Monthly Archives: February 2018

Children and Technology

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Train up a child…

 

Children and Technology

 

Some time ago, our daughter-in-law e-mailed a video to us of our two-year- old grandson playing with an ipad and laughing and having fun with the things he was seeing on it. I was reminded again of how different it is for our children growing up in the age of technology from the times that we and our children grew up.

Since Adam and Eve, parents have needed to be flexible and make adjustments in expectations of children as inventions came about. I’m fairly sure that they never had to be quite as flexible as this generation demands. We can be thankful for so many of the new gadgets, but how do we handle all of the decisions that have to be made in using them? How can we know what to keep in education and what to change? How can we teach the proper use of those many new things we have available?

When the calculator came along, many thought that children no longer needed to be taught basic math. When spell check came on the computer, some thought we no longer needed to teach spelling. When the Internet came, many said that we no longer needed to teach history and dates of happenings in history because you could always look up whatever you needed when you needed it. Home economics was done away with in schools because no one needed to sew because it could be done in mass in factories, and cooking was so much easier with packaged foods, etc. Many things have been done away with because of new inventions. Were all of these decisions the right decisions?

When deciding to change old ways, we need to consider each thing in light of its benefits. When children learn math, for instance, they learn not only the math involved, but they learn mental discipline as well. They learn decision-making and cautiousness. When we read a math problem, we must be very careful, so we will not overlook a pertinent detail. Children do not learn this on the calculator. Unless these values can be taught another way, children should still be taught basic math. Spell check is wonderful on the computer, but it does not catch many errors. Children learn visual discrimination and phonics in spelling that affect their reading ability. Without good visual discrimination in reading, children cannot do punctuation correctly.

When the automobile was invented, I wonder how many people thought we should keep using the horse and buggy. It is natural and right that we should want to use whatever we can to accomplish the most that is possible. It would be foolish to not take advantage of the wonderful things we have available to us. It would be just as foolish to “throw the baby out with the bath water”. Change needs to be made cautiously. Children should be taught to use the new inventions for good, not just for ease of effort or entertainment.

Of one thing we can be certain. Our emotions and Spiritual needs do not change. Evil and good continue to exist in abundance. Right and wrong actions do not change; only the tools we use change. God grants wisdom to those who ask for it. Today’s technology and the change that is coming with it require lots and lots of wisdom!

 

Can we Prepare our Children for Future America?

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Train up a child…

Can we Prepare our Children for Future America?

It is a very short time until our children will be grown and voting citizens. Are we adequately preparing them for that time? America has changed a great deal in recent years and is changing every day.
Our children have much they will need to deal with very soon. They will need to learn to live in a very racially diversified nation. They will live in a nation even more in debt than at the moment. They will enjoy even more technology, but at the same time, that technology makes enemies nearer. The Pacific and Atlantic oceans will no longer be the great shields they have been in the past.
With children streaming across our border, we must face the fact that many will probably remain here whether or not we would wish it so. They will grow up and compete for jobs and affect the way our schools teach. They will practice their own religion, or no religion. They may bring diseases our country has never dealt with before. Border agents tell us that drug cartels are sending drugs across the border. This means the use of more drugs in society. In many areas of the country, the white race is already a minority. Children will need to accept other races of people, and hopefully do so without giving up Christian principles.
The debt of our nation is mind-boggling. We are becoming more and more vulnerable to those nations from whom we are borrowing money. Not only that, we can no longer afford to wage war as we have been able to do, nor do we have the money to help others as in the past. Social programs have been continuing as our nation borrows and prints more money. Some of those programs may have to stop. This means that our children must be educated in such a way as to get jobs to be self-supporting. Our children will possibly have to do without much that they now enjoy. They will need to learn the difference between needs and wants and how to use money wisely.
The power grids in certain parts of our country have already experienced cyber attacks. Technology is such even now that people overseas can hack into our computers and steal our personal information. Certain countries have sworn to wipe us off the face of the map with missiles or bombs that can reach us.
Not a pretty picture for our children!! What can we do to prepare them? The truth is that we cannot totally prepare them. What we can do is to give them a good Spiritual foundation by teaching the Scripture and the value of the Bible and prayer. We must give them a good basic education and help them become problem-solvers. We need to teach them to stand their ground in a loving way. They must learn to be thrifty, hard workers, and resourceful. They cannot do this and always be physically comfortable. They must learn to sacrifice self pleasure when the situation warrants doing so.
What a task we have as adults to prepare our children for future America! The future is upon us!

Take Advantage of Teachable Moments

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Train up a child…

 

Take Advantage of Teachable Moments

 

We can teach children so very much if we are simply alert and take advantage of moments when a child is open to learning. A child can be so much further ahead than otherwise if we can train ourselves to watch for opportune times to teach. These moments usually take little or no additional effort or time on the part of the adults in charge of the children. Often, it is simply a matter of redirecting conversation. Opportunities for learning afford themselves at mealtime, while traveling, and various other times during the day.

At mealtime, placemats can be used that have maps, math information, ABC’s, or the solar system printed on them. These are available at Wal-Mart or variety stores. Children cannot fail to notice them and parents can talk about them while the child is eating. Another idea is to keep a little container of Bible verses on the table and say a verse before prayer at each meal. Shapes of foods can be pointed out especially in things like crackers that come in shapes of triangles, squares, ovals, circles, rectangles, or trapezoids. Alphabet soups offer an opportunity to teach the alphabet. The nutritional content of foods can be mentioned letting the child know that yellow foods have vitamin A that is good for the eyes, or that dairy products contain calcium that is good for the teeth and bones, etc.

While traveling, children can look for the letters of the alphabet on signs beside the road. Older children can play games such as “Ghost”. This is a spelling game where one person starts spelling a word and the next person adds a letter until someone ends a word. The object is to avoid ending a word. If the word is ended, that person gets a letter toward the spelling of ghost. When a person becomes a ghost, that person drops out of the game. The game continues until only one person is left. Another fun thing while traveling is to tell stories with each person adding one line to the story. Also, stopping to read signs marking national monuments is a real learning experience.

As children and adults go about throughout the day, simply singing songs instills a great deal of learning. Who doesn’t remember the teaching in some of the good songs they heard when they were a child? Our children today will also profit by the background music they can hear. When going up steps with a toddler, count the steps together. When children ask questions, give them a little extra information. At nighttime, tell bedtime stories with learning value. When reading to a child, point out pictures and talk about the pictures. Let the discussion lead into information about certain animals or whatever is being discussed.

If we can be alert to opportunities to teach our children, they will learn so very much. We will find many teachable moments if we will train ourselves to be alert for those opportunities. Time passes so quickly! Let’s not miss the opportunities to help prepare our children for the time they are no longer in the household.

 

 

Raising Compassionate Children

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Train up a child…

 

Raising Compassionate Children

 

People who are compassionate do not want to hurt others. The bullying, murdering, and gossiping in the world would not exist if everyone were compassionate and truly cared for the feelings of others.

How can we help our children learn to be compassionate and grow up caring for the feelings of others? We need to start very early in their lives by fostering sympathy in tragic situations, giving practice in doing nice things for others, and setting the example of showing compassion.

Even very young toddlers can respond to exclamations they hear from others. A person can exclaim, “Poor puppy! He is hurt!” Such phrases and tone of voice instills in a small child a feeling of compassion. Finding a bird with a broken wing and nursing it is an example of showing compassion. Feeding a stray cat or dog is also an example of showing compassion.

As children grow older, taking part in programs such as Wounded Warrior certainly can make a lasting impression on a teen. Gathering items for the homeless or persons who are victims of disasters can be of benefit not only to the organization, but also to the participants. Disabled Veterans is another organization needing help where children can experience compassion. Many teens take part in serving Thanksgiving dinners to those who are alone on the holiday. Churches sponsor mission trips for teens to help on an Indian reservation or in a city to foster an understanding of the needs of others.

It is too easy for us to get involved in our own world and forget those around us. When we pull back from others and think only of ourselves, we lose compassion for others. Older adults should set the example of showing compassion through example in both word and deed.

The opposite of compassion is selfishness. We wonder why our young people do such terrible things that we hear almost daily on the news. One reason is that there is no feeling of compassion in those doing the injustice. Children become desensitized to violence. Violence is so commonplace that children almost take it for granted as a part of life, not realizing the hurt and pain the victims suffer. Some children have a difficult time separating fiction from reality. When they see so much violence on TV or in video games with no consequences for that violence, they become detached from the reality of pain and suffering. It is up to the parents, grandparents, church workers, and school workers to help make sure that the children understand the reality of the consequences of violence.

The brains of teenagers are not fully developed to understand risk. They often act on impulse without thinking through the consequences of their behavior. If we can instill a feeling of compassion in our children when they are young, when the chance for violence comes to the child, that child will automatically feel compassion and resist the hurting of others. Without compassion, there is no understanding of the hurt they may cause.

One of the most important things we can do to counteract the violence in our culture is to instill compassion in our children.