Formation of Habits

I am so excited to share some of the things I’ve been reading lately about habits.  Some of the information I’ve heard countless times but it’s just now starting to sink into the ol’ grey matter.

I have been reading the book When Children Love to Learn:  A Practical Application of Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy of Today by Elaine Cooper.  The contributors to this book are ones who are running Charlotte Mason style schools.

The formation of habits is education, and Education is the formation of habits.   vol 1 pg 97

When we see a bad trait in our children we may think, "That’s their nature." or "They’re still young, they’ll grow out of it." and leave them be. 

How much better it would be if we helped train our children to good habits so that as Charlotte Mason says,  "just as it is on the whole easier for the locomotive to pursue its way on the rails than to take a disastrous run off them, so it is easier for the child to follow lines of habit carefully laid down…"  vol 1 pg 109

As parents it behooves us to help our children form habits that are good so that it becomes a part of them.  Again from Charlotte Mason’s own words, "If we had to think, to deliberate, about each operation of the bath or the table––life would not be worth having; the perpetually repeated effort of decision would wear us out.  vol 1 pg 110

 Listed below are a list of habits that are desirable for children to have, taken from When Children Love to Learn.

Intellectual habits:  attention, concentration, thoroughness, intellectual volition, accuracy, reflection, and meditation, rapid mental effort and application, thinking, imagining, remembering, and perfect execution.

Moral Habits:  sweet thoughts, obedience, truthfulness, reverence, and temper.

Physical habits:  self-restraint, self-control, self-discipline, alertness, quick perception, fortitude, service, courage, prudence, and chastity.

Religious habits:  the thought of God, a reverent attitude, regularity in devotions, reading the Bible, praise, and Sunday-keeping.

Miscellaneous habits:  physical exercise, good manners, and ear and voice.

Our lives are made up of habits.  What habits will our children have if left to themselves?  What is hindering us from actively helping our children form right habits? 

"Do your best, God will do the rest."  Let’s press on my friends.