Parenting is one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences. Being parents is one of the most anticipated roles for most people. However, parenting might seem daunting at times as it entails shouldering enormous responsibilities and preparations. Parents often struggle to decide on what is best for their children.
From choosing the best bedtime stories to selecting the best schools, everything needs proper planning and pre-contemplation on the part of the parents. The best preparation for young parents or would-be parents would be to draw lessons from experienced people who have already navigated the path. Here is the list of an exhaustive list of best parenting books on toddlers that is an excellent guide for inexperienced parents.Â
1. The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori
This is one the most favorite of many parents. This book delves inside the mind of children up to the age of six years. This is the time when a child absorbs and learns to a great extent. At this age group they experience a high level of curiosity driving them to explore everything and anything around them.
Parents love this book especially as it talks about ‘Link of Live’ which implies the connection or need for attachment with parents that the child feels at this age. Thus, this book is at the top of the list as it provides a vivid picture of the mind of a child under the age of six to the young would-be parents.
2. Montessori from the Start
Written by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen, this book is an excellent guide for young parents on how to help and create an ideal environment to enhance the personality development of their child. This involves developing healthy habits like, maintaining meal time, strict routine and time division for every activity such as play time, study time and so on.
The book focuses not just on education but also skill developments like basic toilet training of infants to organizing one’s own things like folding clothes, organizing bookshelves and many more. As a whole, the book encourages the parents to treat their children as individual human beings capable of carrying out purposeful actions.
3. Tough Times, Strong Children by Dan Kindlon
An excellent read, this book emphasizes how to inculcate resilience in children. To make children realize the fact that ‘life is not all bed of roses’ and that they must be prepared for challenging situations. Keeping children from the dark facts of life actually hampers their ability to thrive in hard times and to face adversities.
This book contains many anecdotes from different countries where children are brought up in extremely challenging situations. Some of them are Holocaust and Great Depression. The experience might be different but it teaches us how children of different nations navigate life’s hardships.
4. Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
This is a bestselling book which focuses on the importance of children to spend time outdoors in nature. Outdoor games teach a bunch of life skills to children and make them sturdy.
5. My Heart I Give to Children by Vasily Sukhomlinsky
This masterpiece is written by educator Sukhomlinsky where he shares his experience of teaching preschool children in rural Ukraine. He conducted an experiment with preschoolers until their primary school years. His school got famous due to his unique approach of teaching children.
He believed teaching or schooling is more than just acquiring skills of arithmetic, reading and writing. He was more drawn towards children’s connection with the natural world and in supporting children individually to navigate their learning challenges. This book is not only important for parents but also for preschool and primary school teachers.
6. Challenge Your Child by Cavin Smith
This book is an excellent guide by Cavin Smith to striving parents on easy and effective teaching techniques to children. He is of the opinion that parents are the only constant companion and teacher in a child’s life. Thus, it is important to create healthy educational dialogues that will enhance cognitive and developmental skills in children.
Parents need to challenge their children by asking open-ended questions that will help you to assess your child’s knowledge and to determine what needs to be explained again. Followup questions will challenge the child to rethink and ponder over the questions deeply. Imparting education through this kind of continuous dialogue facilitates active learning on the child’s part and this is a continuous process till high school age and even beyond.
Concluding Remarks
The above blog is intended for parents who are new and anxious to embark onto the amazing journey of parenthood. Drawing from the experience of experienced parents is the best way to help you navigate the challenges of parenting. This exhaustive list of books on parenting has been highly recommended by experienced parents who have been highly benefited by the guidance provided by the books.
