Personal growth for family & teens (books/courses)

[Deleted User 2088]

I suggested that our family start reading personal growth non fiction books together and having a book study on them a few times a month. Surprisingly, our kids did not hate the idea.

We are secular, so this would be sort of like our equivalent of Bible Study/moral education.

I am currently reading The Four Agreements and I think our kids would really benefit from it but I'm not sure if all of them are at this maturity or reading level, yet.

Whatever we read does not have to be 100% secular but very religious won't work, either.

Does anyone have suggestions?

[MonarchMom]

I have that book and reread sections periodically. It's a great book to start. They don't have to read the entire book - you can read the first few pages of each section and talk about how it would apply to your current life.

I also like to read from "Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Again, you can open to any page and read, and think about how it might apply to your own situation.

[LiveWhatULove]

My husband is making our oldest listen to the subtle art of not giving a F* — it actually was not a book that I liked, so I am not re-reading it.

We have all listened to Smart but scattered, teen edition.

I am a huge Steve Covey fan, and the statement “I am raising an child to be an adult, not grass.” Is one of my mantras (from his original book, when he gets irate because his son let the grass die), so we read his book for kids as a family, but I know he has a teen edition.

But overall, I read a lot excerpts or play them on speaker from the self-help & psychology that I am reading, I am a self-help book junkie, lol.

Good luck! I am so glad your kids are wanting to read. I am struggling with both the 13 & 9 year old not wanting to read — it breaks my hear.

[Deleted User 2088]

I have that book and reread sections periodically. It's a great book to start. They don't have to read the entire book - you can read the first few pages of each section and talk about how it would apply to your current life.

I also like to read from "Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life" by Thich Nhat Hanh. Again, you can open to any page and read, and think about how it might apply to your own situation.

Cool, thank you!

[Deleted User 2088]

My husband is making our oldest listen to the subtle art of not giving a F* — it actually was not a book that I liked, so I am not re-reading it.

We have all listened to Smart but scattered, teen edition.

I am a huge Steve Covey fan, and the statement “I am raising an child to be an adult, not grass.” Is one of my mantras (from his original book, when he gets irate because his son let the grass die), so we read his book for kids as a family, but I know he has a teen edition.

But overall, I read a lot excerpts or play them on speaker from the self-help & psychology that I am reading, I am a self-help book junkie, lol.

Good luck! I am so glad your kids are wanting to read. I am struggling with both the 13 & 9 year old not wanting to read — it breaks my hear.

I don't think it's going to be easy to pry them away from their phones but I'm hopeful since they seemed to like the idea. I think my strategy will simply be to ask them to come to the living room for half an hour. We can all read quietly together, then have a quick chat about it. I'm not going to have too high expectations. Worst case scenario, they have some personal growth books on their shelf, lol.

[LiveWhatULove]

My husband is making our oldest listen to the subtle art of not giving a F* — it actually was not a book that I liked, so I am not re-reading it.

We have all listened to Smart but scattered, teen edition.

I am a huge Steve Covey fan, and the statement “I am raising an child to be an adult, not grass.” Is one of my mantras (from his original book, when he gets irate because his son let the grass die), so we read his book for kids as a family, but I know he has a teen edition.

But overall, I read a lot excerpts or play them on speaker from the self-help & psychology that I am reading, I am a self-help book junkie, lol.

Good luck! I am so glad your kids are wanting to read. I am struggling with both the 13 & 9 year old not wanting to read — it breaks my hear.

I don't think it's going to be easy to pry them away from their phones but I'm hopeful since they seemed to like the idea. I think my strategy will simply be to ask them to come to the living room for half an hour. We can all read quietly together, then have a quick chat about it. I'm not going to have too high expectations. Worst case scenario, they have some personal growth books on their shelf, lol.

I have listened to some Brene Brown & Mel Robbins podcasts with my kids — it may be easier than a whole book? Maybe?

[SallyMae]

I also wanted to teach my kids lessons in morality that were separate from religion. I wanted them to value equality, compassion, science, exploration, and triumph of the human spirit, so we watched Star Trek:The Next Generation as a family.

[SallyMae]

My favorite (barely) religious text is a collection of very short Zen stories called Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.

https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Zen-Fl ... -Bones.pdf

Every one is good for a conversation.

[mommy_jules]

I like this idea, but most of the “self help” books I read are Christian related. There’s one I have on my want to read list that might be something you’d be interested in…The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57701765