I recently had the privilege of teaching two workshops at the NICHE Homeschool Convention in Des Moines, IA. One of the workshops was for Single Parent Homeschooling, where I shared these Parenting Tips. So much is relevant, whether we are single, married, homeschool, Christian school, or public school. Parenting is parenting. So, it’s fun to share what we have discovered as we jouney the path with our kids.

The other workshop was “Hannah’s Daughter” (my own personal testimony of my search for God). Maybe I’ll share that in a future post??? 🙂

I offered these Parenting Tips to the people in my workshops and thought you might enjoy them as well. I’d love your feedback about anything you found to be particularly helpful. And, please post any other things that worked for you as you raised your own children, or as you watched others raise theirs. It’s never too late to start to train up a child in the way he/she should go so that when they are “old”, they will become faithful in what they have been taught.

So, here’s the info from the handout:

There’s no right or wrong way to school/teach your child. Let me re-phrase that. The only wrong way is if God tells you one thing and you choose to do another because God’s way seemed too hard.

 Teach them (by example) to love to read. (Read everything to them.)
 Teach them to love to learn (by example).
 Keep a journal for them telling them that they were wanted and write down for them the journey of faith with God … noted page by page. You might not be around to be able to tell them. My mother died when I was a pre-teen.
 Let them “catch you” in prayer and Bible reading.
 “Bring” God into everything…because He is in everything.
 Be aware of God’s continuous presence.
 TMS (Navigator’s Topical Memory System). Memorize Scripture together.
 Teach them the great hymns of the faith. Have them memorize the words. (My son sent me an affirmation email recently thanking me for teaching them the great hymns of the faith.)
 Have them go to sleep – from infancy – listening to Scripture tapes/CD’s or…the subconscious mind absorbs and is receptive.
 Have them memorize whole chapters of Scripture. Pay them $ for memorizing.
 No allowance. We’re family and family works together to accomplish what needs to be done.
 Deut. 6:7 tells us to teach our children diligently (purposefully), continually, whenever we are together.
 Behavior/Attitudes (good and bad) are “caught” more easily than “taught”.
 Keys for Kids devotional from Children’s Bible Hour (Uncle Charlie) is good even for very young children. It teaches truths, attitudes, good behavior, good relationship skills & love for/from God.)
 Be their cheerleader. Observe their strengths, interests, talents, and learning styles “Train up a child in the way he/she should go…” Each child is unique
 Be their advocate.
 Quote from Our Daily Bread devotional (1/30/11) “Children may not inherit their parent’s talent, but they will absorb their values.”
 No T.V. (My daughter sent a wonderful affirmation in an email from seminary, thanking me that she didn’t know the Sesame Street characters, but she knew the Bible characters.)

When they love to read and love to learn, they are not at the mercy of what others teach them. They can learn it for themselves. They can do their own research. They will learn to “think” rather than just regurgitate what was taught them.

Copyright 2011. Pam Taylor, Christian Life Coach, loavesandfishescoaching.com