"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.” ~ Charlotte Mason

This Month's Habit Focus is Obedience.

Submitting to the restraint or command of authority.

This month we're starting a new habit training focus in The Homeschool Sisterhood.

“First, and infinitely the most important, is the habit of obedience. Indeed, obedience is the whole duty of the child, and for this reason—every other duty of the child is fulfilled as a matter of obedience to his parents. Not only so: obedience is the whole duty of man; obedience to conscience, to law, to Divine direction” (Charlotte Mason Vol. 1, p. 161).

“Now, if the parent realize that obedience is no mere accidental duty, the fulfilling of which is a matter that lies between himself and the child, but that he is the appointed agent to train the child up to the intelligent obedience of the self-compelling, law-abiding human being, he will see that he has no right to forego the obedience of his child, and that every act of disobedience in the child is a direct condemnation of the parent. Also, he will see that the motive to the child’s obedience is not the arbitrary one of, ‘Do this, or that, because I have said so,’ but the motive of the apostolic injunction, ‘Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right’ ” (Charlotte Mason Vol. 1, p. 161).

Using Laying Down The Rails

Habits Handbook - Read pages 96-101.

Habit Training Companion for Children - Pages 255-262.

More Resources:

Kids of Integrity Obedience Lesson https://www.kidsofintegrity.com/lessons/obedience

Kids of Integrity Obedience Memory Verses https://www.kidsofintegrity.com/lessons/obedience/memory-verses

The Character Corner

• Free My Obedience Chart https://thecharactercorner.com/product/my-obedience-chart/
• 10 Tips for First Time Obedience https://thecharactercorner.com/10-tips-for-first-time-obedience/
• Specific and Practical Ways to Teach Obedience https://thecharactercorner.com/practical-ways-to-teach-obedience/

My favorite Bible Study for Kids and Youth on Obedience is Because I Said So... by Kim Sorgius. I'll be doing this Bible Study with my kids this month alongside our Laying Down the Rail lessons and our Scripture copywork.