Author: Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

Fun Activity To Help Kids Learn About Loving Others

Fun Activities to Help Kids Learn About Loving Others - Parenting Like HannahGod’s love for us is at the very root of Christianity. I’m sure you are teaching your kids to love others. Love is complicated though. It’s not just butterflies in your stomach or finding a friend who enjoys the same things you do. True agape love is loving people even when you have nothing in common with them. It’s the ability to love people even if you don’t particularly like them at the moment. It’s even what makes it possible to love our enemies.

There is a fun activity you can do with your kids to help them begin to understand love is unconditional. Gather up some paper and some pens and markers or crayons. If you want to get really creative, cut out the paper in the shape of a heart or buy those inexpensive heart-shaped blank books.

Continue reading Fun Activity To Help Kids Learn About Loving Others

The One Habit All Christian Kids Must Be Taught

The One Habit All Christian Kids Must Be Taught - Parenting Like HannahThe university I attended for my undergraduate degree was actually a part of Colonial Williamsburg. We were seeped in history and most of us loved it, no matter our major. Our library was full of rare documents from people like Thomas Jefferson and other historical figures. As a result, one of the principles we were taught was the idea of researching primary source documents.

A primary source document is considered to be the closest source you can find to an actual event or person. So for example, when I wanted to do a paper on the man who built many of the historical homes on the Appomattox River, I didn’t read a book about him. Instead, I went to the historical society library in Richmond and had them pull everything he had ever personally written – from letters to diaries to inventories and wills. Those documents painted a more accurate picture of the man than one painted by someone else who had their personal interpretation of his life added to the mix.

So what does this have to do with Christian parenting? For Christians, our primary source document is the Bible. (I’m not ignoring the translation aspect, but that’s a more advanced level of this topic.) All other writings on the topic are considered at best a secondary source. Any book on Christianity. Any theology treatise. Any commentary. Any document written by someone and not included in the Bible is a secondary source.

Continue reading The One Habit All Christian Kids Must Be Taught

8 Tips for Raising Kids Who Make Wise Decisions

8 Tips for Teaching Kids to Make Wise Decisions - Parenting Like HannahEverywhere you turn, it seems some parenting expert is telling us children and teens are basically incapable of making wise decisions. Often they talk about an under-developed pre-frontal cortex or some other “science” to back their theories. What’s interesting to me is that I know plenty of teens and young adults who regularly make wise decisions – my own daughter included. In fact, a quick look at the history of our own country will show teens and young adults were making decisions (and often very mature ones) at much younger ages than do young people today.

So what’s the difference? I have no scientific data to back my theory, but I believe the pre-frontal cortex is like the rest of the brain. It can be trained to do more than it currently does. You don’t refuse to teach your kids to read, because they weren’t born knowing how to read. Yes, different children are capable of learning to read at different ages and speeds, but there are many educators who have shown most kids can actually learn to read earlier than they currently do.

I believe the same theories apply to the part of the brain that helps us make wise decisions. Unless it is damaged, that area can be stimulated and learn wise decision making much earlier than we currently expect of many of our young people. But just like most kids must be taught how to read, most must be actively taught how to make wise – and in our case godly – decisions.

So what can you do to help your kids learn to make wiser decisions at a younger age than many of their peers? Every child is different, but here are some things that should help almost any child begin learning how to make wiser choices:

Continue reading 8 Tips for Raising Kids Who Make Wise Decisions

Fun New Book for Christian Kids

Fun New Book for Christian Kids - Parenting Like HannahI love it when kids read their Bibles. It’s probably one of the most important gifts you can give your kids – the gift of loving reading the Bible. But let’s face it. The Bible can be an intimidating book for early readers. Some who haven’t heard many Bible stories may even think it is “boring” just because it’s thick. In other posts, I have shared some tips for helping kids overcome their concerns about Bible reading. For some kids though, you may want a little help from someone else.

Bible Trivia, Jokes and Fun Facts for Kids by Troy Schmidt is a fun new book that might spark an interest in some kids for reading the Bible. The book is actually a combination of riddles, jokes, trivia quizzes, word games, fun facts and more. To me, the book is worth it for the jokes and riddles as any parent of a riddle and joke crazed young child will tell you – any new material is most welcome. (And there are some really cute ones I hadn’t heard before.)

For those looking for activities to keep kids busy while traveling in the car or waiting somewhere, there is enough variety for most kids to find some sort of puzzles or fun facts that will interest them. The book has over 150 pages of activities, so it should keep your child busy for awhile. In fact there are even a couple of pages of table talk questions to discuss as a family.

Continue reading Fun New Book for Christian Kids

Teaching Kids About God While They’re Learning to Count

Teaching Kids About God While They're Learning to Count - Parenting Like Hannah

 

Often the “trick” to spending more time teaching your kids about God is to find ways to do it while you are working with them on something else. Teaching your kids to count is an important rite of passage for most kids.

Many of them will go through a stage where they will count…and count…and count. They aren’t counting things necessarily, but just counting to see how high they can get without making a mistake. Why not add a little fun and some Bible to the mix?

Here are some fun ways to mix learning to count and teaching your kids about God:
Continue reading Teaching Kids About God While They’re Learning to Count