"Training A Child"

by Nancy Sebastian Meyer

“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6

I am celebrating my twentieth year of evaluating PA homeschool children. As families came through the house this past week, I realized all over again why I love to evaluate. Most often my job is to help the parent/teacher take a few steps back and see the “big picture” of success from a whole-year perspective.

Day after day all year long, homeschool families work on their curriculum. So close to the material, they often lose sight of the vast amount of learning going on in their home. Pennsylvania law requires the compilation of a portfolio—a representation of the child’s work throughout the school year. Sitting down and looking over this record, interviewing the child, and talking with the parents gives the evaluator a good picture of the year’s accomplishments. I love to paint that picture in the parents’ tired minds and see their resulting relief and joy. This success comes from effectively teaching and training their children.

Teaching is only as effective as the training that accompanies it. Training (as used in Proverbs 22:6) is the process of applying and practicing a truth again and again until it becomes a natural part of a person’s thinking and behavior.

Our Father-God continues where our parents left off. He desires to teach and train us with the goal of making us more like Him day by day. What is He teaching you today? Are you allowing Him to coach you through grueling practice sessions? Are you resisting or calling on Him to help encourage and pace you? He is the perfect Father who always responds in loving kindness.
God is the final evaluator who will one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.

Copyright © 2008 - Nancy Sebastian Meyer. All rights reserved.
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