With all of the news coverage on gang violence, bullying,and shootings in the schools it is time to educate our children about tolerance. It doesn’t matter if your child is in public school or has the benefits of being home schooled we need to impress them with the thought that we are all different. We do not all have the same hair color, eye color, skin color, religion, or capabilities of learning.
When your children are young they do not approach differences in the same way. They acknowledge that some one has a different skin color or is handicapped and continue on with the relationship. So where do they lose this ability? How do we teach tolerance?
I have talked to many students and they say “Why should I tolerate…..my parents don’t” . There is a major clue on where our children learn to not tolerate others. Now I’m not talking about tolerating an abuser in any way or form. They should never be tolerated!!! It is by our own actions, attitudes, and behaviors that children get the first clues on how to treat others. Sometimes a child learns intolerance from others and we are stuck with the problem. But curing it can be easy if caught at an early age.
Part of being intolerant of others is not understanding the struggles that the other person faces. Do you come in contact with people who are handicapped in some form? A blind person may scare your child because they do not know why that person moves or acts in certain ways. To give the child an understanding of the problems the person faces blindfold them for an hour or so. Make it a game and see how they react. After the practice sit down and talk to them about how they felt and what hurdles they found. An honest and open discussion will relieve there fears and foster understanding.
The same holds true for other differences. A person who is missing an arm has a hard time doing some things and has to learn different ways to cope with everyday occurrences. Which arm does your child use the most? Gently tie that arm to their side and have them try to deal with a day of non-use. I would not suggest that you do this if you are going to go out in public as others may decide that you are being abusive.
As we go through our everyday life we make a large difference in our children’s ability to understand others by our actions. When our children are in a home school environment they do not come into contact with a tremendous amount of people so it is doubly important to show them how to react. Only through church or their other social encounters do they get a view of the various struggles others face. Probably the most important lesson, we as parents, must learn is that it is our actions, attitudes, and behaviors that teach our children the most in how to treat others. We will help them to be stronger people by teaching them to stop and understand others before making decisions on how to act towards that person.
I have also signed up for your e-zine! What an itseretning idea. I am looking forward to reading the first issue I receive. I hope there will be homeschooling tips along with advertisements for your giveways? I’m still pretty new to this stuff so, I can always use all the help I can get.
My name is Lea Ann, and I am a contributor to the blog.I’m a hesomchool graduate, home teaching mother of four, and freelance home education writer specializing in biblical classical education, literal math, and reading. My children are 12, 9, 8, and 3. We have one dog and live in suburban Dallas, where my husband manages a large bank. This year marks the first time ever we grew something successfully in our garden.
As a college csiooomtipn instructor, I have found my home-school graduates to be among the top professionally behaved students in the classroom. My oldest son, who was homeschooled for 3 years, married a sweet, smart girl who was homeschooled k-12 – and she did great in college. I found that when we homeschooled, our sons had a better social schedule than when we didn’t. However, it is so much easier when you have a homeschool arts program, homeschool ballet programs and so many other opportunities available. Mothers/Parents need to become socialization planners! If people looke really closely into public schools, I think they would find many students have no social life when they go home – at least no parential-supervised social life. Sometimes it sounds like the pot calling the kettle black! Wonderful post!