The Parent Compass

Parent readers, the following pages contain helpful (but by no means exhaustive) resources that may also assist you in your parenting journey. We encourage you to seek out these sources to tune up your own parenting, educational, and wellness interests. Congratulations on your desire for self-improvement and, more importantly, on what you have accomplished so far as a parent. Stay the course. Parenting is certainly a rewarding and exhausting lifelong job. We wish you luck following your parent compass!

Deresiewicz, William. Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. Free Press, 2015.

Faber, Joanna, and Elaine Mazlish. How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk. William Morrow Paperbacks, 2006. (There is a series for every age.)

Gauld, Laura, and Malcolm Gauld. The Biggest Job We’ll Ever Have: The Hyde School Program for Character-Based Education and Parenting. Scribner, 2003.

Heffernan, Lisa, and Mary Dell Harrington. Grown and Flown: How to Support Your Teen, Stay Close as a Family, and Raise Independent Adults. Flatiron Books, 2019.

Kastner, Laura, and Jennifer Wyatt. Getting to Calm: Cool-Headed Strategies for Parenting Tweens + Teens—Updated and Expanded. Schuler, 2009.

Lukianoff, Greg, and Jonathan Haidt. The Coddling of The American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure.

Lythcott-Haims, Julie. How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Over-parenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2015.

Mogel, Wendy. The Blessing of a B Minus: Raising Resilient Teenagers. Scribner, 2011.

Pope, Denise. Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic, and Miseducated Students. Yale University Press, 2003.

Pope, Denise, and Challenge Success. Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids. Jossey-Bass/ Wiley, 2015.

Riera, Michael. Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. 3rd ed., Ten Speed Press, 2012.

Rinere, Monique. Countdown to College: The Essential Steps to Your Child’s Successful Launch. Ballantine Books, 2019.

Savage, Marjorie. You’re On Your Own (But I’m Here If You Need Me): Mentoring Your Child during the College Years. Touchstone, 2009.

Shlain, Tiffany. 24/6: The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week. Gallery Books, 2019.

Sugarman, Lisa, and Debra Fox Gansenberg. How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids. Familius, 2019.

Thacker, Lloyd, editor. College Unranked: Ending the College Admissions Frenzy. Harvard University Press, 2005.

Toughs, Paul. How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character. Houghton Mifflin, 2012.

Wiseman, Rosalind, and Elizabeth Rapoport. Queen Bee Moms and Kingpin Dads: Dealing with the Parents, Teachers, Coaches, and Counselors Who Can Make—or Break—Your Child’s Future. Crown, 2006.

Carter, Christine. The New Adolescence: Raising Happy and Successful Teens in an Age of Anxiety and Distraction. BenBella Books, 2020.

Damour, Lisa. Under Pressure: Confronting the Epidemic of Stress and Anxiety in Girls. Ballantine Books, 2019.

Damour, Lisa. Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood. Ballantine Books, 2017.

Jensen, Frances. The Teenage Brain: A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Raising Adolescent Boys. Harper, 2016.

Levine, Madeline. Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies or “Fat Envelopes.” HarperCollins, 2012.

Levine, Madeline. The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. Harper Perennial, 2008.

Riera, Michael. Staying Connected to Your Teenager: How to Keep Them Talking to You and How to Hear What They’re Really Saying. Da Capo Press, 2017.

Thompson, Michael. The Pressured Child: Freeing Our Kids from Performance Overdrive and Helping Them Find Success in School and Life. Ballantine Books, 2005.

Bruni, Frank. Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be: An Antidote to the College Admissions Mania. Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

Cohen, Harlan. The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only—A Parent’s Guide to the New College Experience. Sourcebooks, 2012.

Hofer, Barbara K., and Abigail Sullivan Moore. The Connected Parent: Staying Close to our Kids (and Beyond) While Letting Them Grow Up. Atria Books, 2011.

Johnson, Helen, and Christine Schelhas-Miller. Don’t Tell Me What to Do, Just Send Money: The Essential Parenting Guide to the College Years. Golden Guides from St. Martin’s Press, Revised ed. 2011.

Levin Coburn, Karen, and Madge Lawrence Treeger. Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the College Years. 6th ed., William Morrow, 2016.

Tough, Paul. The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us. Houghton Mifflin, 2019.

Greenland, Susan Kaiser and Annika Harris. Mindful Game Activity Cards: 55 Fun Ways to Share Mindfulness with Kids and Teens. Shambhala, 2017.

TableTopics. TableTopics Family: Questions to Start Great Conversations. Ultra PRO International, LLC, 2011.

Bring Change 2 Mind: https://bringchange2mind.org. “A nonprofit organization working together to end the stigma and discrimination surrounding mental illness through widely distributed public education materials and programs based on the latest scientific insights and measured for effectiveness.”

Challenge Success: www.challengesuccess.org. “At Challenge Success, we believe that our society has become too focused on grades, test scores, and performance, leaving little time for kids to develop the necessary skills to become resilient, ethical, and motivated learners. We provide families and schools with the practical, research-based tools they need to create a more balanced and academically fulfilling life for kids. After all, success is measured over the course of a lifetime, not at the end of a semester.”

Child Mind Institute: “The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders.” Also be sure to review the Media and Tech area of that site for more helpful ways to deal with technology in you and your teens’ lives.

Colleges That Change Lives: Ctcl.org. “CTCL was founded on a philosophy of building the knowledge, character and values of young people by introducing them to a personalized and transformative collegiate experience. Although the member colleges approach this challenge with varying perspectives, institutional missions, and pedagogical strategies, a student-centered mission is common to all campuses.”

Common Sense Media: www.commonsensemedia.org. “Common Sense is dedicated to helping kids thrive in a world of media and technology. We empower parents, teachers, and policymakers by providing unbiased information, trusted advice, and innovative tools to help them harness the power of media and technology as a positive force in all kids’ lives.” Consult their Family Media Contract for help with tech communication and your teens.

Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship: https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/ “The go-to website for anyone seeking apprenticeship opportunities as well as helpful links to resources including industry-recognized apprenticeship programs.” A “one-stop source for all-things apprenticeship to connect career seekers . . . with apprenticeship resources. Learn more about apprenticeships across industries . . . [and] access open apprenticeship jobs.”

DigitalMomTalk.com: Practical, useful, easy-to-implement advice, worksheets, webinars, etc., on all things teen and tech. Curated by Chelsea Brown, Certified Cyber Security Expert and Parent Educator.

Fatherly: www.fatherly.com. “Fatherly is the leading digital media brand for dads. Our mission is to empower men to raise great kids and lead more fulfilling adult lives. From original video series and deep dive reports to podcasts and events, Fatherly offers original reporting, expert parenting advice, and hard-won insights into a challenging, but profoundly rewarding stage of life.”

GrownandFlown.com: All-encompassing parenting website with helpful articles on high school, college, a published book, and a newsletter.

Let’s Talk Teens: http://lets-talk-teens.org “is a place parents, educators, youth workers, and teens can go to find resources and tools that speak to their circumstances—a place where they can openly share and find a community looking to help teens cope and communicate.”

Thelearningcommunity.us: A free online parenting resource library that provides tips for parents, parenting videos, and hundreds of links to useful parenting websites with a special area dedicated to teens and tweens.

The Like Movie: thelikemovie.com “A documentary about the impact of social media on our lives.” Powerful film experience to share with your teen and their school. Their site has excellent “helpful website” links, too.

Wait Until 8th: www.waituntil8th.org. “The Wait Until 8th pledge empowers parents to rally together to delay giving children a smartphone until at least 8th grade.” Consider signing the pledge and joining over 20,000 other parents who support the idea to wait until their children are in eighth grade to own a smartphone.

Birthright: Taglit-Birthright Israel offers a FREE trip to Israel for Jewish young adults between the ages of eighteen and thirty-two. Birthrighisrael.com.

Global Leadership Adventures: “Explore the world on our summer volunteer programs for high school students abroad. At GLA, we believe meaningful teen travel can be life-changing.” Experiencegla.com.

Plan My Gap Year: An award-winning volunteer travel organization, offering life-changing experiences across seventeen countries in Africa, Asia, and South America. www.planmygapyear.com.

Projects-Abroad.org: “The world’s largest provider of international volunteering, internships and meaningful travel experiences. Running for over 25 years and trusted by over 120,000 participants who’ve joined [their] trips.”

While The Parent Compass does not address drugs and alcohol or technology addiction in the tween and teen years, these are all very serious conditions. Our book could not do those topics justice in great depth, so we are providing resources here. One school counselor notes:

At the NCADA (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse) where I’ve been working for the last ten years, we go into schools daily and present classes on a wide range of topics including character education, resiliency, self-worth, etc. and, of course, the effects of drug and alcohol misuse. We try to help our students take the better path to lead a drug- and alcohol-free life. Sadly, experimentation can begin in the middle school years, which emphasizes the importance of keeping the parents as involved in their child’s lives as they were in the elementary years.

—Andy Shanker, St. Louis, MO

If your child is affected by drugs or alcohol, you should start by reaching out to local drug abuse resources in your community or state, especially rehabilitation facilities or hospitals with outpatient programs. These are the professionals who can help parents to manage these crises and provide options for kids and also for the families. Here are a few other places to start: