Parenting Classes at NHCC

Steve and Beth Leon present three different classes to help parents raise their kids God's way. The foundational class, Growing Kids God's Way, is a 21-week course for qualified parents to participate in a small group workshop. The other two classes build on the principles taught in the first program. Watch the bulletins for announcements for the next series of classes. Parents are interviewed and selected for each program. 

Growing Kids God's Way - About All Kids

Growing Kids God's Way is a comprehensive values-based parenting curriculum. In the title the authors, Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo, place their emphasis on God's Way meaning the way of the Lord. We serve an ethical God. Moral rightness flows from His being. His moral law is a reflection of His holy character (Psalm 19:7). More than that, He has shown man what is good and what is required of him (Micah 6:8). Growing Kids God's Way can help any parent reach the heart of children with virtues and values that flow from the character of God and do it without stressing the child or the parents.

It's practical and the applications work. Topics include: 

• How to help children internalize virtues and values and how to help them practically live out the character of God in their life. 
• What parents do to foster insecure children and how they can fix the problems that might now exist. 
• How to say "I love you" to your children and spouse in such a way that each member actually feels the full sensation of parental love. 
• How fathers build or undermine their children's sense of trust and confidence in parental leadership and how to build family loyalty and identity. 
• What is true character and how do you teach your children to love and prefer each other? 
• You will learn how not to raise a "moral robot" but a child with moral sensibility. 
• Learn what true biblical discipline is and what are the principles of first time obedience. 
• How to train right behavior into children so you will not have to spend unnecessary time correcting wrong behavior. 
• How to successfully handle sibling conflict, temper tantrums, and the three sister sins: lying, cheating and stealing. 
• How to instill that wonderful life-virtue of personal self-control and a sense of personal responsibility. 

Preparation for Adolescence - 8 to 12 Years of Age

Consider the example of the Chinese bamboo tree. Once the first sprout emerges from the soil, the rate of growth averages nearly two-and-a-half feet per day, culminating six weeks later in a ninety foot tree. What is even more amazing is the root system that sustains and nurtures this explosive growth. From the time the seed is planted, an extensive network of roots takes four years to develop before the tender bamboo shoot ever breaks ground and heads for the sun. 

This is a good analogy of what is happening now with your middle years child. The growth in these years is silent, extensive and occurs mostly below the surface. Like the Chinese bamboo tree, your child is developing a supporting "root system" that will sustain and support him or her in the explosive growth years of adolescence. This is the time when you the parent must nurture, water and tend the "seedling" in your care. We want to help prepare you to meet that challenge. 

The middle years, 8 to 12 years of age, are perhaps the most significant attitude-forming period in the life of a child. It is during this time that the roots of moral character are established. From the foundation that is formed, healthy or not-so-healthy family relationships will be built. These are the years when patterns of behavior are firmly established patterns that will impact your parent-child relationship for decades to come. Rightly meeting the small challenges of the middle years significantly reduces the likelihood of big challenges in the teen years. In other words, the groundwork you lay during your child's middle years will forever impact your relationship even long after he or she is grown. 

Included are discussions related to the eight major transitions of middle years children.

• How to create a family-dependent and not a peer-dependent child. 
• How to lead by your relational influence and not by coercive authority. 
• What discipline methods work and what methods do not work. 
• How to recognize if your child is in trouble. 

Reaching the Heart of Your Teen - 13 to 18 Years of Age

Why do teenagers rebel? Is it due to hormones, a suppressed primal desire to stake out their own domain, or a natural and predictable process of growth? To what extent do parents encourage or discourage the storm and stress of adolescence? Reaching the Heart of Your Teen looks at the many factors that make living with a teenager a blessing or a curse. It exposes the notions of secular myth and brings to light the proven how-to applications of building and maintaining healthy relationships with your teens. Whether you worry about your teen and dating or your teen and drugs, the principles of Reaching the Heart of Your Teen are appropriate and applicable for both extremes and everyone in between. They do work! 

Included in this series is discussion on: 

• Healthy families with teens and what makes them strong. 
• Understanding teenage rebellion for what it really is. 
• The diminishing role of parental authority and increasing role of parental influence in the life of a teen. 
• How to establish common moral ground with your teen. 
• The do's and don'ts of parent-teen communication. 
• How to influence peer pressure on our children. 
• How to start over with a wayward teen. 
• How to truly communicate love to your teen. 
• Understanding why teens don't talk or listen. 
• What methods of corrections work with teens. 
• Issues related to dating and courtship, and much more. 

Growing Families International © 2001 Growing Families International

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