Raising Great Kids for Parents of Preschoolers Participant's Guide

Session OneRaising Children of CharacterOVERVIEWThe parent''s task is to develop a little person into an adult. The issue along the way is not simply about the child''s being good, but about having good character.Character is the sum of our abilities to deal with life as God designed us to.As a child grows up, parents transfer more and more freedom and responsibility from their shoulders to their child''s.Growing character in children always involves the elements of development and internalizing.VIDEO SEGMENTFOUR FUNDAMENTAL FACTORS IN EFFECTIVE PARENTING- We provide a road map for creating character in our children-the ability to function as God designed them to function in the world.- There are four fundamental factors in effective parenting:- The value of love. Relationship is central to parenting. To develop, your child is going to need to be deeply related to you and others, and you are going to have to keep relationship as a goal of her development.- The value of truth. Children cannot be loved too much, but they can be disciplined too little. As a parent, you are a dispenser of truth and reality. The goal is to have your child become a person of truth, living in wisdom.- The value of freedom. You must require responsibility from your children. Then you''ll be helping them grow into free people who have learned how to use their freedom to choose good things-things like love, responsibility, service, and accomplishment.- The role of God. Character is never complete without an understanding of who one is before God. God gave parents the assignment of bringing up children to understand him and to take their proper place before him.- Because children have free will, there is no guarantee that children will turn out right. You are responsible for the process, but God is in charge of the results. This series is designed to help you with the process.-God''s plan for parenting is outlined in the Bible. If you violate any of God''s principles, both you and your child will pay.- Pray hard, get lots of support, implement suggestions you''ll find in Raising Great Kids, and enjoy your kids."WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT?"- Who is responsible for our child''s maturity and readiness for the world-us or our children?- Responsibility lies on a ____________________ between child and parent, and its position on the continuum ______________ over time. As a child grows up, parents ______________ more and more freedom and responsibility from their shoulders to their child''s.- Even though responsibility shifts, both parents and children still have their own unique and distinct ______________. Parents provide ______________ and ______________, and they also structure experiences to help the child mature. The child responds to these experiences, takes ______________, ______________, and learns ______________. Parents and children can''t do each other''s jobs; they must each do their own.- ______________ must bear the ultimate __________________ for their lives. Children always need to be moving toward full responsibility for their lives and souls.LEARNING TOGETHERENCOURAGING RESPONSIBILITYDirectionsThe three questions listed below are designed to help you start now to teach your children how to take responsibility for their lives. Turn to two or three people near you (ideally not your spouse so that you''ll have more ideas to share afterwards) and spend the next 10 minutes answering these questions. If you have time, there is a fourth question for you to discuss.1. Children must bear the ultimate responsibility for their lives. What experiences can you structure to help your preschooler take on greater responsibility? For example, what kind of schedule and system of rules for doing chores-and what consequences for not doing them-could you establish?2. The child''s tasks are to take risks, fail, and learn lessons. What risks have you seen your young one take? How have you responded-or how do you want to respond-to your child''s risk-taking and failures?3. To boTownsend, John is the author of 'Raising Great Kids for Parents of Preschoolers Participant's Guide' with ISBN 9780310232957 and ISBN 0310232953.