How To Get Your Children To Do More Than Play Wii//Cultivating Good Work Habits
Email 1
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A new study says kids today are more materialistic, they want MORE than ever before, and they’re less likely to work and study hard for the things they want. We want our children to be responsible, to work hard. In order for them to be responsible, we must give them responsibilities.
How do we teach them to be hard workers, and for that matter, does hard work even matter? Check out this month’s online parenting class to see how to get your kid to do more than play Wii.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/109290185/994e8cc62d
In a couple of weeks I’ll be sending you the second installment of how to cultivate good work habits in your children. Maybe a good starting point is thinking through some appropriate chores at home for your child. Do they need more than they currently have, do they need to be pushed to do the current ones better?
Partnering with you,
Children’s Pastor
Email 2
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Subject line: Part 2 of Cultivating Good Work Habits in Our Kids
Parents,
W-O-R-K is not a four-letter word, but many kids act like it is. There is a great sense of value that comes from accomplishing something through our labor, but how do we teach this to our children. How do we raise them so they understand the value of hard work?
2 Thessalonians 3:6-15 gives great Biblical perspective on the idea of idleness. Paul can be a brutal guy at times, and in verse 10 of 2 Thessalonians 3 he says, “ If anyone isn’t willing to work, he shouldn’t eat.” Now that’s pretty drastic, but it illustrates the point that being a hard worker is important to God.
It can be tough to teach our little ones a strong work ethic, moving them beyond their cartoons and video screens to engage in a helpful, meaningful way. It starts in the home. In order for children to be responsible we must give them responsibilities to manage. Here are a few ways to communicate responsibility to your child:
- Be a role model. Do I skip work because I feel like it, give my all to a project, spend within my means, keep my word?
- Don’t continually bail kids out of their responsibilities. They have to eat school lunch if they forget their lunchbox. If you have to pick up their toys, you get to keep them (until they’ve proven responsibility and can have them back).
- Give checklists. Kids can get overwhelmed with a verbal to-do list. Write out what you want them to do so they can mark through their accomplishments.
Partnering with you,
Children’s Pastor
Video Script
This month we are going to work together on a issue I know every parent faces. This month we are going to process how we can help our kids do more than just play the Wii! How can we help our kids have good work habits?
As soon as you become a parent you immediately begin to remember all those lessons we hated learning as kids that were actually really good for us. We all have a story about hard work. Our parents pushed us to work hard.
My hard work story goes like this…when I wanted a new pair of Air Jordans, the greatest shoe ever, my mom told me she would pay half if I would pay the other half. I had to work hard for that other half. I bought those shoes with my money and some help from my parents. We all have a story like that but those stories don’t seem to connect often with kids today.
As parents if something really matters we have to help our kids embrace the value. Now that we are parents we know hard work matters. Now that we are parents we have to make the hard choice to help our kids know what hard work is about because many of their friends will not know the value because they are not being taught the value.
Psychologists asked a group of kids, would you rather be gifted or hard working. ALL kids said they’d rather be gifted because everything would be easier. Our generation of parents and kids seem to be obsessed with ability but there is a secret to real success in life. Ability has to be matched with hard work. Even if your child is gifted there will come a time when he will be around people who are just as gifted as him (at Harvard, Julliard), what’s the advantage then. If we’ve parented well, it could be that they know the value of HARD WORK.
This month we want to give you permission to do what in your heart you already know you need to do. We want you to help your child begin to understand that hard work matters. We want you to give your child the greatest advantage they could ever have in the ability to work hard. I am a living example of what hard work can do for a kid. My parents demanded I work hard and they modeled it to me. When I got to school i did not test well but my grades were always in the top. It was not until I was in 5th grade that I realized that it was hard work that was making the difference. I might not have had the best test score on the standardized test but no test could keep me from working hard. That was an advantage.
God is even for hard work. Read Genesis chapter 2 and you will find that when God created man and woman he gave them…are you ready…a job! God asked them to work in paradise. Why…because work is a needed aspect of life because it allows us to create and make things better. We are wired to work!
How can you start to give your kids the hard work advantage this month. Here are a few tips of how to get started…
1. Give each child appropriate chores in the house. // I know you can clean better than your kids can but they need chores if they are going to learn what work is about. Chores have to be age appropriate but they need to discover that being part of a healthy family is work and that work never ends!
2. Hold kids accountable to their responsibilities. // If you ask a kid to be responsible with something then hold them to that expectation. When kids choose not to work hard then we have to allow them to see where that leads. It’s OK to let your kid struggle so they get what hard work is. This month try no bailing your child out of their moments of laziness and see if they start learning the lesson.
3. Leverage allowance to reward hard work. // Every kid enjoys money but giving kids an allowance ties to responsibilities they have is a great way to show kids the value of hard work and the value of managing their resources. Allowance never needs to be automatic it needs to be a part of the rhythm of your home life. Allowance can be a great way to affirm kids that they help make your home flow well and that hard work makes life better at home.
Later in the month you will get another Online Parenting Class email that will help you take another step forward with some practical ideas of how to teach your child about hard work. I know it’s hard in the moment to push your kids work hard but they will thank you when they grow up. Press on!
Weekly tweets from you to parents:
TIP: Choose a hashtag for your tweets and use it consistently. That will tell twitter to store a list of your tweets in one place for later reference.
TWEET #1- Spend some time telling your child one of your HARD WORK stories. Are you giving your child one? #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #2- Motivation gets you started, but habit keeps you going #teachhardwork #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #3-Yes, you clean better than your kids, but still give them chores-teach responsibility! #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #4-There is no secret to success. It’s the result of hard work, preparation, and learning from failure-Colin Powell #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #5- A great lesson for kids: teaching them the VALUE of hard work. #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #6-A great resource for handling allowance-Smart Money Smart Kids by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze http://amzn.to/1kpBCCz #urchurchparentministry
TWEET #7- Being responsible means others can count on you, you’re a person of your word #teachresponsibility #urchurchparentministry