Teaching Honesty

Honesty is “being careful of what you say and do so others can trust you”.  As usual God is our example.  Many times in Scripture God says, “I have said it; I will perform it.”  Hebrews 10:23 says “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.”

We are encouraged throughout Scripture to be honest:

Proverbs 11:1  The Lord hates cheating, but he delights in honesty.
2 Chron. 18:15  … say nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord
Ephes. 4:15  …speaking the truth in love…

In teaching our children honesty, we must be an example to them.  Always do what you say you will do.  If you make a promise, keep it; and never make a threat in disciplining that you can not follow through with if they disobey (example: I will throw you out the window if you scream one more time)  Children need the security of knowing they can trust Mom and Dad.  A child’s healthy relationship with his parents paves the way for a healthy relationship with God.  We are God’s representative to them and need to show them they can trust us and Him.

Tell your children stories of men and women in history who told the truth and those that didn’t and suffered the consequences.  Here are a few book or website suggestions:

Who Can Trust You, Kangaroo? (Sweet Pickles Series)
Abe’s Honest Words: The Life of Abraham Lincoln

The Son Who Said He Wouldn’t (Arch Books)
George Washington and the Cherry Tree

The following is a song with signing about honesty:

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Keeping Thanks in Thanksgiving: Songs and Psalms

Click on this link somuch-scott to hear a fun, thankful song that the children love.   I couldn’t remember exactly how it went so I called our good friend and minister of music, Scott Eaton, and got him to sing it over the phone.  Start with your hands together and as you sing the song pull them further and further apart until your arms are wide open.  Bring your hands back together in a big clap before the last phrase.

You can sing this next song to  the tune of :”Frere Jacques” also known as “Are You Sleeping?”  Sing it with hands folded in prayer and head bowed:

We are thankful
We are thankful
Yes we are
Yes we are
Thankful for our food
Thankful for our family
Give God thanks
Give God thanks

This would be a good time to memorize Psalm 100 or any psalm of thanks.  If your child can’t read yet, try making a picture for the main words in the psalm to help in memorizing.

Psalm 100:1-5

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness:

Come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves;

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving,and into his courts with praise:

Be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;
and his truth endureth to all generations.

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Keeping Thanks in Thanksgiving: Thank You God List

About the 1st of November, I always put a large piece of paper and tie a pen on the refrigerator with the words, “Thank you God for” at the top.  Family members are encouraged to regularly write down something they are thankful for.  This has been a tradition for many years in our home. We enjoy writing our own and reading what the rest of the family has written.

Writing down your blessings can really change your outlook.  As the old hymn by Johnson Oatman says, “Count your many blessings; name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

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Teaching Patience

Patience is “waiting until later for what I want now”. God is our perfect example of this as He wants our love and affection now, but He waits patiently until we are ready to yield to Him:

And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved…2 Peter 3:15

Don’t you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don’t you care? Can’t you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin? Romans 2:4

If God has such patience with us, we should have patience with each other:

Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Ephesians 4:2

As parents, our patience is tested daily and there are times when we all think we have totally lost it. This is when we need to rest in the fact that through knowing God and by His power, we can endure anything:

We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need…Col. 1:11

Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. 2 Peter 1:6

One way our children learn patience is from observing us. They will usually respond to a situation the same way we do, so they need to see us exercising our patience in difficult situations. When we lose our patience, it can be make the situation worse; when we are patient, we have a calming effect on our children.

Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering (patience), for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him. 1 Tim. 1:16

In addition to your modeling patience, you can have fun using creative activities to teach patience. Here are some ideas I have used through the years with my own children and with my two year old class this last month:

1. Our theme song for the month has been from a children’s musical called Music Machine (click to see this album available at Amazon.com). To hear the song about patience click here 07-have-patience1.

2. In this song Herbert the Snail sings “Have Patience”. We had fun making a snail out of clay dough and painting it after it dried. To make the clay-dough, mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, and 1/3 cup water. Roll the dough into a snake and curl it like a snail. Use a broken toothpick for feelers.

Herbert the Snail

3. We also learned to sign the song.


4. I had the children all sit down on the carpet and wait quietly until the timer went off (about one minute or so) and then I gave them a small treat and thanked them for waiting patiently.

5. We pointed out patience in any video we watched or book we read.

6. When we read The Tortoise and the Hare, we made a turtle out of a paper plate folded in half for its shell and then added a head, legs, and tail. We talked about how the turtle walked patiently toward his goal.

7. When we read Daddy, Are We There Yet, we pretended to take a car trip and talked about waiting patiently until we arrived at our destination.

8. I thanked them anytime I observed them using patience.

9. I acted out being impatient, which really surprised them to see me act like they do sometimes when they don’t get what they want and when they want it. 😛 ( I later apologized for not being patient)

I’m sure you can come up with more creative ideas of your own. Have fun and remember that with God’s power you can “Have Patience” 😉

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Teaching Respect

It is never too early nor too late to begin teaching character to your children.

Steve McChesney has a great article about teaching children the character quality of respect.  It can be found at here.

I just spent a month teaching my two-year-old class about respect.  We used the word often when  correcting unacceptable behavior and we looked for examples of respect or lack of respect in any books we read.

I took Aretha Franklin’s song  “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” and changed the words (see below).  The children loved it and have really responded well to the teaching.  They have grasped the concept of respect as showing kindness and they use the term appropriately, plus they have learned to spell the word.  And they are only two years old!! You can see the video below:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

R-E-S-P-E-C-T spells respect it’s plain to see.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T means I’m kind to you; you’re kind to me.

Show

Respect to your mom

Respect to your dad

Respect to your friends

Respect for their things

Respect to your teachers

Respect for your school

R-E-S-P-E-C-T  This is what it means to me!! (clapping as you say this)

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