What Does the Bible Mean By “Train a Child”?

View fullsize

As Christian parents, we seek to raise our children according to biblical principles.   There are numerous Bible verses that give us direction.  Many times, though, we need to study the scripture verse to get a better understanding of what it means and what God would like us to do.  In this blog post, I would like to give some insight into Proverbs 22:6 - what does it mean to “train a child in the way he should go”?

King Solomon, who was known for his profound wisdom, gave us this proverb.  We know that God loves children, as everywhere Jesus went when there were children around, He asked for them to be brought to Him: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." (NIV).  In fact, the Bible calls them a “reward”.  Psalm 127:3.

As parents, we are given a special, yet tremendous responsibility to raise them as God wants them to be raised and with the priority of teaching them God’s Word.  I love this statement from the website gotquestions.org which gives answers to Bible questions:

Teaching children the truths of Scripture will make them wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15); thoroughly equip them to do good works (2 Timothy 3:17); prepare them to give an answer to everyone who asks them the reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15); and prepare them to withstand the onslaught of cultures bent on indoctrinating young people with secular values.

As a lay children’s minister for many years in a non-denominational Christian church and as a Christian mother raising two sons, I know how critical it is to teach children from a young age God’s Word.  They must know how much He loves them and what He expects them to do – they will not know this unless they are taught. So when the Bible mentions “train a child”, it means to teach, direct, counsel, and nurture.

How do we “train a child”?  Here are a few practical ways: by reading the Bible with them, helping them to memorize scripture, speaking to them God’s Word, disciplining them, and having them attend church services with you.

To learn more, please visit:

https://www.gotquestions.org/train-up-a-child.html

https://www.crosswalk.com/family/parenting/kids/what-does-it-mean-to-train-up-a-child-in-the-way-he-should-go.html

https://www.christianity.com/wiki/bible/how-to-train-up-your-child.html

Share with Your Children Inspiration from America’s First African American Female Astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison

View fullsize

Children need good role models.  Who are better than those persons who are living today and have made exceptional strides and achieved great accomplishments.  One of those persons is Dr. Mae Jemison, the first female African American astronaut, who is also a medical doctor and an engineer.

Dr. Jemison came from humble beginnings, with her mother working as a teacher and her father employed as a maintenance supervisor.  As a child, she was inspired by the Apollo space missions and the Star Trek show on television that had an African American actress who played a role as a lieutenant.  From an early age, she was interested in astronomy, anthropology and archeology.  She earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University and a medical degree from Cornell University.  She is fluent in Russian, Japanese, and Swahili. She joined the Peace Corps, where she served as a doctor for two years in Africa.

She was inspired to become an astronaut after seeing Sally Ride become the first female astronaut.  She applied and was accepted by NASA.  After significant training, she was selected to join the crew of the space shuttle Endeavor as a mission specialist.  Her team orbited the Earth 127 times in 1992.

She later retired from NASA and has been involved in many different pursuits, including serving as a professor at Cornell University.  

She wrote a children’s book in 2001 titled Find Where the Wind Goes which is about her life.  Parents, please consider buying it for your children.

In addition to her quote on the picture on my blog post, some of my favorite quotes from Dr. Jemison are the following:

“Greatness can be captured in one word: lifestyle. Life is God's gift to you, style is what you make of it.”

“Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.”

“What we find is that if you have a goal that is very, very far out, and you approach it in little steps, you start to get there faster. Your mind opens up to the possibilities.”

To learn more about her, please visit :

https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mae-jemison

https://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/whos_who_level2/jemison.html

Reading Books in a Series is Good for Your Children

View fullsize

As the Stars of the Sky Foundation is dedicated to promoting literacy as we believe that reading is essential to a child’s development and ultimate success in life.  Not only is reading individual books impactful, but also reading books in a series. 

A study entitled Series Books and Their Effect on Reader Development that was conducted at St. John Fisher College established that there is indeed a positive correlation between reading a book series and child development.  It also found that book series nurture the love of reading. “Research has shown that students who read book series, particularly reluctant readers, become more engaged and enthusiastic about reading, and are encouraged to continue reading once they begin a series.”

The study found many positive impacts including:

• The child becomes invested in the lives and relationships of the characters;

• Because the child is familiar with the story structure, he becomes better equipped to handle more complex readings; and

• The child develops high cognitive skills of “reading, rule following, decoding, and pattern recognition” as well as inference and deduction skills.

In the online article 5 Great Advantages of Book Series for Kids, another advantage is highlighted: developing activities from the series.  If the series centers on characters going camping, for example, get together with friends and family and do similar activity.  This will bring to life what the characters experienced.

I can personally tell you what a joy it was to read many book series with my two sons as they were growing up and how they benefitted from the experiences.  One series Hank the Cowdog by John Erickson truly brought us a lot of laughs!  The main characters are Hank, a cow dog, his sidekick Drover, who was another dog, and Pete the barn cat.  They have a lot of hilarious and quirky adventures.  We would read these together, either by my husband and I reading a chapter or one of our sons reading a chapter a day. My sons enthusiastically looked forward to the next book in the series.  We ultimately purchased the entire series for the library at our sons’ elementary school.

Please visit the homepage of our website to find out more about my books and what we promote.

To read the study and for more information, please visit:

• Fisher Pub - Education

• Five Great Advantages of Book Series for Kids

• Hank the Cowdog

Create Special Bonding Time While Reading About Sports

As I was doing research for blog ideas, I came across this photo and editorial online Get Your Child Reading and Thinking About Sports at www.atlantaparent.com.  I just love this photo of a child, laughing and holding a book he is reading, while he is sitting next to his father, who is also laughing and reading.  It’s tender, happy, and shows the importance of reading, which is the key focus of As the Stars of the Sky Foundation. Spreading the love of reading in every way that is possible – that is our goal and mission.

One of the best ways to get your children to read is to select a subject that they are interested in.  If your children are interested in sports, or if you would like to introduce your children to various sports, consider having them read books about sports.  There are a plethora of children’s books on sports in general, on specific sports and about famous athletes – from picture books for young children to novels, biographies and autobiographies for older children.  The online editorial gives some suggestions of books to read and I provide some website links as well at the end of this blog.

Be sure to set aside time to read the book with your children.  If it is a long book, break it up into chapters.  Talk with them about each book they read.  What did they learn?  What was the most interesting part to them? What sport do they like and why?  By asking these and other questions, you will help them develop their memory, analytical and word processing brain functions.

Visit the following websites for more recommendations for books on sports:

• Kids Books for Sports Lovers

• Scholastic - Children's Books About Sports

Helping Your Children with Dyslexia

View fullsize

Just what is dyslexia and what should we as parents know about it so that we can help our children? According to the Mayo Clinic, dyslexia is a reading disorder that affects the way that the brain processes language.  It is mostly associated with children having difficulties learning to read and has nothing to do with the child’s intelligence.  It is estimated that one in five children has dyslexia.

Before a child starts school, common symptoms include:

• Late talking

• Learning new words slowly

• Problems forming words correctly, such as reversing sounds in words or confusing words that sound alike

• Problems remembering or naming letters, numbers and colors

• Difficulty learning nursery rhymes or playing rhyming games

Once the child is in school, it becomes easier to diagnose dyslexia as symptoms include:

• Reading well below the expected level for age

• Difficulty finding the right word or forming answers to questions

• Problems remembering the sequence of things

• Difficulty seeing (and occasionally hearing) similarities and differences in letters and words

• Difficulty spelling

• Spending an unusually long time completing tasks that involve reading or writing

• Avoiding activities that involve reading

It is important to speak with your child’s doctor if your child is having any of these symptoms.  Be diligent as the social impact of dyslexia can have a negative effect on your child and how he perceives himself.  With assistance in forming strategies to compensate for various weaknesses, your child can excel socially and academically.  Unfortunately, however, a person never outgrows dyslexia.

For more information, visit:

• Mayo Clinic - Dyslexia

• Understanding Dyslexia

Detecting Reading Problems in Your Children

View fullsize

In my blog, I write frequently about the importance of children reading from a very early age.  My mother taught me to read from a very early age.  When I was just 3 years old, I could read basic words.  When I was 4 years old, I was more advanced in reading than children in first grade.  My mother begged the administration of a small private school to admit me and after they tested me, they agreed and enrolled me into first grade.  But, what happens if you notice that your child is not learning to read as you had hoped?  What should you do?

In an excellent online article, author Melissa Taylor writes about 7 Early Signs Your Child May Have A Reading Issue.  This article is very helpful and I will briefly discuss some of the points she raises.  She stresses to have your child taken to a specialist as early diagnosis of any issues is critical to your child’s development.  Here are the 7 signs:

1.    Your child does not remember basic letter sounds, such as /a/ as in apple.

2.    Your child confuses letters that look-alike, such as “d” and “p”.  It is common for a young child to do this but as the child grows older, this confusion should not continue.

3.    Your child has a problem rhyming simple, basic words such as “mat” and “cat”.

4.    Your child does not remember easy sight words such as “a”, “her”, “to”, etc.

5.    You child does not pronounce the ending of some words, such as “-ing” or –“ed”.

6.    Your child has a poor memory and does not remember a recent book that was read.

7.    Your child misspells the same word throughout a document.  For example, she may write the word “because” in one paragraph and spell it correctly, but later in the same document, she misspells it as “beacuz” or “bekus”.

Other experts refer to your child’s vision as a possible issue.  Consider taking your child to see a physician to get his sight tested.

It’s important to not just sit back and believe your child will “grow out” of a reading problem.   Speak with her teachers and physician and seek assistance.  When there is early detection of a challenge and assistance given to help your child overcome that challenge, your child will definitely thank you.

Ms. Taylor has links to other websites in her article to further help you.  You can read her entire article by clicking here.

The Best Way to Prepare Your Children Academically for Preschool is by Reading

View fullsize

From the day of their birth, children are learning languages, and the words that they are exposed to for the first few years of their lives influence their language development and academic performance for the years to come.  When preparing your children for preschool, it is critical that you take time out of each day to read to and with them.

For generations, parents have read stories to their young children and for good reason - the developmental benefits are endless. The transition from daycare to preschool will be much easier when reading has been a part of their daily routine.  

When you read a story, don’t just read it quickly as if it is a task that needs to be finished right away.  Take your time.  Talk about the meaning of a word if it is a new word.  Encourage your children to look at the pictures on each page.  As a children’s author, I know the importance that not only words have on each page in a book, but also the pictures.  I hired a children’s artist to design and paint the pictures, according to my direction and input.  Pictures convey a specific message so I wanted to ensure that each picture told the message that I wanted the child to know and learn. 

In addition to looking at the pictures and discussing them, a parent should make reading fun by changing the intonation of his voice.  Also, if it is a woman speaking, try to speak as a woman.  The same thing if it is a man.  Make a silly voice if the character is a funny character.  I think you get the gist of what I am trying to convey. 

Try not to limit your reading times to bed time.  If there is a lull in the afternoon on a weekend, pull out a book to read to your children.   There should always be plenty of books in each room in the house.   Or, ask one of your children to find a book that you can read to them. 

We parents want our children to be prepared for preschool.  The foundation of literacy is the most important and lasting foundation that you can give them.

Using Music to Help Children Build Language and Literacy Skills

Studies have shown that music helps students learn not only rhythm and motor skills, but importantly also language and literary skills.  One such study, by Professors Patricia Cullingham and Richard Allington in 2011, found that when we see or hear words in a new context, our brain creates new synapses (connections) to those words. Professors Cullingham and Allington advocate that children be exposed to vocabulary and other literacy skills in different and meaningful ways. Music has been a very effective tool in bringing meaning to new material including skills in literacy.  

How can parents use music to help their children with language and literacy skills? First, parents can use songbooks so that their children read the words and sing their favorite songs. Second, parents can sing songs with their children.  Visit this website for songs that build reading and language skills - CLICK HERE.

Third, take the words that are repeated in songs and read them in print.  Two books that can be used are Over the Rainbow and Puff the Magic Dragon, both beautifully illustrated by Eric Puybaret.  Fourth, encourage your children to take part in afterschool music ensembles that inspire creativity and involve expression through the arts.

Inspiring Family Reading

I have such fond memories of reading together as a family with my two sons and late husband.  As often as we could, we would huddle together on our bed and read a good book.  In the beginning, I would read out loud to everyone, but as the boys became better readers, they would read out loud to us.  How much time we spent reading together varied depending on our schedules and the type of book we were reading. 

    One of our most favorite books was the Hank the Cow Dog series by John Erickson.  We bought and read every single book in that series.  The series is about a dog named Hank and his sidekick Drover who lived on a ranch and had many funny adventures.  There were other characters who added exceptionally hilarious times, such as Pete the sly barn cat.  As we read, we would pause and laugh and then go back to reading.  We would stop reading whenever we wanted.  Sometimes, there would be an argument as to whether we should stop at a certain point or continue because of the suspense, but often, we read about a chapter a week.  We loved that series so much that we purchased and donated it to the library at my sons’ school.  

    I would like to inspire you to read as a family too.  The memories are precious and last a lifetime.  It is also a great bonding and teaching time for the kids. 

Author Soraya Diase Coffelt

The Important Role that Grandparents Play in Emphasizing Reading

    Grandparents are such influential people in the lives of our children.  One very important influence should be in building reading skills and emphasizing reading.  According to the Children’s Reading Foundation, grandparents can spoil their grandchildren in good ways by giving them a reading-rich lifestyle.

Here are some suggestions from the Foundation as to what grandparents can do whether they live close by or not:

• Sing songs, recite poetry and do finger plays to help develop language and listening skills.

• Play word games and do puzzles together. These activities provide wonderful opportunities to build vocabulary.

• Offer books or magazine subscriptions as gifts for birthdays and other special occasions.

• Invite your grandchild to the bookstore or library for story hour. Don’t rush. Take time to browse the books and to cuddle together in the cozy chairs. Time is your gift to give. 

• Let your grandchild see you reading and enjoying books. When you’re together, read aloud the words on signs, menus, and captions under an interesting photograph in a magazine or newspaper.

Author Soraya Diase Coffelt

When was the Last Time that You Read to a Child in Your Lap?

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.”

— Emilie Buchwald

           Reading time with children should always be a fun time for you and them.  Have you thought about it also being a time to show your child your love?  When was the last time that you put your child in your lap and actually read to him/her?  This quote from Emile Buchwald is very touching to me.  Generally, children learn the love of reading from their parents.  They observe their parents reading.  Their parents spend time reading to them.  But, actually taking your child and sitting your child on your lap to read is extremely loving and personal.  It is saying to your child “I love you so much that I want to share this special time and book with you and build a loving relationship while we do it.” 

          Twenty years from now – what do you want your child to remember of the childhood years?  A mom or dad who were too busy to sit down and read a book to and with them?  Or a mom and dad who intentionally set aside time for the child to make the child feel loved and important?  Create memories now and build a reader while you are doing it.

Author Soraya Diase Coffelt