kids Archives

Answering the Tough Questions Your Kids Ask

Kids sure come up with a lot of fun questions – like the little boy who asked his mom, “Was everything in black and white in the olden days?” Or the little girl who really wanted to know where the light goes when you turn off the switch.

But sometimes the questions children ask are tough and quite serious, like “Why does God allow bad things to happen?”, “Why do people get sick and die?”, or “Why are there things like war?”

Those kinds of inquiries aren’t easy to answer, and they usually come out of left field when parents least expect them.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting October 27, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Why Are Schools Cancelling Recess?

Some elementary schools across the nation are banning recess.

Why?

So kids can have more formal instruction time in class.

Limiting recess is just one example of what’s being done in the interest of giving teachers more time to teach. For example, we’re seeing children being introduced to formal academics earlier and earlier.

One teacher described it like this: “Kindergarten is now first grade, and first grade is now second grade.”

Kids are also coming home with more homework than in years past.

Topics: Current Events Tags: family, kids, parenting, pop culture October 21, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How to Talk with Young Children about Death

When a beloved friend or family member is battling a terminal illness, sometimes the littlest ones can get lost in the shuffle. Yet, even 3-year-olds can experience fear and confusion when it comes to prolonged sickness and death.

That’s why today I want to share with you four points from Focus on the Family counselors to help parents navigate issues associated with the illness and death of a loved one with their preschoolers and children in early elementary school.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, kids, parenting October 14, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Estimated 100,000 Students Prepare for “Bring Your Bible to School Day” Tomorrow

When we launched “Bring Your Bible to School Day” last year as a way to empower and encourage public school students from kindergarten to college to express their faith freely, we had no idea God was going to do so much with the event in such a little time.

An estimated 8,000 students celebrated their religious freedom and shared God’s hope in the program’s inaugural year. Tomorrow, we’re expecting an estimated 100,000 to participate!

Students all across the nation have already signed up to take part in “Bring Your Bible to School Day.” On our Facebook page, we’re reading story after story of excited students getting ready to stand unashamed for their faith.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, kids, promos, religious liberty October 7, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Hope in the Face of Violence

The stories and scenes from Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, have become tragically familiar. Once again, a calm and peaceful setting is disrupted by violent gunfire, a massacre wrought by an individual targeting people of the Christian faith.

From Columbine High School and New Life Church here in Colorado, to churches in Charleston, South Carolina, and Fort Worth, Texas, and now, a school in Roseburg, Oregon, a chilling pattern has emerged. Innocent and unassuming people, many of them young students for whom their love of God frames everything else in life, are increasingly becoming the casualties of a red-hot abhorrence of Christianity.

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, kids, news, religious liberty October 5, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Dr. John Trent’s Secret to Raising Great Kids

If you’ve just recently discovered our ministry, welcome to Focus on the Family.

As our longtime friends will agree, if you explore our websites, read our magazines, or listen to our radio programs, you’ll find a wealth of practical, everyday advice for parents – things like strategies for effective discipline and tips for helping kids thrive with their siblings or at school.

But there may be no more important wisdom we share with parents than the kind of topic we’ll be talking about on our broadcast today.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting October 2, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

WATCH: Exclusive Debut of Newsboys Video Kicks Off “Bring Your Bible to School Day”

Last year’s inaugural “Bring Your Bible to School Day” was huge, and this year’s event on Oct. 8 promises to be even bigger.

Just like last year, all 50 states will be represented. But where last year we had about 8,000 students participating, we’re expecting that number to be exponentially higher for the 2015 event.

Think about what God can do through multiple thousands of students, from kindergarten to college, bringing their Bibles to school as a visual way to celebrate religious freedom and share God’s hope with friends!

Topics: Current Events Tags: events, kids, pop culture, religious liberty September 23, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Teaching Good Manners to Your Kids

Sometimes parents think of a child’s manners in the most basic of terms, like table etiquette or how polite they are when guests come to the house. But the benefits don’t end there. Manners actually equip your children for success in their adult life.

To that end, a few years back, my wife and I enrolled our boys, Trent and Troy, in something called Cotillion. It’s all about teaching manners and preparing kids to interact with others as maturing young men and women.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting September 17, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

The Best Thing A Man Can Accomplish

To be a good father, you have to be a good man.

Not perfect. After all, there are no perfect dads or men.

You just have to be there.

Sadly, there are too many dads who aren’t. Twenty-five million children in the United States go to bed each night without their biological father in the home.

Statistically, these children are more likely to grow up in financially difficult circumstances and more likely to drop out of school.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, kids, parenting September 8, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Guest Blog: Why Homeschooling Was a Great Option For My Family

I have, in my house, a rising Tiger. Our second born, Seth, begins his college career at Clemson this fall. He has always been, and remains, an amazing young man.

He is filled with both passion and compassion, he loves learning, reads voraciously, is strong as a bear and is an outstanding musician. He makes our parental hearts swell with love and pride. Oh, and for the record, he looks like me and is thus incredibly handsome.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: kids, parenting August 11, 2015 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura