Teaching Math – What I’m Reading

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“Too many parents teach their kids to countdown to obedience. A child is told to do something, and he declines to obey. The parent repeats the command. The child just stands there. Then the parent says something like, ‘I’m going to count to three . . . .’ This is not teaching obedience, it’s teaching math. And then if the parent is really a pushover, he moves into teaching fractions. ‘Two and a half . . . .’ But what has changed between the command and the three? Nothing. The child knows exactly when the point of enforcement will come. Sometimes it is when the parent actually gets to three. Sometimes it is when a certain tone or decibel level gets into mom’s voice. Sometimes it is when the parent uses the child’s full name—middle name and all. But the thing that teaches is the discipline in association with the word. The word by itself is hollow.” (My Life for Yours, p. 123-124)

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Published by Jeff Voegtlin

Dr. Jeff Voegtlin has been in Christian service for over twenty years. He is an associate pastor at Fairhaven Baptist Church in Chesterton, Indiana, and a Vice President of Fairhaven Baptist College. As conductor of the church and schools' orchestra program, and overseer of the educational program of the college, his teaching has helped to train hundreds of young adults to prepare for full-time ministry. After completing a bachelor's degree from Fairhaven Baptist College, he received a master's degree in Bible from Pensacola Christian College. In 2007, he completed the requirements to finish a doctor's degree in education from Bob Jones University. Dr. Voegtlin is available for seminars in instrumental and choral music practice and philosophy, for education seminars, and to preach and present the college ministry.

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2 Comments

  1. “This is not teaching obedience, it’s teaching math.”

    Ok I read this and laughed out loud. It isn’t funny because many families do this, I never had the patience to count or the patience to deal with time outs.

  2. I always thought of this as ridiculous as well. Even when my therapist recommended it for my three year old I rolled my eyes.

    I tried it though, because you shouldn’t knock something until you try it.

    Know what? It works. By simply saying the word “one” my son is now trained to stop, and THINK about what he is doing wrong. He is given the choice to stop what he is doing.

    There is no counting for things like violence, and those things are clearly laid out so the child knows the rules.

    So yeah, they do get a second or two to think about their behavior and the parent gets a second or two to think about it before punishment. What does that hurt? It only works if you are consistent – just like anything else. That is why you see the half counting and the pleading – those parents aren’t being consistent.

    I don’t get angry though, unless the parent is being a pushover. Children push boundaries, it’s a part of their development.

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