All of the speakers at the D6 conference were amazing...
...sorry, off shoot...the D6 Conference is based on Deuteronomy 6:5-9...
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
...and mainly verse 7..."Impress them on your children."...
So...all of the speakers at the D6 conference were amazing, but my favorite was Tim Elmore. Elmore is the founder and president of Growing Leaders, whose goal is to develop young leaders to transform society. He's written multiple books, including "Habitudes." His presentation was partly based on this series of books.
His "Habitudes" are balancing acts, and things he believes we should use to break the cycle of artificial maturity happening upon the next generation the "iY" generation... (you know, like, iPad, iPhone, etc.)
Elmore defines artificial maturity as being overexposed to information earlier than ready and underexposed to real life experiences far later than ready. For example, children are given too much structure, organization, information and responsibility, and not enough freedom, space, innocence and individual exploration. And yes, I said CHILDREN...not teenagers. :)
Here are the habitudes he spoke of:
- Chess & Checkers: use the same board, but have extremely different pieces. Treat children as a chess pieces, not checkers pieces. No two children are the same, and shouldn't be treated the same.
- Three types of children:
- Drivers (march to the beat of their own drum...be clear and very direct...for example: Mini #2!!)
- Diplomats (peacemakers...seek their cooperation...for example: Mini #1!!)
- Dreamers (provide them with options)
- Velvet Covered Brick: Grace with Biblical principals. Be responsive and attentive to their needs, but demand standards with accountability.
- Rivers & Floods: both are water, but have extremely different paths. Be a river that is focused, useful and provides clear messages.
- In childhood: they are loved, unique, safe and valued
- In adolescence: life is hard, they are not in control, they are not that important, and they are going to die one day. :)
- Drivers & Passengers: Teach them to be a driver...knowing where they are going and how they are going to get there.
- Balance Autonomy, Responsibility and Information...for example: "Dad, can I borrow the car keys?" "Yes (autonomy), but fill it with gas (responsibility)."
There were many other things Elmore spoke of, including the issues that are leading to Gen iY becoming artificially mature; some of which included helicopter parents, constant affirmation, lofty expectations, immediate feedback, and huge amounts of stress. He also had a fantastic idea of having one day mentors for your children. This post is already ridiculously long, so let me know if you'd like to hear about it and I'll be happy to do another post on it.
I'm very interested in reading more of his information and putting some of his practices to use in our home. Here's a link to his blog for more information! http://blog.growingleaders.com/
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