It’s back-to-school time, when parents either breathe a sigh of relief or reach for the tissue box. Likewise children will either be bursting with excitement to catch up with their buddies, or there may be tears and tummy aches as they nervously wait to see if they can make new friends.
I’ve sent all my children off to school, but each time was a different experience, depending on their personality. Just when I thought I had it all in hand and was a bit of an expert at the ‘back-to-school’ routine, my youngest child got unexpectedly clingy and I had to go into his class for a few weeks until he was happy to be on his own. That never happened at kindergarten! So you might find that going back to school is much more than just a routine to follow.
In fact, going back to school is the perfect time to teach your children something new. Given that children will spend half of their days this year at school (which is half of the year), it’s a good time to talk to them about behaviour and heart attitude. Because the Bible tells us it’s parents, not school teachers, who have the ultimate responsibility, and privilege, to educate their children about God and what it means to live as a follower of Jesus.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” As Christians, we know the importance of spending time in God’s Word each day. However it’s equally important to share God’s Word with our children every day.
As well as sharing the wisdom of the Bible, you may want to discuss with them how to be a good Christian witness to their friends at school. You could talk about being kind and caring in the classroom and playground, how to serve others by sharing pencils, rubbers and rulers, how to overcome anxieties and fears by praying to God, and how to show respect to, and obey their teachers.
After school, I found it helpful to ask them what was the highlight of their day, and the least favourite part of their day. This leads to more opportunities to teach them about behaviour, schoolwork, and being a friend, all within the context of God’s word. It’s also a good time to encourage them to find solutions for their least favourite part of school.
While as parents we do our part in training them up in the Lord (Prov. 22:6), when they are at school we need to trust them to the Lord and His care. When we do that, we’ll experience the joy and peace of knowing that God loves our children more than we do.
“Start children off the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
To read other Spotlight Australia articles, click below.
