A child’s innocent mind and body are vulnerable to the wiles of both their fantasy world and the real world. Parents and caregivers should be very cautious who their children form an attachment to for their safety and personal growth. As teachable moments present themselves use them to illustrate a life lesson.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9 offers a parent the idea that at any time of day, whether at home or in the community, a lesson of life can take place. The key is for parents to be willing and ready to engage their child on subjects that will increase their knowledge of their world and their perspective of the world.
What is a Teachable Moment
Many parents and teachers share the notion that a teachable moment can arise at a moment’s notice. A general consensus among school professionals is this opportunity is an optimum time to share wisdom, knowledge and understanding. In a nutshell it's a jewel the glitters with the light of insight not known before but is made clear to the student.
A teachable moment can include a wide variety of topics that range from astronomy, history, science and human nature. In this space, as we focus on children there are three simple topics of importance for nurturing a child into a relationship in the family and community: love, safety and danger.
Love
Oftentimes love is a word that is hard to put your finger on in a precise and definitive way. Love is synonymous with so many things that it can become very confusing and its definition can be abused. At the very least use your time with your child to instill the fact that to love someone means to take action.
Therefore when the opportunity arises take a moment to explain what love is and what it can do for you. For example, show you children that love often means sacrifice. Parent, brother and sisters will sacrifice their time and energy so that someone else can receive the things they might want or need.
A second lesson can demonstrate that love is often sharing what you have either with someone less fortunate than you or with people who are in need that you do not know. Illustrate by example that in the season of Thanksgiving we share our time, energy and resources to help feed people who are in homeless shelters or who live on the streets.
At every opportunity it would serve a parent well to teach their child the value, the purpose and the power in the emotion of love.
Safety Lessons
The classic time for a lesson in safety is after an event, i.e., an accident or injury. However, before such an event can take place pay special attention to times when safety can be a topic without using scare tactics or threats of ominous foreboding. Share your insight into safety using simple language that does not create fear and anxiety around every corner of daily life.
The first lesson can be about people in the community who we should trust. Explain how your child can identify them by the role they play to keep people safe. Police officers and firefighters have the role in the community to protect and serve the public and help make us safe. Another group are military people who fight to protect our community by fighting in wars and helping during a natural disaster.
Explain that there are many other persons in the community whose role is vital to its social fiber. These persons in the community include clergy, doctors, librarians, teachers and postal workers. A parent can find opportunities to teach children the impact these persons can have in their child's life.
The next lesson for children can be the introduction of places of safety in our community. It is imortant to inform children about public places that have risen to iconic status. There status is a result of their reputation for safety. Children can be taught to rely on them as a safe haven.
These public places of safety for children in the community can include police stations; a library; a church; a hospital; and, certain government buildings. The premise is to introduce and educate children about their connection to the larger community by establishing a personal knowledge of these places with their family life.
Danger
There is an old adage that with knowledge come responsibility. If a parent is to teach their child about love and safety that should also teach about the dangers of this world.
We have people in our community who have risen to a status of prominence and children should become aware of the potential danger they could present to their safety.
The first warning sign can be capsulated in one word, secrets. It is imperative to share moments with a child that even though a person is respectable caution is needed when they ask them to keep a secret.
Instill the thought that a person who attempts to entice them to keep a secret is trying to control them with secrecy. Let them know the infamous words that they will use may include, "no one is supposed to know, just you and me."
The second warning sign can be capsulated in the words, threat and/or intimidation. A valuable lesson to teach comes when the secret trick does not work. Let them know that desperate people will use threats and intimidation to make them keep silent about what no one else is to know.
Although the threat and/or intimidation may be made against a family member the best remedy for them is to tell somebody. Share that families and communities are made stronger by either revealing secrets that bring shame or confronting threats as a group and not individuals.
There are many opportunities for parents to pass down knowledge of the world and it's important to take advantage of teachable moments to do it.
Resource:
http://aplaceofourown.org/question_detail.php?=599
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+6&version=KJV
Samuel Means - Samuel Means is pastor and counselor who works toward helping families find the resources they need to build strong positive ...
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