Kids of Character

We hear a lot today about falling moral standards, lack of respect for others, the culture of ‘me first’ and about how young people don’t seem to care for or listen to the more mature adults around them. Our society doesn’t have to be like this, though, and there is a movement towards reversing these trends through Character Education. This is not a "quick fix,’ but offers long-term solutions that address moral, ethical, and academic issues that are of growing concern to everyone.

Character education is the fostering of fair-minded, trustworthy and caring young people by modeling and teaching good character through emphasis on universal values that are common to us all such as caring, honesty, trustworthiness, responsibility, and respect for self and others.

Good character is not formed automatically; rather it must be nurtured over time through a sustained process of teaching, example, learning, and practice ‘ that is what I believe to be character education. Teaching good character is particularly important in the modern world as our young people are exposed to many opportunities, but also dangers unknown to their parents and grandparents. They are bombarded with many more negative influences through the media and other external sources universal in modern society. Character education doesn’t have to be boring though, kids don’t like to be preached at and are much less likely to listen to and take in messages they don’t enjoy hearing.

Parents and/or primary carers are of course the first, and most important moral educators of children’s character. But as the pressures of balancing work and home life impact upon the time that families spend together it’s more important than ever that caring parents feel enabled to deal with moral issues, and that they have the right tools to help them do so in a fun way. We all know that kids can have a short attention span, and definitely prefer fun activities to being talked at in a serious, and, dare I say ‘ boring way! Kids, like the rest of us, learn in different ways too, so it’s important to get your message across in different media, some prefer to read, others learn through ‘doing’ whilst others like to watch and listen.

Schools also play a vital role in nurturing and developing children of good character, through their character education programs. But it’s absolutely essential that this teaching is reinforced at home ‘ after all children learn by copying others, so if they realize that good character is important to their parents, they’re more likely to place great importance upon it themselves.

A person of character * Is a "good" person someone that kids will respect, admire and try to emulate. * Is honest, trustworthy, reliable and caring. *Understands the difference between right and wrong and always tries to do the right thing, even if it’s difficult. * Sets a good example * Tries to make the world a better place.

Sounds tough, but educating the heart is just as important as educating the mind. It’s important that you have the right tools and materials ‘ books, games, activities, audio are all good ways of communicating with your kids, offering various learning methods to growing your Kids of Character. I learned so much of this the hard way during my career, being a mom myself and from my own mom, and now I’m so happy to be able to offer you the complete ‘Kids of Character’ package ‘ a collection of books and other activities which give you the toolbox you need to help your child develop the way you would like them to. Just click on the link to my website in the resource box below.

Article Source: http://www.a1-articledirectory.com

Ellie Dixon lives in deepest rural Devon, England with her husband and two very large Newfoundland dogs. She is passionate about vintage illustrated children's books and loves to restore and edit them for today's kids to rediscover. Visit Kids of Character", a unique range of beautiful illustrated books and fun activities all designed to help parents grow responsible, trustworthy kids of good character, or for even more great books visit Scruffy's Bookshop, Ellie's main website.

Please Rate this Article

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated