Character Education

[Uff Da!]

I feel a bit shy about asking this because I feel that kids should develop a decent/strong character simply from living with and being exposed to decent mentors, church and so forth. What I am wondering is, if you do anything formal or intentional for character development/education, what do you do?

 

There was a thread awhile back where some parents of graduates mentioned that they wished they had spent more time on character development. It's been tugging at the back of my mind ever since.

[laughing lioness]

We talk to our kids about the kind of people they want to be, we want them to be, have them read biographies their entire childhood, talk about character issues/developement.

We also study and apply our faith/beliefs and talk about theory/application along with apologetics.

And then your kid grows up and you have to stand back and repeat this mantra over and over and over again, "outcomes are not my problem." (in other words, I'm responsble to steward my kids and the time I have with them well, but I have to realize that they are going to grow up and have lives/minds of thier own).

[abba12]

I like the idea of using a book like polished cornerstones or plants grow up, and maybe once a week or once every two weeks doing a focus project one afternoon on one of the chapters. I wouldn't spend more than 6-8 hours a month on the 'subject', I think your most important resource is simple life experience and good influences, but having the opportunity to talk formally about a single aspect of character can also be good, because some things just don't come up otherwise. I've heard some great, deep discussions have come out of those sorts of projects, and I'm a strong believer in really sitting and talking and explaining things to our children. My husband knows what he was taught to believe, but he never understood WHY he believed many things when we first married, they just 'were'. It's been a learning curve looking deeper into our beliefs, and in some cases changing them as he actually learnt about them.

 

I certainly wouldn't incoporate it formally everyday, outside of general dicipline.

[Elfknitter.#]

We don't read this as the title suggests, but rather as needed or when I feel enough time has passed that "oh hey, it might be good if we do it today..." Character Building Day by Day. :lol: It's lead to many small and large discussions that I might not have thought to being up.

 

I know there's also other curricula out there like We Choose Virtues. I also have Core Virtues which I like for a more lit based approach.

[serendipitous journey]

.... I like the looks of elfknitter's Character Building Day by Day!

 

When I need character inspiration, esp. RE homeschooling, I draw heavily from Charlotte Mason: Ambleside; Milestones; Simply Charlotte Mason's "Laying the Rails" DVD was good.

 

We are not religious, so I am always on the lookout for ecumenical character materials. It's actually sort of lonely: I homeschool Button largely for character reasons, but we are secular; the hsers here are either conservative Christian or they are not esp. concerned with the child's human development (more academic, or addressing special needs, &c.) I was really disappointed in WTM's ethics section, which was largely non-existent: I think character and ethics can perfectly well be taught across religious/secular boundaries, most folks who are concerned with ethics agree about most of it. Everyone wants children to be hard-working, honest, compassionate, humble, humane, joyful, and eternally grateful to their long-suffering homeschooling parents. :)

 

Today was horrid so I feel odd talking about character at all :tongue_smilie: but there you are.

Edited August 15, 2012 by serendipitous journey

[Elfknitter.#]

If visual is more required, Book of Virtues is currently available on Netflix streaming. Dd loves, ds -- not so much. However, of you choose Bennett's Book of Virtues for Children, you'd have another resource.

[skeeterbug]

My kids are young so this is what we are doing for now: We use We Choose Virtues and Kids of Integrity (free- by Focus on the Family). Here's my blog post with some details.

 

We also read books like Right Choices, Children's Book of Virtues, Big Thoughts for Little People, etc.

 

And living life, talking about what's right/wrong and why.

[skeeterbug]

We don't read this as the title suggests, but rather as needed or when I feel enough time has passed that "oh hey, it might be good if we do it today..." Character Building Day by Day. :lol: It's lead to many small and large discussions that I might not have thought to being up.

 

Love the looks of this book...it's going on my wishlist. So glad you linked to it!

[Rosie_0801]

We are not religious,

 

The Mr Men books are a good place to start. :p

 

Rosie

[ByGrace3]

We use We Choose Virtues, and spend a good amount of time each day on Bible study and in family worship.

[Hunter]

Finding resources is easier for Christians. My oldest--not a Christian-- believes that the character training he received during Morning Worship, was the most fundamental part of his education, and worries about how to bring up his future-children without it.

 

When I pulled my 2E 10 year old out of PS back in the 90s and had no idea what I was doing, a pastor--almost to the point of rudeness--pushed character training over academics. He was so right. I listened, but I wish I had listed even more than I did.

[woolybear]

 

Books that Build Character lists books with the character traits that the book/stories focus on.

[NDQuilts]

I come at this from a religious perspective. That said, I believe some things have to deliberately taught. Telling the truth, serving others, work ethic, etc. we split our time covering Biblical literacy, doctrine , and character. I schedule it with school so I meet our families goals, but do not consider it a subject. I choose religious curricula like 24 Family Ways, We Choose Virtues, etc for the character segment. We also have the kids participate in service projects. Nothing like giving of themselves to raise awareness and compassion.

[Staceyshoe]

I love Kids of Integrity (FREE and fabulous!), We Choose Virtues, and Character First.

[SilverMoon]

.

Edited September 10, 2023 by SilverMoon

[Professormom]

Some wonderful lady put together a curriculum type thing to be used in conjunction with The Book of Virtues. I don't have time right now to find the link, but try a search for "book of virtues free curriculum". Or maybe someone else remembers which site this is from? Good luck...

[sagira]

Some wonderful lady put together a curriculum type thing to be used in conjunction with The Book of Virtues. I don't have time right now to find the link, but try a search for "book of virtues free curriculum".

 

Yes! That would be awesome! I'm getting Book of Virtues to read aloud to ds, and this would be perfect. Off to search.. :auto:

[DidoMachiatto]

If you are looking for Christian resources, I definitely recommend the amazing books at http://www.doorposts.com. They have proactive character developement resources (Plants Grown Up, Polished Cornerstones; both focusing on building character by thematic projects) and reactive (For Instruction in Righteousness, focusing on situational character weaknesses and how to discipline while directing them away from those flaws)

Edited August 16, 2012 by DidoMachiatto

[Kathryn]

We are using the free (Christian) website Kids of Integrity.

[OnACloudyDay]

We are Christian and I feel that my kids get a lot of character building lessons from the things we do at church. In particular they get the desire to help those who are less fortunate than we are. I think developing that one core value is really a building block to many others. So I suggest trying to get your kids involved in some sort of project or mission that helps them learn that helping others is an important part of life. For really young kids, this could be as simple as collecting can tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.

 

And I have another totally oddball suggestion but here it is:

Choose some of the old tv shows and watch episodes with them. The one that springs to mind immediately for the elementary set is The Andy Griffith Show. I know this isn't a curriculum at all but I swear that watching it with my kids (all of us as a family) has been a great way to teach them so many values. There are lessons in telling the truth, being kind to others, not being judgmental, and so on. For middle school kids, I've found that The Waltons is a great show that teaches a lot of character lessons (plus Depression and WWII history! :) ). I know this suggestion is completely outside of the realm of character curriculum but it's a fun way to study character and values as a family. :)

[Professormom]

Here is the link to the Book of Virtues curriculum:

 

http://www.shiveracademy.com/book-of-virtues.html

 

Now, off to waste more time, lol.

[Pen]

I feel a bit shy about asking this because I feel that kids should develop a decent/strong character simply from living with and being exposed to decent mentors, church and so forth. What I am wondering is, if you do anything formal or intentional for character development/education, what do you do?

 

There was a thread awhile back where some parents of graduates mentioned that they wished they had spent more time on character development. It's been tugging at the back of my mind ever since.

 

This is a great question, and I am glad you asked it.

 

Lately, much of what my son has been reading are full of good vs. evil themes and the question of why did _____ become bad keeps coming up. What made ______ bad.

 

I have yet to come up with a really wonderful answer to this. He is currently reading another such book (The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander), and I am sure it will come up again. Maybe I'll start a new thread for suggested answers to this question.

 

But anyway, I wanted to say that aside from some specific program related to character, a lot of books on good vs. evil themes allow for discussions on these issues.

[srs]

.... I like the looks of elfknitter's Character Building Day by Day!

 

When I need character inspiration, esp. RE homeschooling, I draw heavily from Charlotte Mason: Ambleside; Milestones; Simply Charlotte Mason's "Laying the Rails" DVD was good.

 

We are not religious, so I am always on the lookout for ecumenical character materials. It's actually sort of lonely: I homeschool Button largely for character reasons, but we are secular; the hsers here are either conservative Christian or they are not esp. concerned with the child's human development (more academic, or addressing special needs, &c.) I was really disappointed in WTM's ethics section, which was largely non-existent: I think character and ethics can perfectly well be taught across religious/secular boundaries, most folks who are concerned with ethics agree about most of it. Everyone wants children to be hard-working, honest, compassionate, humble, humane, joyful, and eternally grateful to their long-suffering homeschooling parents. :)

 

Today was horrid so I feel odd talking about character at all :tongue_smilie: but there you are.

 

:grouphug: You're not alone. There are a few of us here, I think. Sorry it has been a rough day.

[umsami]

We use this great program from Brite Music that all of my kids love. It's an LDS company, but I haven't heard anything religious in the materials. One per month... 12 total... http://www.britemusic.com/standin-tall-set-downloadable

 

 

You can buy one at a time, or the whole set.

 

 

This is also a great free character education program called "Ready Set Happy" which works for a wide variety of ages. Focuses on 16 character traits. http://www.16guidelines.org

Edited August 15, 2012 by umsami

[Incognito]

.... I like the looks of elfknitter's Character Building Day by Day!

 

When I need character inspiration, esp. RE homeschooling, I draw heavily from Charlotte Mason: Ambleside; Milestones; Simply Charlotte Mason's "Laying the Rails" DVD was good.

 

We are not religious, so I am always on the lookout for ecumenical character materials. It's actually sort of lonely: I homeschool Button largely for character reasons, but we are secular; the hsers here are either conservative Christian or they are not esp. concerned with the child's human development (more academic, or addressing special needs, &c.) I was really disappointed in WTM's ethics section, which was largely non-existent: I think character and ethics can perfectly well be taught across religious/secular boundaries, most folks who are concerned with ethics agree about most of it. Everyone wants children to be hard-working, honest, compassionate, humble, humane, joyful, and eternally grateful to their long-suffering homeschooling parents. :)

 

Today was horrid so I feel odd talking about character at all :tongue_smilie: but there you are.

 

Have you heard of "virtue of the week"? It is excellent material. It is put together by ba'hai people, so they take wisdom from sacred texts of many faiths. [ugh, in looking it up to link it, it seems the content isn't free online now? They are making a manual. It is good stuff, if it comes out soon]

 

Being a Christian, I have modified the content for use in Christian groups and I find it very well thought-out and interesting. Or I should say I have taken the contents and used portions of them and made my own stuff.

 

The family Virtues Guide

http://www.amazon.com/The-Family-Virtues-Guide-Ourselves/dp/0452278104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345058959&sr=8-1&keywords=the+family+virtues+guide is a great book for discussing virtues and intentionally passing on your values to your kids. It isn't Christian, but I have extensively used it as a Christian.

[BFamily]

We're using the Bob Schulz books and Pearables resources for our boys for character. I am also currently reading through Laying Down the Rails which is geared toward habit training.

[Uff Da!]

Thank you all for the replies and the many suggestions. You have all given me lots of ideas to ponder- both in resources and in how to implement a long term character plan. I did a search online for character development reading lists and there seems to be plenty of those as well.

 

Originally Posted by serendipitous journey

 

Today was horrid so I feel odd talking about character at all but there you are.

 

It's the horrid days that make me think I need to lay an ethical/character foundation more intentionally than can be laid through chance, example and church.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Winter

[sagira]

Here is the link to the Book of Virtues curriculum:

 

http://www.shiveracademy.com/book-of-virtues.html

 

Thank you! :)

[kb44]

My kids have watched, sung, talked about, and loved Kids for Character/Character Counts since they were wee bits! It's definitely for the younger crowd, but with the materials, and expanding on those traits with books, discussion, role plays, singing, etc. they understand the traits and expectations of "good character." I also have the materials for the older kids from when I was a ps teacher.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Uwu8bZ9RI

 

http://charactercounts.org/

[serendipitous journey]

:grouphug: You're not alone. There are a few of us here, I think. Sorry it has been a rough day.

 

... it's getting better; thanks :)!

 

Have you heard of "virtue of the week"? It is excellent material. It is put together by ba'hai people, so they take wisdom from sacred texts of many faiths. [ugh, in looking it up to link it, it seems the content isn't free online now? They are making a manual. It is good stuff, if it comes out soon]

 

Being a Christian, I have modified the content for use in Christian groups and I find it very well thought-out and interesting. Or I should say I have taken the contents and used portions of them and made my own stuff.

 

The family Virtues Guide

http://www.amazon.com/The-Family-Virtues-Guide-Ourselves/dp/0452278104/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345058959&sr=8-1&keywords=the+family+virtues+guide is a great book for discussing virtues and intentionally passing on your values to your kids. It isn't Christian, but I have extensively used it as a Christian.

 

The Virtues Guide looks excellent! I wanted to say that the Christian homeschoolers here, and the secular ones, have been unfailingly kind and accepting of different viewpoints (well, not ALL the secular ones :D, but most). And my own religious position is an evolving one; I am closer to Quakerism than any other philosophy. Looking back over my comments they seemed perhaps ungracious to the community of believers, to whom I owe a great deal and among whom I count precious friends.

 

This thread has been so timely for me -- thank you, OP!

[finlee@home]

If your kiddos are middle to high shcool age, and like animals, Character Sketches, is wonderful. It takes a trait (ex. responsibility, flexibilty, etc, ) and coordinates an animal and an example from the BIBLE. We LOVE them!! http://store.iblp.org/products/C123/

 

The books are large, leather-bound volumns, and although they can be expensive if bought new......I found them on ebay for basically shipping costs!!!;)