Who is Teaching Your Child?
Who is teaching your child? Teaching them vital core values? Is it you? Characters of Character provides a variety of resources and tools to impact your child, engage them in activities and lessons to develop their core values. Why does a child need core values? These values develop with a child, they allow them to learn about their ability to cope, to develop a positive mindset, to become a role model, to grow into a better self at any age and continue to grow into a better self daily. Isn’t that what we want for our children? To provide a firm foundation for them? With a firm foundation and self confidence, a child will adapt to the situation in a different mindset. They won’t necessarily be pressured by peers, but, instead be lead by what they know to be a better choice. The important thing is to be there for your child, in good times and in the not so good times. When they are aware of your presence and support, they will value their own self and find solutions in the different situations that will arise in their lives. A firm foundation will build a healthy mindset and a confidence to move forward. It does no good to stay stagnant in any situation. Growth is important in one self to help build better relationships, better communication skills, better our talents and to improve on our passions.
The simplicity of the above characters actually earned them a National Promising Practice Award through Character Education Partnership in Washington D.C. which is what led me to form a nonprofit and share these characters with you. When they were piloted, I hand drew and laminated character posters for all of the eighteen classrooms in an elementary school. Made a mail box display in the library where students wrote letters and drew pictures to the characters. I played Dear Abby on Fridays and answered all the letters, returned a response to the classroom teacher and brought any red flags to the appropriate staff to deal with the issue before it was out of control. Simple. Engaging. Impactful. Empowering.
Allow me to introduce to you the Characters of Character; Behavior Bear, Do’er Duck, Friendship Frog, Healthy Hippo, Manners Monkey, Respectful Rabbit, Responsible Rabbit, Self-Esteem Elephant and Warm-Hearted Walrus. I’ve taught paining classes with each of these character, beginning with an introductory social story, discussion and then bringing the character to life on canvas for the child to bring home to display and be reminded of their own character. Today, life is busy, times have changed since I was raising our family of three. None the less, teaching a child to have good character is important. It will be their foundation to build on, to discover who they are and who they want to be.
Here are a few tips to support your journey in teaching these core values to your own children or students:
Listen, while a child’s problem may seem very petty to you, it means a lot to them. Allow them to express their feelings.
Be present, have eye contact when speaking to your child or student and they in turn will give you their attention.
Do not be critical, choose your battles, a child is learning about the world that surrounds them, don’t criticize everything, instead, choose what to focus on.
Encourage, by encouraging your child will allow them to feel better about themselves and want to move forward with their project in confidence.
Structure, we all run better on a structured schedule or knowing what lies ahead of us for the day.
Visuals are important, keep them eye level to encourage and remind your child about the message at hand.
Breathe, there is a lot to accomplish in a day, what is most important to complete work on that, the other ‘stuff’ will have to wait until another time. It will get done because it’s important.
Take time for yourself, the most trying and fulfilling thing one can do is raise a child, if you need to step back because you’re tired, stressed or unsure, take time to calm yourself.
Choose your words wisely, it’s a fact, you can not take back your words, your actions speak loudly and if you’re not in a good frame of mind, don’t talk, step back until you are.
Model! You are a role model for your child or students, they want to do what you do, say what you say and be like you. You never know when they are listening or watching, but they are.
Joni does a Mindful Monday blog where she provides a freebie to engage your child in a positive word. Build a coloring page, a journal and engage your child in these lessons. Subscribe to our newsletter where Jennifer provides a lot of great content for you to use as well as more freebies to support your journey in teaching character to your own children or students. We have a lot of books on Amazon, we have a YouTube Chanel, we also offer a lot of content on our social media, please engage with us there, too! Visit us online to learn about our projects and how you can support our works by our WishList or a Donation. Contact me if you’re interested in a Sponsorship Opportunity.
TELL me and I forget, TEACH me and I learn, INVOLVE me and I remember. Benjamin Franklin