I've begun reading parenting books.
Those who know me will be at least mildly surprised at this, for I am not married, I have no children, and I am not pregnant. But once a week for an hour, I teach other people's children about Jesus, about the Bible, about all the things God created.
With two weeks under my belt, already I see how each child's heart has specific needs for love, attention, and learning. I see how their minds soak up whatever comes their way. I see the gift of their energy and the opportunity to show them ways to channel it wisely. I see that yes, even at two, they can begin to learn responsible choice making.
And at a complete loss at how to guide their developing minds, I picked out some parenting books and commenced my prayerful study.
I have them for one hour only, and I pray that even this one hour may not be wasted time but rather time that God can use to augment the training the parents give their children at home.
Oh, I enjoy reading parenting books--and I am not even old enough to get married. ;)
ReplyDeleteI would highly recommend any of Charlotte M. Mason's six books. She was an educational philosopher of the Victorian era; you might remember reading about her on my blog. Not only does she have a great deal to say about education, but her words on the responsibility of parents is based wholly on Scripture.
I am currently reading her second book, Parents and Children. The chapter titles alone are quite informative: Parents as Rulers, Parents as Inspirers, Parents as Schoolmaster, Parents as Trainers, The Formation of Character, Faith and Duty, etc.
You can read her books online at the Ambleside School website.
lol! That's true! Parenting books aren't always for parents!
ReplyDeleteI myself have paged through a few, the tips have definetely come in handy when babysitting! :)
The most important things you can do for children are to recognize that from birth, we are who we are - and they are simply younger people; to treat them with respect as a human being, seeing to their needs in a timely way and acknowledging their feelings, so they know that they matter; to follow through immediately on everything rather than being lazy and letting things slide; to teach them that others have the same feelings and needs that they have and those feelings and needs should also be respected; to talk, talk, talk to them constantly, not in baby talk but in regular talk, filling their minds with language, naming everything including their feelings so they can better understand their world and become active in it.
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