Last month we joined a Kid’s Honor Club that my friend Tina put together. It’s a sweet little 12-week program that Tina picked up to teach the kids about what it means to be kind and honorable people. Tina invited our science co-op group of 6 families to participate.
Disclaimer: The program is Christian-based with Biblical excerps. Since only 2 of our families are practicing Christians, we modified the program to accommodate.
One of the many things I love about homeschooling is working in sweet little groups like this on meaningful topics like kindness and honor. Keeping our group small allows us to grow close and connect intimately. We become a close-knit community that works together to raise our children.
But honestly, these are important lessons that all kids need to learn. Our world needs our children to be more kind and honorable people. Heck. Our world needs our adults to be more kind and honorable people.
What is the program about?
To me, being honorable is being respectful, having good manners, treating all people kindly with compassion, being thoughtful (and if possible, responsive) of the needs of others. Being honorable is not only doing what is expected of you but going above that to be the best you can be. Being honorable is having a good attitude about things, even in the crappiest of situations.
This program seems to align with my definition. In the 12-weeks, it defines honor and teaches about dealing with issues like selfishness and addressing anger in healthy ways. Kids learn to become peacemakers. They also learn to add positive energy to the family instead of draining it.
This is what I want my children to learn.
Umph. That last one is hard. WE have to be constant reminders to our children of what it means to be honorable. Sometimes, that is very difficult. Things get in the way, emotion, opinions, religion, greed, desperation.
And in this current state of unrest in our world when we are all taking sides, divided by politics, religion, social issues; when the media reports both news and satire meant to further our division; when emotion and tempers are running high and everything is offensive to someone, we NEED to remember what we are doing this for. During this time in our history, we need more respect, more compassion for others, more thoughtfulness. We need better attitudes and more exceptional people.
I don’t know that this 12-week program, sweet as it is, is the answer but we have to start somewhere. And for my kids, I hope this the start to a difference. I hope The Husband and I can continue these lessons through reinforcement and example so that one day in 10 years when the kids have a Facebook page (or whatever social media platform is popular) they are able to be the honorable people we are trying to raise: moral, respectful, kind, compassionate, and thoughtful.
