Teaching Commitment

Our homeschool group did another activity where we focused on a hero attribute. The goal with these activities is to help the kids (and moms) become everyday heroes. 

Commitment was the attribute we focused on, but we started by reviewing a few others from our list of 12.
Karma—you get back what you put out there
Kindness—be kind to others
Gratitude—being grateful for what you have
Belief—believing in yourself, the good of others, and a higher power

I asked everyone to define commitment. I got answers like doing what you say you will do and being dedicated to finish a task. My favorite was doing what you said you would do even when you no longer feel like it.

Next we read the book “Horton Hatches the Egg” by Dr. Seuss. The story is about a bird mom who is tired of sitting on her egg (what mom doesn’t need a break?!) so she convinces Horton, an elephant, to sit on the egg while she takes a much needed break. She says she will only be gone for a short time, but quickly decides that vacationing is much more fun than egg sitting and determines to never go back. So Horton is left to sit on the egg through snow storms and rain, teasing from other animals, boredom, hunters with guns, a journey on a wagon and boat, and the circus, all the while saying his famous line, “I meant what I said, and I said what I meant, an elephant’s faithful, 100%.” In the end, Horton’s commitment to stay on the egg is rewarded with a little elephant bird.

After reading the story we played a game. I read several scenarios and the kids had to decide of the person displayed commitment or not. If he was committed they moved to one side of the room, if he wasn’t committed they moved to the other side of the room. 

“Bobby is on a baseball team. He doesn’t go to any practices and only shows up for games. Is he committed?”
“Sarah told her mom she would clean her room, but shoves all her toys under her bed and in the closet. Did she do what she said she would do?”
“Susie says she going to walk the dog every day, but she only walks it on weekends. Did she keep her commitment?”
“David practices piano everyday after school so he is prepared for lessons each week. Is he committed?”
“Johnny told his mom that he would make his bed every day and each morning he made his bed. Did he keep his commitment?”

Some of the scenarios lead to discussions. For example some kids believed Sarah kept her commitment because she cleaned her room. The mom didn’t say “how” to clean the room.

Then I had everyone get with their families and create their own scenarios and we played the game again.

“A lady decides to be a mom and takes care of her kids.”
“A boy says he wants a dog and promises to take good care of it but after 3 days the food and water bowls are empty.”
“A young man commits to doing 50 push-ups a day but quits after the first day.”
“A student is taking a class and does all the assignments and studies so she is prepared for the test.”

Last we had a mini discussion about what happens when you don’t want to keep you commitment. When is it OK to quit/give up? Evaluate your purpose for doing the activity, determine if you took on too much, decide if the timing is right and if maybe you need to pick it up again in a few years, and/or ask if you need more skills or if you can get some help to stay committed. 

How do you teach kids commitment? First, it’s important to model it. Other ideas include getting them involved in chores and taking care of pets, working together on a big project like planting and maintaining a garden, teaching them a sport or an instrument, playing a difficult game or put together a puzzle, offering regular challenges like harder literature or logic problems, and encouraging patience with people who are different.

What are ways that you’ve taught commitment? Share your ideas in the comments.