Basic Habit Training-Charlotte Mason Mondays

Basic habit training just might transform your household and your homeschooling. 

“The habits of the child produce the character of the man… every day, every hour, the parents are either passively or actively forming those habits in their children upon which, more than upon anything else, future character and conduct depend.”  ~Charlotte Mason on basic habit training

Charlotte Mason, a revered British educator,  believed that a parent’s job was to instill good habits in their children from early childhood.

So whether you’ve heard of her or not, doing “Charlotte Mason habit training” from when your children are young will yield the result of good character, which will benefit your children into adulthood and beyond.

And it will benefit you and your household as well!

Correct behavior becomes automatic with basic habit training.

One of the many byproducts of habit training is that it makes good habits automatic. 

For example, if you regularly perform a certain task, such as getting up and immediately making your bed, over and over again, it becomes automatic.  If you get up and do it ten times, you’re probably still thinking about it every morning before you do it.

But if you do it one hundred times, you do it automatically, without thinking about it at all. This is when making your bed becomes a daily habit instead of a choice you must make each day.

Making your bed is a simple task that takes absolutely no thought and not much more effort.  However, if it is not a habit, your child must decide daily to do it.

So, if she has to decide, thoughts like this creep in. I can do it later. Do I feel like doing it? Or – If I don’t do it, maybe Mom will do it for me.

 When and where do you start training your children to have good habits?

Basic obedience is the most important habit for young children to have.  And the way to teach obedience (or anything else) is to start with the habit of focused attention. Teach your young child that when you talk to him, he must stop what he’s doing and look at you.

Of course, if you are modeling this, you’ll be more effective in teaching your child to stop and listen to you. In other words, develop a habit of putting down your phone or turning from what you’re doing to give him or others your focused attention.

Once your child has mastered attention, then you can work on obedience. Obedience is the key to child training. If you can teach your young child (1+-3) to be obedient, everything will flow more easily from that.

Obedience means first-time obedience with a pleasant attitude, understanding that younger children need extra processing time. You’ll be working toward this goal for those first couple of years.

This post contains affiliate links to books I’ve read and loved. Should you buy any of these books using my links, we might a few cents per book through the Amazon affiliate program if your purchase is a qualifying item, although it won’t increase your cost.  Thank you!

Guidelines for Starting Basic Habit Training

1. Make sure you have your child’s attention before giving an instruction. Speak calmly, firmly, and clearly. If your child is old enough, teach him to respond to your instruction. Teach him to say, “Yes, Mommy” or “Yes, Daddy,” so you know he’s heard and understood. Or if you live in the South, his response will most likely be “Yes, Ma’am,” or “Yes, Sir.”

2. Explain why the new habit is important to learn.  For example, “When we give someone our full attention, we show them love and respect.”

3. Be lovingly consistent.  I mean really consistent. When your kids are very young (18 months to 3+), child training must be your time’s major focus.  Because if you’re training a child to be obedient, and she isn’t, you’ll have to stop what you are doing and deal with her. 

Right then. Every time.

It doesn’t matter if you are tired, on the phone, fixing dinner, or would rather be doing something else. (And I know you’d rather be doing anything else sometimes!)

If you do this EVERY time, there will come a time when you won’t be doing this every second of every day, I promise. In fact, at that point, disobedience will become the exception rather than the rule.

I know that’s hard to imagine if you are working on training a toddler!

4. Realize it will take a good four to six weeks of intentional work to see a level of mastery over a new habit (more for your littles.) 

And don’t have a “one and done” expectation. Instead, understand that you’ll have to revisit most habits more than once to keep children on track, even if that habit seems to be mastered.

A new baby in the house, a move, or even just excessive tiredness or illness can cause children to regress. When you notice that a habit is slipping, plan to work on that habit again.

Here’s the process of teaching a chore. I say “process” because it takes a while. It takes time, and it takes repetition.

Whale Vector by Vecteezy

Although please don’t have discouragingly high standards for a young child. Expect that it will take your child longer than you to do something, and she won’t do it as well as you can. Yet. 

Remember always to praise your children when you see they are putting in the effort to meet your expectation!

5. Remember that you are the parent and in control.  When you find yourself getting angry, it’s often because you didn’t deal with disobedience promptly.

And now your child is in control. And this is why you’re angry. Remember that.

And if you catch your temperature rising, stop what you’re doing and think about what’s going on. Think of it as a little time out for mom.

6. Don’t raise your voice, count to three, give conditions, or bargain with/bribe your child to be obedient. Example: I’ll give you a cookie if you’ll be quiet at the grocery store.  In fact, if you’ve taught your kids the habit of Attention, then only give instructions once. 

And if you speak quietly instead of yelling at them, they tend to be quiet so they can hear you.

7. Don’t punish your child for being a child. Focus on correcting your child for willful disobedience. There is a difference between being childish and being willfully disobedient.

Knocking over the milk, jumping in the mud, and pulling everything out of the kitchen cabinet is childish. (Although even young children can be taught not to make a mess out of the kitchen cabinet.)

8. Correct your child as soon as possible after he does something disobedient. The longer you wait, the less effective your correction will be.

Again, if you help your kids master first-time obedience, you’ll be able to teach other habits more easily.

9. If you recognize that you have a problem forming good habits yourself, this is the perfect time to work on that, too!  (Aff link) Atomic Habits is the most readable and actionable book I’ve ever read about habits.

It’s a must-read and will teach you so much about how to build new habits! This will help you as well as helping you teach your children.

One of the first things your child needs to learn as he grows in understanding is that he has a higher Authority.

You are not Your Own

Ms. Mason thought children were to be raised with the idea that they are not “their own.”  In other words, children, just like their parents, hold their lives in a sacred trust from the Creator.

They were created for God’s purposes.  And it is their job to develop healthy bodies and minds in order to be ready to fulfill that special purpose that God created them for.

In other words, children are to be taught from the beginning that they are living under a Greater Authority than themselves and were created for a purpose.

What a contrast to our child-centered culture!

Basic household habits for everyone

As I said earlier, one of the best ways to teach your children anything is to consistently model it yourself.  If you want to teach your kids to use an “inside” voice, don’t raise your voice.  Training them to keep their rooms orderly? Make sure yours doesn’t look as though it came in contact with a tornado.

I know — no one is perfect, and we don’t live in a perfect world, so you can’t always keep this standard. And that’s okay!  But what is your norm?

Carrying your own dishes to the kitchen counter, putting away your own clothes, shoes, toys, etc., brushing your teeth after eating, feeding a pet, and making a bed are all common tasks.  Homeschooling children should also manage their books, schoolwork, art supplies, and other items after they use them.

And even young children can do many of these things.

Without this training,  we constantly struggle with our children.  If you’re spending all of your time nagging and standing over your kids, fussing, and following your children around all the time, enforcing the completion of their homeschool work and daily tasks, try habit training.

One of Charlotte Mason’s goals for families was to have a harmonious household. And you can’t have a happy, thriving household without constant, reliable habit training.

 Basic Intellectual Habit Training

Here’s a list of habits that Charlotte Mason taught. Get your copy here.

Attention

is the foundational habit upon which others are based.  Your children must learn to focus their thoughts on one thing for a time rather than letting their minds continually flit from one idea to the next.

This is the first thing to teach because learning anything requires attentiveness. Your child must be able to give you his full attention before you can train him in obedience or any other necessary habit.

When homeschooling or teaching something to your child, Charlotte Mason pioneered using high-interest, short lessons rather than long ones.  Also, varying the location of your lessons from indoors to out helps keep attention spans fresh and focused.

If a student knows that each lesson is to be a set amount of time and isn’t unbearably lengthy, he learns that he can successfully meet his parent’s expectation of focusing on the material for that length of time.  If younger children’s thoughts wander, Ms. Mason suggested adjusting the lesson length until you have captured their attention for the entire time.

Imagining

…is the result of providing children with heroic, breathtaking adventures in exotic lands, even in their pleasure reading.  Our goal is to fill their minds with exciting ideas and problems that must take an effort to solve. 

Rather than just explaining gravity, for example, it is best to drop a pebble in the water and let them ponder awhile why it sinks. We do children a disservice by giving them information too quickly.

Remembering

…is Charlotte Mason’s name for full concentration and engagement of children’s minds. 

To engage your children’s minds, try this: before beginning with today’s reading, recall what happened at the end of yesterday’s. 

We know today that learning takes place when we connect new facts and ideas with what we already know.  We must help our children make those connections rather than teach them information in isolation. Connect the new information to the old. 

Also, teach them to use their powers of observation and concentration by studying nature and art.

Perfect execution

…is the habit of expecting and receiving excellence in our student’s work.  Take care to assign work that you know is not beyond the reach of your young student. 

Never allow a child to have the habit of mediocrity in her schoolwork.  That doesn’t mean that she must write perfectly as she is learning. But the skill should be practiced day by day until it is executed to the best of the child’s ability.

This will allow your child to experience the satisfaction knowing that her hard work was able to help her reach her goal. 

Ms. Mason also encourages parents to make children complete projects that they begin before beginning another.  (A habit that many of us –me, for example–could benefit from.)

Obedience

… is “the whole duty of a child.” From infancy, parents should teach their children that obedience is not a choice, but an obligation, every time. Children should obey with a willing spirit because it is the right thing to do, rather than being “bullied” into submission.

Ms. Mason added that older children should be taught that it is a noble act when they do something that they would rather not do because it is the right thing to do.

Help your children learn this concept by pointing it out:

Inspire them.

Truthfulness

…is an absolute standard for children, according to Ms. Mason.  This not only includes never willfully telling a lie but also being accurate in relating facts without generalization or exaggeration for the purpose of generating a humorous response. 

Also, teach your children not to repeat a story or rumor without making sure it’s true.

Good Attitude

Children are to be taught to respect others and their belongings and have a cheerful disposition.  Charlotte suggested in young children that bad moods be handled most profitably by distraction, as any mom of a toddler knows. 

Giving an unhappy child a pleasant task to do will help him focus on something other than his momentary unpleasantness.  It is our job to teach him to see the bright side of things as well.

Although I believe we have a natural bent one way or the other, one can learn to see the glass half full rather than half empty. And this is something we can teach ourselves as well as teach our kids.

If you struggle with having a good attitude, read Mindset.  (Don’t be put off by the subtitle. The book dovetails with recent research about our brain’s neuroplasticity and is another must-read.)

To learn more about mindset in a non-woo way, read How to Teach Your Kids to Believe in Themselves.

Related Post: The 3 Crucial Charlotte Mason Habits to Teach Your Kids Now

 Basic Physical Habits 

You’ll want to add these physical habits to your list as you work on intellectual habits, especially as your children grow older.

Self-Restraint

is using one’s time wisely and productively rather than being lazy or self-indulgent. If you’re planning on homeschooling or you’re already homeschooling, this concept is critical to help your children learn to be independent learners.

Not that children shouldn’t spend time thinking and relaxing! But as they get older, teach them the virues of a good work ethic and being productive.

Self-Control

Staying focused and on task instead of letting minor annoyances upset him. Cultivating a tolerant, pleasant, patient attitude instead of being quick to whine or complain when conditions aren’t exactly as we’d like them.

Self-Discipline

Teaching children to be consistently clean, neat, and orderly, no matter where they are—at home, at a friend’s, or at Grandma’s.

Alertness

Teaching children to actively seek ways to serve others. 

What are the benefits of teaching your child to be alert? He quickly opens doors or carries something for you or a younger sibling. Or he might see an undone task and take care of it rather than waiting for someone else to do it.

This is gold, mommas! I’ll never forget the first time our oldest hopped up and cleaned up the kitchen after dinner just because it needed to be done!

Fortitude

Given the right inspiration, most children’s natural heroic tendencies become activated and can produce an astounding amount of perseverance and tenacity.  Reading about the physical heroism of the Spartans or the knight’s Code of Chivalry can help promote this idea in your young ones.

Service

This is another habit that is promoted by delightful examples of selfless service in excellent children’s literature such as The Box-Car Children series for younger elementary or Amos Fortune, Free Man for older elementary children.

Courage

Courage is feeling afraid and doing something anyway.

Again, by reading fine literature and emulating examples around them, children learn courage, as opposed to recklessness.

Caution

Caution is another word for discernment.  Ms. Mason describes caution as preserving our health and ability to serve God and others by acting thoughtfully rather than hastily and possibly harming ourselves or perhaps our siblings or friends.

Purity

The last of the physical habits is purity. Read  1 Corinthians 6:19: Do you not know that your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, Whom you have received from God? 

Ms. Mason believed that if you raise your children with this concept when they are young, their actions will support that reverence for their bodies throughout their lives.

Basic Habit training is wise parenting

Charlotte Mason believed that all matters relating to children and their upbringing were important, but replacing poor habits in our children with valuable ones through patient, painstaking, and loving training and correction is one of the primary roles we must be about in our homes.

As parents, we are wise when we realize the value of instilling these habits into our children beginning at an early age.  Our daily, often hour-by-hour training using inspiring examples from our literature and stories, as well as gentle, loving correction, will produce children who are ready and able to manage their own bodies and accept the responsibilities laid upon them by their parents as they continue to grow and mature.

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.  Galatians 6:9

Let us encourage one another in our high calling!

Can you imagine how much your day-to-day life would change for the better if you taught your children to follow many of these habits?

Basic habit training is one of the most important things you can do to develop your children’s character.

Charlotte Mason’s Basic habit training can transform your household and your home education!

P.S.   Click here to get this post in a printable format so you can keep and refer to it easily.