How To Raise a Child of Character
Parents often ask how to raise a child with good character and values, in the context of a culture that often seems to reward the opposite. The simplest answer is that children learn what they live, so if you live your values, your kids are likely to as well.
It's also true that talking explicitly about our values helps kids to develop them, especially in the face of teachings from the media or their peers that might go against what you believe.
Finally, there are definitely ways that you can encourage your child to be thoughtful, generous, responsible, courageous -- a person of character. To read more about encouraging the development of specific traits in your child, click below.
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Generosity
We all want our children to be generous. There are some people, in fact, who believe that our purpose on earth is to grow by giving to each other, an idea I find inspiring and beautiful.
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The Great Spiritual Lessons Children Should Learn
If you have a deep faith and keep the rituals and calendar of your religious tradition, then you’ve probably given a lot of thought to your child’s spiritual development and have it all mapped out. If, on the other hand, you wonder how to put what you believe into words and aren’t sure what spiritual lessons you want to pass on to your kids, this article is for you.
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15 Ways to Raise a Child with Great Values
Some psychologists think values are impossible to teach, and it is certainly true that telling kids to be more honest, or diligent, or considerate, doesn’t work any better than telling adults to be. But if values are impossible to teach, they are too important to leave to chance.
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Help Your Child Develop Good Judgment
Many adults are crippled with indecision when faced with difficult choices. Others, worse yet, make self-destructive choices and repeatedly demonstrate poor judgment. But no one is born with good judgment and the ability to make wise decisions. Good judgment and decision-making skills develop from experience combined with reflection. As one sage noted, "Judgment develops from experience. Good judgment develops from bad experience."
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15 Tips to Raise a Responsible Child
We all want to raise responsible children. And we all want to live in a world where others have been raised to be responsible, a world where adults don’t shrug off their responsibilities as citizens. As my son said, surveying the littered park when he was four, "Don't grownups know they have to clean up their own messes?"
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Books to Teach Kids Values
Most young children like books that talk about values and ethical dilemmas. That's because these questions are at the heart of what makes life meaningful, which is a primary question for children beginning at about the same age -- the preschool years -- when they first become aware of death.
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