Wild Web Roundup-Strengths

Bridge courtesy of **Maurice** @ flickr

We’ve spent the last few posts looking at how to be a parent who encourages, focuses on strengths and works to create a home environment that is invitational to your children and their creative pursuits:

3 Steps to Discovering and Encouraging Your Child’s Strengths and Talents

What Happens When You Encourage a Daughter?

Are You Raising a Praise Junkie?

Three Ways to Become a Happier Yes! Mom

Continuing in that vein, I have rounded up more food for thought and ideas to implement from a variety of sources.

 **********

 Advice from The Healthy Place: Building on a Child’s Strengths, in which the focus is on children struggling in school, especially those who have ADHD.

They had me at the second paragraph, when the author wrote:

Years of remedial effort have been poured into fixing what’s broken, rather than capitalizing on what works. In other words, if a child can’t read, hours are spent teaching that child with methods that didn’t work in the first place. If there are behavior issues, the same punitive measures are used over-and-over, yet there’s no improvement.

As a mom of a child who was not a good fit for traditional education, this really resonated with me.

  **********

Jennifer Fox writes over at The Parent’s League on Discovering and developing your child’s strengths. She covers the oft dreaded parent teacher conference, and how parents can “help balance the strength-weakness equation”.  Again, I was pulled in by this paragraph:

Imagine waking up one day and having everyone you encounter understand the ways in which you are unique and extraordinary. What if everyone viewed the things you did as needed contributions, and rather than looking for what is wrong with you, people pointed out what is right with you? If that happened, you would be super-charged. You would feel free and released from the burden of having to defend yourself. You would be psyched to jump out of bed and get to work.  You would feel, well, strong.  Wouldn’t it be nice if just one day of your life could be like that?

Yes, I’ll answer that. Yes. That is awesome. Let us all work towards that, children and parent alike.

  **********

For the Mothers of Boys who despair sometimes at the rough and tumble behavior that drives them crazy and the endless correction and discipline that is their sons’ steadfast companion: two articles from The M.O.B. Society that offer a fresh perspective and some hope.

Brooke McGlothlin: Behavior Management for “Those” boys

 OCD, ADHD, ADD, ODD {A guest post from Nathan Clarkson}

I was so touched when I read this confession from Brooke regarding her son:

Instead of praying that God would change him, I want to pray that God would change me. I want to be his greatest cheerleader, greatest protector, greatest ally, and the one who pounds the doors of heaven for his heart. I believe God will show me, and you, how to walk this out.

The M.O.B. Society is a great resource for parents of boys, and although I didn’t link to them today, the M.O.D. Squad (mothers of daughters) has equally wonderful content.

  **********

Got teens? Helping them to discover their strengths delivers compounding results: They tend to spend time on worthwhile, satisfying projects or work, their self-image is stronger so they are more able to resist peer pressure, your relationship with them tends to be stronger, and when they understand where they are their best, they will be much more apt to love their work as adults and have more satisfying relationships. It just keeps getting better and better.

Catherine H. Knott, Ph.D: Help your teen resist peer pressure by finding their strengths

Author Laura Ramirez: Parenting a teenager to respect you and like himself

Writing at Focus on the Family: Joe White and Larry Weeden on Your Teens Spiritual Gifts

  **********

Last but not least, a link to the resources available at Amazon. Yes, I am an affiliate, so I must tell you that if you buy something through my link, not only do I earn a small commission, but I am also I most grateful.

Thanks for stopping by. Do you have resources to share? What have you found to be helpful?

Sharing today at No Ordinary Blog Hop