“Sow a thought and you reap an act; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” – Charles Reade – In his book The Road to Character, David Brooks wrote, “You become more disciplined, considerate, and loving through a […]
Give Kids an Emotion Vocabulary
“It’s not easy to learn to whistleif there’s no one to show you how.”– Janusz Korczak, King Matt the First – Remember that important milestone in moral development called perspective-taking? It enables us to see from another person’s point of view, to understand that they are afraid or frustrated or overjoyed or worried. Perspective-taking is […]
Have Rules and Communicate Them
“If a thing is right, it can be done, and if it is wrong, it can be done without; and a good man will find a way.” – Anna Sewell, Black Beauty – Most new parents have never taken child development courses, and many have never spent much time with children. Sunday school teachers are […]
Respect Children
“Children will not learn to accept and tolerate differences in others if they have not experienced acceptance and tolerance for their differences.” – Clyde W. Ford, We Can All Get Along If you’re a trained teacher or enjoy being around children, then you probably already respect them. But plenty of people become parents or volunteer […]
Speak to be Echoed
“Behavior is generally learned by imitating observed experiences, so the more examples of caring our kids witness, the greater the chance that those will be the behaviors they copy.” – Michele Borba, Building Moral Intelligence As my sixteen-year-old son and I stepped out of the Department of Motor Vehicles, I tossed him the keys to […]
Know the Goal
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson – So how can we help children internalize good values and morals? First, we have to know what our goal is. That may seem obvious, but we sometimes skip this step. We know we want our […]
Why present Jesus in the context of His times?
Why is it important to present Jesus in the context of his times? “If we settle for a superficial understanding of who (Jesus) was and what he intended, we end up preaching a superficial gospel. The ‘everybody knows’ version of Jesus too easily carries an individualistic, consumer-oriented appeal… this makes worship superficial, for we miss […]
Checklist: Characteristics of Children at Different Ages
Infants • are self-centered. • depend on others to care for them. • learn through their senses. They respond well to music. • focus on the present. • do not make conscious choices between right and wrong. • are sensitive to tone of voice. • enjoy holding and chewing on their toys. • may want […]
On the Other Side of the Coin
Correcting Behavior “Never give up. Keep on trying until you get it right.” -5 year-old Seeing Our Opportunity In the face of challenges, my father often says, “You can see it as a problem, or you can see it as an opportunity.” If we look at behavior challenges as opportunities instead of problems, we have […]
Adolescence: Thirteen to Twenty
Identity Formation vs. Identity Confusion “[T]he adolescent period of life is in reality the one with the most power for courage and creativity.” – Daniel J. Siegel – As teens mature year by year, they leave the awkwardness of the tween stage and enter young adulthood. This is the last stage of what began in […]