Raising Children Archives

Habit Training in Ourselves and Our Children – Part II

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013 at 3:56 am  
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How does one go about the forming of a habit both in ourselves and our children? Start with focusing on only one thing that you desire to change. In a famous article published in 1983, Anya Bateman tells how she changed her life by focusing on only one thing she wanted to change and then doing it for 21 days.  For some of the habits she was trying to form, she kept a journal of her thoughts and excuses and anything else that came up that made her not want to keep her agreement with herself. While working on forming a habit, we must be ever careful not to let ourselves or our children fail in the keeping of them.  We must be vigilant. I know this firsthand. …

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Cantaloupes (or was that Antelopes?) and Early Childhood Education

Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 11:23 am  
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Yesterday, I was cutting up a cantaloupe and Audrey says to me, “Does that come from an animal?” Thinking all along that she was just having fun, I responded, “No, it comes from the ground.” “What is it?” “It’s a melon.” As we continued to talk, it finally came out that she assumed I was cutting up a cantaloupe which she concluded was part of an antelope. Because I had never thought to explain where cantaloupe’s come from. Oh dear, there are gaps in our homeschooling!  The greatest fear of a homeschooling mom.  I was so very close to having one. Whew! Barely saved. My Audrey knows more about how goats, chickens, and puppies are born than how a cantaloupe grows. I know most parents would not panic over this conversation.  Like you…

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Do You Have a Quiet, Easy-Going Child? Making Them Feel Special

Monday, July 23rd, 2012 at 1:46 pm  
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Congratulations to the sweetest of daughters, my Serenity. I feel a little bit amazed today. Our sweet daughter Serenity has graduated from the 8th grade and will now be embarking on her high school education. This weekend at our homeschool convention, Serenity went through the commencement program that they plan for 7th-9th graders.  And you know what?  She loved it!! She enjoyed it so much that she wishes she could do it again. Now that’s a big surprise coming from her because she’s quiet and doesn’t like attention focused on herself.   After seeing Serenity’s reaction to her graduation, I was reminded me of a story Florence Littauer tells about her mother. Florence’s mother was a Phlegmatic, according to Florence’s division of personality types. In case you don’t know what phlegmatic…

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Do Your Children Know You Like Them?

Thursday, November 18th, 2010 at 10:33 am  
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I was talking to a friend recently who shared with me that her 7 year old son complains that she never plays with him.  She said, “I spend a lot of time with him.  I sit in the bathroom while he bathes, I sit with him while he does homework, I read to him, he reads to me.”  That sounds commedable doesn’t it?  I would be happy if I did I those things.  We all have limited time with the myriad obligations of homeschooling and homemaking responsibilities and the thought of carving out more time seems impossible.  But you know what a person with wisdom said to her when she mentioned it to them? “Those are all motherly things.  You need to do things with him.”  Wow.  That hit me between the…

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The Varied Pursuits of Children

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 at 12:05 pm  
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Isn’t it so delightful watching your children explore their interests?  You never know what will grab their attention.  Although all of my boys love the outdoors & boy things, their interests are varied.  Even if they all enjoy the same activity, the levels of their intensity may not be the same. Here are a few things that I have thought of that my boys have shown enthusiasm for over the years: boxing fencing (this was peaked by our Middle Ages Study) hunting archery rock climbing (be still my pounding heart!) hiking the Grand Canyon (one of my sons has now done it twice; he went down & up in one day, one time hiking out with a nasty sprained ankle) gardening math horses walleyball (since we have our…

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