Welcome to this month’s Rooted Parent Top 10- a list of parenting articles from across the web for the Rooted community. This list represents ten articles we believe will encourage and equip you as you parent your kids. And because we didn’t do a top Ten during December, you’ll get a few extras this month! If you have an article you’d like to contribute to the next edition of the Top Ten, please email Anna at anna@rootedministry.com.
Gospel- Centered Parenting
When Parents Set the Bar Too Low by Adrien Segal, desiringgod.org. “Our children need most to know we were created by God not simply to live nice mud-pie lives for seven or eight decades on earth, but to be in a loving relationship with our Creator throughout eternity, joyfully living here and forever to bring glory to him. When it comes to parenting, this changes everything.”
Why Christian Kids Leave the Faith by Tim Challies, challies.com. “Their doubts may be intellectual or academic, theological or practical. Whatever the case, they became convinced that Christianity does not actually offer truth to those who seek it, that its answers are unreasonable, unrealistic, or just plain wrong.”
Helping Our Kids Fight Against Materialism by Jason Dollar, radical.net. “While the fight against materialism will look different in every family, and while there is no specific set of rules that Scripture requires for every believer, I’ve listed some suggestions below that may help you lead your little ones away from the sorrow of materialism.”
Pain, Parenting, and the Want for Something More by Joel Busby, medium.com. “In a fallen world, things end as an act of grace. We simply can only bear so much. But a fallen world is quickly and slowly giving way to a redeemed one, where all things are new and right, where time will not be a cruel thing, but a kindness, because all will be healed.”
How to Explain War to Children by Heidi Carlson, TGC. “Young children don’t need a treatise on just-war theory. They don’t need an overview of the principles of war. What they do need is an accurate understanding of the consequences of sin, sin that seeks to take root in each of us.”
Point Kids to the Gospel Through Great Books by Kathryn Butler, TGC. “As you read with your kids, be alert to biblical themes. The avenues for discussion in Tolkien’s novels are plentiful: his descriptions of the Ring of Power offer some of literature’s most vivid illustrations of sin, emphasizing how such a little thing, so pleasing to the eye, could coerce and ultimately enslave its wearer.”
Youth Culture
10 Ways Porn Culture Will Target Your Kids in 2020 (Be Prepared, Not Scared!) by the staff at protectyoungminds.org. This highly practical guide to dangerous websites and the pitfalls of popular platforms (ex. Netflix, Hulu) gives a step-by step examination of how predators reach children through these sites and what measures parents can take to protect their kids.
Busting Myths About Teen Girl Anxiety by Kara Powell, Fuller Youth Institute. “As parents, leaders, and mentors, these myths hinder us from empathizing with, and bringing support and freedom to, the girls we are raising, mentoring, and serving.”
The Lonely Burden of Today’s Teenage Girls by Mary Pipher and Sarah Pipher Gilliam, WSJ. “Young Americans have become guinea pigs in America’s huge, unplanned experiment with social media, and teenage girls… are bearing much of the brunt.”
Can Religion Still Speak to Younger Americans? by Timothy Beal, WSJ. “… what many Nones have in common is a tragically narrow understanding of religion—namely, that a religion is a fixed set of teachings and positions, and that to be religious is to submit to them without question. It is presumed that religion is authoritative, univocal and changeless, and that religious identity is essentially a matter of passive adherence.”
A Mom Describes Her Tween Son’s Brain. It’s a Must-Read for All Parents by Annie Reneau, upworthy.com. “It’s also remarkable what happens when we empathize and communicate with our kids instead of simply chastising them.”
Do You Really ‘See’ Your Child? By Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson, nytimes.com.”…do our kids feel seen by us? Do they feel truly seen for who they are — not for who we’d like them to be, and not filtered through our own fears or desires?”
Charting How the Time Parents Spend With Kids Changes as They Grow Up by Dan Kopf and Jenny Anderson, Quartz.com. “With every passing year there is less help you can offer in the form of performing tasks, and more in the way of providing emotional support (no less important, but in reality quite different).”
Here’s What’s Happening in the American Teenage Bedroom by Taylor Lorenz, nytimes.com. “On the internet, clout is a social currency that can be used to obtain just about anything. Rack up enough while you’re young, and doors everywhere begin to open.”
To Share With Your Teen
Help! I Want to Read the Bible But I Find It Boring by Katherine Forster, Crossway. “Here are a few things I learned as a young person struggling to find a love for the Scripture. Perhaps they’ll be helpful for you, too—especially if you’re also a teen!” Written by a teen for teens, but what she says would help adult readers too.
For Fun
The Boys Who Wear Shorts All Winter by Ashley Fetters, the Atlantic. “… the Boy Who Wears Shorts All Winter is a highly recognizable but largely inscrutable character, and when I asked parents, teachers, child psychologists, and a former B.W.W.S.A.W. himself to try to explain what exactly motivates such a plainly impractical clothing choice, they all offered different answers.”
