Help For Parents! Maximized Parenting, 112 Solutions to the Parenting Problems of Today

Book excerpt: Effective parenting is about raising well-adjusted children who are assets to society; Maximized Parenting is a book which promotes effective parenting through equipping parents with the knowledge that fosters proper foundation for parenting. According to Partnership for 21st Century Skills [2006] and American Management Association's [AMA] 2010 Survey, many employers believe that higher education is failing in its role to adequately develop needed skills in students. Parents with the help of this book can bridge the knowledge gap between what higher education provides and what the employment industry requires. The book is for parents who consider parenting as one of their most important responsibilities in life. One of the greatest assets a child could have is dutiful parents from whom he/she learns the act of parenting. Parents without this privilege are large in number and to them parenting is a dark continent which they find difficult to navigate. This book is written to inform, inspire and impart knowledge about parenting in the 21st century. The book would enable parents interact with their children in a way that would motivate them to be outstanding persons in life. In this information age, you cannot limit your child to how you were brought up or what you know because he/she was born in another era. The gamut of issues covered in this book will equip you to bring up your child to be successful in life. Issues treated in this book will help you know healthy parenting methods that are best for your child The book contains a very broad mix of issues a parent would encounter at every stage of a child's life. It is written from the perspective that a parent's job is for life and as such parents need help to sustain their long term commitment to their children. Issues covered include character building, instilling moral values into children, basic life skills at every stage of life, sexuality education and handling children with special needs. While the information in this book is specifically for parents, the information would be useful to fathers' groups, men's groups, women's groups, grandparents, extended family members and childcare providers that have opportunities to relate to children. Research now and again has shown that a family is more important to a child's school success than how much money the family makes or how much education the parents have. No parent who has read this book should ever ask "How can I make my child a success in life." The social commentator Michael Novak wrote on the importance of family, "One unforgettable law has been learned through all the disasters and injustices of the last thousand years: if things go well with the family, life is worth living; when the family falters, life falls apart". The goal of Maximized Parenting is to fill the knowledge gap in you that will make you a better parent as well as an inspiration to other parents of the 21st century. Choose to be an intentional parent who will put in the needed time, energy and efforts to raise successful children. Know that expensive toys and vacations are a poor substitute for the valuable time you need to spend with your children. Refuse to outsource your parenting duties to care givers and boarding schools and you will be a stakeholder in the next generations through your children who will pass on your legacies. Remember, when a parent dies, one thing that cannot be buried with him/her is his/her impact on the lives of his/her children, those things become a living memorial in his/her children.