| June’s
Family Value — Justice and Mercy
Justice and mercy — these words
seem too abstract for children to understand. Yet when they are
broken down into their simplest form, they are the basic values
for every household — the values around which everything else
revolves.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of June: The Value of Justice and Mercy
Begin to establish the idea of fairness
by teaching small children the word "turn." Two-year-olds
(and even many pre-twos) can understand this most basic form of
sharing.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week 3 of June:
The Value of Justice and Mercy
Even very young children can understand
the complex concepts of justice and mercy. All you have to do is
present the concepts in a way that will make them understand. Here
are some games geared to different age groups.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of June: The Value of Justice and Mercy
Although we should accept justice,
we should try to give mercy. Do not make others "pay"
for their mistakes. Do not hold grudges or carry a chip on your
shoulder. These tendencies make us vindictive and vengeful and cause
us to poison our outlook.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
The
Value of Justice and Mercy
Understanding justice and mercy can
help children who learn to obey laws, to treat others fairly, and
to be both repentant and forgiving.
In connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
The
Value of Kindness and Friendliness
Simple kindness and friendliness is
a great human value. Friendliness and gentleness also apply to self.
Children who learn to be gentle and tolerant with themselves grow
up to be less stressed and more relaxed and self-secure.
In connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
The
Value of Unselfishness and Sensitivity
(And How to Get Involved with Joy School this Fall with Your Preschooler)
The value for April, Unselfishness
and Sensitivity, is a particularly important principle because it
has so much to do with maturity and with the key skill of treating
other people well. Read here for new ways to implement this important
value.
In connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
July's
Family Value
—
Honesty
If you're going to be honest, why not be
completely honest? This month's family value is designed to teach
children of all ages the value of honesty.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
Three of July — The Value of Honesty
A weekly "Honesty Under Pressure"
Award helps children think about the consequences of truthfulness
when they are tempted to lie, and can help them develop a strong
conscience.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of July: The Value of Honesty
Here are some
exercises to teach children that although lying may appear to solve
a problem in the short term, it creates a lot more problems than
it ever solves.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
August's
Family Value — Teaching
Our Children Values:
The Apex of Our Parental Stewardship
The values we teach our children will
shape the future of the world as well as the future of our own families.
Nothing is more important. If you haven't already started this invaluable
program to teach values to your children, now is your time to jump
in.
By Richard and Linda
Eyre
September’s
Value: Peaceability
Here are some
ideas for creating a calm and serene home--even with a boisterous
family.
By Richard and Linda
Eyre
Week
2 of September, Peaceability
Help young teenagers conceptualize
the benefits of trying to "understand" rather than trying
to "win."
In Partnership with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of September, Peaceability
When you have peaceabiliy
in your family, everyone wins. Learn how to make it so.
In Partnership with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week 4 of September, Peaceability
It’s important to
help adolescents better understand and accept their moods. Young
people’s ability to be peaceable is often affected not only
by their physiology but by their concern over it.
In Partnership with Richard
and Linda Eyre
October’s
Value: Self Reliance and Potential
One who reaches his potential helps
others in many ways as he develops himself. One who never seeks
his full potential indirectly hurts others by not doing the good
or setting the example he is capable of.
By Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of October, Self-Reliance and Potential
Here are child-tested methods to help children
of all ages learn the value of self-reliance and potential.
In Partnership with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of October: Self-Reliance and Potential
As children are old enough to understand the
terms, tell them that you want to be their consultant and not their
manager. Explain that they are the ones who have to decide what
they will do and how well they will do it, and that you want to
help but not force.
In Partnership with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of October: Self Reliance and Potential
Simple as it sounds, the key "connection"
of this month's value is that children who like themselves become
capable of relying on themselves, of accepting responsibility and
of reaching for their full potential.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
November’s
Family Value: Self-Discipline and Moderation
In today’s urban setting, discipline
is often a choice rather than a necessity. To get up, to get going,
to be a self-starter and a self-motivator is neither easy nor common.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week 2 of November: Self Discipline and Moderation
One year Linda found herself nagging,
pushing, pulling and prodding on of our sons to the point where
they really didn’t like each other much. When she realized
what was happening, she had him quit music lessons and immediately
their relationship improved.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week 3 of November: Self Discipline
and Moderation
Help children see how the discipline of planning
and saving and waiting will bring results that impulsiveness and
“splurging” would destroy.
In Connection with
Richard and Linda Eyre
Week 4 of November: Self Discipline
and Moderation
Suggest that your child make a
list of the decisions he has made in advance. These
advance decisions, recorded with real intent in a teenage journal,
can be remarkably effective safeguards and “route markers”
for the right path of discipline and moderation.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
December’s
Family Value — Fidelity and Chastity
We make a very strong point of how smart and
how right it is to be careful how we use something as important
and as miraculous as sex. Something that special should be saved
for one person where it can be a wedding gift that has never been
given before.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of December: Fidelity and Chastity
If either parent “cheats” on the other, it
causes tremendous emotional strain. One parent feels guilty and
secretive. The other feels disgraced and discarded. Even if the
parents don’t separate or divorce, much of the feeling of commitment
is gone, and the family, like a house without mortar, can begin
to break apart.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of December: Fidelity and Chastity
As
children get older, talk about puberty. Try to remember experiences
from your own puberty —
how you felt when certain things happened, and so on.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of December: Fidelity and Chastity
Be generous with your physical affection.
Hug and kiss and pat. This helps prevent the "physical-affection
starvation" that can cause children, as they grow up, to look
for physical attentions from their peers.
In Connection with Richard and
Linda Eyre
Teaching
Values All Year Round
If you missed Meridian's Family Value
of the Month program last year, the good news is that there is no
time limit on it. Your children can benefit just as well this year
as they would have if you had used the program a year ago. And even
if you are a veteran of the Family Value program, all is not lost.
Your kids are a year older this year, and you can reinforce the
same values with age-appropriate teaching tools.
By Richard
and Linda Eyre
January’s
Family Value — Loyalty and Dependability
Highlight your own dependability.
Parents do things every day that illustrate their loyalty to their
children. But so many of these things are so automatic that they
are seldom noticed and seldom used as visible examples of this important
moral value.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week 2 of January: Loyalty and
Dependability
Family traditions, mottoes, slogans,
and other family-specific things can help small children feel the
security of belonging to a strong family, to an institution for
which they can feel loyalty.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of January: Loyalty and Dependability
These stories and games will help your children
choose ahead of time to be loyal and dependable every day.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of January: Loyalty and Dependability
Give your children second chances to be dependable.
When small children fail to do something they’ve said they will
do, say, “Let’s start over and do this right. Let’s be dependable.
Let’s pretend I’ve never asked you to do that. Now I’m going to
ask you — and let’s see what you do.”
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
February’s
Family Value — Respect
The teaching of respect is an interesting
and somewhat difficult proposition. The main thing to remember is
that respect isn't given unless it is received.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of February: Respect
Do the simple things we learned in kindergarten
still apply? Would the world be a better place if adults all continued
to practice and implement these simple lessons?
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of February: Respect
Point out the damage and danger of talking
negatively to and about yourself. This teaches the practice of self-respect.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of February: Respect
Ask your children if they want to learn some
more magic words. Explain that please will often cause people to
do things; thank you will help others feel happy inside; excuse
me will help make friends, keep people calm, and so on.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
March’s
Family Value — Love
We may not always love those who serve us.
But unconditional, understanding, fully accepting love warms us
without reservation and brings about our reciprocal love. And while
we may not necessarily love those who serve us, we will love those
whom we serve.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of March: Love
One way to teach small children love is through
service. If given proper instruction, even a three-year-old can
set the table, put his own toys away, and help make his bed, even
though these tasks are much easier to do yourself.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of March: The Value of Love
Secret services can help young children taste
the delight of anonymous giving. With your little ones, decide on
something you can do for someone anonymously. Then find the joy
in doing it.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
April's
Family Value — Unselfishness and Sensitivity
Children have difficulty applying their
own feelings to others. A child can feel crushed one day because
Jimmy didn't invite him to his birthday party and the next day forget
to include someone who looks lonely in the basketball game at recess.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of April: Unselfishness and Sensitivity
Help children express and thus explore
and enhance their sensitivity. Be sure a child has a journal or
diary. Keep one yourself. Encourage the expression of feelings.
Teach children to being many sentences in their journal with the
words "I feel..."
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of April: Unselfishness and Sensitivity
The game consists of looking at the
picture and attempting to describe how the person in the picture
feels. Try to speculate how he or she might feel emotionally. Let
each person imagine how the subject feels and express his or her
own observations.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of April: Unselfishness and Sensitivity
Don't expect feelings to flow as freely
as you may wish on the first few efforts of sharing your feelings
with your children. Be content to talk about your feelings a few
times and be patient about your child's expressions.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
May’s
Family Value — Kindness and Friendliness
Teach your children the positive, pro-active
side of being a friend, acting friendly and kind, and becoming more
polite and courteous — even to themselves. Children who are gentle
and tolerant with themselves grow up to be less stressed and more
relaxed and self-secure.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Week
2 of May: The Value of Kindness and Friendliness
Help adolescents learn to remember the names
of the people they meet. Discuss with children the importance of
people's names. (The most important word to anyone is his own name!)
Point out that remembering names is a great key in the art of making
friends.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
3 of May: The Value of Kindness and Friendliness
Teach your children that people and societies
have discovered the behavior that is best for everyone. These codes
are called politeness and manners.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Week
4 of May: The Value of Kindness
Although we hate to admit it, sometimes our
child is the one making another child miserable. In these cases
we can console ourselves by realizing that it is never too late.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Courageous Ideas to Help Parents
Teach
We can't force courage on our children, and
we can't give it to them. They must find it for themselves and within
themselves.
In Partnership with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Instilling Courage in Family
Members
Here are some ideas to help foster courage
in family members — or in yourself.
In Partnership with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Courage — The Meridian Family Value of the Month
There's a difference between the true
courage of being a leader for the right, standing up for what you
believe, and resisting peer pressure and the false courage
of accepting dares, taking risks, and being foolhardy.
In Partnership with Richard and Linda Eyre
The Meridian Family
Value for the Month: Self-Reliance and Potential
One who reaches his potential helps others
in many ways as he develops himself. One who never seeks his full
potential indirectly hurts others by not doing the good or setting
the example he is capable of.
In
Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
Peaceability
Teaching Methods for All Ages
Help children see that the opposite of peace
is fighting and that since one person can't fight by himself, both
sides of a fight must be partly to blame.
In Connection with Richard
and Linda Eyre
Teaching Peaceability to Children
Oh how much some of us parents would give
for a little more peace in our homes — for a little less sibling rivalry
— for a little more gentleness, and
kindness, and QUIET! If this describes you, this article can be
a lifesaver.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
The Meridian Family Value of the Month: Courage
If you taught your children about courage
last year, don't think you don't need to repeat the lessons. This
year your children are a year older and a year wiser. You can teach
them the same value on a whole new level.
In Connection with Richard and Linda Eyre
The
Meridian Family Value of the Month — Introduction
Whatever it may be that divides us
on this planet, none of it is as strong as what unites us when it
comes to our feelings for our children.
By
Richard and Linda Eyre |
