I have currently been reading “Hints on Child Training” by H. Clay Trumbull. It is a book written about 100 years ago by Elizabeth Elliott’s Great-Grandfather. It is a wonderfully pragmatic look at how to train you children with the “big picture” in mind. In fact, after reading it once through, I have determined to read it again. It has so many gems in it, that reading it once is not enough to assimilate all of Trumbull’s wisdom. Especially once you are passing through the toddler years and on into early childhood.
In today’s fast past world, child training is rarely embraced as a proactive way to help your children become fully functioning adults. This book hints at the wonder of parenting and the blessing of training early in life. It has been a valuable resource for our family’s thinking on parenting our children.
I think if parents were armed with this information early they would determine to live simply and make sure the stress everywhere else in their life is minimized. Once you realize how the environment you create for your children forms them deeply, you will be careful to not let “mindless” things slip in. As parents, our specific mindset of where we are leading our children is key to navigating the parenting roadblocks that inevitably arise along our children’s path to adult hood. It is a sobering thought to realize the weaknesses that will occur in our children as adults are due to our weaknesses as a parents when they are young. This is a must have for a families library. It is one of those books that you will highlight and underline and refer to often.
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Hi there!
I am a teacher, however, with no children of my own. But this book has taught me so much, I am amazed at such a lot of wisdom that I have never learned in my accademic child training. After all a person who loves children and want them to walk in the Right Ways does not want to harm a child while training them. One can also see how important it is for the teacher, or parent to walk by example. You cannot expect a child to be disciplined if you cannot be disciplined in training him/her.