We are continuing our series on discipline and this month, I interviewed Natalie Musche. Natalie has been teaching Toddlers-4 year olds for over 12 years, and has been Preschool’s 3 & 4 Year Old lead teacher for a decade. I have known her to be a deeply thoughtful and considerate co-worker and teacher, so I was excited to hear her thoughts and considerations she has made over the years when it comes to the topic of discipline in early childhood education. After asking Natalie for her thoughts on different discipline practices, and the considerations she makes when determining what disciplinary actions to take, this was her response:
“Many verses in the Bible inform a preventative practice through discipline to be righteous and behave righteously, but to kids we teach the biblical values via song, accountability, discipline, education and example, and these help aid in the framework for a biblically conscious, ethically and morally sound way to act and treat others, love God and your neighbor. Teaching children the law (The 10 Commandments as interpreted by The Academy’s Head of School, Gregg Garner) at such a young age instills values that affect not only how they understand wrong and right according to the word but behavior that is expected in line with those values.”
Natalie went on to reference specific verses and biblical values that inform our discipline practices, “In Matthew 5:21-28, Jesus talks about de-escalation and preventative measures before someone gets to the point of behaving in an unacceptable way. His teachings show: it starts with the heart. The Bible gives further preventative practice via accountability like Matthew 18:15-17: to hold people accountable and conscious to their behavior that is unacceptable to brothers and sisters.
We teach fruits of the spirit … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control — (practicing) the fruits of the spirit prevents the opposite -- worldly or fleshly conduct -- but strengthens the righteous behavior we want to build and develop into the children according to God's standards.
We appropriate the Decalogue for the age groups we work with. The lessons are appropriated accordingly as well. For example, the littles in 3-4 recently learned Law number 6: ‘Don’t hit anyone.’ However, the lessons are focused on what we should do with our hands instead of just telling them what not to do. Showing students what they should do with their hands brings about a way to prevent hitting. We emphasize the right behavior with all the taught laws.
The earlier kids learn these values and expectations, the better things will go in the future. Proverbs 22:6 guides us in this wisdom, as it shows us parents should guide their children from a young age towards the right path in life so they will continue on it when they grow.”
After hearing Natalie’s biblical considerations and thoughts surrounding discipline, it made me think more about the purpose of discipline itself. One purpose I gathered from her thoughts was discipline is a way to ensure a healthy communal environment where all children can learn and develop the way God intended. This cannot happen if there is disorder and lack of direction in how we need to treat one another in a way pleasing to God.
Another purpose I gathered was that discipline is both for developing the student in ways that are beneficial and preventing the student from actions that are destructive to what is being built up. Following this line of thought, discipline should not be used haphazardly or out of frustration, but instead should be used intentionally as an educational tool to benefit the child. After our initial interview, she shared with me that she too made this connection. She shared about conversations she had where she made the point that God’s discipline is salvific; it is not reactive and punitive.
The intentionality that goes into raising up the next generation is daunting, but I’m always thankful for conversations like this one I had with Natalie. It reminded me that even though it takes a great deal of work and energy to follow Jesus’ example as a teacher, we have direction from God’s word and can rely on one another to get perspective, prayer and another pair of hands to carry the load.
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