Ideas for implementation

Ideas and Projects for Character Families

• Have children draw pictures and create posters for the home that depict different character qualities.
• Show gratefulness by making your own thank-you cards for those who have benefited your family.
• Take food and good cheer to the elderly and shut-ins in your area.
• Institute character recognition to acknowledge those who exhibit specific character qualities.  Set aside times when each family member can praise another for a quality he or she saw demonstrated during the week.
• Use verbal reminders in everyday situations; for example, “What character quality will enable you to take out the trash with a good attitude?”
• Integrate discussions about character into family meals, story time, etc.
• Label children’s storybooks with the quality taught through the message of the book.  For example, The Three Little Pigs – diligence.

From Achieving True Success – How to Build Character as a Family.

Learn how you can contribute to Topeka’s success

• Print off the posters and display them in your place of business or home.
• Make a personal commitment to character development.
• Model good character.
• Praise others for good character.  Praise for character rather than achievement.  Example: Praising for achievement – “Your room looks good, thanks for cleaning it vs. Praising for character – “Thank you for your orderliness and enthusiasm in cleaning your room.  I can tell you put your whole heart into it.”
• Recognize good character through comparing ours and others words, actions and attitudes to the character qualities’ definitions
• Correct behavior for good character.  Remember that the purpose of correction is to benefit the one corrected.  Be sensitive to other’s feelings and keep it positive.

From Achieving True Success – How to Build Character as a Family. 

Learn how to teach character in the community

One of the most effective ways to teach character is to define and explain a character quality by connecting it to something that is memorable and makes a lasting impression.  For example, if a child demonstrates laziness, a parents can teach him or he about the characteristics about the beaver.  Showing the child how the beaver exercises diligence and what things the beaver does to be diligent will lead him or her to understand the nature of this quality.  It would be important to relate these things to a real life situation for the child.  Later, when he or she is being lazy or has been assigned a task, you need only say, “Remember the beaver,” or, “Let’s see if we can be diligent like the beaver.”  The more we know about and understand a character quality, the easier it is to apply it in everyday life.

From Achieving True Success – How to Build Character as a Family.