David and I get asked how we taught our little children to love the Lord with all their heart,soul, mind and strength. If you've read our book then you know some of what we do with our school age kids. But what about those early years. Here are just a few of the things that stand out as I think back on those very busy, yet very fulfilling days!! Veggie Tales was just coming out and we used that to talk
about Jesus. We also used lots of nature examples to teach that God is everywhere i.e.
signs of winter, spring, summer, and fall. He made it all!!
With behavior, we talked about wanting Jesus to win not
the devil! There is a great book series that my little guys loved that you can
get online - Building Christian Character Series by Michael Waite. Our
favorite is Suzy Swoof: A book about kindness. There are about a dozen and you
can get them each for under $5.
The videos that were our favorite were done by the Duron family
called the Best Buddies. The songs were catchy, easy to memorize and taught the
children how to love each other. Here is how to get those: http://www.thebestbuddies.com/ I know
they are only available in VHS/cassettes but you may be able to convert them - they are worth it. One of our favorite songs is," If its not fun for
everyone, its not fun!"
There is also a family devotional series call Family Time
that my brother does. It suggests an object lesson, scripture and a short
jingle that teaches the heart of the verse. It offers age appropriate material. Here is the website: http://www.famtime.com/go/
Lastly, as they got into school, they fell asleep to
Adventures in Odyssey, the Focus on the Family CD series that is excellent.
Overall, what we really emphasized pre-K was obedience,
kindness and self- control toward us, their siblings and friends. These were important lessons that became the foundation for the rest of what we were teaching.
Hope this helps! Enjoy and cherish this season with your
children! Thank you for making your family a priority and growing it to draw others to Christ!
Love and Blessings,
David and Kelli
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So glad to have found your blog! My husband and I were both blessed by the parenting conference you did several months ago in the little town of Gaston, Oregon. Thank you for your ministry and life-giving words to parents. The trickle-down effect will be tremendous, I’m sure of it.
I appreciated the time you took to hear and understand the particulars of different stories and trials, doing so with humility and grace, but also much wisdom. I’m hoping to continue to learn from you, as I found your practical and tried-and-true advice to be so helpful. If this isn’t an appropriate forum for problem solving child-rearing dilemmas, just let me know.
I’m in those intense toddler years with two little boys, one who is almost 3 ½ and one who just turned two. It’s my eldest whom I am challenged with the most, and would love your input. I’m struggling with how best to handle attitudes at this age. While I believe some of what I’m seeing is developmental, I also believe a lot of what’s going on is personality. I would call it ‘contrariness’ or ‘negativism’. My little guy is pretty intense and a bit histrionic, erupting with GREAT emotion when things are out of sorts for him. It can wear me down, even though I’m pretty easy going, optimistic, and cheery. I say, “God gave us a beautiful blue sky today!” and my son will say solemnly, “I see clouds.” Or, I’ve said, “Let’s go play outside, it’s nice and warm.” And he responds, “I don’t like sunny days.” It’s definitely worse when he’s tired. These kind of things I often just let go, but some days are full of these grumpy kind of comments, accompanied by a grumpy attitude, so that whatever I might say we’re doing, he responds negatively. Uggh. Any thoughts? I don’t want to demand some kind of phony cheerfulness out of him when it doesn’t exist, but I also don’t want his grouchies to contaminate our home. How do I accommodate his God-given nature, but also train that nature toward contentment and joy? On a practical level, how do I respond to these kinds of comments and attitudes? What is reasonable to expect from him at this age? He does benefit from some time alone to get some ‘self-control’ – thank you for those words and that message to give him. Is that enough at this point?
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Thank you so much for your kind words. Thank you also for your questions. We would love to reply and will do so in a new blog entry. Look for a new post soon!!! Blessings to you - the Pritchards
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David and Kelli,
Wow! I know it was God who brought me to your blog and website today! I have been feeling discouraged theses last few days about my kids' schools--various issues mainly concerning the loss of some wonderful teachers.I will have a 7th grader in middle school, a 5th grader in intermediate school, and a first grader in elementary. So many of my friends are pulling their kids out of public school. I am going to get your book--I need the encouragement. I am going to share it with so many others. I know that the Lord has given me peace about sending my kids to public school. I just wanted to tell you that I am looking forward to reading your book. Thank you. I am looking forward to reading your blog--and any other resources that you recommend. Thank you for sharing your story.
Love in Christ,
Angie
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