Tag Archives: childrearing

It’s Not Just Child’s Play

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by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is….) Books are available on Amazon; Barnes & Noble; and www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Train up a child…

It’s Not Just Child’s Play!

         It is a wonderful thing when parents will play with their children.  There is great value in time spent simply having fun with them.  This time is an opportunity for bonding, teaching, and creating memories.

Right after Christmas there is an opportunity to explore the new toys and games together.  When dad or mom get on the level of the child and explore the new possibilities of enjoyment, the child learns to appreciate the fact that the parent has interest in his/her world.  A special relationship between the child and parent is created.  This new relationship results in a better understanding of each other. 

In the event that a toy breaks, as many are apt to do, as the parent helps repair that toy, the child learns about how things work.  Parents have an opportunity to teach new words and understandings to the child.

Even if there are no new games or toys, parents and children can create their own games. Our grown children still laugh about playing “sandwich” or “slobber ear” with their dad, and I laugh when I see them play the same games with their children.  These are rough and tumble games on the floor. where all involved laugh and giggle as they try to get away from each other to avoid having an ear chewed or to become the bottom bread of a sandwich.  They laugh as “the meat” wriggles out to try to become the top bread and the bottom bread tries even harder to escape being the bottom bread.  It is important, however, for the parent to know when enough is enough in these games.  It is cruel to tickle children too much.  Also, weight of individuals needs to be considered so no person is hurt.

Many board games offer opportunities for learning as well as having fun.  Long winter evenings are well spent in playing games such as Monopoly, Balderdash, Sequence, or others with older children. In Monopoly, children learn much about money.  They learn to count the money as well as a great deal about how business works.  Balderdash is a great game for teaching writing, persuasion, and vocabulary.  Our family has laughed until we cried at some of the silly definitions written for some of the words in Balderdash. Board games designed for younger children teach a child to take turns and that they cannot always win.  They can learn to lose graciously.

Laughter is a good medicine. King Solomon tells us in Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine”.  Playing and laughing with our children relieves our stress as well as theirs.  We sometimes forget that children, too, have stress as they seek to please their parents and teachers.  

Time spent playing with children is a wonderful investment that yields dividends for eternity.  Children grow up so fast!  Let’s take advantage of the opportunities we have to spend time with them while we can. 

Some Children are “Word Smart”

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by Pat Lamb (www.patlambchristianauthor.com)

Train up a child…

Some Children are “Word Smart”

       People who study such things say that we are born with seven intelligences.  Each of us is dominate in a few of the intelligences and weaker in others.  They are identified as:  verbal/linguistic, logical/mathematical, visual/spatial, musical/rhythmic, body/kinesthetic, interpersonal, and intrapersonal.  These are also known as: word smart, number smart, picture smart, music smart, body smart, people smart, and self smart.

         It is important that parents, teachers, or others working with children learn how to recognize the dominate interests of children, nurture those interests, and guide children toward careers that use those interests.

         When we observe the behavior of children, we see clues that help us recognize their dominate interests. Children who are word smart generally like to read and write and often express themselves well verbally.  They may be the children who have the most books read on the teacher’s chart.  They have the ability to think in words and express and appreciate complex meanings. People with this interest may also enjoy learning foreign languages. They can usually understand the different shades of meanings of words and develop a larger vocabulary than children who do not have this dominate interest.  As they get older, they will probably be the best note-takers in classes.  Some will like to keep diaries or journals.  They may like to write letters or send cards to others.  Some persons with this interest will come up with unique uses of words.  For instance, our second son once described our donkey’s “grass-stained toothy grin” when he wrote an essay.  He came up with unique nicknames and was humorous in his conversations because he was able to select and use descriptive words effectively.  

         We nurture this interest by providing good reading material and opportunities for writing.  These children need to be called upon to participate in drama presentations, debate, or public speaking. They may want to help with the school newspaper or yearbook.  Organizing a book club for the word smart children would be good.  It would also be good to ask the word smart teens to read to children.  In addition, they should be given opportunities to participate in discussions.  

         Word smart people are the people who become authors, poets, journalists, and effective public speakers. They become the television news people. Teachers, pastors or other religious leaders, proofreaders, librarians, speech pathologists, talk show hosts, or salespersons are other careers that suit this interest.  

         It is fascinating to be able to observe and identify the interests of children.  It is rewarding to be able to nurture those interests and guide children toward suitable careers.  

         Isn’t it nice that God made us with differing gifts, interests, and talents?  It makes the world a more interesting place and meets the differing needs of society. 

Being Organized Builds Confidence

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Train up a child…

Being Organized Builds Confidence

Probably every teacher and parent has witnessed a child at some time or another being frustrated because something could not be found. From “My dog ate my homework” to “Someone took it”, one excuse after another has been heard. Some children, believe it or not, are born as natural organizers. They are the ones who become engineers, auditors, or some similar profession. Most children, however, are not born as good organizers and must be taught how to handle things in such a way as to be in control of situations.
What can parents do to help children be better organized? They can be sure that a place is provided for a child’s belongings. They can help children let go of things no longer useful, and they can require children to put things in their proper places.
A child should, ideally, have a private room. Realistically, we know that this is not always possible. In either case, a child can be given his/her own space even if a room must be shared. Those of us who grew up in the years of the Great Depression remember covering orange crates with homemade curtains to provide shelves for books or other items. We used boxes under beds for personal things. (We even used baling wire across the corner of a room to hang our clothes since we had no closet!) Sometimes we could find old furniture to refinish for desks or dressers. It may take resourcefulness, but there are ways to provide places to put our belongings. Now, there are all shapes and sizes of plastic shelves, boxes, etc. for almost any purpose. Parents and children can determine together what is needed and figure out ways to provide for that need.
It helps to go through belongings periodically to get rid of items no longer being used. Broken things should be repaired or disposed of by giving or throwing away. Many of us are guilty of hanging on to things thinking that “some day” we will need something. Chances are that “some day” may never come. We need to be realistic about the things we keep around.
Once we have gotten rid of unneeded things and a place has been made for needed items, children should be required to put their things in the proper places. It is easy to get in a hurry and leave things lying around, but a child can get in a habit of putting things away if there is consistency in requiring the child to do so. A habit of neatness will be formed that hopefully carries through to organizing smaller things like notebooks, textbooks, desks, etc.
It is sad to see the look of hopelessness on a child’s face in a classroom when a paper can’t be found and the teacher and class are waiting for it to be produced. The child feels terrible! A child who is organized and can produce an item on demand feels proud and confident and unafraid of coping.