To Train Up a Child

Debi Pearl, Michael Pearl

Description

To Train Up a Child, first published in 1994, began as a letter to a homeschool mother in answer to her question, How did you train your children to be so happy and obedient? Mike did not consider himself to be an author, nor did Debi possess the means or the knowledge to publish a book. They realized that it was a big subject that could not be put into a few pages, so they wrote a book. Friends and neighbors were consulted, gleaning their views and methods of child training. They analyzed how they were influenced by the traditions they inherited from their parents, and they looked at the methods that were unique to their family. Friends and members of their church periodically read and critiqued the manuscript as it grew to book size. Twenty one years later, To Train Up a Child has sold over 1.2 million copies in twelve languages. TTUAC has been on Amazon s best-seller list several times. This new book has added chapters and several updates. Mike and Debi have received tens of thousands of letters of gratitude and been approached by thousands of young people thanking them for their influence in the way they were raised their parents having implemented the principles expressed in TTUAC. Mike and Debi are humbled to have played a part in so many young people s lives. There has been no editing to modify their stance on spanking. To the contrary, due to the media attacks, they have expanded and strengthened their arguments for traditional, biblical child training. There are now more than a million TTUAC books circulating in the United States that will continue to stand for traditional, biblical parenting.

Sujets

• Pregnancy
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: No Greater Joy Ministries
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781616440732
• Langue: English

Extrait

TO T RAIN UP A C HILD
Child Training for the 21st Century
Michael and Debi Pearl
To Train Up a Child: Child Training for the 21st Century
Copyright © 2015 by Michael & Debi Pearl
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the contributing writer or the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For more information contact: [e-mail]
Publication date: May 2015
Print: ISBN: 978-1-61644-072-5
eBook: ISBN: 978-1-61644-073-2
ePub: ISBN: 978-1-61644-074-9
All Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Holy Bible
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015937790
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the author or the publisher is not engaged in rendering any type of professional services. If expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
1. Child Training 2. Children 3. Parenting 4. Homeschooling 5. Obedience 6. Religion 7. Jesus 8. Christianity I. Pearl, Michael; Pearl, Debi II. To Train Up a Child: Child Training for the 21st Century Revised & Expanded
To Train Up a Child: Child Training for the 21st Century may be purchased at special quantity discounts for churches, donor programs, fund raising, book clubs, or educational purposes for churches, congregations, schools and universities. Rights and Licensing in other languages and international sales opportunities are available. For more information contact:
Mel Cohen
1000 Pearl Road
Pleasantville TN 37033
[phone]
[e-mail]
Cover and interior design by Aaron Aprile
Cover Photograph by Lynne Hopwood
Printed in the United States of America
Publisher: No Greater Joy Ministries, Inc.
www.nogreaterjoy.org
Foreword
To Train Up a Child , first published in 1994, began as a letter to a homeschool mother in answer to her question, “How did you train your children to be so happy and obedient?” I did not consider myself to be an author, nor did I possess the means or the knowledge to publish a book. But as I sat down to write a letter to this mother, I realized that it was a big subject that could not be put into a few pages. I consulted my friends and neighbors, gleaning their views and methods of child training. I even interviewed my children, asking them what they thought about their upbringing. Deb and I analyzed how we were influenced by the traditions we inherited from our parents, and we looked at the methods that were unique to our family. Friends and members of our church periodically read and critiqued the manuscript as it grew to book size.
After about two years, that mother finally got a response. So I want to thank Penny Mullen for asking the right question. Twenty years later, To Train Up a Child has sold over 1.2 million copies in twelve languages. TTUAC has been on Amazon’s best-seller list several times.
For the past 19 years we have published a bimonthly magazine, No Greater Joy , and written a number of books speaking to the needs of the family. We have received tens of thousands of letters of gratitude and been approached by thousands of young people thanking us for our influence in the way they were raised—their parents having implemented the principles expressed in TTUAC. We are humbled to have played a part.
Our children are all grown, ranging from 31 to 41 years of age. They have given us 22 grandchildren so far, with two more on the way. They love God and are great parents, fully supportive of their parents, employing us as babysitters on a regular basis. Our home remains full of little running feet and is regularly strewn with books and toys. I am teaching a new generation of boys and girls how to fish and throw knives. Deb is teaching the girls how to cook and garden. I am now Big Papa and Deb is Mama Pearl.
Our magazine always contains articles written by our children. They often have insights that surpass their parents’. Rebekah and Shoshanna are published authors. Shoshanna is a speaker at herb conventions. Shalom is a popular speaker at homeschool conventions and ladies’ meetings. Nathan is a Bible teacher and public speaker. He is presently teaching the Bible in a small college. Gabriel is a businessman, a great father who worships God, and is an active participant in church activities.
When I read back over this book, I was shocked at some of the poor writing of 21 years ago. So I edited the entire book. The content is identical, with some additions. Those of you who are already familiar with the original book will not notice the differences, except for one new chapter. I changed a few adverbs and adjectives, rearranged some sentences to make them active instead of passive, and updated terminology to accommodate the evolving connotation of popular words and phrases. I have also added clarifying phrases or sentences in some instances. The most appreciable difference is a large section on the modern move to make corporal chastisement illegal. And I have done significant editing and made some additions to the subject of guilt and self-loathing.
There has been no editing to modify our stance on spanking. To the contrary, due to the media attacks, I have expanded and strengthened our arguments for traditional, biblical child training. I intend to be the last man standing. If I am in my grave, there are more than a million books circulating in the United States that will continue to stand for traditional, biblical parenting.
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: To Train Up a Child
CHAPTER 2: Child’s Nature ( Understanding a Child’s Natural Development )
CHAPTER 3: Parental Anger
CHAPTER 4: Tying Strings
CHAPTER 5: The Rod
CHAPTER 6: Guilt and Self-Loathing
CHAPTER 7: What Would Rover Do?
CHAPTER 8: Attack on Traditional Child Training
CHAPTER 9: Applying the Rod
CHAPTER 10: Philosophy of the Rod
CHAPTER 11: Selective Subjection
CHAPTER 12: Training Examples
CHAPTER 13: Safety Training
CHAPTER 14: Potty Untraining
CHAPTER 15: Child Labor
CHAPTER 16: Attitude Training
CHAPTER 17: Emotional Control
CHAPTER 18: Training in Self-Indulgence
CHAPTER 19: Bullies
CHAPTER 20: “Religious” Whips
CHAPTER 21: Imitations
CHAPTER 22: Homeschool Makes No Fools
CHAPTER 23: The Flavor of Joy
CHAPTER 24: Personal
CHAPTER 25: Conclusion
Twenty-One Years Later (2015)
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
CHAPTER 1
To Train Up a Child
SWITCH YOUR KIDS
When you tell some parents they need to switch their children, they respond, “I would if I could find someone willing to trade.” I have had children in my house who were enough to give an electric wheat grinder a nervous breakdown. Their parents looked like escapees from a WWII Polish boxcar. Another hour with those kids and I would have been searching the yellow pages for discount vasectomies. While we tried to sit and talk, the children were constantly running in and out of doors, complaining of ill treatment from the others, begging to go or stay or eat, or demanding a toy that another child would not relinquish. The mother had to continually jump up and rescue some breakable object. She said, “No,” 666 times in the space of two hours. She swatted each child two or three times—usually with her hand on top of a diaper. Other than misaligning the child’s spine, it seemed to have no effect—understandably so.
When we suggest to permissive parents that they should respond to certain transgressions with physical chastisement (not a karate chop to the lower backbone), some mothers can only visualize themselves further brutalizing their children, thinking it will do no good anyway! Their “discipline” is just “laying down a field of fire” to give themselves sufficient cover to get through to the next task. They have no hope of conquering the child’s stubborn will. They just desire to create enough diversion to accomplish their own mission. It is a fact that spankings administered by frustrated parents are as counterproductive as not spanking when it is needful.
Another mother walked into my house with her little ones and sat down to talk. She said to them, “Go out in the sunroom and play, and don’t bother Mama unless you need something.” For the next two hours we were not even aware the children were present, except when a little one came in holding herself saying, “Pee-pee, Mama.” They played together well, resolved their own conflicts, and didn’t expect indulgent pacification when one of the girls turned the rocking horse over, bumping her head. They didn’t run in and out, tearing the place apart— they were told not to.
This mother did not spank her children while at my house, nor did she need to rebuke them. She looked rested. When she called the children to go home, one little fellow asked, “Mama, can I stay and play with Shoshanna?” Mother answered, “No, not today. We have work to do at home.” As he lifted his arms, his mother picked him up. Hugging his mother’s neck, he said, “I love you, Mama.”
This young mother said to me, “My children want to please me. They try so hard to do everything I say. We have such fun together.” She is looking forward to having more children. They are the joy of her life.
By the grace of God and through the simple and practical biblical principles found in these pages, and with determination and an open heart, this mother has trained up children who bring her joy and honor. You can do the same.
OBEDIENCE TRAINING
Most parenting is reactive, the opposite of proactive. Children are left to their own devices until their ac