Fostering a foundation of respect between you and your teen requires time and intentionality. The good news is that your investment now pays off in the long run as you show your child respect.
Respecting each other is not just a good idea to help your relationship grow stronger, but God requires that we show respect. In I Peter 2:17 (NIV), the Bible says, “Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.”
In this episode, I share ways you can foster respect between you and your child.
Ways to Foster Respect Between You and Your Teen
Understand your child’s point of view.
Remember, every person is made in God’s image.
Let your child feel seen and heard.
Look at your teen in the eyes
Serve one another
Monitor how you speak to each child
Over the years, I’ve seen well-intentioned parents who believed respect wasn’t a two-way street. They demanded to be respected by their child but failed to understand their responsibility to show respect to their child. When you take the time to show your child respect, your child will start to mirror your example.
People often ask me how I taught my children. I love it when I get the opportunity to share how we homeschooled our kids. But what I love even more is helping parents teach their children! Let’s talk about how to teach children well!
Parents have been led to believe that one needs a degree or some special training to be a good teacher. I wrestled with feeling like I didn’t have what it takes to be a teacher for many years. I had neither an education degree nor special training. What I did have was a desire to provide an excellent education for my children. But that didn’t mean there weren’t times I felt inadequate for the job. Honestly, I’ve never met a parent who didn’t question themselves from time to time. The truth is education isn’t a mystery.
In today’s episode, I’ll unpack three key strategies that will help you teach your children.
How To Teach Children
Know your child.
Encourage them to try.
Manage your expectations.
We must keep in mind that children have a natural desire to learn. The key is for us to nurture their curiosity and not drive it out of them.
How to Nurture Curiosity
Create a positive attitude about school.
Look for signs of readiness.
Work toward mastery, not a completed worksheet.
How We Can Help Our Kids
Show them we believe in them.
Allow them to pursue their interests. (This doesn’t mean they don’t have to do subjects they don’t like.)
Let them observe success being modeled.
Be available when help is needed.
Match readiness with a subject
Let them experience what they are learning in real life.
Provide plenty of activities for them to explore.
We run into trouble when we forget learning new concepts takes a lot of brainpower. You need to know how to help a child who struggles with staying focused and isn’t ready to move forward.
You don’t have to have a degree in education or special training to teach children well!
Has your child been bullied? Do you find out or did they tell you? How do you know if they are dealing with bullying or if it’s general conflict that they can resolve?
It’s vital that children understand the difference between bullying and general conflict so they can properly navigate each scenario wisely.
Parents often teach their children to resolve conflict, but the problem is bullies aren’t interested in resolution. They are interested domination and intimidation. They seek to hurt or harm others by their actions.
As parents we need to learn and teach our children the characteristics of a bully.
Characteristics of a Bully
Aggressive
Repeated
Power Imbalance
Other Key Points
Two important action steps you must do if you think your child is being bullied.
What we must do to protect our child.
How to create a place where your child feels safe: use words like we and us, work together to help your child discern the next steps. Your child needs to know if they are being bullied it’s not their fault.
*If you know someone being bullied or someone who is bullying others don’t ignore it. Contact the proper authorities before the matter escalates. And if your child has been bullied find a trained mental health professional who can help your child work through what happened.
About Candice Duggar
Candice Duggar is the founder of Bullied, Broken, Redeemed, and a nationally recognized anti-bullying expert, author, speaker, and trainer. Candice and her team specialize in equipping leaders, parents, and youth on all aspects of Gen Z Bullying. These life-changing programs use interactive activities and projects to motivate and empower effective anti-bullying warriors. Candice has been seen on NBC, CBN, FRC on top of training fortune 100 companies. She is also regularly featured as a keynote at events nationally and international conferences.
On top of being an anti-bullying warrior, Candice is passionate about helping families transition from public school to homeschool. Her “Coming Home” Series of talks and workshops are a blessing for those trying to navigate the sometimes difficult transition. She is also the co-founder of the Reimagine Education Conference, specializing in helping families transition to homeschooling. This conference is an annual event and has now grown to an international presence with over 80 speakers and 100 talks.
Have you or your child been on the receiving end of bullying? If so, you know how emotionally traumatic it can be for your child. Bullying is a repeated pattern targeted at someone weaker, younger, or more vulnerable. So, how do you handle bullying?
What is bullying? The act of bullying is an intentional behavior designed to hurt another person by wanting to intimidate or get their way. Anti-Bullying warrior Candace Duggar and I discuss how to identify and deal with bullying.
How to Handle Bullying
Bullying v Conflict Resolution
How to help a child being bullied
At what age to discuss bullying
How to handle bullies
Steps a parent needs to take to help their child
Bullies can’t bully without a victim. Teaching your child to avoid and learn to stand up to bullies is the focus of this conversation.
About Candice Duggar
Candice Duggar is the founder of Bullied, Broken, Redeemed, and a nationally recognized anti-bullying expert, author, speaker, and trainer. Candice and her team specialize in equipping leaders, parents, and youth on all aspects of Gen Z Bullying. These life-changing programs use interactive activities and projects to motivate and empower effective anti-bullying warriors. Candice has been seen on NBC, CBN, FRC on top of training fortune 100 companies. She is also regularly featured as a keynote at events nationally and international conferences.
On top of being an anti-bullying warrior, Candice is passionate about helping families transition from public school to homeschool. Her “Coming Home” Series of talks and workshops are a blessing for those trying to navigate the sometimes difficult transition. She is also the co-founder of the Reimagine Education Conference, specializing in helping families transition to homeschooling. This conference is an annual event and has now grown to an international presence with over 80 speakers and 100 talks.
* If you know someone who is being bullied or is bullying others contact the proper authorities before the matter escalates. And if your child has been bullied find a trained mental health professional who can help your child work through what happened.
It’s time to exhale; the election is over! You’ve prayed and voted. Now it’s time to discuss the winners and losers with your children in a constructive way so they learn how to express their views with clarity and conviction.
How to discuss post-election results with children:
Assign everyone a job
Don’t start with a list you want to discuss
Listen when your kids talk
Don’t allow siblings to mock or put down each other
Affirm each other
Don’t get into arguments
Ask leading questions
Over the years, we attended rallies and spoke with candidates to learn more about their policies and principles. When the polls closed, we would watch the election results come in as a family. Some of our candidates won and some lost. For weeks, we talked about what would happen next. I wanted them to learn life will go on. Once they grew-up, I wondered if they would take their responsibility seriously. They do! I’ve learned those post-election results conversations made a difference in how they process elections. Your children might not seem interested right now, but they are listening and learning from you. It’s your opportunity to influence your child, whether your candidate won or lost.
Elections can create tension between family members. But we can discuss politics, share our positions, and engage in dynamic conversations with our children without blow-ups and slammed doors! Here are some election-week tips!
Election Week Tips
Don’t expect complete agreement
Avoid negative verbal exchanges
Stop if tempers flare
Ask for clarification
Remain calm
It’s okay to press pause
You are raising young adults
When children understand that home is a safe place to express their opinions and discuss important political topics, they gain the confidence to participate in the election process as adults.
