Focus on the Family provides parents with a resource to help their children (ages 0-12) develop a personal faith. The book provides an overview of children's spiritual capacity and understanding at different age levels. It also includes practical advice to help parents be the spiritual “trainers” of their children through engaging activities, exercises, and projects that can be completed individually or as a family.

- Overview of children's spiritual capacity and understanding at different ages
- Rationale for teaching specific spiritual principles and disciplines
- Equips parents to train children by providing engaging activities, exercises, and projects to complete individually or as a family
- Shows parents how to make a spiritual training plan

John Trent is the author and co-author of several books related to marriage and family. He received his ThM in New Testament Greek from Dallas Theological Seminary and a PhD in Marriage and Family Counseling. Rick Osborne is a speaker and an author of more than 50 books and resources for parents and children. Kurt Bruner graduated from the Talbot School of Theology and served for several years as a Vice President of the Focus on the Family Resource Group. He currently serves on staff at Lakepointe Church in Rockwall, Texas.

The “Parent’s Guide to the Spiritual Growth of Children” is designed for parents to help them “create an easy-to-use, effective plan for guiding the spiritual growth” of their children and to serve as a “safety net” for parents heading into new territory. The book is divided into four parts that guide parents who have children from ages zero to twelve.

Part one of the book provides a panoramic picture of the spiritual training process for the home. The authors present a convincing case for the importance of being intentional with your child’s spiritual growth and the benefits and blessings of beginning the process and following through. They answer common objections many parents have and then challenge parents to start immediately in spite of apprehension and grow along with their children.

Part two of the book provides snapshots along the way to help parents develop an intentional plan for spiritual growth in the home. Each family has a unique background and unique makeup that will lead to a unique plan for passing along a spiritual legacy. Families are challenged to look at their pace of life, their passions, and strengths in order to lay out a contextualized plan for their family. The authors provide different approaches for the following stages: 0-4 years of age, ages 5-6, 7-9, and 10-12. They also provide 91 different things children can learn throughout these years according to their stage of development. A variety of methods and ideas are presented relating to church activities and other “on-the-spot” activities arising out of Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Parents are challenged to train at meal times, drive times, bed times, fun times, and teachable moments as they arise. Other ideas such as family nights, family devotions, and meaningful memories are also suggested along with special times and events such as blessing ceremonies and holidays. One of the best parts of the book challenges families to develop a family spiritual growth plan and an individual growth plan for each child. Examples and worksheets are included which makes the process accessible to a variety of families.

Part three of the book provides the detailed information of the pictures created along the way. It is more of a reference section that provides examples of how to teach a child 91 different spiritual truths along the journey according to their particular stage of development. The authors categorize these different spiritual truths into three groups of knowing, loving, and living. Children can know who God is and what He has done. Children can also develop a love relationship with God. Knowing God and loving God should lead to living for God by being all God wants them to be and doing all that God wants them to do.

Part four provides information much like a help manual to answer questions parents have about the spiritual growth of their children. This part also includes an annotated bibliography of resources for parents and children. The book ends with a subject index and a Scripture index which makes this a great reference resource as well.

The size of the book at 451 pages can be daunting to many parents but the comprehensive content provides a very practical step-by-step guide for equipping parents to help their children grow spiritually. Several anecdotal stories along the way provide interest and insight into how other parents experienced and applied the elements in this book in their homes. This book provides helps to the novice parent who does not have a spiritual growth plan for their home. It will also provide a variety of ideas for the experienced parent who is already well under way to discipling their children at home. There are so many different ideas presented in this resource that no family will apply all of them. However, the flexibility of this book is viewed in the variety of ideas that will enable diverse family types to find and apply something that works in their unique family system.

Church staff members will find that this resource provides a foundational scope and sequence for ages 0-12 that is understandable and easily communicated to parents. This resource is also valuable to any person who works with children in the church by helping them to understand the needs and the resources available to help parents help children grow spiritually at church and at home.

This book is practical enough to take off the shelf and immediately apply some of the devotions and ideas listed within. It is also comprehensive enough to enable parents to devise a strategic plan for spiritual development in their home that will provide years of fruit preparing their child for adolescence with an understanding of who God is and how they can have a love relationship with Him that leads to a life of obedience and spiritual maturity. The relationship that a parent develops with a child through this process will provide the necessary colors to create a picture of spiritual maturity that weathers the turbulent changes of the teenage years and flourishes through the life of the child.

There's nothing like it. Every Christian parent should own it. ( )