Last month my friend Tina invited some close friends and myself to join a Kid’s Honor Club. Ok, well, she invited our kids. It’s a sweet little 12 week program Tina picked up that teaches the kids what it means to be honorable people.
First I want to say, I love that in homeschool we are able to have sweet little groups like this. Tina chose to make this a small, select group instead of an open group which not only allows our families to be close and intimate.
I also love that we can learn lessons about such a meaningful topic.
You won’t find this class in public school.
But why not?
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Ok, the program Tina is using has a Christian base with references to Biblical stories and that doesn’t fly in public schools, nor should it, but there should be a non-religious version of this that is mandatory in all schools. Our world needs our children to be more honorable people. Heck. Our world needs our adults to be more honorable people.
Maybe we don’t teach this because we don’t understand what that means. Maybe it means different things to different people. Maybe that’s why we don’t do the things we should.
So…? What does it mean? What does it mean to be honorable? What is Tina teaching my children? What does our world need to know?
To me, being honorable is being respectful, having good manners, treating other 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 is what I want my children to learn. This is what I want all children to learn.
Will they learn it through a 12 week program? It’s a start. But these are lifetime learning lessons. Lessons that are constantly learned and relearned. Lessons that need reinforcement time and again. Lessons that need strong, positive examples to follow.
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. 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.
