While listening to Moody Radio's "Mid-day Connection," I was impressed by the program's guest, former attorney and now stay-at-home mom Christine Field. She answered callers questions about child-rearing and development with such wisdom I decided I must read her book.
"Life Skills for Kids" is most appropriate for those who have children from toddler age to about age 12. The premise of the book is that parents need specific direction in preparing their young ones for adult life in the real world.
Rather than "subcontracting" our children to others, Field advocates taking the bull the horns and offering our children plenty of direction. The book is arranged around fourteen, "Maxims of Maturity." In short, they are:
1. Responsibility begins in small things, and it should be timed well. 2. Children must learn to get along with others and to resolve and manage conflict on their own. 3. Everyone lives somewhere. We need to take care of that place. 4. It's a big and sometimes uncertain world, and our children need to know how to navigate it safely. 5. We must use our time wisely. 6. We need to manage our work and living space wisely. 7. Things break and need maintenance. The more we can learn to do on our own, the more self-reliant we will be. 8. Money: either we learn to handle it or it will handle us. 9. Each of us has only one body, we need to learn to take care of it. 10. A brain is a valuable thing. We should aim to make it work at peak performance. 11. If God is not the center of our life, it will ultimately be unsatisfying. 12. The more decisions we make, the better decision makers we become. 13. We can all develop and nourish creativity. 14. Celebrate, rejoice and be glad! This day is all we have.
Field gets to the point when she discusses teaching our children "people skills." She writes:
"One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the knowledge that the universe does not revolve around them.....We tend to indulge our children out of love for them, but love is not indulgence. Love is training your children and sometimes being tough with them, asking them to learn unselfishness, being strong enough to tolerate their not liking you when you try to do the right thing....this ability to look beyond oneself is a critical people skill."
The book is filled with both concepts and specifics, even detailing how to mix homemade cleaners which are safe for children's chores. The author is balanced and thorough. She is neither too strict nor too lax, realizing on one hand the value of play, creative time, and freedom to make decisions, while on the other hand acknowledging the need for responsibility and accountability.
As far as goals and direction go, the book is through. Though the author has attempted to direct her book toward Christian families in general, her advice (great as it is) is based upon her personal family life. Since Field is a homeschool mom, so she does not address particular concerns unique to public school families or families with moms who work outside the home. Despite a gap or two, this book is a must read for all Christian parents whose children are between ages 2 and 12.
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GOLFO LAMBROULI
Being mum/dad is not just love and a clean house..
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2013