Welcome to the wonderful year of second grade! You’re in the phase that is the very essence of childhood. I’ve been working with children for over forty years now, and I’ve been a parent for more than thirty. In my experience, this is the age that brings a smile to my heart more than…
We often think of generosity in terms of financial giving, which makes it difficult for children to participate and experience the blessing of meeting others’ needs. What if we broaden our definition of what it looks like to be generous? Instead of only looking at ways to raise money for a cause or give from…
Splink 1: Pray Expectantly Start a prayer journal. Buy a spiral notebook. On the first page, draw a vertical line down the middle. On the left side write “Requests” and on the right side write “Answers.” Every evening after dinner, take five minutes to pray. Write the requests in the notebook. Then say sentence…
Splink 1: The Price is TOO High Announce a fun event (movie night, ice cream run, etc.) and then announce that anyone who wants to participate must bring a certain amount of money (an amount bigger than they could pay). Talk about how the price has to be paid when they express disappointment. Finally,…
Splink 1: Working Together Choose a project and work together. Break the big project into smaller “jobs” and write each one on a slip of paper. Put these in a basket and let each person draw a slip of paper to find the job they are to do to complete the project. Project: Clean…
Third grade is a year of beautiful discovery and soul-shaping challenges. It’s a season of adventure for both you and your child. Most third graders still have a child’s innocent enthusiasm for life that allows them to embrace new experiences. It’s not without reason the catch phrase for this phase is “Sounds like fun!”…
The transition from summertime to back-to-school can happen so quickly that we’re already in our new routine before we even realize it. Below are some suggestions for how to create an intentional and meaningful back-to-school rhythm for a kid in each phase. Preschool: BacktoSchoolRhythm_Pre_single Elementary: BacktoSchoolRhythm_Elem_single Middle School: BacktoSchoolRhythm_MS_single High School: BacktoSchoolRhythm_HS_single
Splink 1: DO What’s Right In order to help kids understand the idea of having integrity, tell your kids to do what you say. The hard part will be when you say one thing, but DO another. (For example: Tell them to pat their head, but you will pat your belly. Tell them…
In the world of education, we often group kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders into a category called early childhood. Or, as I personally call them, the “fun” years. In this phase, there’s very little drama or romantic distraction. Instead, it’s the age where make-believe meets reality. Imagination pumps through the classroom so strongly…
Splink 1: True or False Read the following statements about animals and see if the kids can tell if it’s true or false. Ask them to put their palms face up when it’s true and palms face down if it’s false. A horse weighing approximately 1,200 pounds, eats approximately seven times its own…