Biblical character trait lessons that follow the Bible chronologically?

[hisforhomeschooling]

Anyone know of a character trait unit that addresses character traits as they appear in the Bible? I am thinking of doing Bible Road Trip with my kids this year, but it doesn't really have a character trait portion. I am not great at winging it, and I am afraid that if I don't intentionally plan on addressing specific character traits along with the stories we are reading and the verses we are memorizing that I will forget to bring it up. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[PeterPan]

Hmm, that's a good question!  I'll give you a bump.  That's something that would be good for my ds.   :)

 

Have you looked at The Learning Parent?  http://www.characterconcepts.com/store/

 

 

[FO4UR]

Actually, I would not advise overtly pulling character lessons from the Bible like that.  What happens is that the Bible becomes a parenting tool (that is often misused).

 

 

Instead, I'd recommend just reading the Bible together and allowing your children to narrate and pull what they are ready for during this time.  When they are older (10-ish) begin reading the Proverbs together.

[hisforhomeschooling]

Hmm, that's a good question!  I'll give you a bump.  That's something that would be good for my ds.   :)

 

Have you looked at The Learning Parent?  http://www.characterconcepts.com/store/

 

OhElizabeth- Thanks for the bump and the link :) I will check it out!

 

Actually, I would not advise overtly pulling character lessons from the Bible like that.  What happens is that the Bible becomes a parenting tool (that is often misused).

 

 

Instead, I'd recommend just reading the Bible together and allowing your children to narrate and pull what they are ready for during this time.  When they are older (10-ish) begin reading the Proverbs together.

 

4blessingmom- Hmm...I am not sure I understand how teaching character alongside Bible stories would be misuse unless it was somehow out of context. Is that what you mean? If I was teaching Genesis 1, our "character trait focus of the week" (or whatever I decided to call it) might be orderliness or creativity. Would you see that as a bad thing? (It is hard to convey tone through this kind of communication, so I want you to know, my tone is curious since I would never have thought of that point of view.)

[Kiara.I]

I agree with 4blessingmom's answer (though no idea about the reasons behind it, of course.  ;) )

 

So here would be my reasons:

First, I hesitate to teach "character" because it so, so, SO often leads into "be a good person and then God will like you.  And here's your list of rules."  Not that it's usually the intent, of course!  But it often becomes the received message.  And the Gospel, the fact that we CANNOT "achieve" goodness, gets lost in the translation.

 

Second...I hesitate to pull out a character trait from lessons.  The people in the Bible were complex beings, just as we are.  You could point to one story and say, "Here, we see Abigail exercising faith in the way that she <x,y,z.>"  But if you read each section looking for a particular character trait, it becomes easy to pull things out of context to support the point.  It's not impossible, I'm sure, but I'd exercise caution in doing it as a standard lesson.  For instance, Martha was a workaholic, A-type personality.  Standard thing you hear.  But...the Bible doesn't SAY that!  We need to be cautious with inferences, and what I've seen of character curricula, many of them seem prone to those inferences.

[hisforhomeschooling]

I agree with 4blessingmom's answer (though no idea about the reasons behind it, of course.  ;) )

 

So here would be my reasons:

First, I hesitate to teach "character" because it so, so, SO often leads into "be a good person and then God will like you.  And here's your list of rules."  Not that it's usually the intent, of course!  But it often becomes the received message.  And the Gospel, the fact that we CANNOT "achieve" goodness, gets lost in the translation.

 

Second...I hesitate to pull out a character trait from lessons.  The people in the Bible were complex beings, just as we are.  You could point to one story and say, "Here, we see Abigail exercising faith in the way that she <x,y,z.>"  But if you read each section looking for a particular character trait, it becomes easy to pull things out of context to support the point.  It's not impossible, I'm sure, but I'd exercise caution in doing it as a standard lesson.  For instance, Martha was a workaholic, A-type personality.  Standard thing you hear.  But...the Bible doesn't SAY that!  We need to be cautious with inferences, and what I've seen of character curricula, many of them seem prone to those inferences.

 

Kiara.l- Thanks for your thoughts! Those are good reasons to consider if/how to include character trait lessons.

[PeterPan]

Ok, here's the thing.  Someone gave me a character trait book for parenting when dd was little, and it was interesting but it just made sense to do it with her in sort of a lifestyle, CM sorta way, kwim?  Sonya Shafer talks about this, about being intentional in our parenting.  That's good, and with dd, who is totally socially typical, that was more than enough.  She's quite the character (haha) and has plenty of character and gets it.  We read the Character Sketches books, etc., but it was all just intuitive to her.

 

Ds, on the other hand, is different.  For him it's helpful to have things more intentional and more explicit.  There's a lot he doesn't UNDERSTAND about families, how things work, what things mean, etc.  So for him, to spend time and really talk about things explicitly is GOOD.  It's appropriate for his level of development and where he's at.  Afwiw, he may also be kissing the spectrum (ASD).  

 

Now am *I* gonna say someone *else* shouldn't teach character traits explicitly?  Obviously not.  I say there are situations where it fits, situations where it's maybe not the needed focus.  I agree that it can turn into self-made religion, absolutely.  But does that mean we can't talk about it or that there's never a situation where it's valuable?  Obviously not.  And since I've only taught my two kids, I'm not really in a position to say it is or is not valuable for ANYONE'S situation, kwim?  

 

More Bible is more better in my book.  Go for it, knock yourself out.  Do all you have time and enthusiasm for.  Do what's on your heart and what calls to you and what enriches your family, kwim?  I think each family finds their mix and it's good.  

 

PS.  Scripture Memory Fellowship has wonderful Scripture memory books and cds.  :)

[Slache]

I agree with 4blessingmom's answer (though no idea about the reasons behind it, of course.  ;) )

 

So here would be my reasons:

First, I hesitate to teach "character" because it so, so, SO often leads into "be a good person and then God will like you.  And here's your list of rules."  Not that it's usually the intent, of course!  But it often becomes the received message.  And the Gospel, the fact that we CANNOT "achieve" goodness, gets lost in the translation.

 

Second...I hesitate to pull out a character trait from lessons.  The people in the Bible were complex beings, just as we are.  You could point to one story and say, "Here, we see Abigail exercising faith in the way that she <x,y,z.>"  But if you read each section looking for a particular character trait, it becomes easy to pull things out of context to support the point.  It's not impossible, I'm sure, but I'd exercise caution in doing it as a standard lesson.  For instance, Martha was a workaholic, A-type personality.  Standard thing you hear.  But...the Bible doesn't SAY that!  We need to be cautious with inferences, and what I've seen of character curricula, many of them seem prone to those inferences.

 

I'm not the OP, but I really appreciated reading this. Thanks.

[FO4UR]

Yes, inevitably even the best intentions of the parents will fall out of context. It's a fine line between teaching that we are the Imago Dei and therefore born to create and order our world...and using that tidbit as a hammer when it's time for the child to clean their room. 

 

The bigger issue is that when you dissect the Scripture in that manner, YOU are acting in the place of the Holy Spirit for the child. Take your children to the feet of Jesus, read the Bible with them, pray with them, live with them, and do not hinder them from living in direct communion with the God who created them.   Trust that God will teach your children through His Word, and trust that He will teach you some new things as you watch the process. 

 

There is a haughtiness in thinking that we should *use* the Bible to teach *our* character lessons. Not that I find you or your post haughty, not at all...but the very idea that what we can bring to the table is better than the work of the Holy Spirit is...faulty, haughty, unteachable...

 

 

After a reading, I ask my dc to narrate.  That's it.  

 

I am a believer in CM style habit training, and her words about not getting between a child and a book (The Book) resonate here.

[hisforhomeschooling]

Ok, here's the thing.  Someone gave me a character trait book for parenting when dd was little, and it was interesting but it just made sense to do it with her in sort of a lifestyle, CM sorta way, kwim?  Sonya Shafer talks about this, about being intentional in our parenting.  That's good, and with dd, who is totally socially typical, that was more than enough.  She's quite the character (haha) and has plenty of character and gets it.  We read the Character Sketches books, etc., but it was all just intuitive to her.

 

Ds, on the other hand, is different.  For him it's helpful to have things more intentional and more explicit.  There's a lot he doesn't UNDERSTAND about families, how things work, what things mean, etc.  So for him, to spend time and really talk about things explicitly is GOOD.  It's appropriate for his level of development and where he's at.  Afwiw, he may also be kissing the spectrum (ASD).  

 

Now am *I* gonna say someone *else* shouldn't teach character traits explicitly?  Obviously not.  I say there are situations where it fits, situations where it's maybe not the needed focus.  I agree that it can turn into self-made religion, absolutely.  But does that mean we can't talk about it or that there's never a situation where it's valuable?  Obviously not.  And since I've only taught my two kids, I'm not really in a position to say it is or is not valuable for ANYONE'S situation, kwim?  

 

More Bible is more better in my book.  Go for it, knock yourself out.  Do all you have time and enthusiasm for.  Do what's on your heart and what calls to you and what enriches your family, kwim?  I think each family finds their mix and it's good.  

 

PS.  Scripture Memory Fellowship has wonderful Scripture memory books and cds.   :)

 

OhElizabeth- Thanks for your thoughts! I am not sure what is on my heart about this. You guys have given me a lot to think about! I am new to all this, as my oldest is only 5.5, so I am still figuring out my style and philosophy. 

 

Yes, inevitably even the best intentions of the parents will fall out of context. It's a fine line between teaching that we are the Imago Dei and therefore born to create and order our world...and using that tidbit as a hammer when it's time for the child to clean their room. 

 

The bigger issue is that when you dissect the Scripture in that manner, YOU are acting in the place of the Holy Spirit for the child. Take your children to the feet of Jesus, read the Bible with them, pray with them, live with them, and do not hinder them from living in direct communion with the God who created them.   Trust that God will teach your children through His Word, and trust that He will teach you some new things as you watch the process. 

 

There is a haughtiness in thinking that we should *use* the Bible to teach *our* character lessons. Not that I find you or your post haughty, not at all...but the very idea that what we can bring to the table is better than the work of the Holy Spirit is...faulty, haughty, unteachable...

 

 

After a reading, I ask my dc to narrate.  That's it.  

 

I am a believer in CM style habit training, and her words about not getting between a child and a book (The Book) resonate here.

 

4blessingmom- I agree that it is a fine line. My intent isn't to use character traits as a hammer, but as guidelines. We have been using We Choose Virtues independently and my boys are using the language to talk about their behavior. If they calm down quickly when they are nearing a meltdown, they will say "I showed self-control! I made myself do the right thing!" I think giving them an understanding of vocabulary that applies to the behavior is valuable. Instead of just asking a 3.5 year old to behave, I have taught him what self-control is and what it means. It is more specific. But like I said, it has been independent of Bible stories. We Choose Virtues includes a verse for each virtue, but the version that I bought did not include Bible stories so I haven't been making those connections for them at this point. Maybe definitions and vocabulary are all they need as far as character goes, and that way they can identify it for themselves as we read the Bible. 

 

Do your children attend Sunday School? It seems to me like the same concerns would apply there too, then. An adult standing between a child and the Bible. 

[FO4UR]

 

4blessingmom- I agree that it is a fine line. My intent isn't to use character traits as a hammer, but as guidelines. We have been using We Choose Virtues independently and my boys are using the language to talk about their behavior. If they calm down quickly when they are nearing a meltdown, they will say "I showed self-control! I made myself do the right thing!" I think giving them an understanding of vocabulary that applies to the behavior is valuable. Instead of just asking a 3.5 year old to behave, I have taught him what self-control is and what it means. It is more specific. But like I said, it has been independent of Bible stories. We Choose Virtues includes a verse for each virtue, but the version that I bought did not include Bible stories so I haven't been making those connections for them at this point. Maybe definitions and vocabulary are all they need as far as character goes, and that way they can identify it for themselves as we read the Bible. 

 

Do your children attend Sunday School? It seems to me like the same concerns would apply there too, then. An adult standing between a child and the Bible. 

 

 

In the example you gave your child internalized the concept of self-control, and used it for himself. That is a positive thing.  When I talk about using the Bible as a hammer, it would be like taking a similar situation where a child could not manage to maintain his self-control and using shame to manipulate the child into a different behavior. 

 

"God doesn't like it when we throw tantrums.  If you don't stop right now, you will copy this Bible verse 20 times when we get home." would be a manipulative tool in the midst of a meltdown.  

 

"How can I help you calm down?" while you sit on the floor, breathing with and holding your child would be ministering to your child in the midst of a meltdown.

 

 

 

I have witnessed parents saying things like, "I thought you were  SAVED!?!  How can you _______ if you are saved?"  These families often look very good from the outside, but underlying the skin is anxiety/shame/manipulation/selfishness. Not surprisingly, these kids grew up to leave the church b/c they associate God and Church with their parents' manipulations.  This sort of thing starts small with small children.  It's best to begin from the start an attitude of co-heir with some temporary earthly authority, rather than Authority with all tools at my disposal.

 

(It sounds like you have a healthy relationship with your dc.  I am merely explaining where I've seen Character-Training-via-Bible go in unhealthy families. So please don't think I'm assuming this happens in your family.)

 

Charlotte Mason warns against using love, fear, or any other human feeling as a manipulative tool to train children. (Disappointing God or sinning is a big fear!)  She narrows our tools down an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.

 

Atmosphere - A home surrounded in love and compassion and self-control will grow kids who love with compassionate self-control.  If you see a character flaw in your dc, you and your dh need to pray about mending those flaws in your own lives.  (Ouch!  My toes hurt continually.  iykwim)

 

Discipline  - Build good habits.  The habit of purposely breathing and calming when he feels upset is an awesome habit to build at 5yo!  Keep building good habits like that, always maintaining a grace-filled authority. We can look to how Jesus taught the Disciples. Even though he owned an authority, he lived with them, taught them, and did not take personal offense even when things were very personally offensive...always a sacrificial outpouring with His eyes on the goal of making them Disciples and preparing them for their work ahead.

 

Life - Bring them to the feet of Jesus.  Read the Bible to them.  Build the habit of reading the Bible for themselves when they are old enough. Feed their hearts and minds with Living Ideas with the same care that you feed their bellies with good food. Do not be too quick to chew up the Mind Food for them.  They need to build those muscles, and besides it's gross to eat something someone else has already chewed...everything tastes better fresh from the oven...or fresh from the Bible itself.  Read other books, lots of other books, and allow your children to pull out the Living Ideas.  Discuss.  Live *with* them as a loving authority.  (Rather than living over them as The Authority.)  Be humble.  Let your children see you stumble and learn.  Then they will not have shame over stumbling and learning for themselves.

[hisforhomeschooling]

In the example you gave your child internalized the concept of self-control, and used it for himself. That is a positive thing.  When I talk about using the Bible as a hammer, it would be like taking a similar situation where a child could not manage to maintain his self-control and using shame to manipulate the child into a different behavior. 

 

"God doesn't like it when we throw tantrums.  If you don't stop right now, you will copy this Bible verse 20 times when we get home." would be a manipulative tool in the midst of a meltdown.  

 

"How can I help you calm down?" while you sit on the floor, breathing with and holding your child would be ministering to your child in the midst of a meltdown.

 

 

 

I have witnessed parents saying things like, "I thought you were  SAVED!?!  How can you _______ if you are saved?"  These families often look very good from the outside, but underlying the skin is anxiety/shame/manipulation/selfishness. Not surprisingly, these kids grew up to leave the church b/c they associate God and Church with their parents' manipulations.  This sort of thing starts small with small children.  It's best to begin from the start an attitude of co-heir with some temporary earthly authority, rather than Authority with all tools at my disposal.

 

(It sounds like you have a healthy relationship with your dc.  I am merely explaining where I've seen Character-Training-via-Bible go in unhealthy families. So please don't think I'm assuming this happens in your family.)

 

Charlotte Mason warns against using love, fear, or any other human feeling as a manipulative tool to train children. (Disappointing God or sinning is a big fear!)  She narrows our tools down an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.

 

Atmosphere - A home surrounded in love and compassion and self-control will grow kids who love with compassionate self-control.  If you see a character flaw in your dc, you and your dh need to pray about mending those flaws in your own lives.  (Ouch!  My toes hurt continually.  iykwim)

 

Discipline  - Build good habits.  The habit of purposely breathing and calming when he feels upset is an awesome habit to build at 5yo!  Keep building good habits like that, always maintaining a grace-filled authority. We can look to how Jesus taught the Disciples. Even though he owned an authority, he lived with them, taught them, and did not take personal offense even when things were very personally offensive...always a sacrificial outpouring with His eyes on the goal of making them Disciples and preparing them for their work ahead.

 

Life - Bring them to the feet of Jesus.  Read the Bible to them.  Build the habit of reading the Bible for themselves when they are old enough. Feed their hearts and minds with Living Ideas with the same care that you feed their bellies with good food. Do not be too quick to chew up the Mind Food for them.  They need to build those muscles, and besides it's gross to eat something someone else has already chewed...everything tastes better fresh from the oven...or fresh from the Bible itself.  Read other books, lots of other books, and allow your children to pull out the Living Ideas.  Discuss.  Live *with* them as a loving authority.  (Rather than living over them as The Authority.)  Be humble.  Let your children see you stumble and learn.  Then they will not have shame over stumbling and learning for themselves.

 

4blessingmom- Holy moly. My heart wrenched at the thought of someone saying "I thought you were saved" to their child. I definitely don't use character training in that way. Like I said, I think, for me (especially with my English teacher roots), it is about giving them the vocabulary and examples to follow. 

 

I love so much of what I understand about the CM method. I feel like I am trying to start off our homeschooling journey with a classical/CM blend. 

 

Thanks for talking this through with me :)

[gardening momma]

Being manipulative and shaming is not at all the same as doing a Biblical character study using a text that teaches what Scripture says about each trait, whether it's topical or chronological. If a person thinks that most people who use such a study behave this way or are at risk of it, they are sadly mistaken.

[Slache]

Being manipulative and shaming is not at all the same as doing a Biblical character study using a text that teaches what Scripture says about each trait, whether it's topical or chronological. If a person thinks that most people who use such a study behave this way or are at risk of it, they are sadly mistaken.

 

I think that the point is that it wouldn't be done intentionally. The Bible's main theme is the grace of God, but with a focus on behavior I can see how that focus could be misconstrued.

[gardening momma]

So you think I should not look to see what the Bible has to say about any given topic because I might accidentally manipulate or shame my child?

[forty-two]

Hmm...I am not sure I understand how teaching character alongside Bible stories would be misuse unless it was somehow out of context. Is that what you mean? If I was teaching Genesis 1, our "character trait focus of the week" (or whatever I decided to call it) might be orderliness or creativity. Would you see that as a bad thing? (It is hard to convey tone through this kind of communication, so I want you to know, my tone is curious since I would never have thought of that point of view.)

I think learning about the lives of the saints (which would of course include the saints in the Bible), including discussing applicable character traits, and emulating their example as part of learning to live a life of faith can be beneficial.

 

But I'm hesitant to give those character traits the force of God's Law. I realize your example was spur of the moment, but using the Creation story, which shows how even creation itself is a gracious gift of God to us, as a springboard for teaching orderliness or creativity does seem out of context. And I'm hesitant to say that either orderliness or creativity, good traits though they may be, are part of God's Law. And if they are, the creation story isn't what establishes it. And this is one reason why I'm not a fan of teaching Biblical morality through character traits - most Biblical narratives were not written to tell us the traits of a righteous person, and the Biblical texts that *do* tell us what a righteous person looks like tend to not be narratives, nor do they mesh well with the sorts of character trait lists that tend to be used.

 

Generally it seems people take a list of character traits that are *consistent* with the Bible, instead of *drawn* from the Bible, and start matching them up with a list of Bible stories that seem to somehow mention the trait. This may show that the traits are indeed consistent with the Bible, that living by these traits is consistent with living out a life of faith, but it doesn't show that living by these traits *is* living a life of faith. And I think that's what some of the other posters were getting at - that when you use the Bible to teach character traits it is so very easy for it to come across as "living out character traits" = "living out the faith". Only that's *not true*. Teaching character traits is *not* teaching what it means to live the faith. Heck, even teaching God's Law, drawn straight from the Bible, is still only teaching a small part of what it means to live the faith.

 

My tradition (Lutheran) teaches the 10 Commandments as the summary of the Law, of how God's people are to live - like you are using traits, we use the commandments as our framework for discussing right behavior - but that is only one of the six chief parts of the Small Catechism, and taught alone it leads to legalism. The teaching of right behavior needs to be *explicitly* grounded in an overall Biblical view of how the Law and Gospel work in the life of a Christian.

[FO4UR]

Being manipulative and shaming is not at all the same as doing a Biblical character study using a text that teaches what Scripture says about each trait, whether it's topical or chronological. If a person thinks that most people who use such a study behave this way or are at risk of it, they are sadly mistaken.

 

I would venture to guess that every single person who uses the Bible to teach anything errs on the side of taking things out of context in pursuit of justifying their own ends. It's human nature.  Not that 99% of those people would ever mean to, but it happens.  I have to admit that I've done it.

 

I also have to admit that I've taught children at church, given a specific curriculum to use, and "ran out of time" for anything but the main story.  Often times, from what I've seen anyway, the currics written for children s-t-r-e-t-c-h far for that Character Trait.  Really, where in the Bible are we commanded to teach Character Traits?  (honest question, no sarcasm) I see Commandments. I see Fruits of the Spirit. I see the Beattitudes.  I think we are mixing these things up.  "Thou shalt have self-control." does not exist...self control is promised as a fruit.  It may seem like nit-picking, but the way in which we teach these things leave a bigger impact that we realize.  

 

 

But I'm hesitant to give those character traits the force of God's Law. I realize your example was spur of the moment, but using the Creation story, which shows how even creation itself is a gracious gift of God to us, as a springboard for teaching orderliness or creativity does seem out of context. And I'm hesitant to say that either orderliness or creativity, good traits though they may be, are part of God's Law. And if they are, the creation story isn't what establishes it. 

 

:iagree:

 

My own children (They are PK's, bless their hearts!) have been told (by ahem, church people who were too cowardly to confront their dad) that Cleanliness is Next to Godliness.  This was said when a *large group* of children left candy wrappers in their room at church.  My 3 were singled out and the DEACON - Bless his heart, ignorant as he may be - thought that quote came from the Bible.  I offered (to my dh, who thought it was funny but not doable :lol: ) to show him the quote in Great Expectations and explain Charles Dicken's intentions with those words.

 

 

My dc have had their Lion's Share of the Bible as a Hammer stuff.  Knee-jerk might be my reaction, but I think that it is true that all they need is the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide them.  Really, what can I bring to the table that trumps the Holy Spirit?

[forty-two]

&amp;nbsp;

My own children (They are PK's, bless their hearts!) have been told (by ahem, church people who were too cowardly to confront their dad) that Cleanliness is Next to Godliness. &amp;nbsp;This was said when a *large group* of children left candy wrappers in their room at church. &amp;nbsp;My 3 were singled out and the DEACON - Bless his heart, ignorant as he may be - thought that quote came from the Bible. &amp;nbsp;I offered (to my dh, who thought it was funny but not doable :lol:&amp;nbsp;) to show him the quote in Great Expectations and explain Charles Dicken's intentions with those words.

:lol: My kids are PKs, too, but fortunately they haven't suffered from being in the fishbowl (yet anyway). It may be because I'm fairly oblivious to unspoken expectations plus I apparently intimidate people, so no one ever tells me all the ways I'm screwing up to my face and I go on in blissful ignorance ;).

 

My dc have had their Lion's Share of the Bible as a Hammer stuff. &amp;nbsp;Knee-jerk might be my reaction, but I think that it is true that all they need is the Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide them. &amp;nbsp;Really, what can I bring to the table that trumps the Holy Spirit?

It may be differing traditions, but I don't agree that all anyone needs is "the Holy Spirit working through me and my Bible". In a sermon of dh's, he talked about how the Bible is meant to be interpreted within the Church - it's "the Holy Spirit working through me and my Bible and the cloud of witnesses". Just as God works through parents to raise and teach kids (kids raising themselves doesn't tend to work well ;)), He works through faithful pastors and teachers (including parents) to teach His Church. The Bible wasn't written in a vacuum, and the Bible isn't interpreted in a vacuum - God's work is no less God's work for being done through means instead of directly.

 

ETA: I don't think the only (or best) way to experience living ideas is unmediated contact between a learner and the text. A teacher can both convey living ideas and can guide the understanding of a text's living ideas, without draining ideas of their vitality or diminishing the impact of direct contact with those ideas. I subscribe more to the classical idea that a novice benefits greatly from a knowledgeable guide, who can not only facilitate contact with living ideas but also guides the novice in how those ideas fit into the world. Learning directly from the source doesn't have to mean *unmediated* learning.

[DoubleAMom]

You might like Kids of Integrity.  http://www.kidsofintegrity.com/ It gives an entire 2-week or more lesson plan on character traits from prayers for parents to pray for their children, prayers to pray with their children, memory verses related to the character quality, Bible stories that relate to it, and activities to demontstrate it.  And it's FREE!

[hisforhomeschooling]

You might like Kids of Integrity.  http://www.kidsofintegrity.com/ It gives an entire 2-week or more lesson plan on character traits from prayers for parents to pray for their children, prayers to pray with their children, memory verses related to the character quality, Bible stories that relate to it, and activities to demontstrate it.  And it's FREE!

 

Thanks, DoubleAMom! That looks cute and free is always good :)

[PeterPan]

Oh my, that We Choose Virtue is EXACTLY what I was looking for for my ds!!!  It connects a clearly expressed trait, 4 Bible stories, and 4 memory verses.  Fabulous.  And it's in plain enough language that he can understand it.  Methinks whoever wrote this had some experience that led her to value such explicit teaching.  :)  Anyways, what materials of this did you use?  Any recommendations on what to buy?  I'm seeing pdf kits and cards and all sorts of things...

[hisforhomeschooling]

Oh my, that We Choose Virtue is EXACTLY what I was looking for for my ds!!! It connects a clearly expressed trait, 4 Bible stories, and 4 memory verses. Fabulous. And it's in plain enough language that he can understand it. Methinks whoever wrote this had some experience that led her to value such explicit teaching. :) Anyways, what materials of this did you use? Any recommendations on what to buy? I'm seeing pdf kits and cards and all sorts of things...

My boys love it so much I'm considering continuing to use it! We bought the whole homeschool kit when it went on sale in the summer several years ago. We also bought one extra. Either coloring pages or verse tunes. Whichever one isn't included in the homeschool kit. Mainly what we use is the 5x7 cards and the verse tunes. I make up copywork from it each week. They do the coloring pages from time to time. Hope that helps!