The 4 Habits of Raising Joy-Filled Kids: A Simple Model for Developing Your Child's Maturity- at Every Stage

by Marcus Warner, Chris Coursey

Is “Joy-Building” the secret to raising mature healthy kids? Joy-filled kids aren’t always happy kids, but they do know how to work for and wait for what is truly satisfying in life. In The 4 Habits of Raising Joy-Filled Kids you will discover a tool box full of skills that you can use with your children to help them grow in maturity and live with greater joy.
 
These tools help your kids, from infants to teens, build skills The skills you’ll learn in The 4 Habits of Raising Joy-Filled Kids  will not only help you parent your children well, but they will also help you grow joy in your family.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Audiobook

160 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021

About the author

MARCUS WARNER (M.Div., Th.M. and D.Min. Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the president of Deeper Walk International. He is a former pastor and college professor who has written several books on topics ranging from how to study the Bible to spiritual warfare, emotional healing, and leadership. Marcus has done training events for organizations such as Navigators, Willow Creek Prison Ministry, and Moody Church. He has traveled the world with Deeper Walk equipping people on the front lines of ministry with practical tools for dealing with root issues that keep people and ministries stuck and unable to go deeper into what God has for them

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75🌟
This book was short, sweet, and to the point. There was definitely some things that I will be trying to implement, especially on engaging with my children emotionally before moving on to correction. When I got this book I was under the impression that it was Christian, and while it was moral and did talk some about going to church and a little bit about prayer it was not really Christian. So there were a few things I didn't agree with and it did feel a little heavy on some of the psychology side instead of being a bit more balanced. But overall I feel like I got a good bit out of it. I liked how they had habits to implement at the end of each chapter to help the reader have a game plan of how they were going to put the things from that chapter into action.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a short and solid read, full of helpful tips on parenting based on neuroscience. Attune, build bounce, correct with care and develop disciplines relationally. Not exactly page turning writing, but I'd recommend it nonetheless.

[Kathleen Garber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is packed full of advice for helping your child to mature from infancy to adulthood. It’s 160 pages but they are small pages. This is actually a good thing because parents often don’t have time to read long parenting books. This one can be read in one day if you have the time. Or it can be read in little bits here and there.

It’s important to note that although the chapters say Infants, Children and Adults, the age range is bigger than normal. For example in the Infants section, children from birth to age 5 are talked about. The Children section is ages 6-12 and the Adults section is ages 13+.

The idea is based off of ABCD. Attunement, Building Bounce, Correcting with Care and Developing Disciplines Relationally. The book explains what this all means and how to put it into practice.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Jeanne Kaylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the message and practical information given. I definitely will be practicing some of the ideas provided to raise joy filled kids.
Plus - Acronyms galore!!! The author has an acronym for pretty much every main point, which is kind of nice because it makes it easier to follow and remember.
I heard about this book on with Christian podcast so I thought there might be more “ backup “ of their main points with Scripture. But it was mostly backed up with science and psychology, but done well and informative. One star taken away because they divided the book into how to raise joy filled kids into - infancy, childhood and adulthood. But they talked about going through puberty and the teenage years as “adulthood” and I think it was a little confusing because I don’t think the applications would be the same for teens as it would adults.

[Wen Zhe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book presents an interesting model for raising joy-filled kids for first time parents like myself. The first few chapters present the model as ABCD - which can be remembered for Attunement, Building Bounce, Correcting with Care, and finally Developing Disciplines Relationally. The book then goes in depth into how to apply these principles to different stages of life - Infant, Kids and Adults.

I will certainly be testing these out in my own parenting journey! I initially bought this book from a Christian bookstore hoping that it could be used for devotion. But it turned to be more of a general read as there was no mention of God or any reference to Scripture. So just bear this in mind.

[Amber · Rating 2 out of 5]

I often like parenting books, and didn’t understand why people hate them. I get it now. There are some good things here and some good reflection questions. However, I just kept coming to this book and feeling like I’m messing up in so many ways. My kids are happy, healthy, kind, loving people. They have secure attachments and good friendships and they’re intelligent and hard workers. I put a lot of time, thought, love, and effort into my parenting and parenting choices. However, every time I picked this book up I felt judged like I’m doing it all wrong. I felt icky. So I’m glad it was short.

[Gabby McGuffey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of practical homework and exercises at the end of the chapters. I really enjoyed that. The book uses a lot of information from attachment styles. If you are familiar with that, this book will make a lot more sense. I discussed this book with a group of people and we all took away good advices from this. As with a lot of nonfiction, self-help books, you have to glean what you can and apply what makes most sense to your life and situation. This has a lot that I think I can use in day to day situations.

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book for work, and I really enjoyed it. I feel like I got a lot out of it for myself and my own family. I think it’s cool the concepts they outlined and have practical ways to get the kids and you to that point. Interested in reading their other books that they’ve listed. I have a feeling this will go on the bookshelf with me going back to it.

[Kimmi by the Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great little book! I loved the authors' perspectives and just wish there was a lot more to the book. I just finished it today and struggle to remember any specific, actionable advice from it. I think this is a great companion read to Whole Brain Child. I could see this being a book I come back to at times of difficulty to remind and realign myself of/to my parenting goals.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated this short, easy to read book that synthesized effective parenting habits based on brain science and attachment theory. It was practical with ways to apply the information at various developmental stages. I would have liked more detail or research to back some of their statements but overall found it helpful!

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just days ago, I read "The 4 Habits of Joy-Filled Marriages: How 15 Minutes a Day Will Help You Stay in Love" by these same authors. Between these two books, the marriage book was much more helpful than the parenting book.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise, but great information.

[Michelle Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and to the point for busy parents. The joy starts with us....

[Eric Targe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful but repetitive.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Halfway through and can't get back to it

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet, but one I will pick up again for the helpful tips and reminders. I liked how it provided insights for three different parenting stages.

[Allie Rudd · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a parent and educator, absolutely loved this.

[Olivia Raymer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobooks format. Took notes brought to keep focused. Might be my favorite parenting book I’ve read. Such important skills.

[Debbie Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy and essential reading for every parent, grandparent, teacher, coach, aunt, uncle, caregiver of children. Includes insight and practical examples for various developmental stages.

[Emily H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. It’s short and sweet, which is great because if you’re a parent, you likely don’t have the time or energy for a dense tome. Read this book when your kid is still a baby. The advice applies even then. Still worth a read even if your children are teenagers. Or if they’re grown and distant and you’re wondering what went wrong.

This book made me excited to be a parent, as though having close, healthy relationships with my children is very much in my control, not a matter of luck or my child’s temperament. It really simplified how close bonds are built, what damages those bonds, and how to repair them. The main premise of the book is that the purpose of a family is to teach you how to have joy. A parent’s role is to model joy and resilience and to teach those skills to their children in the context of a loving relationship. I appreciated how the authors combined neuroscience, psychology, and their own experience as parents to explain their parenting philosophy.

I have already implemented what I’ve learned in this book about emotional attunement with my 1.5 year old son, and he responds well to it, i.e., he stops crying and calms down more quickly.

This book would be helpful for non-parents as well. If you felt something was lacking in how your parents raised you, this book will shed light on that and help you re-parent yourself.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent quick read with practical tips!