Teaching Your Children Values-Month 5

Unselfishness
Parent Page

This month we will be learning bible stories and memory verses about Unselfishness.

Here are some ideas to help you discuss Unselfishness with your children at home this month:

• Praise and reinforce any Unselfish behavior you observe this month.
• Give responsibility; this will allow opportunities to teach your child how to appreciate and be sensitive to other’s needs. Responsibilities have been show to help increase a child’s altruistic and extra-centered (vs. self-centered) tendencies as they mature.
• Teach by example through active listening. This month, try to really listen, hear, and care about what your child is talking to you about. This can teach them to be sensitive to others.
• Take time to tell your children how the things they say or do make you feel.
• Play “Put Yourself In The Picture” game. Find a magazine ad or picture and have your child attempt to describe how that person feel-physically and emotionally.
• Establish “The Big E” award each week. Everyone in the family tries to think of an incident where they noticed how someone felt and took the time to say or do something to help them.
• The Secret Buddies Game; Put all the family member’s names in a hat and everyone draws one name. Everyone spends the week being their person’s Secret Buddy by doing nice things for them without getting caught (notes, compliments, small gift, doing chores, fixing something). At the end of the week, reveal the Secret Buddies and decide “best deed” and “best secrecy”. You might want to pair a much younger child with an older sibling or parent to work as a team in the beginning.

This month we will be learning about:
Week 1- The Widow’s Mite, Mark 12:38-44
Week 3- Feeding the 5000, Mark 6:30-44

This month we will be memorizing:
Week 1- "Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you. Deuteronomy 16:17
Week 3- And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrews 13:16

As you can see, Weeks 2 & 4 are missing! I did this based upon our needs this month at church. Since we are not having our children's program on both Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekends, I did not develop a lesson for those weeks. Yet! I knew we did not need them and was short on time myself, so I skipped those weeks for now! I will go back and take care of that, but I bet that each of you can do just as good a job in the mean time!

EXCITE, ENCOURAGE, & EQUIP children to serve God!

Stacey

p.s. Just yesterday, my kids were playing some kind of royalty scenerio with me nearby. I overheard A say something like, "Lay down here my sir.". Thinking I could help her along, I spoke up and said, "Oh, you mean my lord.". Breathing in sharply and somewhat taken back, she replied, "Oh no Mom, only Jesus is Lord!".

OH.YES.SHE.DID! ;)