Helping Parents Raise Kids of Character
“… A great story to illustrate to your children how obedience may be hard for the moment, but will lead to greater good in the end.” ~Rick
If you’ve ever seen the wonderful 1941 movie, Sergeant York you’re already acquainted with the story of the Tennessee mountaineer, a hard-drinking, brawling, straight-shooting country boy who became the most famous American hero of World War I.
Parenting isn’t easy. Teaching obedience isn’t easy.
I had a friend once who said that he did not always feel an obligation to explain his instructions to his children. “Sometimes, when they ask why I’ll tell them why. But I want them to obey promptly whether they understand my reasons or not. When a little kid is playing in the street and there’s a truck coming at him, there’s no time for an explanation. His daddy needs to tell him to get out of the street, and he needs to obey. Quick.”
Continue reading Part 4: Obedient Hearts- Obedience First, Explanations Later
Here’s a project you can do with your kids to help them become “obedience-conscious.” It’s sort of a game, but it’s a good way to prime your kids to think in terms of obeying, as we like to say, “immediately, cheerfully and thoroughly.”
Continue reading Obedience Exercises
What is obedience? Dictionary definitions are okay, but we like to be more specific with our children. That’s why our preschool curriculum breaks it down to simple basics. You’ll find tons of practical ideas to teach obedience in the Mom’s Guide.
We teach that obedience is “doing what is expected of me cheerfully, immediately, and thoroughly.” Kids can get their minds around that, even little kids.
Have you ever told your child to do something, then been dissatisfied with the results even though he did as you asked? Sometimes compliance isn’t obedience.
Continue reading Part 2: Obedient Hearts- “What is Obedience?”