The college domino effect started a few years ago in our house. With five kids, we knew it loomed on the horizon since the days when they were little tykes, convinced that swimming in a plastic pool in the front yard was as close to paradise as one could get. ...
Choosing which type of formal education for our children hasn’t been easy. As a teacher, the cons of the different systems have typically spoken the loudest to me. However, now that we have three school-aged children, I feel like we’ve stepped into a good rhythm with solid expectations for our...
When others hear that we chose to switch from public school to homeschooling pre-COVID-19 (literally months before), I receive lots of questions. First, please understand that what I share and how I share it is not meant to cause anyone to feel like they need to do what we do,...
Months before we got married and years before we became parents, my husband and I sat down and discussed where we would send our hypothetical children to school. OK, technically, I sat my husband down and fired a series of questions at him from a “before you get married” book...
I sat in a student missions training seminar about 6 months ago. What we were facing that week consisted of sleeping on floors, engaging refugee families who didn’t speak much English, teaming up with unfamiliar people, and adhering to someone else’s schedule—which means late nights and early mornings. In our...
But when it came to finding that path for my kids, I knew a verse that was one of the earliest scripture memories for me. And it was something I held on to really tightly. But I kind of got a little, shall we say, off track myself in understanding...
Mom, will you play with me? Pause. Something happens when we become adults. We start to think about education, food, paying the bills, serving, and laundry. Oh, the laundry! Summer hits, and many of us don’t have the same luxury to toss caution to the wind and spend endless hours...
© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Yes, newborns spend most of their time sleeping and eating. But babies are more than mere survival machines. At birth, they are primed and ready for social input, and our loving care has profound effects on their development. Decades ago, people underestimated...
Set an example for your children in practicing these 8 things. This is a powerful idea and word picture for how we live our lives. You can think about this when you’re thinking about how we interact with our kids, how we interact with people, and then the difficult circumstances—and...
So let’s talk about some steps that we could take in the moment that will help this character come back. The first thing is I pray for you in a tag team situation. But if you’re a single mom, or single dad, that’s okay. These steps absolutely apply to you....
Okay, now I get to talk about something that I love to talk about. Anytime I talk about raising boys, and it’s as relevant today as ever, it has two parts to it. You’ll see why I want to talk about how our sons need boundaries and freedoms. Now we...
If you’ve ever walked through an incredibly stressful season or some difficult circumstances, you may have experienced what myself and others call “survival mode.” It’s that mentality or feeling of just trying to get through it, trying to hold on, trying to survive. It happens when the demands of life...
It’s the most common question parents ask me at my parent workshops: “What is the perfect age to give my […] The post What if your kids already have screens, and you’re having second thoughts? appeared first on Christian Parenting.
This important article was written by Dr. Jim Denison. Dr. Denison is the founder of Denison Ministries, and writes the Denison Forum – Daily Article.. As you know, mental health is a topic that is becoming very prevalent in our young people. We pray this article encourages you in your...
© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Everybody says it. Politicians, corporations, lobbyists, investors, major media outlets, policymakers. They say they care about children. They say we must make sure that our children are thriving. They say we must provide them with the opportunities they need become happy, productive,...
Despite all odds, the 2020 Olympic Games are happening now in Tokyo. The irony of the “2020” Games taking place in 2021 is not lost on the young people around us. It’s like a lot of their own experiences this past year—delayed, uncertain, disappointing, but maybe still holding the hope...
I will be honest—this is a hard one for me to write. Why? Because it is just a little bit too real life. It is easy to write about seasons past or experiences with my children. I also love to write about what God is teaching me as a mom...
© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Treating postpartum depression is crucial for the well-being of mothers, but studies suggest that it benefits babies, too — improving an infant’s ability to regulate emotions. Imagine you’re a baby. You are sitting on your mother’s lap, facing forward, while a friendly...
Growing up, I had a good relationship with my parents. Honoring and obeying them came relatively easy. But when I hit adulthood, things got complicated. Their divorce during my first year of marriage brought up wounds I didn’t know existed. I felt shame and anger. Honoring them became hard. For...
© 2021 Gwen Dewar, Ph.D., all rights reserved Some teens study lots of math. Others avoid it. Does it make a difference? Yes, and not only to career prospects. New research suggests it might also affect brain chemistry, and the way that students learn. How many years of math should...
