Take time with your loved ones: March 2012

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

How to Teach the Bible to Kids

By: Cherry Moriones Doromal

My two sons both enjoy reading the Bible and watching Bible stories online. As they have both developed this interest, I’m blessed enough for not having to exert extra effort in convincing them to read what they call the “Super Book”.

Strategy, of course, is another issue. How to make kids understand the Bible is an imaginative task. Here are some ideas on how to teach the Bible to the little ones:

1. When to begin. Teaching the Bible to kids is not a difficult job to parents who start early. As we say: “Early bird catches the worm.” Begin exposing your child to the Bible as early as possible. As soon as the child is exposed to Bible principles through applicable means, like Biblical songs or kids’ praise, exposure grows into interest and interest forms a habit.

2. Where to begin. In teaching the Bible, start with the basic and most important character—God, the Supreme Being. It is really important to start right because this becomes the foundation of your child’s faith. This may be effectively taught by starting with “creation” in the book of Genesis, where the power of God was shown when He created the world and everything in it. The next step is to introduce Jesus, which may be begun with a lesson on the promise of Savior to Mary through Angel Gabriel; to be followed by the story of the birth of Christ. For kids of all levels, the many miracles of Jesus Christ, which can be easily imagined, are ideal sequence of lessons.

3. Use visual aids to illustrate. Visual aids have three main purposes—to catch the kid’s attention, for better comprehension and retention. If the kid is two to seven years old, use colored pictures to help him understand the story better. Online resources may also be used. For kids older than seven years old, any form of visual aids, such as puppets, may be used.

4. Involve the kid. After telling a story, you may engage your child to helpful activities like games, creative arts, and drawing, in relation to the story he learned, for enhanced recall. If you have more than one kid, interactive activities may be done indoors and outdoors.

5. Memory verse. Since kids have good memory, take this opportunity to make them keep the Word of God in their hearts, while developing their memory skills, by having them memorize Biblical verses. Start with short verses, like Genesis 1:1,“In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” As the child improves, you may have him try longer verses.

6. Helpful videos. One passive yet effective way to teach the Bible to your kids is to leave them alone in the room while watching Bible animation. To complete the feel, treat them with snacks, like what they would have in a movie house.

7. Bible story telling at bedtime. Instead of counting sheep before he sleeps, share a Bible story with your kid at bedtime. It doesn’t have to be long, and it doesn’t matter if you repeat similar stories many times. The logic here is to make God’s Word a vital part of your kid’s daily life.

8. Sunday School/Vacation Bible School. Since I’m a Sunday School baby, too, I can attest on how this experience has influenced me. Those I learned 30 years ago are still fresh in my memory. While not all churches offer Sunday School sessions, when given an option to send your kid to Sunday School or Vacation Bible School classes, don’t hesitate to have him join the class, even if you feel your child won’t understand the lesson. Trust that God will have your kid understand the Bible in due time. Isaiah 55:11 says, “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Raising our kids in the knowledge of God is a wonderful decision. Let’s take it from the great psalmist King David who said: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105) May the Word of God enlighten both our path and our kids’ today and everyday .

Links:

Watch: The Whole Duty of Man by Ezekiel Wilson Doromal

Watch: Speak to Me by Zecheriah Wilson Doromal

Watch: The Whole Duty of Man (at Home Version) by Zecheriah Wilson Doromal

Watch: Speak to Me by Ezekiel Wilson Doromal
International School MGIS

Note: This article is supposed to be published for Balsam Brands by the author. At the time of this posting, the herein author attests that she did not receive any form of payment/royalty due her from Balsam Brands with respect to this article; hence, the author claims full ownership of this piece of writing. This post may be shared and reproduced by anyone provided that authorship by the undersigned be recognized. Change of author’s name or the use of aliases to misrepresent authorship of this blog in favor of another person, real or fictitious, will be deemed a flagrant act of fraud and plagiariasm of contents.

Authored by: Cherry Moriones-Doromal

How to Discipline a Child with Minimal (or No) Spanking

By Cherry Moriones-Doromal

Being blessed with two boys, I find it challenging for me as a mom to raise my two kids, who have two distinct personalities, in a single standardized manner.

Disciplining the child is a skill that parents learn over the years of living with their kids.

In my approach of discipline, Proverbs 22:6 guides me along the way, where it says: “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” And as to how I apply the principle, please check these out:

1.Start early. Mold your child’s ideal behavior as early in his life as possible. Developmental psychologists say that even the newborn has his own way of communicating his feelings and responding to mommy’s voice and other sounds—cooing, gurgling, smiling, and crying. So, it is important that you communicate with your kid in a manner that he will understand. For instance, a warm hug or kiss to a baby will mean love. Or to a first grader, how do you communicate good grooming? Do this by combing his hair, fixing his clothes, and putting on cologne before he goes to school, and say these simple words: “You look great. This is the way you should be every day.”

2.Set an example. The general principle in disciplining the child is to “do what you preach.” If you want something for your child to adopt, set an example. You may not effectively teach your child the bad effects of smoking if you frequently smoke in front of him.

3.Form a habit. A habit starts by introducing the right thing and doing the same thing constantly. For instance, if you want your child to eat vegetables, then, introduce to him vegetables by serving vegetables (such as carrots, cabbage, broccoli, etc.) regularly in his meals.

4.Involve the child. A Chinese proverb says: “Tell me I will forget. Show me I will remember. Involve me and I will understand.” The effects are poles apart in “simply saying swimming is fun”, “having your child watch kids swimming”, and “having your child dip himself in the pool to swim”. Educators and psychologists agree with similar principle that learning is attained most when the person is involved. In this manner, the person is able to tell others about his experience, and that experience will stick in his mind.

5.Make good things fun. Forcing your child to do something good may imply future negative repercussions, such as rebellion, inability to decide for/by himself or hatred. Better than pressing on him, think of fun ways of making him do something out of his own choice. For instance, in my case, I want my kids to be thoughtful. How do I train them to be thoughtful? Last Christmas, for instance, I prepared a table complete with art materials--colorful pens, nice paper, scissors etc. -- and asked the boys if they wanted to join me in creating Christmas cards for dad and granny. Yes, they joined me and were both excited to give their personalized Christmas cards to everyone.

6.Reward for good things done. The reward system,also known as positive reinforcement, is an excellent counterpart of corporal punishment or spanking. When your child does something good (even just simple ones, not necessarily outstanding acts), let him enjoy rewards. If he studied well, then let him play his favorite computer games on weekend.

7.Transform negative instructions to positive. Child psychologists believe that negative words and phrases like "no," "don't," "you can't," "I won't," "stop," and "not until” have unhelpful effects to the child. When a parent says "no," the child perceives the parent as a hindrance to what he wants to do. Parents are advised not to use these words, as much as possible, and just think of creative ways to speak their instructions. For instance, your child asks for chocolate candies right ahead of lunch. Instead of saying, "No chocolates until you've finished your lunch," you could say, "Sure, you can have chocolates after we’ve eaten lunch.”

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

How to Teach the Bible to Kids

Friday, March 2, 2012

How to Discipline a Child with Minimal (or No) Spanking