Ten Ways to Nurture Your Child's Spirituality

Ten Ways to Nurture Your Child's Spirituality
by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur

1)Live your faith. Children learn from example.

2)Encourage them to be thankful people. Ask them each night what happened to them that day that they want to thank God for.

3)Allow time for quiet and reflection. An over-scheduled child doesn't have time to think about the "big questions" of life.

4)Treat them with fairness and respect.

5)Encourage awareness of the world around them. Appreciation of nature leads to an appreciation of the Creator.

6)When speaking to children about God and faith, don't "dumb down" the conversation. Children need simpler words, not simple ideas.

7)Belong to a faith community. This will help provide many role models of spiritual living.

8)Make faith part of every-day conversations. Faith shouldn't be limited to one day a week.

9)Allow them to call God by the name that they feel best describes God, be that "Father," "Mother," "Friend," "Brother," or a name of their own choosing.

10)Encourage their questions and acknowledge their doubts.

Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur has a Master of Arts Degree in Applied Theology, is editor of the Spiritual Woman Newsletter (http://www.spiritualwoman.net) and author of "Letters to Mary from a Young Mother" (iUniverse, 2004).