Bible Reading Plan for Children

We do family devotions and Bible reading daily with our children, but from around age seven, our children also start to read the Bible on their own. When I first started having them do this, I just let them read the Bible in order. However, I realized that I needed to change that when my [...]

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Encouragement for Christian Parents

As a Christian mother, my number one priority is to train up my children to know Christ. Nothing else can come close to the priority of wanting my children (and my children’s children, and my children’s children’s children…) to spend eternity with God – and with me! That goal drives every decision that I make [...]

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Dad Dollars

Recently in the waiting room of my doctor’s office, I picked up a Family Fun magazine. (Great magazine, by the way! If I would ever decide to subscribe to another magazine, this would be the one!) Anyhow, I read a wonderful idea, and put it to good use last week.
The idea is:

Put Dad’s face on [...]

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Children’s Chores: the Specifics

Recently, a dear friend recommended that as a follow-up to my blog post about our new chore system, I write about what chores my children do. This friend has children that are all very young (3 girls age five and under, and expecting her 4th child). I know exactly where this friend is coming from, [...]

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FAQs about our Larger than Average Family

In our “a boy for me and a girl for you, then praise the Lord, we’re finally through” culture (to quote Voddie Baucham), our family kind of sticks out in a crowd! From curious strangers at the grocery store to our closest family members, we get a lot of questions and comments on a regular [...]

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Parenting: What No Expert Can Tell You

There are so many conflicting approaches to parenting out there. How does a parent know who to listen to? Dr. Sears, Dr. Spock, Dr. Dobson, Dr. Brazleton? Our own pediatricians? Our own parents? Our neighbors with the nice kids, or our neighbors with the spoiled – but happy – kids, or our neighbors whose kids [...]

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Older Kids Babysitting Younger Ones

You may remember from my post on A Typical Homeschool Day that my older children take turns babysitting while I tutor another sibling one-on-one. I thought it might be helpful to delve into the details of how this looks.
Our three ”babysitters” are only 10, 8, and 7 years old, so they are not old enough to stay home [...]

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Encouraging Good Character

Bless your children generously for their good character and behavior! Here are a few ways that this can be done:

Smile a lot! Be generous with your expressions of encouragement and appreciation of your children’s good behavior. If your children have touched your heart by their sweetness, tell them! If your daughter has been helpful to [...]

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An Action Plan for Discipline

Before I explain what I mean by “Action Plan,” I would like to make note of a few important points, gleaned from studying many materials by Dr. James Dobson:
 
“Discipline” is not synonymous with “punishment.” Discipline sometimes involves a negative consequence, but such correction measures are only one aspect of discipline. Discipline comes from the word, [...]

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Direction in Discipline

Scripture is clear that parents are to teach and discipline their children. There are many verses that directly command us in this issue, but I will point to only three here:
Hebrews 12:11 “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have [...]

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