Teaching Perseverance
Have you met Do’er Duck? This is one of the nine Characters of Character who have impacted thousand of children and helped build a firm foundation for our children to build up on. How many times have you said to your child; “Try again?” or, “You can do it!” The Little Engine Who Could story comes to mind, right? It’s a classic children’s story from back in the day. A story of perseverance. Like our character Do’er Duck, helping to reinforce and teach a child that you should not give up, you should not quit and with perseverance, patience and endurance, dog gone it, you can do it! YOU ARE RESILIENT! The outcome is spectacular! The feeling of accomplishment is even better, knowing that you just kept trying and accomplished your goal or your task!
TRUE STORY: When I piloted the characters in an elementary school, they earned a National Promising Practice Award. That is what encouraged me to form the nonprofit organization in hopes to reach more children and teach them about these vital core values. There was a second grade student whose favorite character was Do’er Duck and she dressed like the character for Halloween! Her mom helped her make a cute costume with feathers and all! Then, the same student entered high school and found me on facebook and reached out! At the time Characters of Character was going to be at the Chicago Land Kids Expo in Chicago with some of the characters. She and her mom came up and dressed in our costume, was great to catch up with the. Today, she is an elementary teacher and a mom of two children herself and I’m sure she will share her story one day, too.
Here are some tips from Do’er Duck to help teach PERSEVERANCE:
Here are some ways to teach perseverance:
Model perseverance: Be a role model, show your own children how you persist and how you overcome obstacles by never giving up.
Set goals: When we set an achievable goal it helps us to persevere. You can break down tasks into smaller steps to assure you reach your goal.
Praise effort: Praising and encouraging your child is important and reminds them that they can do it if they practice and keep trying.
Celebrate successes: This is so important in life, celebrate the small stuff, your achievements, be reminded how far you’ve come and push on to where you’re going!
Encourage problem-solving: In our failures there is always a lesson, a new solution to how we can do it and how we will accomplish our goal.
Children need to know that it is okay to:
Ask for help if you are not sure how to do something.
Ask for help if you are not sure what is expected of you.
Take your time, be patient with yourself!
Take a break if you need to, but, do not quit!
Keep a positive mindset and keep trying!
Practice makes perfect, it may take a couple of trys at something new, keep at it!
Once you introduce this character, Duck, engage your children in stories we have published and activities, like the paper bag puppet above! We love sharing and we’d love to hear from you!!
Putting your best foot forward is the best way to start, take baby steps if you must, just be sure you shake off the dust! Move one step at a time, one day at a time and stay focused on your goal. I’m a fan of visuals, positive reinforcements, pushing myself to where I’m going and focus on my goal. Never Give Up!
TELL me and I forget, TEACH me and I remember, INVOLVE me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin