Parenting and Family Education

Archive for the ‘christian parenting tips’ Category

If you are recently divorced, you may have a difficult time adjusting to single life Many singles who are recently single, simply don’t know how to act. In Parent Education classes for newly single-again people, we teach a segment on how they can protect themselves by not making stupid mistakes in the first year of reentering single hood. Why do we teach this? It’s during this time that recent single-again women and men are more apt to make poor decisions that could set back their healing process.

The following tips for the recently single-again Christians may help during this difficult time.

Single Again Tip #1: Guard Your Heart

Recently single-again women and men have a void in their lives that cries out for filling. They are also not thinking clearly. Additionally, they are especially open to making bad dating decisions, falling prey to sexual impurity and/or emotional “predators” The Bible warns us, “Above all else, guard you heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

The very last thing a recently single-again person needs during this time is to be taken advantage of sexually and/or have her or his heart broken all over again. That’s why most Christian and secular counselors recommend a time of up to one year after becoming single again that people not date. A single Christian parent dating with kids should be especially careful, since it’s not only their lives they are effecting, but the little ones’ as well.

Single Again Tip #2: Guard Your Wallet

Most recently single-again women (and to a lesser extent, men) have great anxiety and fear about how they will make ends meet. For Christian single parents, both custodial and non-custodial, financial stress over child support can also loom large.

Let’s face it, when under financial stress, it’s easy for anybody to panic, and seek out quick fixes that can to can turn out badly. A clear mind with sound financial planning and budgeting can help at this time.

In this regard online help is available at Crown Financial Ministries. This international Christian organization offers free help on budgeting, with savings tips and internet radio broadcasts that recently single-again Christians would find helpful.

Single Again Tip #3: Guard Your Spirit

Becoming single again is a stressful thing because of the uncertainty and added responsibilities. Singles of all sorts would definitely benefit by reading some tips on how to reduce stress in their lives.

Also, since the recently single-again person can very easily feel isolated, plugging into a Christian singles support group where support , understanding and encouragement are offered would be benefical toward the renewing of your spirit.

Successful children are the products of coordinated efforts of parents who knew about the correlation of good parenting style with successful evolution of children from infanthood to responsible adulthood. The following are some of the time honoured principles for raising children:

Children need love much the same way they need oxygen to survive. Your love for your child is expressed in providing appropriate food, clothing, shelter, emotional warmth and protection from every sort of harm. In the absence of love, children wilt, are unable to show love as they grow and turn out to be affectionless children with a poor sense of self-worth. The goal of Christian parenting is to bring up children in the fear and knowledge of God. Parents are in the best position to introduce their children to God because children can only relate to God, the way they relate to their parents. When children are taught and made to be obedient to God, they find it easy to understand and relate to God. God has no grand children; every child must come personally to the knowledge of God as a father, parents should facilitate this encounter. Every child is limited in life by the principles upon which he/she was raised in life. Children need instructions appropriate for their developmental stage. They should be introduced to the rules of behaviour early in life and taught what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Rules create boundaries for children and put in them the notion that actions have consequences. Every action of parents has repercussions; they are either building up the child or pulling the child down. Parents must walk the way they want their children to follow. Values are more readily caught by children than taught. When you explain to your children why you are taking a particular action, it makes more sense and it is less abstract than just teaching a child without any illustration. Every child is a complex being that unravels with time; take time to know your child. Every child has an internal world comprising emotion, intelligence and spirit. Knowledge of the special needs of each child enables you to raise the child in a way that will bring out the best in each child. Each child has negative and positive tendencies, encourage the positive tendencies while discouraging the negative tendencies. You cannot beat out of your child, what is wrong in your life. Some parents see their faults or character defects in their children and attempt to prevent history from repeating itself by disciplining their child excessively. Excess discipline or wrong disciplinary measures that break the spirit of the child is counter productive and tantamount to physical abuse. The discipline a child gets when he/she errs should be timely, appropriate for the age, and corrective in nature. Discipline should as much as possible be a learning experience for the child. What you put in a child by way of parenting is what the child gives to society. Your child will ultimately reveal to the world what you put in him/her by way of training in the secrecy of your home. Children reflect the training they got from home the way light is reflected by a mirror. Take time to build in your children timeless values that will make your children shine in life.

8. Children live up to their parents’ expectation. Children form their opinion of themselves from what their parents say to them. If you believe in them, they work hard to live up to what you believe about them. A 3-year study of 20,000 California and Wisconsin High School Students published in Beyond the Classroom by Dr Laurence Steinberg found a strong correlation between parents’ expectation and general level of student achievement with a few exceptions. African-American and Latino parents are satisfied with any grades above D and their wards get mostly Cs. White parents are satisfied with grades above C and their children get mostly Bs. Asian parents accept A and their children bring mostly As.”

9. Children reward dutiful parents when they are old. At the time children realize the value of what their parents put in them by way of training, they would have already started raising their family and with the benefit of hindsight, would want to show appreciation to their parents by caring for them in their old age.

10. To invest time, money and energy in training your child is to train many generations. This is because children will teach their own children what they were taught. A child gives only what he/she has to his/her children.

To maintain a successful business, it is important to develop a strong and integrated marketing strategy. Some small business owners are hesitant to embark on a collaboration marketing strategy however; there are a few points to keep in mind that will make it a strategy with beneficial elements for your business.
Once you have decided to embark on a collaboration marketing strategy, there are challenges to working together, and it’s wise to be aware of these issues before you get started. Below are a few tips to keep in mind when weighing the pros and cons of collaboration marketing, and some challenges that may present themselves once you do begin the process.
Increase your bargaining power. When you collaborate with other small businesses, you may have a stronger base with which to negotiate with various suppliers. If you collaborate to buy products from a particular supplier, the increased volume of products that you will require as part of your collaboration may potentially drive down the price of the products than if you bought each of them separately.
Promote a product line. Creating a collaboration product line initially sounds a bit risky, but if done wisely, it can create a stronger base for each company within the product line. For instance, if you are a small company that makes t-shirts from organic cotton, you may have trouble raising awareness for your product because of a limited customer base. If you collaborate with other designers and clothing manufacturers who are also committed to organic supplies, you can create an “Organic Cotton” parent company product line, with your label and each of the other companies’ labels being sold under a collaboration heading.
Access a diverse customer base. By working with other businesses, you potentially open your customer base to your collaborators, and in return, gain access to the customer base of your partners. In this way you are potentially expanding your client base and the number of people you can reach with your products and services.
Lack of a common mission is a challenge within a collaboration marketing strategy. When forming a collaboration marketing partnership, it is important to be certain that you share common goals and the same mission. Even if you have a common end goal, you may have very different ideas about how to reach these goals. Differences in process are a potential benefit to collaborations because you will be exposed to the ideas and skills of another expert in your field, but these same differences can also be potential landmines for executing a common goal. Be certain you are on the same page with your partners and have a specific plan for your mission before you embark on collaboration.
As with the lack of a common mission, lack of a common commitment will also present it’s own set of challenges. When working with other businesses and forming a collaboration marketing platform, you’ll want to be certain that you partnered with owners who are as committed to hard work and success as you are. It is a common issue to have different levels of commitment among different people. Given this potential pitfall, you’ll want to be sure that you have equally dedicated collaborators, so everyone participates in an equal share of the labor involved in maintaining a successful collaboration.