Nurturing Kids of Character

Character education is vital in the modern world

We hear a lot today about the decline in 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 growing movement to reverse these trends through Character Education. This is not a "quick fix,� but gives us long-term ways to address moral, ethical, and academic issues that are of growing concern to everyone.

Character education is the fostering of ethical, responsible, and caring young people by modeling and teaching good character through emphasis on universal values that we all share such as caring, honesty, fairness, 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 especially 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 quality time for families it�s more important than ever that caring parents feel empowered 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 certainly prefer fun activities to being lectured in a serious, and, dare I say � boring way! Kids, like the rest of us, learn in varying 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 are also very important 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 imitating, 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 imitate. *Knows the difference between right and wrong and always tries to do the right thing, even if it�s difficult. * Is honest, trustworthy, reliable and caring. * Tries to make the world a better place.

Sounds hard, but educating the heart is just as important as academic education. It�s essential that you have the right tools and materials � books, games, activities, audio are all good ways of communicating with your kids, offering various routes to forming your Kids of Character. I learned so much of this the hard way through my working life, being a parent 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 grow the way you want. Just click on the link to my website in the resource box below.

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