While I was completely intrigued by this idea, my personality did not mesh well with it. These were mothers who could make a learning experience out of everything and that just wasn't me! My mind does not process life that way, I would love for it to but no matter how hard I have tried it just doesn't come naturally to me. These amazing mothers can turn grocery shopping into learning colors, and numbers, and addition and subtraction; they can make laundry into sorting games and matching games. While it was my desire to teach my children this way I did not have it in me to do this, in my mind it was more like "lets get this done" rather than "lets count the socks." Anytime I would ask questions about teaching my children character qualities I never got many good answers. I guess I was looking for a formal curriculum, my mind has to have a plan, a written down plan of action with ideas and verses that tells me exactly what to teach them! So we bought our first homeschool curriculum called "My Fathers World." This curriculum was so exciting to me because of the fact it incorporated character qualities into the curriculum. While my children learned a great deal from this curriculum, it wasn't EXACTLY what I had in mind so I kept looking.
This past fall we enrolled my two oldest in Keepers of their Faith. It is similar to girl scouts but with an emphasis on God and being Godly little girls. They also learn fun skills such as scrapbooking, cardmaking, decoupage, etc.. While we loved Keepers, again it wasn't exactly what I was looking for in the Character building area.
So after much thought and consideration I decided I need to just make something myself! So that is my plan. We have finished the first week of my project and while it is still a work in progress- so far so good! My purpose is to teach my children not only character qualities but how to be a Godly woman. This starts at a young age and with such little things such as learning to take a shower! To some this may seem silly to go step by step off a page just to teach your child to take a shower I mean how hard can that be!
My oldest daughter is 7 and for the last year I had taught her how to turn on the shower and wash herself. I had thought that I had
showed her enough times how to take care of herself and shower, but for some reason
every time I would tell her to take a shower she would end up in a bath
splashing water up on the ceiling and all over the floor! I eventually realized after several nights cleaning up that water that maybe, just maybe
she did not actually understand what a shower was for or how to actually take one the correct way! Instead of being upset with her every time I
asked her to take a shower, I realized that she just needed a little more
guidance and supervision until she understands exactly how to accomplish that
goal of showering alone. You have to
tell a 2 year old over and over not to touch hot things for months and sometimes for years until finally one day
they understand; a 7 year old is no different.
I pray because she is 7 that she will catch on a little quicker than
my 2 year old but in essence parenting a 2 year old and a 7 year old is the
same. We are here to teach them, guide them, and help them understand life not to
get frustrated with them because our teaching has failed them. So I came up with a plan!
I sat down and planned out a shower schedule for my oldest daughter. With so many in the family and with her being so little still a daily shower isn't always necessary so we threw around options of every other day, every two days, every three days etc., until we came up with what worked for us. Once that was taken care of we began our first week of learning. The entire first week I went through how to take a shower, put on lotion afterwards, brush your hair, and teeth and sat next to her every step of the way from beginning to the end. I showed her step by step how to get her pj's before her shower, her towel, how to hang up her towel...everything exactly the way I want her to learn! After a week of being supervised and walked through the process step by step I gave her the next week to do it on her own. If I felt she did not do it right or 'forgot' part of the process the next time I will sit with her but for the most part after a week she had it down!
Not only did she learn this process but she also learned why we take showers, and why it's important to take care of our bodies. That is one thing I remember from being younger is I never had answers for things. I never understood why we do the things we do and as I got older and understood better it was easier to make those things a part of my life. So we learned that the bible says, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Romans 12:1, and "For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." 1 Corinthians 6:20, and "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own" 1 Corinthians 6:19. So instead of telling my daughter you need to take a shower so you are not dirty....she now knows why we shouldn't be dirty, she now not only understands our bodies should be clean but that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and we should take care of our temple.
This may seem like a silly place to start with her but eventually the cleanliness of our own bodies and taking care of our bodies will lead to understanding why we need to keep our rooms and houses clean or be able to cook our dinner!
So as we progress with this project it will become available on my blog for others to benefit from as well. Check lists, bible verses, etc. I'm very excited to see what comes of this project and where it takes my children spiritually!
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