Resources:
Schools & Related Issues
Find Focus on the Family broadcasts, best-in-class books,
referral recommendations, and more.
Back to School — for Parents. This free 124-page, downloadable document offers guidance on nine different areas, helping parents protect their children in the classroom; in school clinics and counseling offices; in restrooms and locker rooms; in school libraries; and on school-owned computers and research databases. A cooperative venture between Family Policy Alliance and Focus on the Family, Back to School — for Parents offers insights about exercising school choice and protecting children’s free speech and religious liberty.
Bring Your Bible to School Day®
This annual student-led event provides a unique opportunity for young people to share about their faith by highlighting its source: the Bible.
8 Great Smarts: Discover and Nurture Your Child’s Intelligences by Kathy Koch, Ph.D.
Koch explores eight intelligences: linguistic, mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Identify how your child learns best and how you can use those strengths to help them grow academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
The Big What Now Book of Learning Styles by Carol Barnier
Barnier organizes subjects into activities that work best for kinesthetic, auditory, and visual learners. She emphasizes a child’s perspective and encourages parents to engage in learning with their child.
The Digital Invasion by Dr. Archibald Hart and Dr. Sylvia Hart Frejd
“How Technology Is Shaping You and Your Relationships”
Equipping Parents to Respond To Gender-Confusing Messages in Schools by Focus on the Family
The sexual chaos in our society is quickly finding its way into our classrooms. How can Christian families respond with wisdom, strength, and grace?
Every Child Can Succeed by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
“Making the Most of Your Child’s Learning Style”
How to Stay Christian in College by J. Budziszewski
This interactive guide exposes some of the challenges and responsibilities students encounter in college. Equip them to face these realities.
How to Stay Christian in High School by Steve Gerali
Gerali encourages students to stand strong when their faith is on trial. He uses several scriptural examples such as Mary and Timothy to prove that teens in the Bible also overcame monumental challenges.
I Hate School by Cynthia Tobias
“How to Help Your Child Love Learning”
Middle School: The Inside Story by Cynthia Tobias and Sue Acuña
Student insights and educator tips help you understand middle school and how to connect more deeply with your child.
Planet Middle School by Dr. Kevin Leman
“Helping Your Child Through the Peer Pressure, Awkward Moments, & Emotional Drama”
Recess for Teachers by Vicki Caruana
“Taking Time Out for Your Body, Mind & Soul”
Understanding and Loving a Person With Attention Deficit Disorder by Stephen Arterburn, M.Ed., and Timothy Smith, M.Ed.
“Biblical and Practical Wisdom to Build Empathy, Preserve Boundaries, and Show Compassion”
University of Destruction: Your Game Plan for Spiritual Victory on Campus by David Wheaton
Wheaton relates his own experiences at Stanford as he describes the “Pillars of Peril” students face in college: sex, drugs, alcohol, and humanism. Learn strategies for overcoming these snares through personal and spiritual safeguards.
The Way They Learn by Cynthia Ulrich Tobias
“How to Discover and Teach to Your Child’s Strengths”
Answering Your Back-To-School Questions (panel)
Experts help parents handle their children’s transition back to school. Subjects include homework, extracurricular activities, bullying, learning styles, and more.
Choosing the Best Education for Your Child (Cynthia Tobias)
Consider educational choices in light of a child’s individual learning style and what works for your family. Tobias shares five questions to help determine if a school will be a good fit.
Discovering the Best Ways to Educate Your Child (Carol Barnier)
Barnier explores three basic learning styles—kinesthetic, visual, and auditory—and explains that children often have a combination of styles. She encourages parents to believe in their children and give them springboards for success.
Discovering Your Child’s Learning Style (Cynthia Tobias)
Tobias discusses the main ways that people learn and process information. She also offers advice on how to motivate a strong-willed child based on their learning style and how to help an underachiever find a system that works for them.
Helping Kids Achieve Excellence (Vicki Caruana)
Caruana offers advice to parents about motivating and teaching children to reach their highest, God-given potential. Learn to instill skills for life: leadership, discernment, and an appreciation for lifelong learning.
Helping Kids Thrive in the Middle School Years (Cynthia Tobias, Jean Daly)
Tobias and Daly touch on the changes middle schoolers experience—physical, emotional, and spiritual—as well as how to parent this age group. Learn to build a lasting relationship with your child.
Helping Your Child Succeed at School (Cynthia Tobias)
Tobias explains that the key to schooling success lies in understanding and adapting to each child’s learning style. She offers advice and encouragement from her books The Way They Learn and Every Child Can Succeed.
Helping Your Child Thrive in School (Cheri Fuller)
Fuller talks about the impact a healthy and stable home environment has on a child’s education. She also discusses the importance of reading and writing, building a strong parent/teacher relationship, praying for your kids and their teachers—and the critical need to encourage your children, not discourage them.
Helping Your Middle Schooler Develop a Healthy Identity (Dr. Kathy Koch)
Koch talks about the five core needs of this age group—security, identity, belonging, purpose, and competence—and about a child’s need to belong and have purpose.
How My Teacher Made a Difference (call-in)
Listeners pay tribute to teachers who impacted their lives, whether a teacher offered extra tutoring, or they were good listeners when a student experienced a hard time at home or from other classmates, and more.
Intelligence: Discovering Your Child’s Unique Gifts (Dr. Kathy Koch)
Koch explores eight facets of human intelligence: word smart, logic smart, picture smart, music smart, body smart, nature smart, people smart, and self smart. She explains how parents can identify and cultivate their child’s unique gifts.
Navigating the Middle School Years (Cynthia Tobias, Sue Acuña)
Educational experts Tobias and Acuña say that from a middle schooler’s perspective school isn’t about academics; it’s about social standing. Learn about the emotional and physical changes that puberty brings, and remember that the key to success is to build and maintain a lasting relationship with your child.
Nurturing Your Child’s Intelligence (Dr. Kathy Koch)
Koch explains how to identify your child’s smarts, look for ways to encourage their growth, and better understand how your child connects with God.
Overcoming Adversity (Dan Miller)
Miller’s dreams were shattered when poliomyelitis left him paralyzed. He regained partial use of his left arm and learned to walk again. He became a P.E. teacher and elementary principal, played golf and basketball, learned to pilot a plane, and played the guitar in a band. He reminds listeners that joy is a choice and that we must be persistent in reaching for our goals. And he encourages teachers to take advantage of the opportunities they have to influence students to reach for their dreams.
The Power of a Mother’s Prayers (Fern Nichols, Jody Gloor, Kathy Kilmann)
Nichols, founder of Moms in Prayer International, joins Gloor and Kilmann to share stories of their experiences as moms who needed the fellowship of others in prayer. They urge moms to find at least one other mother to pray with on behalf of their children, schools, and teachers.
Staying the Course Academically (Jody Capehart)
Capehart offers practical tips to address negative attitudes and help children stay on course. She tackles the challenges of homework, organizational skills, and effective communication.
A Teacher’s Tales (Sandra Aldrich)
Aldrich emphasizes the important role adults play in the lives of children. She encourages listeners to remember that even the smallest acts of kindness and support can have a lasting impact.
Understanding Personality Types (Dr. John Trent)
Cast a vision for your children’s God-given positive personality attributes. Trent talks about the four animal personality types: the bold lion, the playful otter, the calculating beaver, and the ever-loyal Golden Retriever.
Middle School: The Inside Story (Focus on the Family)
Six sessions: The Good, the Bad, and the Gangly; The Spiritual Lives of Middle Schoolers; Loving and Leading Your Middle Schooler; The School Zone; Middle School Questions and Answers; and Top Ten Tips for Parents.
Molder of Dreams by Guy Doud (Focus on the Family/Tyndale)
Shy and overweight as a child, Doud grew up to be National Teacher of the Year. He tells his life story with warmth and humor, affirming the significant influence we all have—and how the power of unconditional love can change lives.
Thriving Student
This podcast series from Focus on the Family helps parents give their children what they’ll need to thrive during the school year. Join John Fuller, Danny Huerta and featured guests as they cover a wide range of topics. Learn how to make the school year successful in and out of the classroom.
Focus on the Family Counseling Consultation Line
If you need someone to talk to, Focus on the Family offers a free phone counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. Call 1-855-771-HELP (4357), Monday through Friday, 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (MT).
Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network
Search for licensed Christian counselors in your area.
Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI)
ACSI works around the globe to provide a variety of services for Christian teachers and administrators.
Cynthia Ulrich Tobias (Apple St., LLC)
Tobias is dedicated to helping parents, children, educators, and businesspeople identify, appreciate, and use their individual strengths.
Gateways to Better Education
This nonprofit organization provides resources for parents, teachers, and administrators to help public schools teach about the important contributions of the Bible and Christianity—and help children graduate with their faith and values intact.
Moms in Prayer International
This group helps connect mothers who meet weekly to pray for their children, teachers, and administrators.
