A few weeks ago I had a chance to share with my church’s homeschool support group. The theme was “Encouraging Our Kids” and we learned why it’s so important to learn our children’s love languages (Dr. Gary Chapman) in order to speak to their hearts. I try to be intentional about doing this with Brendan and Ryan, but it was a good reminder for this mama too 🙂 .
Here’s the handout that I shared with our group:
Ways to Encourage Your Children:
-Pray with them each day. Praise God for successes, ask for help with struggles, and thank Him for the incredible blessing of homeschooling!
-Smile! Even when you don’t feel like it – your attitude influences the whole family. Remember that the joy of the Lord is your strength. A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22
-As much as possible, make learning fun! We want our kids to have a love of learning. Even though it requires more work, an effort to provide a hands-on project, a field trip, etc. will be well worth the effort.
*Learn your child’s love language (Dr. Gary Chapman)!
- Words of affirmation
- Quality time
- Receiving gifts
- Acts of Service
- Physical Touch
(If you want to read more about the Five Love Languages of Kids, click here.)
-Be spontaneous! Let God guide your day, not the lesson plan or curriculum.
-Leave your kids notes of encouragement, Bible verses, jokes, etc. in random places that they will find throughout the day. Another option is to text your teens.
-Surprise them with a special treat (a small gift, a letter, a day off, a surprise field trip, etc).
-Just live life with them, build them up in the Lord, let them know that you’re not perfect (be real), and love them every day!
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We then took some time to write our kids notes of encouragement and make treats to share with them. I forgot to take pictures, but below are a few pics of things I have done over the years including gifts, hands-on projects, and spending time one-on-one with each child.
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I also took a few minutes to encourage the moms in our group…I’ll share more about that next week 🙂 .
