How Chip and Joanna Gaines Are Raising Their 5 Kids With ‘Good Fundamental’ Values

During a recent snowy getaway, the Gaines family headed outside for some good old-fashioned fun. While Chip Gaines and the older kids strapped on cross-country skis, his wife, Joanna, and their youngest, Crew, sledded downhill. “They all ski circles around me,” Joanna laughed.

No matter how famous or successful they’ve become, the Magnolia Network founders are committed to raising their five kids with strong core values. “It’s in how intentional we are about reinforcing goodness within our home, nurturing our values as a family over and over again until it takes,” says Chip, 47. A friend of the pair adds that the Waco, Texas, couple’s private and public lives are based on “good fundamental Christian values like, ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’”

That’s not always easy. Chip and Joanna are running a cable-TV network now. And business — particularly show business — has never been synonymous with kindness. “They use a lot of their parenting techniques to run their staffing and business dealings,” says the friend. “It’s all about taking a step back, breathing and then proceeding with the correct action.”

Joanna, 43, also believes that it’s a matter of choosing the right priorities. “I’ve had to learn to recognize the difference between the things that serve only to fill my time and the things that serve to fill me up,” she says, especially “my family, my friendships and the work that grounds us.”

Despite Chip and Jo’s wealth, “the kids are far from spoiled,” says the friend. “They learned from an early age to work hard, look out for your fellow man and have empathy.” The couple hopes it’s enough to help Drake, 17, Ella, 15, Duke, 13, Emmie, 12, and Crew, 3, to always remain kind, grateful and cognizant of what really matters. Says Chip: “I’ve witnessed how the way we treat one another under our own roof becomes the standard by which we measure every other encounter when we step out into the world.”