Customer Reviews

Parents' Guide to the Spiritual Growth of Children (Heritage Builders)

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"Parents' Guide" offers parents an excellent resource for developing the spiritual life of our children. As a pastor and father, I'm glad for Trent & Osborne's research. If the foundation of a healthy society is found in the home, then the foundation of a healthy home is found in our spiritual life with God through Jesus Christ. For another book on Christian spiritual parenting, look into the recently published book, THE FAMILY CLOISTER: BENEDICTINE WISDOM FOR THE HOME, by David Robinson (New York, NY: Crossroad, 2000; 192pp., trade paperback). God bless you in your holy calling of raising spiritual children!

I found this book to be an excellent reference and a wonderful tool for Christian parents. First of all, the authors lead you to discover key characteristics of your unique family, including your general interests, family pace, and Christian heritage. Then you are shown how to assess the personalities of each individual in your family, along with strenghts, weaknesses and teaching tips for each type. As a result, you compose a family plan that will be the most effective way to communicate your faith to your children. The next section of the books guides you in topics that are readily understood by each age level, as well as tips and ideas for teaching those concepts to your children. I was extremely impressed with the amount of useful knowlegde contained in this book, and within days of reading it and implementing it my 5 year old daughter cannot get enough of the Bible and her questions about God!

I have read several books on teaching children about God, but this one by far exceeded my expectations! The wealth of information this book contains in supporting children spiritually and teaching them in many different ways, while acknowledging each child's learning style (and your own!) and your family's pace is amazing. It helps you develop a plan for spiritual growth in your family, not just tells you how and when and where to "teach" children. The only flaw, which I called Kurt Bruner about, was that their many references to "forms available online at www.heritagebuilders.com" was not true because the don't have them on that site any longer. I would have thought that having the forms pdfed on their site would have been an important support of this book... or at least a link to where the forms are.

Whether your family is a beginner or advanced when it comes to spiritual growth, this is the best book for you. It starts by convicting parents of the need for purposeful training, then convinces them that they really can do it themselves, then tells them what their kids actually need to know, and spends the rest of the time showing you HOW to do it. The material is extremely practical and relevant.

This book had been recommended to us to use to teach a class on the subject. It worked well for that, with some modifications. It really is best as a reference Christian parents will want to have to give them ideas on teaching their children Biblical principles from the cradle to age 12. The explanation of children's developmental stages and how that relates to their spiritual growth is clearly explained. The charts are expanded with examples in the text. The resources section and list of activities will fit most families. It is quite thorough in its approach. We made a copy available to each small group during the class; all the participants wanted their own family copy.

What a wonderful book with numerous illustrations to encourage and assist parents in the spiritual development of children. Awesome read!