by Donna | Jun 19, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
In our last post, we described our morning (and after nap) times with our toddlers. TodayMy B I will give you links to some of our favorite early children’s books/Bibles. See our blog at https://www.positiveparenting3-6-5blogspot.com/ for more reviews of resouces to use to teach your children the Bible and character!
“My Bible Friends” https://www.kidenergy.com/14-002.html
“Leading Little Ones to God” https://www.sonlight.com/BB01.html
“The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes” https://www.moodypublishers.com/pub_productDetail.aspx?id=41823&pid=53160
“Bible Time Nursery Rhyme” https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Time-Nursery-Rhyme-Book/dp/089081404X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1306172724&sr=1-1
“Christian Mother Goose” https://www.christianmothergoose.com/
“My First Hymnal’ https://www.rainbowchristianstore.com/product.asp?sku=0634056727
“The Beginner’s Bible” https://beginnersbible.com/
“The Early Reader’s Bible” https://www.christianbook.com/the-early-readers-bible-revised/v-beers/9780310701392/pd/07062
by Donna | Jun 15, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
When our babies got to be about six months old or so—and then throughout their toddlerhood—we seldom rocked them to sleep. If the baby was still nursing, I would nurse, rock, sing, oftentimes read, etc. then frequently put the baby in bed awake. (It should be noted that this was after a gentle introduction to the world with frequent nursings and close physical contact for the first few months.) When the baby was being weaned, the first feeding to go was often the afternoon nursing—and it was replaced with the baby’s own special story and song time.
While we seldom rocked our babies to sleep after six months or so, they were almost always gotten out of bed following naps and in the mornings with “rockies and reading.” This post is falling under “when you rise up,” but could also fall under “when you sit in your house” (after baby’s nap). “Rockies and reading” time is an opportunity to do many amazing things in parenting of these little ones: (1) Help them start their day or late afternoon/evening cheerfully; (2) Give them a little bonding time of their own (when other siblings do not need or “get” Mommy; (3) Start their Bible teaching, read aloud times, and love for learning at an early age; (4) Build memories that will warm your heart when your three youngest children are eighteen, sixteen, and twelve (!).
We had two baskets for our babies: the baby toy basket and the baby book basket (more on that in “character training” through chores in the morning later on). The baby book basket held cardboard, cloth, and plastic coated books for Baby. Several of these were Bible story books, and I read from these every day for as long as Baby would sit there and look at them with me, rocked, sang songs, did rhymes, and bonded when I got the toddler out of bed in the mornings or after naps. Our toddlers never missed being rocked to sleep with “rockies and readings” a couple of times a day! Smile…
Tomorrow: links for some of my favorite “early Bible books” for toddlers.
by Donna | Jun 2, 2011
“You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deuteronomy 6:7
Today I will list (along with links and short annotations) some of the “collections” that we have used with our “littles.” Some of these are spiritual in nature; some were used for Bible/character reading for morning devotions (“when you rise up”); some were used for story time and other fun reading times. I am going to put all of them here, regardless of how/when they were used, so all “collections” are together. Happy reading!
”The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes”—one of our first Bible picture books; this book was one of the first story Bibles that I did with my little ones (after cardboard Bible stories, etc. for toddlers); I review it at the link given below—it is worth searching for the original one—the illustrations are so beautiful, not whimsical like the newer one: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-thirty-two-start-young-with-bible.html
“Leading Little Ones to God”—catechism for kids! Great “collection devotional” for young ones; introduces children to attributes of God, basic tenets of the faith, and more—all at a preschool level: https://www.sonlight.com/BB01.html
“Answers for Kids”—these little books are perfect creation science books for preschoolers; they are the children’s counterpart to the “Answers Book” for older kids and adults; colorful; answer questions that kids have about creation, the truth of Scripture, dinosaurs, Genesis, and more’ even though this is not divided into “days” like many of my “collections” are, you can still do an entry a day, making it a perfect “collection” for littles: https://www.answersingenesis.org/PublicStore/product/Answers-Book-for-Kids-Set-The-Volumes-1-amp-2,5728,184.aspx
“Case for Kids” series—these little books are the children’s counterpart to Lee Strobel’s “Case for” series for older kids and adults; while not as colorful or quite as “preschool” as the “Answers,” this series is great for answering tough questions about Scripture in a child-friendly way (more for ages six to twelve than preschool); each “entry” is a question with its corresponding answer:
https://www.lifewaystores.com/lwstore/product.asp?isbn=0310711479
“Oxford Illustrated Children’s Book of American Poetry”—We have used this book when we are studying American history, reading a poem a day during morning reading; not all of the poems are necessarily “children’s poems,” but they are illustrated and fun, for the most part:
https://www.sonlight.com/EA04.html?cat=1393
“Tales of Beatrix Potter”—while individual stories are less cumbersome to hold (and not so heavy!) and often more elaborately illustrated, we have loved our children’s “collection” story books, such as these stories from the famous children’s author; there are beautiful illustrations scattered here and there, as well as many tales, some of which are lesser known ones: https://www.amazon.com/Beatrix-Potter-Complete-Tales/dp/072325804X
“Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories”—one of my oldest “collections”; we got these from a door-to-door salesman when Joshua (now 28) was a baby; these used to be found in doctors’ waiting rooms everywhere; they are older type of character stories about children who did or did not display various character qualities; I recommend the original five-volume set—the newer, shorter ones are not as well-illustrated and a little “girly” looking with their pastel covers; while these are older stories, their topics are timeless—honesty, obedience, kindness, trustworthiness, submission, respect; all of my kids have loved these (and it isn’t uncommon for my adult kids to get them off the shelves and look through them when they are home!):
https://www.christianbook.com/uncle-arthurs-bedtime-stories/9780828010207/pd/545333
“Curious George Collection”—this one speaks for itself—over a dozen Curious George books in one volume:
https://search.barnesandnoble.com/Curious-George/H-A-Rey/e/9780618154241
“Six by Seuss”—six Dr. Seuss books in one volume, some of which we do not even have in individual books:
https://search.barnesandnoble.com/Six-by-Seuss/Dr-Seuss/e/9780679821489
“James Harriot’s Animal Stories”—this lovely book is the children’s counterpart of James Herriot’s adult stories:
https://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=1593973535
“Character Sketches”—the number one most age-spanning devotional that we have ever used; we started this with our four year olds and I still use it every week for our twelve and sixteen year olds; it is “individual entry” if you do all of the animal one on one day (about 15 mins reading) and all of the Bible one on another day (again 15 mins reading); my review of it is given at the provided link: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-136-character-sketches-review-faith.html
https://www.tfths.com/character.php
“Cloud of Witnesses”—this compilation of sixteen godly heroes is a biographical compilation written at a third or fourth grade level—good for reading aloud to younger kids and for new and emerging readers to read for themselves; introduce your children to godly heroes such as Amy Carmichael, Billy Graham, Hudson Taylor, DL Moody, William and Catherine Boothe, and George Mueller, among others; this book was written by our now-missionary nurse daughter when she was sixteen years old: https://www.tfths.com/
“Hero Tales”—this three volume compilation of godly heroes is also written at third or fourth grade level; hardcover, so a little pricier, but if you desire to read biographies “more often than not” to your kids, you will want to get this collection:
https://www.christianbook.com/treasury-stories-christian-heroes-volume-i/dave-jackson/9780764200786/pd/20078X
“Stories to Read Aloud” and “More Stories to Read Aloud”—these collections of stories are amazing; selections from Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, Mark Twain, Louisa May Alcott, Robert Frost, O Henry, and more—specially arranged for children five and up—but our teens love all of these stories! https://www0.epinions.com/prices/Classics_to_Read_Aloud_to_Your_Children_edited_by_William_F_Russell
“Hey, Listen to This” by Jim Trelease—another great book of read aloud stories!
https://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0140146539
“What the Bible Is All About for Young Explorers”—
https://www.christianbook.com/what-bible-about-for-young-explorers/henrietta-mears/9780830723638/pd/23633
Punctuation note: As the author of over forty language arts/writing books, I know that titles of major works (books, etc.) should be in italics when they are typed/keyed (and underlined when writing by hand) and that minor works (magazine articles, encyclopedia essays, etc.) are to be surrounded by quotation marks. In the blog, however, I generally put major works AND minor works in quotation marks because the blog seems to lose some of its formatting, including italics and underlines at times.
by Donna | Mar 8, 2011
Continued from last post…
3. Decide ahead of time what your “behavior absolutes” are.
a. These are the behaviors or character that you absolutely will not allow in your home. What you allow now will become the “acceptable behaviors” to your child. These seemingly innocent actions include “fibbing,” hitting, running the other way when called, etc.
b. For us, these “behavior absolutes” included talking back (no toddler saying “no” without being punished); lying or deceit; temper tantrums; and striking (hitting, pulling hair, throwing things at someone, etc.). Obviously, we wanted our kids to learn to obey and submit to us and to learn the many character qualities that are crucial to living a Christian life, but these four things were things we never wavered on—and things that we made huge deals out of when they were not adhered to by the toddler/preschooler.
4. Start showing your little one the joy of doing what is right. Contentment in your own life, the blessing of work, the joy of loving God and His people—and all of the character that you want your little one to adopt in his life—love, longsuffering, diligence, responsibility, and more will more likely be realized in our kids’ lives when we ourselves embrace and model them.
5. Try to establish routines that will aid in his character development—bedtimes, rising times, little “chores” (putting his books in his book basket after you read), nap times, meal times, story time, etc.
For more tips on toddlers and babies, click on the links provided below:
Who makes the decisions for the children—starts here and goes for a few days: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/10/day-260-who-makes-decisions-for.html
Say what you mean—starts here and goes for two days: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/09/day-248-dont-leave-your-little-one-at.html
Storytime: https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/07/day-204-story-time.html
by Donna | Mar 3, 2011
Question: How can I start some of the character training concepts and habits that you describe with a toddler?
Answer: If you are just starting out with your family and have only a toddler, you have the perfect opportunity to start out right in the character training of your children! I will offer some general tips below, but even more importantly than the “daily ins and outs” of the ideas I recommend, I suggest that you read Parenting Paradigms at this blog. Even if you take to heart some of the ideas for your little one given in this Q and A, in the end, you will be more successful at character training if you have a firm handle on what you believe about parenting and children.
Toddler Character Training Tips:
1. Start adapting the toddler to your schedule and your family’s lifestyle as soon as you can (six to nine months) rather than making your family’s life revolve around the little one’s “wants.” You want to enjoy your toddler within the dynamics that your family already has (with the addition of the joy and wonder that a toddler brings into the family, of course)—as opposed to making everything change to meet unnecessary and often damaging demands that a toddler who is given his own way all the time can often make.
2. Remember that you are setting the stage right now for your child’s “tastes” (follow us on PP 365 or schedule our seminar for more details about this important concept).
a. You can set his tastes for defiance (allowing screaming, throwing, thrashing, and “no” from him) or submission.
b. You can set his tastes for selfishness and meanness (allowing hitting or other forms of striking, giving in to him when he wants something that someone else has, always making his surroundings whatever he wants (i.e. no bedtime, no sitting in high chair, etc.) due to “fits” or for kindness, gentleness, sweetness, and tenderness.
c. You can set his tastes for hyper-stimulation and activity (too much running; no scheduled down times; television and videos all the time) or for simple things (books, healthy toys, rest, etc.).
d. You can set his tastes to lack focus and not enjoy learning (again, too much video, not starting out with books and simple music; an avalanche of cartoons and children’s programming (some of which are developed in two second bits to keep up with short attention spans, thus, causing kids’ attention spans not to lengthen as they should) or a love for learning (via books, strong family learning and discussion times, etc.).
Tomorrow—deciding “behavior absolutes” for your toddler and establishing routines.
