For 30 years Robert Coles has been talking and listening to children all over the world and recording their responses to crises, to hardship and sorrow and to moral and political pressure. In this one of eight volumes in his Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Children of Crisis, he speaks to and for the religious and spiritual lives of children, conveying their views of salvation and righteousness, their experience of God and their ways of understanding the ultimate meaning of their own lives.

In The Spiritual Child, psychologist Lisa Miller presents the next big idea in psychology: the science and the power of spirituality. She explains the clear, scientific link between spirituality and health and shows that children who have a positive, active relationship to spirituality: * are 40% less likely to use and abuse substances * are 60% less likely to be depressed as teenagers * are 80% less likely to have dangerous or unprotected sex * have significantly more positive markers for thriving including an increased sense of meaning and purpose, and high levels of academic success. Combining cutting-edge research with broad anecdotal evidence from her work as a clinical psychologist to illustrate just how invaluable spirituality is to a child's mental and physical health, Miller translates these findings into practical advice for parents, giving them concrete ways to develop and encourage their children's—as well as their own—well-being. In this provocative, conversation-starting book, Dr. Miller presents us with a pioneering new way to think about parenting our modern youth.

How do children experience and understand God? How can adults help children grow their life of faith? Throughout more than a decade of field research, children's spirituality experts Catherine Stonehouse and Scottie May listened to children talk about their relationships with God, observed children and their parents in learning and worship settings, and interviewed adults about their childhood faith experiences. This accessibly written book weaves together their findings to offer a glimpse of the spiritual responsiveness and potential of children. Through case studies, it provides insight into children's perceptions of God and how they process their faith. In addition, the book suggests how parents, teachers, and ministry leaders can more effectively relate to and work with children and pre-adolescents to nurture their faith, offering a helpful picture of adults and children on the spiritual journey together.

When children have a listening companion who hears, acknowledges, and encourages their early experiences with God, it creates a spiritual footprint that shapes their lives. Lacy Finn Borgo draws on her experience of practicing spiritual direction with children as she introduces key skills for engaging kids in spiritual conversations, offering sample dialogues, prayers to use together, and ideas for play, art, and movement.

Raising Spiritual Children is a practical resource for parents who want to raise their children to be whole, healthy, and capable of using their spiritual gifts with wisdom. What does it mean to have spiritual gifting? How can we help our spiritually gifted children's stay on the right path? What do our children's dreams mean? This book answers these questions and many more. Book jacket.

Analyzes the spiritual formation of young children and calls for renewed attention to scripture and the involvement of families in the process.

Much has been written for adults about their spiritual formation and about the practice of classic spiritual disciplines. Very little has been written for adults who work with children on how to guide children in practices that form their spirit toward Christlikeness. Spiritual Disciplines for Children offers readers the tools they need personally-and the tools they need practically-to guide children in Christian spiritual formation using twelve spiritual disciplines. Concrete activities for readers to do with their children are provide at the end of every chapter. Reproducible pages are also included at the end of some chapters. These activities offer children enjoyable and meaningful experiences. Guided conversation ideas are a part of each activity to help adults build relationships and understanding and communicate on a child's level. The subject matter is serious, inspirational, and practical. It is intended to inspire and equip adult Christian readers to begin the practice of spiritual disciplines with intentionality and commitment in their lives and in their children's lives. The challenge is given to continue in these practices until, in both adult and child, they become lifelong patterns and habits. These patterns and habits allow the Holy Spirit to form their spirit and character toward Christlikeness and a closer, more intimate relationship with God.

The revised and updated edition of this classic Christian family resource that shows families how to articulate their faith features a new chapter six. It takes into account the growing number of blended families in the U.S., and discusses multi-faith and multi-cultural families and the challenges they face. Parents, guardians, and those who do ministry with children will benefit from this book.

How the daily practices of life with children can shape our faith In the Midst of Chaos explores parenting as spiritual practice, building on Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore's fresh conceptions of children from her book Let the Children Come. She questions conventional perceptions that spiritual practices require silence, solitude, and uninterrupted prayer and that assume a life unburdened by care of others. She is both honest about the difficulties and attentive to the blessings present in everyday life and demonstrates that the life of faith encompasses children and the adults who care for them. Miller-McLemore explores how parents might use seven daily practices, such as play, reading, chores, and saying goodbye or goodnight as rich opportunities to shape both parent and child morally and spiritually. Through these experiences, she shows how the very care of children forms and reforms the faith of adults themselves, contrary to the belief that adults must form children. In the Midst of Chaos also goes beyond the typical focus on individual self-fulfillment by tackling difficult questions of social justice and mutuality in the ways families live together. Readers will find in this book an invitation to love those around them in the midst of life's craziness and to live more deeply in grace.

In a culture that has lost touch with love, compassion, and meaning, how can parents be intentional about building a spiritual foundation for their children’s development? In looking to their own upbringing for guidance, parents often feel even more at a loss—they don’t want to make the same mistakes their parents did, so they either become too strict, or they take a completely hands-off approach. A pastor, a teacher, and a mother, Karen Marie Yust offers a refreshing array of resources and provisions to guide and sustain parents and children on thier mutual journey. Drawn from a three-year study of children’s spirituality, as well as the best in theological tradition and literature, Real Kids, Real Faith provides insight and a variety of helpful tips for nurturing children’s spiritual and religious formation. Yust challenges the prevailing notion that children are unable to grasp religious concepts and encourages parents to recognize children as capable of authentic faith.