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Teaching Respect to Children
by Sharon Bacasmot and Linda Price
Q: I have observed that most home-schooled
children are so respectful of
adults. My husband is worried that our children may not
learn this in a
home school setting. This is especially true of my youngest
(a
pre-schooler). He wants everything his own way, but he does
listen to
others better than to me (such as his Sunday school teacher).
How do
home-schooled children learn to be respectful of and submit
to the authority
of other adults?
A: The home school setting is an excellent environment
for children to
learn to be respectful of and submit to the authority of
adults.
Prayer-guided consistent, loving parental discipline during
family times
together including the school day teach the child to be
respectful of and
submit to his or her parents.
Respectfulness is learned from two sources. The most important,
of course,
is parents. It is imperative that we require respect and
obedience from our
children. God has given us the responsibility to teach these
values.
Children also learn from observing our example -- attitudes
of respect and
obedience reflected in our interaction with and attitude
toward others.
Secondarily, children learn when they see respect modeled
by peers and
associates (Our daughter's home schooled friends came from
families where
respect for authority and elders was taught. That served
to reinforce and
encourage the behavior we expected from her).
However, the home schooled child learns to relate well
to parents and
siblings rather than becoming peer dependent. In peer dependence,
which is
common to the public school classroom setting, the opinions
of influential
classmates can become more important to a child than respecting
the ideas of
adults in authority or being kind to a younger or older
children and
siblings.
In contrast, the home schooled child has the opportunity
to spend abundant,
quality time with his or her parents and siblings and truly
learns to love,
understand, and respect each of his or her family members.
This "home
grown" respect of and submission to parents results
in respect for other
adults outside the home. Likewise, "home grown"
love and closeness to
siblings encourages kind responses to children of all ages
outside the home.
Submission to adult authority, respect for others, and
kindness toward
others are hallmarks of growth for a child who will develop
into a
responsible adult citizen who will submit to God's authority
and be able to
fulfill the purpose for which God created him or her. Respect
in our society
is sadly lacking. May God help us to train our children
to display this
Christlike trait to those around us.
If you have a homeschooling question and
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or to: HEN Newsletter, 2610 Morrie Dr., Bellevue, NE 68147.
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who will respond for publishing in a future newsletter.
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