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As the old saying goes, “More is caught than taught.” And there aren’t too many examples of that proverb that carry more weight than character. Mamas, whether we want to admit it or not, little eyes are watching us. And they are going to parrot back, not just what we say, but what we do. So it goes without saying that if we want to raise kids with character, we have to lead by example.
The world is going to feed them bad examples by firehose. And we’re not just talking about big, obvious character issues like embezzling money or committing heinous crimes. We’re talking about the little things–the everyday actions that reveal our true selves like calling in sick, when we’re not; piggy-backing on a friend’s internet service or Amazon password to save a few dollars, or even canceling on a commitment at the last minute.
All of these are daily examples that our children see played out into the world. This is what we, as parents, are up against. To some extent, we are swimming upstream, sometimes dog paddling, against the lack of character in our current culture.
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Character Resources:
- Character Matters Cards from September & Co.
- Seeds Family Worship: Seeds of Character– Scripture verses about character set to music
- 100 Manners to Teach Your Kids Before They Turn 18
- Character First Education– character curriculum for K-5
Mentioned in the Podcast:
- Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
- Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
- Boxes for Katje by Candice Fleming
1 thought on “Building Character in Kids”
This podcast was a Godsend and came at exactly the right time for me!
For this summer I made the decision to focus on refining my children’s character qualities before the new school year. One of the things that I failed to realize is that character building starts with me and I have a lot of work to do in my own area of personal growth. I am challenged to really rethink the “DNA of our home life”.
Truth be told this is all so new and overwhelming as my upbringing is very different from what my children’s lives look like. Some days I worry that I may be too late in the game. But your podcast gave me hope and plenty of food for thought to go forward in greater confidence. Thank you for sharing!
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