Empowering Children With Character
It probably seems silly to say “Empower Children With Character?” Still, I ask, how do we teach our children and our youth vital core values which they carry with them for a life time? We all know that children do not come with an instruction books, so, do you model these values in your home? Are they taught in our schools? Can you find them on the street? I hope that you said yes to these questions because good character should be taught in our home, in our schools and even on our streets. When a child has a firm foundation to build upon, they become confident in their own character. When a child has a positive role model and influence in their life, they want to become like that person(s). When a child has the knowledge to make good choices, they become more aware of what goes on around them and to be more engaged in the good.
What a wonderful world this would be, right? The fact is that we are always learning, even me at a ripe ol’ age of 65! When we teach children at an early age they they are more in tune to making good choices and forming healthy habits. However, it is NEVER to late! Something to think about is that when a child has self-esteem and confidence:
They feel more accepted and wanted.
They are proud of what they can accomplish.
They think positive things about themselves.
They are eager to try new things.
They develop coping skills to handle mistakes.
This is the beginning of building a firm foundation. It’s important to allow a child to feel all the emotions, for example if they fail at a task, encourage them to try again, not just give up and belittle themselves. If a child doesn’t make the grade, encourage them to try harder, not quit. If a child falls down, be there to pick them up. Listen to what they have to say because it means the world to them, it may seem silly to you, but again, it is important to them, please listen. This builds a beautiful trust and relationship with children and they are more apt to come to you with their concerns, and there are concerns!
Something we can all agree on is that all children learn differently. They don’t all understand a concept the first time it’s introduced or are able to throw a ball the farthest. It takes practice to accomplish anything. The important thing is to discover what that thing is and strive for it. With good character traits instilled in our children and youth they will want to make better choices, they will want to learn more, they will want to accomplish what they set out to do, and they will have better coping skills to hand the things they need to work on. It’s never to late to try again, and you’re never to old to try.
You can see in the pictures above that there are many different ways to teach a child and youth vital core values with the Characters of Character. Simple activities such as coloring the character and talking about the trait. Painting a character on canvas as a visual reminder and even making a paper bag puppet of the character. Characters of Character has visited and donated our Superhero activity boxes to children’s hospitals and classrooms. We have done painting classes at Park Districts and Libraries, classrooms and even Girl Scout Troops. One teacher shared this:
“The concept is so simple and my students have embraced all the characters and began to model them as well” I think that says it all!
So, how can you teach these vital core values to your own children, youth, students and grand children? Here are some ideas we can share:
Talk about the trait and introduce the character. We have published over 30 books available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million.
Be a role model. You are being watched, heard and most likely imitated.
Communicate. Choose a trait, discuss it, make a chart of what you expect and talk this over and display what you came up with, together.
Encourage. Make a sticker chart on the trait at hand, keep it visible and encourage your child to display this character trait.
Get creative! Don’t simply, ‘TELL’ a child, have some fun as they will relate to your creativity and share what’s on their mind, buckle up!
Read books on different traits. Point out different traits as you see them or hear them. These values are in our everyday language and actions.
Keep visual reminders to be of good character and to make good choices at eye level for a child to see.
Have conversations on these traits. Ask your child if they are struggling with anything, or how they would handle a situation. Talk about it.
Once you discover a topic of interest with your child, grow with it! An athlete for example, I know a Harlem Globe Trotter who was rejected many times before he became accepted to be a part of the team. The awesome sauce is that he never gave up trying! Famous chef’s, do you think they ever made a dish that flopped? You can count on it, but, they had coping skills to figure out how to make it work. When you can discover a common ground with your child they are more likely to listen on a higher level with interest and a yearning to do better, be better and help others achieve the same.
Learn more about our organization, Characters of Character NFP, here.