.

However, before typing in this review, I noticed a negative reviewer stating that the Ezzos encouraged disciplining a "6 month old with a switch"! Reading that disgusted me. I have read this book at least 3 times and I have NEVER read that!! ...

In conclusion: I can stand by my review because it's honest and forthright and comes from what our family has personally experienced in putting what we've read in this book into practice. "Growing Kid's God's Way" has been and continues to be a blessing to our marriage and our family. Another wonderful benefit is that it has resulted in making our family life very enjoyable and we've become a testimony to other families that raising godly kids IS possible...

My husband and I took a "Growing Kids God's Way" course while attending Bible college before becoming missionaries. At the time, our two boys were 2 yrs. old and 4 months old. Our sons are now 7 and 5 1/2. I can say with all sincerity that we are convinced that this book changed our marriage (a strong marriage is the foundation for a strong, healthy family) and how we raise our children for THE BEST. We know, now five years later and seeing the LONG TERM results, that taking that course and taking what we learned to heart was a Godsend for us. Our children are not inconveniences, nor does the book ever imply that, so I take umbrage with one of the reviewers. I am curious to know if that reviewer has children, how old they are and in what state are their kids really in ... and not just when they are in the presence of their parents or other adults. ... I 'm honestly curious. As for what our kids think about it? I ask them periodically. They both say they like their mom and dad a lot, (their words, not mine). Our son's are very secure, because they know their parents love each other (the book EMPHASIZES parents should CONTINUALLY work on making their marriage's stronger) and love them dearly and SHOW it. One important way we show them that we love them, beside spending time with them and giving them plenty of hugs and kisses, is by having guidelines for them and STICKING to them, not waffling whenever it gets difficult or inconvenient. We don't discipline our kids only when we are embarrassed by them. When we discipline, it is in the security of our home, in love, NOT in anger (which the book stresses!). Why do we discipline? Because we want them to grow up to be men of good character, integrity, possessing self-control, having sincere respect and compassion for others (they must know the world doesn't revolve around them), loving family and showing charity to everyone, no matter who they are. Who does it benefit? THEM. If we do our job right as parents to instill these values, our kids will be a SUCCESS at whatever they do! Their future will be secure, and we would have done our job. Discipline (which means "training" - is not just corporate punishment, though we do believe in it. However, when administered CORRECTLY makes up only a small part of the overall discipline/training) is dangerously lacking in many homes today. Look around. Have you watched the news and read the newspapers lately? It's extremely sad what our kids are facing today. They need guidance... they NEED US. So before you knock something, take a close look and really think "Is what I'm doing really working?". ALL OF US as parents need to re-evaluate ourselves from time to time (my husband and I do often), and ask ourselves -- Are we really doing the best we can to train up our children? Are we really doing right by them? Think about it.

Many people are opposed to ANYTHING that challenges a child's will. Children are not born good. They are born selfish. I want my kids to think about others as well. While controversial, this book is an excellent tool to help parents towards the end of training their kids with morals. That is something that is lacking in our culture is morals and I want my kids to be different. As with any tool, it can be abused, and used legalisticly. Great book despite the controversy.

This book has helped My Husband and I raise our two daughters in the most excellent way. When applied they are invaluable to both the parents and children!! An excellent group study! Our children are well into their teens now, but still carry this wonderful core of understanding in their hearts as well as we do. We often wonder as we look at our children today and all we can say is that this is "God" because nothing we could have personally done would have had the same results. Its has just been the greatest source and most valuable study we have ever been in. Highly recommended!

My husband and I went through this series when our firstborn was just a baby. We follow most of the principles in this book, including spanking. Our two girls are now 11 and 8 and we have a VERY loving, close-knit, well-adjusted family. The reviewers here misunderstand spanking and think of it as abuse. We always administered spankings very calmly, making sure the child understood what they had done wrong and yes, we held them in our laps afterwards and loved on them so they knew that we were doing it to help them learn. We chose to use our hand instead of an object. The book was right that almost all of the spankings were done by age 5. The girls are very content, thankful for our family and obey other authorities in their lives with no problem.

Years ago I read this book with a group of friends as a bi-weekly study. At the time most of this was over my head as my daughter was almost two some of it did not apply. I have since read the material as she has gotten older and we now have more children and found this to be a great guide for my wife and me. I can say with out a doubt this have strengthened my marriage and built strong bonds of love between my kids and I. I recommend this to any one and everyone. I recommend that you get this in a small group class setting with a trained facilitator. gfi.org My children are 14 , 11, and 10. They all love Jesus, their parents, each other, and their Neighbor. Check it out.

Most people writing a review either LOVE the book or HATE it. Here is my honest opinion. There are some really GREAT concepts in the Ezzo's view of child rearing. There are also some fanatical views that I totally disregarded.

That said, the good parts about discipline are VERY worth learning.

Take everything with grace and a grain of salt.
Use what you need, toss the rest.

If you want to raise your children to be happy and respect authority, this is the way to do it. We have used it with all of our children and always get compliments about our childrens behavior and attitude. Of course it goes against everything psychologists say today, self-esteem is priority #1, etc. (YOu can see where that has gotten us with the rise in violent crimes, pregnancies and venereal diseased in our high schools) The best part for us was learning the difference between disobedience and childishness. This helped us to discipline just disobedience, and actually cut down on some discipling when they were young. The Ezzos have a wonderful family and love the Lord. Satan would like nothing better than to discredit this program that calls parents to parent by Gods standard, not the worlds.

My wife and I just completed Growing Kids God's Way in the small group format led by facilitators and utilizing the Ezzo's DVDs. I would highly recommend this course in that format, but would be a little apprehensive of just taking the book without the DVDs or the guidance from parents who have successfully used GKGW. I have a degree in Psychology and one of our facilitators is a pediatrician. They have a 21 year old and 17 year old that have been raised on GKGW. I have know their older son for a few years and he is an outstanding young man (an opinion I drew before knowing anything about GKGW.)
Most of the discussions about GKGW centers around the discipline they suggest. Realize that this is not a program about discipline and the first half of the course (8 of the 18 weeks) never touches on discipline. If you are looking to control your child to do what you want this is not the right program. If however you are looking to reach the heart of your child and raise them to love and respect the Lord and others then this is an outstanding program. Not everything I considered beneficial, but the vast majority was. The most important thing is understanding the goals for parenting and providing practical tools to reach those goals. This is the best comprehensive program for doing that.

I have to say that I am so tired of liberal wackos using Amazon as a forum to force their parenting views on others. They celebrate and encourage "choice" when it comes to women killing their own babies in the womb ten minutes before they are due, but let the baby cry for a few minutes after it is born and that is considered child abuse! Hitting a child with a 2X4 is child abuse. A quick swat on a fat tushy does not hurt that badly and is not abuse. This book is full of really great information and is based on a loving relationship with your children. I was spanked, my husband was spanked, and most of my friends were spanked and *gasp* we are all happy, healthy, college educated, well adjusted individuals who have great relationships with our parents. In fact, a study just came out that almost every single Fortune 500 CEO was spanked as a child. You might not agree with every word in this program, and that is fine, but to ride around on your high horse and say that every person who is spanking is commiting child abuse (and creating "robots") is just ridiculous. The evidence to me is when you compare children who are spanked to those who suffer from "permissive parenting".