Index: Skills

This mother’s son has a hard time following instructions if there isn’t a pre-teach before every instruction. Does she have to pre-teach beforeeveryinstruction?… Read more »

Parents are meant to shepherd their children toward truth and safety, as well as in learning skills, in order to prepare them for the purposes of their lives. But not all shepherds are the same.Two sisters were given some sheep to care for, and a promise that the sheep would be of great value if tended properly.The younger sister wanted… Read more »

In November 2015 we visited Kenya and taught many religious leaders, teachers, social workers, family advocatesand parents how to teach self-government in Kenya. It was the first time we did a training like this outside of the United States. When we departed, we had a prayer in our hearts that the wonderful Kenyan TSG mentors would be able to have… Read more »

“I think I ruined my child,” a mother told me in desperation as she explained some of the behavior problems and disconnection problems her teenage son was having. She was being honest with herself about mistakes that she might have made in her son’s upbringing. My heart ached for her. She might have unknowingly done some things that led her… Read more »

No one likes errors, but we don’t need to handle them in ways that set everyone up for failure. We’ve all been there. We finally have time to go online to buy that perfect gift or to look up that news story we want to know about, and instead of successfully purchasing or reading the article, we get an error… Read more »

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Roles. They define our rights, obligations, responsibilities, beliefs, and even who we are. How well do we each understand our respective roles? How do we teach our children about proper roles? How would the problems children and parents face change if they better understood roles? Aren’t parents whether aggressive, passive or assertive always defining roles anyway? How do roles effect... Read more »

Training a horse is much like training a child. Treat a horse as if it were your friend, they become overly confident and take control, leaving you at your wit’s end as you try to regain control of them. It is the same with children. If the parental authority in the home is not respected or observed, children become bold,… Read more »

No matter how many different types of resolutions we choose to write down and work on this coming year, all the items on our lists are actually just one resolution. At first glance this statement may seem like an attempt to simplify resolutions to make successfully accomplishing them easier. But understanding that all resolutions point to one problem to fix… Read more »

“Porter, you’re being whiny and you need to stop it,” said Spencer, my husband, in exasperation one evening. He had just treated the children to a day of fun times and snacks, and even purchased souvenir T-shirts for them. Spencer had had enough. The funny thing was that Porter’s whiny moment was the first occurrence of whininess and entitlement all… Read more »

Freedom in the family is the key to raising children who are freer and more independent. The problem is, most people don’t understand freedom. Many families institute complete license without consequences assuming that’s freedom and that it will lead to independent children. But in reality, it leads to emotional bondage and relationship dysfunction. Personal freedom and independence are nurtured best… Read more »

My views have changed. During my teen and young adult years, I thought that women needed to do everything men did, and women did, in order to be strong. But, now that I have seen every dimension of womanhood firsthand, I see that my views of women and myself lacked depth and understanding when I was young, and I was… Read more »