Voices
As we were about to disembark from a shuttle bus at the Grand Canyon, our driver told us to go to the cement. I knew immediately that he was a southerner when I heard the word cement. He emphasized the first syllable and made the first e long. When we got off the bus, I asked him where he was from. Sure enough, he was from Georgia. While we were at the convention in California, I was the one being asked where I was from. My southern drawl gave me away.
We can learn a lot about a person by the way he talks. As homeschoolers it is easy to get hung up on our children’s grammar and their writing ability. With any subject, it is good to step back and ask why. It is good to figure out what is most important and what are our ultimate goals. To me the most important thing to consider is whether our children are able to communicate well. Are they able to listen well and speak well? Do their communication skills enable them to tell what they want to tell and to hear what others want them to understand?
Communication is important in every human relationship. Husbands and wives need to be able to understand each other. Parents and children do, too, and so do employers and employees. One of the joys of a friend is having someone you understand and who understands you.
What is good communication? Telling the truth. Speaking in a way that shows kindness, love, and understanding. Speaking loudly enough to be heard, but not speaking too loudly. Making good eye contact. Listening with attention. Speaking with clarity, both in the way we say our words and in the way we choose what words to say.
As in so many other subject areas, the world’s standards don’t measure up to those that God gives us. His Word gives many instructions about the way we speak and the way we listen.
Voices are precious things. How precious it is to hear the voice of someone we love; what a privilege to train the voices of our children.
A gentle answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1, NASB