Parenting Class So Far

On Wednesday nights at the church a group of young parents have been participating in a parenting class using a newly written curriculum by my wife and myself. Here is an overview of what we have gone through thus far.

Week 1: Establishing our Foundation - Here we focused on the 2 clashing worldviews that drive parenting in our culture today. The Christian worldview believes that our dear little ones are born sinful along with all mankind after Adam. Also, that only Christ, the second Adam, can redeem the hearts of child and adult alike and free us from the bondage of sin. The second worldview is that children are born free from sin, untouched by the evil in the world, and that evil is learned from the culture around them as they grow. How you parent will depend on which worldview you embrace.

Week 2: The Husband & Wife Relationship - Here we spent an entire lesson on the importance of this relationship being the primary one in the home. This relationship is the one Paul talked about in Eph.5 as he reveals the marriage relationship as the picture of Christ’s relationship to His Church. Here we also talk about the dangers of child-centered parenting.

Week 3: The Goal of Parenting & Phases of Growth - Here we emphasize that the goal of our parenting is Relationship, in all the phases of parenting. We describe the phases of parenting as the discipline phase, the training phase, the coaching phase, and ultimately the friendship phase. We also stress what things to emphasize in parenting during each phase and the importance of transitioning from one phase to the next.

Week 4: The Developing Conscience - Here we look at what scripture says about the development of the conscience. We talk about the 4 activities of the conscience - 2 being negative: to warn and accuse, and 2 being positive: to prompt and affirm. We then talk a lot about how our own consciences are trained to become sensitive or hardened, and how to help train the consciences of our children. 1Tim.1:5 “The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith.”

Week 5: Discipline With Encouragement and Correction - Here we stress the importance in the discipline process of including encouragement in parental training, which includes affirmation, goal incentives, praise, and rewards. We also stress the correction side of discipline, which includes verbal reproof, natural consequences, isolation, restriction, loss of privileges and chastisement. Heb.12:11 “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful; yet to those who are trained by it, it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

That’s as far as we’ve gone thus far.
Looking ahead we will be going through the following topics:
Week 6 - Repentance, Forgiveness & Restoration
Week 7 - The Dangers of Too Many Verbal and Physical Freedoms
Week 8 - Various Discipline Issues
Week 9 - Those Teen Years: Can They Actually Be the Best Parenting Years?
Week 10 - Review and Discussion of Top 10 Take-Aways From the Class

If there is enough interest, we hope to repeat this class as a Sunday morning Sunday School Class beginning in late May. You can contact Dan Huff at dhuff@newcbc.org if interested.