How could we fit another commitment into our already overcommitted lives?

Then it became clear to me that the solution was so obvious—get the children involved in everyday life alongside the adults in the family. If they spend time with adults, they will learn to be adults. If we intentionally expose them to the everyday life skills we take for granted, they will become equipped for adulthood.

               What if you don’t homeschool? You’re probably even busier than our family with work and other commitments. But you are still your child’s first teacher, and you possess a wealth of information and practical skills. Why not share these with your children and give them a legacy of life skill confidence?

               It’s not too hard. It’s just living life and letting your children come alongside you. It’s intentionally letting them in on the seeming minutia of everyday life. When this is done with a loving heart and a light-hearted spirit, you will be having fun with your children while teaching them valuable life lessons.

               Your children only have one childhood. Share your life with them. Love them passionately. Learn together, and you will all look to the future with confidence. My prayer is that you may find joy in the journey.

Life Skills For Kids: Equipping Your Child For The Real World

by Christine M. Field

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4

My comment: Others have tried raising kids and failed, but they took notes.  We can learn from them; we don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  Not all advice will be good advice or well received, but as one Pastor told me "eat the fruit and spit out the seeds." And I still remember the shock I had when I heard one of my teachers exclaim, "There are no good books!"  But then he continued, "There are just good chapters."

Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

I wrote this book because I needed it for my own family. We have chosen to order the super-sized plate of parenting. That is, we have them, we train them, we homeschool them, we mentor them. A few years into this process, we observed that our academic program was going great, but issues of character development, life vision, and practical life skills needed serious attention. How, I asked, were we to accomplish that?

               Even with four great kids and a lifestyle I dearly love, I had begun to feel that the super-sized plate was a little excessive. I had too much work to do. Teaching the children was a full-time job in itself, and added to that was the task of running a home, our involvement in church, and our support of our children’s other interests. I found myself resenting the extra work while still feeling growing concerns about the big gaps in my children’s education. My eight year old could read almost any book in the library, but she didn’t know how to dry dishes. And I saw so many other areas in which she would need instruction before becoming an adult. My children needed practical life education in order to know how to take care of themselves and their loved ones in the real world.

               How overwhelming! The last thing I needed was another project or program to do with the kids. How could we fit another commitment into our already overcommitted lives?

Then it became clear to me that the solution was…

Life Skills For Kids: Equipping Your Child For The Real World

by Christine M. Field

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4

Do kids come pre-programmed to take care of themselves and others?

My comment: I want to stop before we go on to the second sentence of this book.  That question is worth pausing to think through because children do come pre-programmed, but not for life.  The sin principle at work in children seeks to kill, steal, and destroy whatever good God desires for them.  It was this principle that drove Cain to sulk and become depressed.  It was this principle that God warned Cain he had to master. 

Genesis 4:6-7 Then the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?  "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."

Not all sins lead to murder.  Some sins, like sloth, can lead to poor grades, or an unhealthy home, or a missed job opportunity, etc..

Because we see people die and know all will die, we know that sin will gain a complete but temporary victory over our physical well-being, but it doesn’t have to be that way for our inner being.  Life, abundant life can abide within.  Like light it can permeate into our physical world making it a better place to live for self and others.  How will your child’s inner life fair and what role will you play in helping him see victory?  If taking care of one’s self and others is hidden from all of us because of the sin principle, then can we even see what we need to teach them?  How do we best teach them?

Life Skills For Kids: Equipping Your Child For The Real World

by Christine M. Field

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4

I was raised by a Dad who worked 70 hours a week.  I never saw him nor heard him except when he would yell at us to do our chores, turn down the radio, stop fighting or complaining.  He had his fill of life’s problems and was never taught by his Dad how to be a father.  Consequently, by the grace of God when I became a Christian at the young age of 19, I did not want that pattern to continue.  Now that I have raised kids and become a grandpa I look back over the years in astonishment.  I’m a bit embarrassed.  Don’t get me wrong; I love my kids and what they have become.  I’m talking about the fathering they have received.  It’s much like watching a video of one trying to run the Boston Marathon WITHOUT any preparation.  He would get an A for effort, but apart from that oh-boy.

Being my own grandpa

So, having a 3 year old run around in my house keeps me wondering how I can be a good grandfather to him.  I think back to the only grandpa I knew (who died when I was only 11) and can’t remember anything but how he would greet me.  After 45 years I can still hear the sound of his voice say “Hi Robbie!”  But apart from that, nothing; I don’t remember him doing anything with us.  I think back to what my Dad taught me about being a father and grandfather since he was both and again I come up with nothing, zilch, natta.  So, I decided to hit the books and learn what I can from those that are trying.  I have to be my own grandpa!

Why I write

So this is why I am sending out these emails all of a sudden to all of you.  It is my way to learn and my way of passing on to you principles and skills about how to be a father, a mothers, an aunt, or an uncle.  I will keep them short and I won’t be offended if you file them away to read later.  But I do ask you to read them.  I don’t want you to live with any regrets.  You are only given this time once and I want you to make the most of it.  I’ve prayed much about this and I still pray that the Coss family, the family God has given me, will break the dominance sin has had over us for generations and move on to what God desires to bless us with.  And most importantly, to be a blessing to world.  One of my favorite verses in the Bible that motivates me to this end is found in Genesis 18:19.

For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon [him] what He has spoken about him.

Finally, by all means feel free to comment with your thoughts and opinions along the way.  I’m going to save these thoughts here in the event that someday someone finds something we have said useful.

               Think about your children walking out the door, on their own! We assume they can cope with the everyday challenges of living, but should we? We assume they know about basic household duties and maintenance, but do they? We assume they can efficiently prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals, but can they? We assume they have mastered some basic skills of orderliness with their personal belongings, but have they? We assume they will handle their earnings wisely, avoiding unnecessary debt, but will they? Too often parents let the chips fall where they may, hoping all will turn out for the best. Can we leave the basic teachings to chance? Is there a better way?

               This book was written to share principles, strategies, and tips on how to help your children succeed in home assignments. B. F. Skinner discovered, through his experiments with pigeons, that he could get a bird to peck ten thousand times in hopes of getting a food-pellet reward. Children can manipulate adults to get the attention or the reward they seek. Like the pigeon, they try over and over again to get the reward whether it be positive or negative. We will show you how to turn the negative responses into positive responses that motivate the child to do what you think he or she should do, which, in this case is work at home.

401 Ways to Get Your Child to Work at Home

by Bonnie Runyan McCullough

I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. ~ 3 John 4