For a VueJS 2.0 project I have the following on the parent component
While the other answers are correct and it is usually possible to use a data driven approach.
I'm going to add this for anyone looking for an answer to this question who need a way other than props. I ran into a similar problem when trying to set focus on a particular input inside a custom form component. To do this I had to give the custom component a ref then do this.
this.$refs.customInput.$emit('focus');
//or
this.$refs.customInput.directlyCallMethod();
This access the vue instance of the child and then you can emit an event that is heard by that component.