Habit Training in Children

When I first heard the term ‘habit training’ as I was exploring the Charlotte Mason method of education, I thought to myself, “Hmmm.  That’s an interesting way to put it.”  I already knew the importance of child training — that a child left to himself is a disgrace. (Proverbs 29:15 NIV)  I had just never thought of it as habit training.

Why Habit Training

Habits are inevitable.  We really are creatures of habit.  The question is not whether we are forming habits, but rather what kind of habits.  Without trying, we easily slip into the behavior and thought patterns that come most naturally to us.  As we do them more and more, they become a well-worn path in our minds, and we behave and think in those ways subconsciously.

All this is a good thing to a certain degree.  If we had to stop and deliberate about every little thing we…