How Parents Support (and Sabotage) Student Success (Part I)

May 9, 2012 By

As parents, we want to help our children succeed in school.

In my twenty-two years as a classroom teacher (twenty-one as a parent), I’ve seen parent strategies that pay big dividends.

I’ve also seen well-intentioned efforts that actually cost the kids.

Today, I’m going to start a series in which we explore one support strategy and one form of sabotage.

Support 1:  Help your child learn their multiplication tables. 

Through the 20s. As soon as possible. I’m not suggesting “super baby” tactics. But do take advantage of edutainment software programs that will drill your child over and over again. Make your mantra, “We’re gonna keep on trying ‘til we get ‘em all right!”

A parent once accused me of giving “way too much” math homework. It was unreasonable for me to expect her 7th grader to spend 2 hours a night on math! I agreed and asked if we could go through a few math problems together with the student.

As we walked through the problems together on the white board, the mother was dismayed to hear her daughter struggling with basic multiplication facts: “4×6…21? 27? 22?”  She soon realized that I wasn’t giving 2 hours of homework each night. The problem was her daughter’s lack of basic math skills, which caused 20 minutes worth of homework to stretch on forever.

Once this student’s multiplication skills were up to speed, her homework time decreased, while her confidence–and enjoyment of math–rose.

Sabotage 1:  Talk negatively about the teacher to your child. 

The mother in the example above had been blaming me to her daughter for several months before she talked directly to me. This gave her daughter license to get mouthy with me in class, “forget” her homework, and “lose” her notes.

After we met, the mother started telling her daughter that I was a caring capable teacher. She instructed her to sit in the front row, listen, and take notes. She called and e-mailed me often to make sure her daughter was turning in homework and paying attention in class.

At first, the student resented me for bringing her mother “over to the dark side.” But as her math grades improved, she soon considered me a “favorite” teacher not because of anything I was doing differently but because of the changes in her mother’s–and her own–attitude toward me.

I’ve always remembered, and tried to emulate, one parent who spoke with utmost respect about all teachers while within her child’s hearing. When she needed to express a concern or disagreement during a parent-teacher conference, she excused her child, “talked turkey” with the teacher, and then moved back into your-teacher-and-I-are-in-this-together mode when the child returned.

How do you support your child’s school success? How might you be engaging in well-intentioned sabotage?

By Cheri Gregory

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Cheri Gregory, MOM Stuff, School Days, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , 2 Comments

18 Memory Making Ideas for Summertime Fun

April 19, 2012 By

“There is a time for everything,  and a season for every activity under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1

I love the summer! Everything is alive and lively. The days are longer, the air smells sweeter, the kids are out of school and it’s time to play!

Unfortunately, when my children were young, I often found school was knocking on the door of our summer fun before we really got to enjoy the season that seemed to all-too-quickly slip through our fingers.

Making memories with our kids means we have to intentionally plan our days; purposely putting some things on the back burner and giving up certain daily routines and replacing them with some family time.

Below is a list of ideas that might spark your creative fuel. You can also go to your city’s website and look at the calendar of events. If you don’t find one, go to one of your local television station’s websites. You should be able to find out what’s going on in your town through one of those outlets.

So grab the family, the camera and a smile and get busy making memories!

1. A DAY AT THE ZOO - They are normally inexpensive and if you’re on a budget, pack your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler.

2. A JOURNEY TO YOUR LOCAL PARKS – Map out a few of the parks in your local area and see how many of them you can hit in a day. Take pictures at every park you visit. Pack your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler and have a picnic in the park. Stop by the store, develop your pictures and when you get home make a fun family timeline of your exscursions with your pics.

3. A DAY AT THE MUSEUM – Take the family to the museum. Enjoy taking pictures in front of the attractions. To make a day of it, take your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler.

4. THEME PARKS – Most towns have some sort of theme park within a three hour radius. Save up and take the family to one of the theme parks in your area. Again, you can pack your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler and save money by eating outside of the gate. The walk back will give you enough time to enjoy the rides when you get back in. :-)

5. PLAY TENNIS AT A LOCAL PARK – You may not be able to join a team, but many parks have tennis courts where you can play for free. If you don’t know the rules, you can either take the time to learn them or just do what I do – make them up as you go.

6. HAVE FUN IN THE SUN – Spend a day at the beach, lake, river or pool in your community. Be sure to pack your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler. Contrary to popular belief, sun is good for you. So get out there and absorb all the vitamin D you can…just don’t get a sunburn – and use sunscreen, especially if you’re fair skinned.

7. VBS OR BACKYARD BIBLE CLUBS – Be part of making an eternal difference in your kid’s and other kid’s lives. If your church doesn’t have anything going this summer, ask if you can help at another church and let your children join the fun there. You may want to put on your own backyard Bible club to reach out to your neighbors. Ask some families to help you and make your neighborhood your mission field.

8. TAKE A HIKE – Many towns have a natural habitat area that offers hikes and exhibits. You’ll not only want to take your lunches (and drinks) in a cooler, but you’ll want to take your binoculars too.

9. GO CAMPING – That’s right…tent and all…take your kids for a good, old fashioned camping trip. Hotdogs on the grill, marshmallows over the fire and all the mosquitos you can imagine. There’s really nothing like it!

10. BIKE RIDING – Go on bike trail and enjoy the ride. Stop, smell the roses, hang out and enjoy the lunch you packed (with drinks) in the cooler :-)

11. SKATE-BOWL - That’s right! Go skating and bowling all in the same day. Kind of a marathon fun day.

12. TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME – Go to a major or minor league baseball game. Hoot and holler for your favorite team together. Don’t forget to eat all the hot dogs and pop corn you can!

13. GO FISH - Take your family on a fishing trip. If you can’t bait your own hook, tell your son it’s time he learn :-) OR just use the fake stuff. You’ll have fun whether you catch anything or not.

14. INDOOR GAME DAY - Plan a day for indoor games. Get a few families together or just hang out with your own family and spend the day playing games. Board games, card games or make up your own (This time you won’t have to pack your lunch). :-)

15. A TRIP TO THE LIBRARY – Local libraries often offer summer reading programs. You can spend the day at the library and join in the activities.

16. DO SOME GOOD – It’s always a good idea to look for ways to make a difference in the lives of others. Paint an elderly neighbors house or mow his/her lawn. Work in a local homeless shelter. Volunteer to help at a local nursing home. Find a way to do good – it will do you all good!

17. CRAFT SMORGASBORD - Organize an all-crafts day in which your children can choose from 3 or 4 different crafts that they can actually complete them. There are great benefits to knowing they have accomplished something and being able to hold a tangible object made with their own hands.

18. COLLECT FOOD AND CLOTHES FOR THE NEEDY - Rather than just volunteering at a local homeless shelter, make it a family project to collect food and clothing for a homeless shelter or for needy families.

So there you have it…a few ideas to intentionally plan the upcoming days with memories instead of wasted moments. (If I could do it all over again, I’d schedule two or three activities a week.) Don’t forget your camera for all your events so you can decorate your home with the memories you make. Dedicate a wall for your summer pictures, cover your refrigerator with the fun-filled photos. Whatever you do…make memories…intentionally.

By Stephanie Shott

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Active Kids/Healthy Kids, MOM Stuff, School Days, Stephanie Shott Tagged With: , , , 2 Comments

Help!

April 2, 2012 By

www.freedigitalphotos.net

Do you have a nagging feeling that your child’s development is not quite right?  Does your doctor see areas of concern?  You may know you want help, but have no idea where to turn.  Today my goal is to give you some information to help you get started!

The very first place to begin is with Child Find, www.childfindidea.org.  This website will help you obtain the contact information for your specific state. By law, each state is required to locate and evaluate every child between birth and age 21 who may need special education or early intervention services.  This evaluation will let you know which services your child qualifies for, and help you set up any appointments you may need.

After meeting with Child Find, you will discover how many unique services there are available. All of these professionals have the goal of helping your child reach their highest potential. I will try and give you a small snap-shot of all the wonderful services at your fingertips:

  • Physical Therapy✄  This wonderful person helps your child with increasing  strength and stretching tight muscles.  The therapist may come to your home, work in a hospital or clinic, or be part of the school system.
  • Occupational Therapy✄  I will always remember my daughter’s first OT therapist! She came to our home in Arizona, and helped our daughter for hours to learn to walk. Their job is focused on visual, fine motor and self help skills.
  • Speech Therapy✄  For the youngest kids, this therapist works with the muscles of the mouth by using fun exercises like blowing bubbles or sucking through straws. In the later years the therapist helps the child form sounds, or in some cases helps train the child and family with a special computer which allows the non-verbal child communicate.

Your child may need all of these services, or just one depending on their specific needs.

Also, if you home school your children, you have the same rights and services as traditionally schooled children.

God knows your unique situation.  There are many loving professionals who will help your child become all she can be!

“The Lord my God holds my right hand; He is the Lord, Who says to me, Fear not; I will Help You!” Isaiah 41:13

❁What services have helped your child the most?  How did you get started on the road of special education?  Was it hard to reach out and ask for help?We would love to hear from you! ❁

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Education, Homeschool, Resources, Special Needs, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , 3 Comments

Raising a Reader

March 26, 2012 By

3 steps to foster a love of books starting from birth!

“What can I do now to prepare my children to succeed in school?” I’m often asked when I speak to MOPS groups.

In this age of computerized everything, my low-tech answer raises eyebrows. “Books and reading…followed by more books and more reading…and after that, even more books and even more reading!” is my standard reply.

Thanks to Jim Trelease’s Read Aloud Handbook (http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/), Daniel and I became fanatical about Family Reading Time when our kids were just 2 and 4. We quit watching TV and spent 1-2 hours per night cuddled under blankets together on the couch, reading and reading and reading.

Now 18 and 20, Jonathon and Annemarie have both received substantial college scholarships for their strong SAT scores (Jonathon scored a perfect 800 in Reading, in fact!) Neither spent time practicing or attending special review classes; Family Reading Time provided them both with 18 years of “SAT Prep”!

And both of our children remember Family Reading Time as the best part of the day. We recently brainstormed a list of the hundreds of books we’ve read together over the years; as the kids shouted out titles, they added commentary like “Oh, I loved the James Harriott books!” and “Dad’s Screwtape voice was scary!” Both are very vocal about their plans to raise their own children low-tech with lots and lots of books and reading.

Step 1: Read Aloud as a Family

WHY?

1) to condition your child’s brain to associate reading with enjoyment

2) to build your child’s “listening vocabulary”

WHEN?

If it matters, we’ll make it happen. By the Personalities, Family Reading Time matters for a Sanguine because it’s FUN, for a Melancholy because it’s MEANINGFUL, for a Choleric because it promotes ACHIEVEMENT, and for a Phlegmatic because it involves CONNECTION.

WHAT?

Birth – Teething Soft books & board books

Toddler – Preschool Identifying books & short story books

As soon as there’s interest Early Chapter books

HOW?

Give it all you’ve got!

Appeal to all three primary learning modalities: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic.

Become a “Drama Queen” and ham it up with special voices, dramatic pacing and

pauses, and crazy facial expressions.

What about times when you have nothing left to give?

Audiobooks! You can relax on the couch with your child, turn the pages, and enjoy a book read wonderfully by a professional. Making your own audiobooks is also a fabulous family activity (and they make marvelous gifts!)

 

2. Model Reading for Your Child

WHY?

1) You are a living commercial for reading. Your child wants to imitate being “all grown up.” So being “all grown up” needs to include enjoyment of reading!

2) You need to feed your mind and heart consistently as a woman, a wife, a mother, a friend, a daughter, etc. Authors make wonderful mentors for your many roles!

WHEN?

Establish Mom’s Reading Spot & Time…you deserve it!

Also, keep books in the car, in your purse, in the kitchen, on your nightstand.

Don’t just read behind closed (bathroom!) doors; your kids need to see you reading!

WHAT?

Read what you need! Parenting advice…the Bible…humor…children’s books…poetry…

HOW?

One chapter…or page…or line at a time. (Remember the days of staying up all night to finish a gripping novel? Those days are gone…long gone!)

 

3. Make Reading Materials Available (lots & lots!)

WHY?

Research is clearly demonstrates that children with the most books at home have

1) the greatest interest in reading, and

2) the highest reading scores once they learn to read.

WHEN?

Use your judgment as a parent. I am not advocating spoiling your child or conditioning him/her that you will buy books whenever (s)he demands them! Use your discretion. I found it best to shop for books without my children and keep them tucked away.

WHAT?

Aim for a wide variety! Books…magazines…letters/e-mails from friends and

relatives…audiobooks…”books” your child has made…photo albums with journaling…

HOW?

Bookstores

Amazon.com (with a Prime membership you get free 2-day delivery!)

used book stores

half.com (my favorite used book site)

Moms’ book exchange

Ask for books & specific magazine subscriptions as gifts (in lieu of more “stuff”!)

THE LIBRARY

 

Q4U:  What are your family’s favorite books to read aloud together?

By Cheri Gregory

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Cheri Gregory, Homeschool, MOM Stuff, School Days Tagged With: , , 12 Comments

Why Having “The Talk” Is Not Enough

March 21, 2012 By

There is no question the culture in most developed nations is sexually charged. Sex sells everything from shampoo and deodorant to lawn mowers. According to a report by Harris Interactive in 2007 68% of TV shows have explicit sexual content. The “wardrobe malfunction” of the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show reminds us that even sporting events are not safe. In a world where our young girls are being sexualized (see Toddlers and Tiaras), is it reasonable to think that one sex talk is enough to combat what our culture throws at our kids daily?

Instead I challenge you to begin an open dialog about sex with your children at a young age. Then continue the dialog in age appropriate ways throughout their lives. Remember sex isn’t something dirty or embarrassing. Sex is wonderful when kept in the confines of marriage.

I am guessing that the vast majority of you are thinking, but… But I was never taught how to do this. But I messed up so how can I teach my kids. But I don’t even know what God says about sex. But I don’t have the tools to do this without messing up my kids. But I am embarrassed. Yes I faced lots of concerns as I began the dialog with my kids about sex. The alternative is stark though moms. According to an American Academy of Pediatrics report from 2001, teens rank media second to sex education at school as the place they get their information about sex. Media – the place where sex without consequences is preached.

There is good news though moms. There are so many wonderful resources to help you talk to your children about sex. First I encourage you to find the God’s Design for Sex series. It is a series of four books for four different age ranges. The first book The Story of Me is geared toward three through five year-olds. It is completely age appropriate and such a great way to open the discussion of where babies come from. Each book builds on the information of the previous book and discusses sex, gender, and much more from a Biblical perspective.

Next as your children are nearing puberty there is a wonderful resource for you to create a special weekend with your child. This resource is by Family Life and is called Passport 2 Purity. It is filled with fabulous information and opens the discussion of when to date and how to protect your purity. They think of everything from hands-on visuals that help your kids understand what God says about sex to special experiences for you to share with your kids.

Finally remember your children probably know more about sex than you realize. Opening this dialog will only encourage a healthy exchange of information. Your children will be comfortable asking you questions about sex instead of being left to fend for themselves. It may begin a bit uncomfortable at first, but the results are invaluable.

What resources have you found helpful when talking to your children about sex?

By Angela Mackey

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Angela Mackey, Education, Health, Safety & Nutrition, MOM Stuff Tagged With: , , , , , 3 Comments

Stop. Breathe.

March 15, 2012 By

pink clouds sunsetA misty drizzle spritzes the window while I relax in the recliner and listen to my children’s laughter. When what to my wandering eye should appear, but a miniature sleigh and…Oops! I guess I got too relaxed for a moment.

It’s a rare occurrence these days to have time to daydream. I’m a freelance writer and editor, but I also homeschool my children. School’s in full session, as is all the busy-ness that accompanies this season of life. We have classes, gymnastics, Taekwondo, baseball games, church events and sleepovers. Not to mention deadlines, doctor appointments, Bible studies and holidays. Complicate matters with each family member’s unique frustration level and nerves can quickly fry.

My daughter tends to be overly dramatic. Why, just today she threw a fit at Academy Sports & Outdoors because she did not get a soccer ball like the one her brother has. Even with Mom and Dad’s assurance of, “Maybe you’ll get one for your birthday,” she insisted she never gets anything she wants and whined and moaned all the way home.

My husband was tempted to react. He sternly reprimanded her a couple times, but then remembered to stop and breathe. Acknowledging her tantrum rewarded her and encouraged her to continue, whereas stopping to breathe allowed Daddy to maintain self-control and assert his authority more effectively.

First Peter 5:8 (NIV) advises, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The enemy prides himself on the inevitable disasters that loom over the most carefully organized schedules and the conflicts that lurk on every page of the calendar.

And so each day, when you set to task and havoc threatens peaceful productivity: Stop. Breathe. Such restraint improves discipline, both the discipline of our labor and the discipline of daily structure. It curbs anxiety and allows God to order our days. By practicing self-control, we resist our enemy the devil and he flees from us, freeing us to go about our busy-ness in a civilized manner.

The clouds have given way to the setting sun, weaving hues of lavender and azure amid soft pink billows…A Happy Christmas to all and to all a good night! Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself.

By Jodi Whisenhunt

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Blog, Education, Home, Homeschool, Jodi Whisenhunt, MOM Stuff, Parenting, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , 1 Comment

Putting Out the Home Education Fires

March 6, 2012 By

 

For those that home educate, the subject of avoiding burnout presents itself a lot. Often times it comes at the end of a school term. For me, it can come when I’m planning curriculum for my six children! Decisions, decisions!

Aggravation comes in the middle of the day when I’m being overwhelmed by having to choosing to repeat myself several times to one child; even when I’m sitting next to them and calmly explaining what the lesson is all about. I’ve learned to walk away.

Simply…walk away.

There are different temperaments in each home, that of the mom’s, dad’s and children.

If I see something as not being a “big deal” to me, one of my children may be the most frustrated with the same situation; and vice-versa. I have to learn and recognize that about them.

First thing’s first. I’ve gotta know myself.

Do you “know yourself”?…

What gets you flustered? Is it incomplete assignments, a messy work area, a kid that’s slacking for no good reason, not enough time in the day, you looking at your own short-comings (that, dang it, you’re gonna conquer them today)?

Come up with a game plan BEFORE you have a moment of meltdown.

Determine to maintain peace.

In all honesty, that one thing that’s getting to you probably wont make a difference in a month when weighed with the eternal things.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

The things that your children will remember far past a “homeschool fire” is not what they should have learned by doing that assignment, but how you either blew up at them or showed them a little grace.

Hey, I’ve done both. I’m not saying anything to you that I haven’t experienced myself.

I’ve learned a thing or two and I’ve found some things in God’s Word that totally apply to every area of my life and home:

“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

Romans 12:17-18 

Okay, I’ll give you that we wouldn’t think our children are evil, but boy, some of their actions seem to be evil (and sometimes we are positive that they’re out to get us). What I want to focus on in the above Scripture is, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”

Oh friend, it’s possible to live peaceably. God wouldn’t have told us to if He didn’t equip us to be able to.

Your child is one of those “all men”. Just as you’d straighten up with a neighbor, we should be just as much so with our children.

Our children do require accountability and we, as their parents, are charged with that. There are times to dive head long into something that certainly needs correction and there are times to choose your battles. Sometimes there are ways that our children do things the way that we wouldn’t prefer, but they get the same results that we would have. Let it go. Acknowledge what is done right.

So, let us keep our cool. Walk away if need be. Maintain composure. Show grace.

I don’t pretend to know it all, so I heavily rely, first of all on the Holy Spirit’s leading through prayer and then sitting quietly to listen to God. I also seek the help of my home educating girlfriends.

I’ll share ways that a few friends have found helpful in handling being overwhelmed and putting out homeschool fires.

(disclosure: I am a writer at The Homeschool Village, but the links below are not my work).

Dear Mom,
You may feel overwhelmed, a little defeated or inadequate during your time of educating your children. Be encouraged in knowing that God knows everything; every emotion, every stumble, every ending. He will not leave you. Allow Him to love on you. Allow YOU to love on yourself. In turn, your children will thank you for it.


PinterestShare
Filed Under: Education, Homeschool Tagged With: 7 Comments

10 Scripture Memory Tips

January 25, 2012 By

Have you’ve ever wanted to memorize Scripture but didn’t think you had the time? Have you ever wished you could come up with an easy way to help your kids memorize Scripture. Memorizing the Word doesn’t have to be hard.

Using the ideas below, you and your family can make Scripture memory fun as hide God’s Word in your hearts together!

1. Take your weekly memory verse with you wherever you go.  Review it at every stoplight.

You’ll be surprised how much you retain! If the family is in the car together, take turns saying your memory verse at each stop sign.

2. Tape your memory verse card to your bathroom mirror and review it while you’re getting ready. Be sure to put the verse in your kid’s bathroom too.

3. Put your memory verse on the back of your cereal box and study it while you are eating breakfast or having a nighttime snack.

4. Choose a family member or friend who may need encouragement and ask them if you can practice saying your memory verse out loud to them. You’ll be amazed at the power of God’s Word to encourage them! It will also teach your children to encourage others with the Word and they’ll be memorizing it in the process.

5. Write your memory verse on a 3×5 card and repeat it three times out loud. Have your children do it too.

6. Make your memory verse the new lyrics of one of your favorite songs or make up your own tune. Then sing it over and over again by yourself or with your children.

7.  If the verse is long or you’re memorizing more than one verse, spend Monday through Wednesday learning the first half of your memory verse and the rest of the week learning the last part.

8. Write your memory verse on a 3×5 card and tape it by your kitchen sink. Study it while you’re doing the dishes. Great way to get your children’s minds off of doing the dishes and on the Word when it’s their turn.

9. At dinnertime, write your verse on a 3×5 card and pass it around the table once. Have each person read it out loud. Then go around the table and see who can say it without looking at the card. Everyone will bememorizing God’s Word!

10. Set goals to memorize complete chapters, such as Romans 8, Psalms 139, ect…

Choose 2 or 3 verses a week until you have the entire chapter memorized.

Use some of the above tips to help you along the way. You and your children will be amazed at just how much Scripture you know!

What are some other ways you can help your children memorize Scripture?

By: Stephanie Shott

 

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Homeschool, MOM Stuff, Stephanie Shott Tagged With: , , Leave a Comment

Passing on Prayer

January 8, 2012 By

How do we go from bedtime prayers to personal prayer with our children? Giving kids a head start in talking to God is a mother’s goal. In our own prayers we hope our little ones will learn to turn to their Heavenly Father on their own. A mom with a heart for personal prayer can pass it on to her children.

Since we know our children need to live healthy lives, we teach them to eat and exercise. Since we know they need to study and work, we teach them to read and write. Since we know they need to care for themselves, we teach them to tie their shoes. Since we know life brings waves of challenges, we need to teach our little ones how to call out to God. We can show our children that prayer is personal, spontaneous, and effective.

All children experience fears, including darkness, strangers, or separation. These are opportunities to show children prayer is a personal way to answer fear. By using scripture to answer uncertainty, children learn that, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3). 

Making it personal:

Take sequential pictures of your child with a frightened face, a thoughtful expression, a bowed head, and a smiling peaceful face. Use pictures to make a wordless book together. This is your text book to read together, training your child to trust God and pray when they experience fear. Show them that trusting God brings comfort.

Instead of making prayer a discipline reserved for adults and special buildings, help children learn prayer is for any time or place. Prayer can be spontaneous. Life with little ones provides endless opportunities to stop and “Pray now” about events of your days:  a hurt friend at play group, a decision at a toy store, a passing ambulance, a lost kitten. Model spontaneous prayer in response to circumstances, then guide your child to stop and “Pray now.”  Show them that at the very moment of need, you can talk to God and ask for His help. Your example will train them to be comfortable with immediate prayer.

Making it spontaneous:

Find a park bench to sit down, pull into a parking lot, or pause in a grocery aisle to pray when prompted. Show your child God is always ready to hear you call. After your child is comfortable with impromptu prayer, ask if they would pray. Hold their hand as a physical reinforcement.

You can show your children prayer is effective by training yourself to point out and give credit to God’s answers to prayers. Don’t let opportunities pass when God meets a need, gives wisdom, or provides comfort. Rejoice with your child and be specific about God hearing and answering. Your praise will reinforce your child’s confidence in the effectiveness of prayer.

Showing it’s effective:

Draw a picture together of answers to prayer you experienced together. Call Daddy or a relative to share the praise. Stop and give thanks to God for hearing and answering. Get a “recipe style” book, so you can draw pictures on 3×5 cards and slip them in as your little one sees answers. You will have a praise book personal to your family.

Before I started elementary school, my newly believing mother taught me to pray. Months later I was caught in an Atlantic rip current. My fearful mother watched from shore, as rescuers risked their lives for mine, but I was not alone. I was calling out to God with my own voice and from my own heart, because I knew He would hear the prayers of little ones like me. Many waves will wash over our children as they grow, but we can give them the gift of knowing prayer is personal, spontaneous, and effective. They must learn to turn all on their own. A mother can equip her children for whatever they’ll face when she passes on personal prayer.

What are you doing to pass on prayer to your children?

By: Julie Sanders 

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Childhood, Homeschool, Julie Sanders, MOM Stuff Tagged With: , Leave a Comment

“Teacher Trouble: P.T.A. Assignment”

January 6, 2012 By

They take backpacks filled with folders, pencils, and hopes for a great year. When conversations begin creating a picture of your child’s school year, you may discover you’re assigned something you didn’t request. You may be scheduled for “teacher trouble.” 

“How could anyone be unkind to my child?” we wonder. “Why are they so harsh?” we ask.  And “That didn’t seem like a professional way to handle that,” we mutter. We try to think positively, be understanding, and let the year get started. But once underway, parents may find they have, indeed, been signed up for “teacher trouble”. How do godly parents take action to build up their child, while resolving problems and having a godly testimony? The answer is found in the P.T.A.

Be a Prayer Warrior … Supply Truth and Trust.

Standing at the school doors reading the class lists the night before school started, it was clear which parents were already distraught. Some clapped with joy. Others huddled in whispers as children looked on, wondering what tyrants they were sentenced to. One little girl looked on, face full of concern, eyes welled up with tears, a sense of fear covering her usually cheerful face as she anticipated “teacher trouble.”

True or not, reactions feed possibly unfounded ideas. When concerns are real, the mama bear syndrome arises. Instead of going to the phone, go to the throne! From the truth in James 5:16, “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous {mom} avails much.”  Children need to learn to go to the Author of Truth, calling out to the One Who knows all their days, kindergarten to college.

When we teach our children to pray because God is in control, we also impart what it means to Trust Him. As we show we are trusting in our Heavenly Father for our cares, we lead them in learning to trust Him, too.

The mother and the little girl who cried at her assignment before school began prayed for help in her classroom challenges. They discovered that their Heavenly Father had given her the perfect teacher, a teacher equipped with the love and flexibility that she would need as her year unfolded. As they prayed, they learned to seek Truth and to Trust.

Be a Teacher … Supply Reality and Respect.

Trouble is a teachable moment for parents. When children interact with other adults, they get a lesson in Reality. Conflict lets us examine ourselves, seeing our true nature. Children need to be guided in seeing their weaknesses, as well as sin’s impact on others. The reality of living with others provides children with opportunities to learn submission to authority.

James encourages us to rejoice when we have trials, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience … that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing,” James 1:3,4. In fact, Romans 5 tells us we can glory in tribulations, because they ultimately produce perseverance, character, and hope. In Reality, challenges with a coach or teacher are opportunities for children to develop character.

In guiding students through lessons, we apply Truth to life’s troubles, so we are in the world, but not “like” it. Jesus prayed we would be protected from Evil, but not that we would be removed from the tests of life. By helping children find answers in God’s Word, they learn that Truth makes a difference in Real life.

Godly parents approach teacher trouble by speaking truth in love, with Respect. Children see and hear this. One year my daughter had a teacher who was publically humiliating and cruel to students. Several weeks into the year, I prayerfully wrote a careful letter to the teacher. It respectfully communicated truth, and it was effective. The teacher was never again unkind to my daughter or to me.

Be an Advocate … Supply Wisdom and Words.

A serious incident prompted a call to a first grader’s mother. The response on my desk was a letter of hateful accusations. Excusing myself, I asked my teaching partner to cover my classroom while I pulled myself together, praying over the tsunami of words. That night, I phoned the parent to answer the attack. Instead, I was met with personal confessions, unrelated feelings, and desperate apologies. She wanted the words back.

There may come a time when God prompts us to be an Advocate for our child. When that time comes, our student needs to see Wisdom in our timing and manner. After a foundation of prayer and a filter of truth, we need to be “slow to speak and slow to wrath,” James 1:19. Children learn from words spoken directly to and about the offending adult. Confrontation requires wisdom and godly words. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him,” James 1:5. “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances,” Proverbs 25:11 (NASB).

As students encounter others in the classrooms of life, they will sometime experience “teacher trouble.” Embrace the test as a Prayer Warrior, Teacher, and Advocate for your child, helping them learn God has answers for the challenges of life at any age.

Here are 10 ways you can pray for your teacher:

  1. Ask God to give the teacher a desire to know Him or to know Him more.
  2. Pray that they would see the positive qualities in each child and appreciate them.
  3. Pray that they would discern the academic needs and personal needs of each child.
  4. Ask the Lord to give them energy, health, and strength for their work.
  5. Pray that they might have fresh patience and creativity, daily.
  6. Pray that the teacher would seek help when needed and would feel supported.
  7. Ask God to give them heavenly wisdom to deal with conflicts and concerns.
  8. Pray that they would experience the joys of teaching.
  9. Pray that the teacher will grow in compassion, skill, and insight.
  10. Ask God to show you how you can actively encourage and help the teacher.

Have you experienced ‘Teacher Trouble” before? Has this offered you a different perspective to how to handle teacher trouble when it comes your way?

By: Julie Sanders

PinterestShare
Filed Under: Daycare, Julie Sanders, MOM Stuff, School Days Tagged With: , , , Leave a Comment
« Older Posts