Vocabular Lessons

For some reason "training" vs "teaching" children has been on my mind. I always cringe when people say "training a child." I think of training as an activity I do with my dog. So, I hit the dictionary.

Oxford dictionary gives "train" a definition that includes the word "teach":

Definition of train:

• • 1 [with object] teach (a person or animal) a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time:the plan trains people for promotion[with object and infinitive]:the dogs are trained to sniff out illegal stowaways
  • [no object] be taught through practice and instruction:he trained as a classicist
  • (usually as adjective trained) cause (a mental or physical faculty) to be sharp, discerning, or developed as a result of instruction or practice:an alert mind and trained eye give astute evaluations
  • cause (a plant) to grow in a particular direction or into a required shape:they trained roses over their houses
  • [no object] undertake a course of exercise and diet in order to reach or maintain a high level of physical fitness, typically in preparation for participating in a specific sport or event:she trains three times a week
  • cause to undertake a course of physical exercise:the horse was trained in Paris
  • [no object] (train down) reduce one’s weight through diet and exercise in order to be fit for a particular event:he trained down to middleweight

  
  

It defines "teach" as:
[with object and infinitiveor clause]

• show or explain to (someone) how to do something:she taught him to readhe taught me how to ride a bike
• [with object] give information about or instruction in (a subject or skill):he came one day each week to teach painting[with two objects]:she teaches me French
• [no object] give such instruction professionally:she teaches at the local high school
• [with object] encourage someone to accept (something) as a fact or principle:the philosophy teaches self-control
• cause (someone) to learn or understand something by example or experience:she’d been taught that it paid to be passivemy upbringing taught me never to be disrespectful to elders
• informal make (someone) less inclined to do something:“I’ll teach you to mess with young girls!”

I think I associate "train" with disciplined mindlessness, like my dog, which is not very accurate.  "Train" is more associated with discipline than "teach" is, and I think I've always thought of teaching as educating to make good decisions, not teaching to get the desired results.

And I don't see either as wrong, but I want Rory to make decisions because she knows the difference, not because of a Pavlovian response.  I think parenting is walking a fine line between those two things in so many different situations.