Laying Down the Rails - Manners

One of the big Charlotte Mason principles in Laying Down the Rails is focus on one habit at a time. Create that habit until is a rail in your spirit and then move onto the next. We are working on Manners right now.

Froggy has a bad habit currently of ignoring people when they ask her a question. This is rude and drives me crazy. Therefore we are focusing on answering someone each time they speak to you no matter who it is or what you are doing.

The important point repeated throughout the guide is how important it is not to nag or let the new habit become a battle ground. I am struggling with this currently. I can easily present the requests and reminders without nagging. The problem I am having is keeping it from being a battle ground. Requiring compliance without it being a battle ground eludes me. I am still working my way through the section on removing bad habits so I hope it offers some useful advice.

Comments

  1. Katrina CollinsMarch 27, 2010 at 10:05 PM

    Michelle--
    You might consider prompting a response and then if she does not respond, state what you would like to hear her say without expecting her to actually say it right now. Hearing it gives her the foundation and eventually you will start hearing your language coming out of her mouth. You could even dialogue a conversation with you "Playing" both parts so she can see, explicitly, what her response should look like without the pressure to respond.

    Also, there are a lot of children who can't respond in certain situtions - especially if there is a perception of pressure/expectation on their part. This meets here where she is at and gives her a basis for when she takes the next step.

    Katrina

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