Yet, your child said “no.” Your child argued. He sighed and rolled his eyes. She stood still and stared at you.
Now what?
Now that you have a power and control issue on your hands, where do you go from here?
Now, you raise your voice, put on your serious eyebrows, draw yourself to your full mama-bear height and issue an order, right? How’s that working out?
I believe submission to authority is important. We teach our kids to obey.
However, I can imagine that if my husband were to use the above tact with me–to demand that I obey him right now, no questions asked–we might have some issues. I would feel disrespected and unloved.
Instead, my husband is proactive. He loves me the way I “hear” love, and I’m happy to serve him. He talks to me about his priorities, about the direction we’re headed as a team.
Homeschooling Tips and Ideas for Overcoming Resistance
I recently spent some time talking to a group of homeschool mamas about how to overcome homeschool resistance. Grab a cup of tea or coffee, and let’s talk about my best homeschool tips and tricks to set you on the path to homeschool success.
Homeschooling Tips and Ideas | Three Ways to Overcome Homeschool Resistance
An Apple a Day Keeps Homeschool Resistance at Bay
Preventative medicine makes a lot of sense. We take vitamins, eat well and exercise to help ward off disease. That doesn’t mean we never get sick, but it does mean our bodies are better prepared to deal with crisis.
Parenting intentionally is a little bit like preventative medicine.
When we do the hard work of relationship building and character training up front, we end up with better results on the back end. A solid, loving relationship with our children solves many of the problems before they ever occur.
If our kids know we love them, know how much we value their service, know why we value their education, they are far more likely to cooperate.
Those conversations are much more difficult to have when our children have drawn a line in the sand–refusing to obey.
Preventative Parenting
Some of the things I’ve found which help reduce arguing, four strong-willed kids into this parenting deal:
- Daily physical exercise. It doesn’t seem to matter what time of day, as long as they run, swim, etc for at least an hour a day.
- They know they’re loved. In their love language. This generally requires some degree of effort on the part of the parent. If you haven’t read The 5 Love Languages of Children, I highly recommend checking it out. It’s an excellent resource.
- We allow some degree of autonomy. Our kids get to make choices throughout the day–even if it’s as simple as choosing which book to read first, or between two lunch options.
- We’re respectful in our tone and words. “Would you please take out your math? Thank you; I appreciate your quick response.” Kids mirror the way their parents treat them.
- We always praise for good behavior and response time. It is so much easier to praise than to correct. Our kids are going to seek our attention somehow. I’d prefer to give my attention willingly and to edify.
- Limited screen time. We allow an hour a day of screen time (usually coding work)–and no video games. This is vastly different than how we parented with our first two, and it makes a HUGE difference in attitude. Video games or extended TV time had such a negative impact on our home, that we decided to try a new tact. It’s been at least 15 years, and we haven’t missed it at all. In fact, my husband and I stopped watching TV altogether five years ago, though we still watch the occasional movie. We seem to be nicer as well–and our relationship is stronger.
- Character training. We proactively teach character when it’s NOT an issue. We read Christian biographies, work on Bible Road Trip™ (and therefore read through Scripture every three years), spend time in family worship, etc. This helps strengthen their character for later–when it IS an issue.
Urgent Care: In the Heat of the Homeschool Moment
So, it’s true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Yet, only the most pliant child (I’ve never met one) will never have a defiant moment. The strong-willed child will likely struggle with resistance daily at first.
I like to remind myself that strong-willed kids are the ones that say “no” to drugs and vandalism. They’re the kids that take a stand–the kids that lead. A strong will is an asset–a gift from God.
The difficulty arises when we try to bend the strong will without breaking it.
I find it beneficial to remember that my job description is to help my children become functional, godly adults. That helps me keep my own emotions out of the way, so I’m not surprised or upset when they do argue. They will argue, and it’s not about me.
Defiance, arguing, and rebellion are heart issues. I want my kids to obey, the first time, with cheerfulness. If that’s not happening, the issue is based in their heart. Though there are moments that obedience must take place right now, I’d much prefer to work with my child on his heart and its effect on his life.
When our kids were young, we found it helpful to have our kids take “breaks” until they could try a given task again with a right heart. Sometimes those breaks (which consist of sitting on the floor in the middle of a room) could take a really long time. When our child was ready to discuss the issue with a contrite heart, he was welcome to approach us, discuss his behavior, obey, and rejoin family life.
The breaks were a relief to all of us. Our children obeyed quicker, with a better attitude, and–over time–took fewer (and shorter) breaks.
The breaks allowed me to lecture less, allowing the break to be the consequence. The children got the message. Ed and I read about giving the kids breaks in the excellent book by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, Parenting is Heart Work.
Grab your FREE Bible Study Tool Kit–over 130 pages of Bible resources for your family!
Training our kids up to be the delightful adults they are meant to be is a lot of work. We’ve found that laying the foundation with a strong relationship and a structured home is worth the effort.
In tough moments of guiding, teaching, and discipling our kids for Jesus, we strive to do our job parenting with kind hearts, set right with the Lord by our own preventative medicine. We stay in the Word, pray, and build empathy for our small people by spending time and energy loving on them.
How do you deal with defiance? What is your best tactic?
Books Make Great Gifts!
Teach Your Kids the Bible with Bible Road Trip™
Bible Road Trip™ is a three-year Bible survey curriculum. Take your family through the Bible five times from preschool to high school.
To help you get the most out of your studies, Bible Road Trip™ has an array of coordinating weekly activities:
- Researching the section of the Bible you’re studying
- Reading and discussing the Bible
- Memorizing Scripture
- Notebooking about your studies
- Praying for the nations
- Suggestions for further study
- Crafting about what you’ve learned
- For your older students: A project to share what they’ve learned
- Bible Road Trip™ also has some great tools you can use along with it, such as:
- Notebooking Journals for grades 1-9. Want a structured notebooking journal for high school? Don’t hesitate to use the Dialectic journal (grades 7-9).
- Bible Memory Card Sets for all five levels of study, preschool to high school. These are available in both ESV and KJV.
Grab your Bible Road Trip™ Year One Sample Pack. You’ll get:
- The Bible Road Trip™ Parent / Teacher Guide.
- The first three weeks of the curriculum for all five learning levels. Week Three is where we really dive into the Bible and begin to our systematic study. Week Three will give you a good feel for the rest of the curriculum.
- The first three weeks of the Bible Memory Card sets for all five levels, in ESV and KJV.
- The first three weeks of each of the three leveled Notebooking Journals.
Grab the Sample Pack for FREE:
Disciple your kids by taking your family through the Bible together in a meaningful way!
The 2024 Practical Homeschooling® Reader Awards™ were announced in the Fall 2024 issue of Practical Homeschooling® magazine.
The Reader Awards have been a regular feature in the magazine since 1998.
Thousands of homeschoolers rank the curriculum they have used, and the products with the highest satisfaction ratings win.
Bible Road Trip™ Curriculum
Take a look inside the Bible Road Trip™ curriculum! Let me show you around:
Bible Resources for Your Kids
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