Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!  In honor of his birthday, some of my blogging friends and I would like to share some fun Dr. Seuss-themed lessons with you.  My post encourages you to pull out Dr. Seuss with your older children.  The content of so many Dr. Seuss books is far more rich than you might imagine!

Our family recently read The Sneetches as one of our literature-based character lessons.  What a fantastic book for teaching about the Christian character trait of acceptance – knowing that every single person has been made in the image of God no matter how they look.

The story:

The Sneetches have divided themselves into two groups – those who have stars on their bellies and those who have not.  Those who have stars think of themselves more highly than they ought, while those who don’t have stars think of themselves more poorly than they ought.  Mr. McBean soon rolls into town promising to make everyone part of “the” crowd.  After a day full of everyone paying lots of money to continually change the group to which they belong, Mr. McBean is left wealthy and the Sneetches are still separated into two confused groups.  They finally come to the realization that looks shouldn’t keep people from being friends.

Our lesson:

1. I started the lesson by having my children think about how people are often “sorted” in society by such characteristics as their clothes, shoes, hair styles, skin colors, cars they drive, houses they live in, whether or not they wear glasses, what scores they make on tests, and so on.

2. We talked about the impact these “standards” have had in the past.  For example, how slavery and segregation occurred because of skin color.

3.  We talked about the lesser (but more personal) impact these “standards” have had in our own lives.  Have we ever been judged at co-op or church, for instance, because of an outward appearance?  Have we ever seen anyone judged in this way?  Have we ever judged someone over such things?

4.  We read a few Bible verses:

• 1 Samuel 16:7b  “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”  (What should we be concerned about?)

• Psalm 139:14  “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”  (Isn’t everyone made in the same way?)

• 1 Peter 3:3-4  “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”  (Does any of the outward stuff really matter?)

• John 7:24  “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”  (Do we decide whether someone should be our friend based on what they wear or how they act?  Do we worry about their hairstyle or whether or not they love the Lord?)

5.  Finally, I pulled out some plastic toys (animals or people would work fine.)  I asked the kids to think of an attribute and sort the toys.  For example, we sorted our people into groups of those who wear hats and those who don’t.  We talked about the silliness of considering that the group wearing hats were somehow better than the other group.  They obviously weren’t anymore capable, loveable, friendly, etc. than the group not wearing hats.  There was no clear distinction other than the hats.  To decide whether or not someone is more acceptable simply because they wear a hat (or not) is a ridiculous idea – as it is in real-life, too.

We’ve read other books in the past that emphasize this same concept (with a Christian flair), too:

More middle school (and above) lessons:

We love Dr. Seuss books and I’ve come across all sorts of ideas for using the books with older kids – middle school and above.  Enjoy!

• Living Math Algebra Lesson using Green Eggs and Ham

• Measurement and Data Analysis Lesson using The Foot Book

• The Political Dr. Seuss

• Writing Lesson using the book Oh, the Places You’ll Go

• Bible Devotions using various Dr. Seuss books

Please visit my friends who have also posted great lessons for the Dr. Seuss Birthday Blog Hop!

Ami from Walking by the Way

Amy from Milk and Cookies

Jenn from Daze of Adventure

Jimmie from Jimmie’s Collage

Karin from Passport Academy

Kendra from Preschoolers and Peace

Tricia from HodgePodge

Related posts:

1. The Middle of the Middle Ages Unit
2. Are Your Children Complaining About School?

On Fridays, I attempt to plan a simple object lesson to go along with Bible study.  Since we have been studying knights of the Middle Ages lately, I thought a lesson on the Armor of God made a nice tie-in.

The lesson is quick, but powerful.

Materials:

• two oranges
• a glass bowl large enough for two oranges to be completely submerged
• water
• Bible

Read Ephesians 6:10-17

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Talk about what each piece of armor stands for and how it helps us stand against the devil.

Ask your children to pretend to put on each piece of armor as you discuss how that particular piece might help them throughout their day.

Place both oranges in the bowl with their “armor” on.  (In other words, keep the skin on both oranges.)  Talk about how the oranges are floating, or “standing firm” in the water.

Little by little, begin peeling away some of the “armor” (skin) of one of the oranges.  You might peel off a chunk and say something like, “Uh oh, this orange forgot to put on his belt of truth.  When someone says something ugly about him today, he might believe it.  If he believes that lie, instead of the truth that he’s wonderfully made, he might not stand as firm in the water.”  Place the orange back in the water and notice that, although it doesn’t sink completely, it begins dipping further in the water than the orange still wearing all its armor.

Continue on this way, peeling back a little at a time, talking about a new piece of armor the orange forgot to put on, talking about how that might affect his day, and then placing the orange in the water to see it sink more and more each time.

By the time you remove all of the armor, the orange will completely sink.  It is not able to “stand” at all.

Challenge your children to think purposefully each day about putting on each piece of armor.  Maybe you could even pretend to put on each piece together every morning.  When I purposefully try to put on my own armor, I know I’m able to stand more firmly against the devil’s wily schemes.  I bet kids can, too!

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values – Lesson Ideas – Day 7
2. Child Labor – Industrial Revolution Lesson

Apparently, I’m not the only one who’s frustrated in the check-out lines.  WooHoo!!  A nationwide petition has been started to either clean up or cover up Cosmopolitan!  When I signed the petition this morning, over 18,000 people had already added their names!  Will you??

Let’s see what a difference our voices can make!!

Sign the petition here

No related posts.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be taking part in the Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of… Blog Hop.  My posts will focus on creative ways to teach values (or character training) to your children.  My prayer is that you and I will both be inspired (or re-inspired) to train our precious children in the way they should go with methods that reach deep to encourage and motivate their souls.

I hope you’ll stop in every day over the next two weeks (weekdays only) to not only get fresh ideas, but to encourage me with your comments and fresh ideas as well.

First, just in case you’re new to my blog, I’ll take just a minute to introduce myself. I’m Cindy West, wife to Steve and mom to Mahayla (14), Caleb (11) and Eli (4). We live on a cattle farm in Central KY which is an awesome setting for tons of homeschooling opportunities and rambunctious students! I own Shining Dawn Books where you can find my NaturExplorers studies and other “living” curricula. I love encouraging homeschooling moms to embrace every moment with their children by making their time together meaningful and enjoyable.

More About My Family

More About Me

On to today’s inspiration!

Fruit of the Spirit Trees

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22-23

The Fruit of the Spirit is our “go-to” list of virtues as Christians.  We should strive to exuded each of these traits in everything we do!  Do we mess up?  Sure!  That’s part of the learning process – and thank God for His sweet mercy day in and day out as we fail!

One tried and true method I’ve used with each of my three children to help them understand and begin to display these values is a Fruit of the Spirit tree.  As early as the age of three or four, whenever I notice that the “fruits” need a little, ahem, fine tuning around the house, we stick a branch in a jar and have great fun catching each other being kind, peaceful, gentle and so on.

Beforehand, I’ve prepared little fruits tied to strings that get hung on the branches when someone has been caught.  There’s never a competition between kids to see who can gather the most fruit, but instead it’s a cooperative effort to see the good in one another, be good to one another and watch our family tree hang heavy with fruits as a result.

When one child needs a little more encouragement (like the four year old recently), the tree will be all about him.  In this instance, as often as we were able, we made a big deal about the values he was displaying and let him put his fruits on the tree.  At the end of the day, we counted the fruits together.  His goal the next day was to see if he could gather even more fruits than the day before.  After about a week, he had begun a pleasant habit which replaced a not-so-pleasant habit and we not longer needed the tree.

Old or young, every time I’ve pulled out the Fruit of the Spirit tree in our home, positive character has resulted.  It’s so easy, too!

How to Make:

• Place a tree-shaped stick in a jar/bucket of beans/rice/rocks.
• Cut out fruit shapes from construction paper, card stock, foam sheets or anything else you like. (The fruit shapes in my photo were prepared shapes I found several years ago at a dollar store.)
• Punch a hole at the top of each fruit and loop a ribbon, yarn or string through it to become a hanger.
• For very young children, I don’t write anything on the fruits.  We simply talk about each value as its displayed and the child hangs any fruit of his choosing.  For young readers, write one value on each of the fruits so that you have at least one per Fruit of the Spirit.  When a particular value is displayed, they find the correct fruit to hang on the tree.  For older children, place a list of the Fruits of the Spirit near the tree along with the blank fruits and a marker to create their own as a fruit is displayed.

That’s it!  What are you waiting for?  You could have new, wonderful habits started tomorrow!

While not necessary, I know many of you like to find fun extras to reinforce your lessons, or actual lessons to help you specifically teach the Fruits of the Spirit.  I have included some of both in the widget below for your convenience.

Be sure to visit these wonderful ladies during our 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
2. Teaching Values with Literature – Day 2
3. Teaching Values Using For Instruction in Righteousness – Day 6

Today I’m writing about one of my very favorite topics – living literature!  There are SO many ways you can use literature to encourage good values in your children – and teach about the consequences of poor values as played out in the lives of book characters.  Whether you’re teaching preschoolers or high school students, living literature is a gold mine for values training.

Yesterday, I mentioned the Fruits of the Spirit as defined in Galatians 5:22-23 as our “go-to” list of values for training our children.  And, while that is certainly the list I focus on most in my home, there are plenty of other values which are important to instill in our children – gratefulness, truthfulness, hospitality, thriftiness, punctuality, attentiveness and many more.

You can find a wonderful list of virtues along with an amazing set of Bible and teaching ideas for each virtue at Home Life Ministries.  Don’t miss this website!  Also, while I’m not entirely sure of the content of The Virtues Project website, they have three printable posters of virtues you might be interested in.

Considering all the possible values to reinforce, it would be nearly impossible for me or anyone else to give you a comprehensive list of the best books to use for each and every value. While some websites and books set out to get you started on the practice of using literature for character training (see below), my intent is to show you how I take just about any book we read and use it for at least some character training.

A Sample Lesson

Let’s use just any ol’ non-secular book you might find at the library…The Three Little Pigs.  You know the story, right?  After reading the story with my children (if I was intending to use it as for part of a values lesson and not just sweet reading time), I would start asking open ended questions.  Typically, I would only focus on one topic per book per day.  In other words, I wouldn’t try to cover every single character flaw at one time.

Two possible character discussions:

Topic/character flaw = being mean

What do you think about the wolf?  Why do you think he was called the ‘Big Bad Wolf’?  I wonder what prompted the wolf to be so mean?  You think he was just hungry?  Okay, what could the pigs have done to help him?  When people are mean, should we try to help them?  What if they don’t want to be helped by us?  Is there ever a time when we should run away from people instead of helping them? (Stranger talk!)

Topic/character flaw = laziness

Tell me what you think about each of the houses that the pigs made.  Whose house stood strong against the wolf?  Why?  What did the other two pigs want to do rather than build strong houses?  Do you think they were prepared for the troubles that came their way?  What other troubles might they not have been prepared for?  What does God tell us about being lazy in the Bible?  Is there a time to play and relax?

There are obviously other discussions you could have based simply on this little picture book, too!  And, just about any book you find will lend itself to character building discussions!

One other thing I might mention… When I’m preparing for a character talk (or when one comes out of nowhere), I’ll browse through my copy of For Instruction in Righteousness.  It prepares me with Bible verses, Bible stories and ideas to bring home the point on a huge number of “character flaws”.  It’s been one of the most used book in my home!  In fact, I’m planning to write a whole post on how I use this book as part of our values training later in this 10 Days series.

Some Great Resources

The following websites offer wonderful collections of character building literature:

Grace and Truth Books Character Building Literature List

Lamplighter Publishing

Below are some book series which we have found to be fantastic for character building:

Hero Tales

Any Missionary Story – Some of our favorites include Bruchko, The Hiding Place, A Chance to Die, George Muller: The Guardian of Bristol’s Orphans, and Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime.

Miller Stories (from a conservative, Mennonite viewpoint, but great morals)

Pearables (occasionally legalistic, but many good discussion points)

Bob Schultz Books – Boyhood and Beyond: Practical Wisdom for Becoming a Man and Created for Work: Practical Insights for Young Men

You might find this large selection of Aesop’s Fables helpful since every story has an obvious moral to discuss with your children.

(Short fables like these are good for assignments, too, where you ask your child to develop her own moral or write/act out a new version where the character makes better decisions.)

Online Collection of Aesop’s Fables

The books in the widget below contain either book lists of great literature (with a moral) for all ages, or are collections themselves of literature selections.

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow as we discuss teaching values through service and leadership opportunities!

Be sure to visit these brilliant ladies during our 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values Using For Instruction in Righteousness – Day 6
2. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
3. Teaching Values – Lesson Ideas – Day 7

Welcome to Day 3 of my Heart of the Matter 10 Days of… Series about Teaching Values.  Today’s topic focuses on one of the most important things (besides the Bible) we’ve added to our homeschooling schedule – Service Opportunities.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.  But do not use your freedom to indulge in the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Galatians 5:13-14

In our home, learning to serve plays a major role in values training.  Of course, we train our children to serve one another in our home, but we’re also intentional in finding service opportunities outside the home.  As soon as our children are able to take part in service activities, we get them involved!  Helping to clean up after a co-op event, setting tables for a bereavement dinner at church and taking out the trash for grandma and grandpa are all simple to-do’s even for little ones.

{Serving at a local soup kitchen.}

As our kids get older, we actively seek opportunities to serve.  Working at the soup kitchen, making meals for shut-ins with the youth group, and bagging groceries at the food pantry are some examples.  Believe it or not, not once have my children complained about these times of work!  Oh, they will complain quite often about chores around the house, school assignments, not having time to watch a favorite tv show, or how often one of them touches the other in the car!!  But, there’s something magical about serving others outside the home that make us all very humble, eager and incredibly thankful for the blessing of serving others.  Through these experiences, my children have also learned values such as empathy, acceptance and compassion.  It’s truly beautiful to watch your children joyfully serve others.

{Making mop ponies for a children’s home for Christmas.  K.E.E.P. Youth Council}

As my children have gotten older, I’ve found serving in leadership roles to promote values training just as well (in different ways) than the type of serving I was talking about above.  My children (mostly my oldest – 9th grade – at this point) have been part of youth councils for various things like 4-H and the Kentucky Equine Education Project.  They have attended leadership conferences for Christian youth and helped set-up our state’s annual homeschooling convention.

With each of these opportunities, I’ve watched my children mature.  They’ve learned work ethic, respect, perseverance, cooperation, confidence and so much more.  Not to mention, in each case they’ve made wonderful friends who share common goals.

{Bagging food at the local food pantry.}

Just where do you begin involving your children in service and leadership opportunities?  Well, that answer depends very much on your child’s age and what is available in your area.  I’ve created a list of ideas to get you started below.

Just for the record , I address the topics of service and leadership in my new book, Homeschooling the Gifted and Advanced Learner – Chapter 8 “What About Socialization?”, p 116!  You certainly don’t need to have gifted children to participate in these wonderful experiences, though.  ALL children benefit in such character building moments!  What are you waiting for?  Start thinking seriously about how you can incorporate more service time into your homeschool!

I’d love to hear what you’ve done in your homeschool to serve others!

Be sure to visit these sweet ladies during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values through Chores and Jobs – Day 4
2. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
3. Teaching Values through Discipline that Reaches the Heart – Day 5

Welcome to Day 4 of my Heart of the Matter 10 Days of… Series on Teaching Values in your homeschool!  Today I’ll be writing about how to build values through chores and jobs.

Chores

From the time my children can toddle, they get the pleasure of helping with chores around the house and around the farm.  With every new responsibility comes wonderful new values.  (Not to mention preparation for their futures!)  Just some of the values I’ve seen molded in my children through chores include:

• Ambition – taking the to-do’s seriously and doing them well
• Commitment – knowing that chores must be done before other things
• Diligence – sticking with chores even when they become frustrating
• Confidence – knowing that “mom trusted me with this responsibility”
• Cooperation – we often work together to accomplish various tasks
• Joy – Yes, really!  Not always, mind you, but there is deep joy and satisfaction in knowing a task has been completed.  I bet you’ve felt joy when looking around your house after it’s had a deep cleaning, right?  Same with kids!

There are OH SO MANY MORE values that could be included in this list – helpfulness, leadership, punctuality, obedience, strength, organization…

Whenever I write a post about chores, people always ask what chores my children are expected to do on a regular basis and at what age.  That’s a hard question to answer because each one of my children has been ready to do different chores at different ages.  So, instead of giving age-appropriate lists, I thought I’d make a chart of current chores my children are capable of.

Please note that only a few chores are ever scheduled at one time AND oftentimes the chores are supervised or the kids are the “helpers” rather than completely responsible.

Our current chore schedule looks something like this:

Every single day before breakfast ALL the kids must: make beds, brush teeth, get dressed, bring laundry to the laundry room, and straighten their rooms.

Monday-Friday everyone has an additional chore to work on at some point throughout the day.  This might include straightening a closet, vacuuming under couch cushions, or weeding a flower bed.  This chore rarely takes more than 15 minutes to complete.

Saturday morning is our deep cleaning time.  We divvy up various chores to make sure the entire house is straightened and cleaned.  If we’ve kept up with the basic chores the rest of the week, this deep cleaning usually takes less than 2 hours.

Jobs

Although we haven’t officially sent our children out into the work force, the older two have taken on various jobs for money.  This summer, they mowed the neighbor’s yard once every two weeks.  It was a very large yard and they used a push mower – they earned every single penny of their fee!  They have also worked in the hay fields and cattle barns with their dad during the summer, and have been hired out for odd jobs by grandparents. With every new “job”, I watch the values mentioned above grow just a little more!

As a side note, I encourage my children when they come to me with a business idea.  Besides being character builders, their businesses have been wonderful homeschooling activities.  They have generated business concepts, created business cards, marketed themselves and earned money!  With each new business, lessons are learned and the productivity gets a little better.

Chore Resources

I included these resources in my last 10 Days Series on Habit Training using the Charlotte Mason method, but I thought they might be beneficial in this post, too.  I always create my own chore charts, but these would certainly save you time and effort!

Donna Young’s Chore Chart Maker

Confessions of a Homeschooler’s Chore System and Printables

That Resource Site’s Printable Charts

What are your thoughts on using chores and jobs to build character/values?

Be sure to visit these wonderful ladies during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Habit Training – Chores
2. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
3. Teaching Values Using For Instruction in Righteousness – Day 6

Welcome back to my Heart of the Matter 10 Days of… Series on Teaching Values in your homeschool!  One busy week is coming to a close, but one more week of practical advice still remains!  Today I’m writing about instilling values in your children through heart-felt discipline.

I’ll be the first to admit that heartfelt discipline is not my strongest parenting skill.  It’s way easier to demand a child stop doing something “because I said so” than it is to take time to reach the heart of why our family doesn’t act a certain way.  It’s also easier to send everyone to timeout (for my sanity) than it is to stop everything for a family meeting to discuss what’s going on and what we can do to fix it.

Those things are easier, but they don’t ever build anything more in my children than thoughts that I’m too busy and too frustrated to care about their problems.

You know, I just said they are easier, but in reality they aren’t at all easier.  They are easier for the moment – until I have to deal with the same behavior issue 20 more times this week (or this day!)  Every single time I’ve taken the time to get to the heart of a discipline issue right away, it’s been nipped in the bud.  In other words, there is no time for my children to form bad habits from my lazy discipline.

When I stop and get to the root of the behavior, I have the awesome opportunity to mold their hearts, minds and souls with values that are important to our family.  I get to talk about what God expects from us and point them to the Word.  I let them know that I really do care them!

And, usually, when I’m having a heart to heart discussion about behavior, I’m doing it with a much better attitude.  This kind of discipline becomes my privilege rather than my frustration.  It becomes a teaching opportunity rather than everyone waiting for the warts to start growing on my witch’s nose.

Just what do I do to get to the heart of the behavior?  Different situations mean different approaches, but this is my general plan of action.

• Get eye level with the child(ren) and ask what’s going on?

When I’m eye level, there is trust that I’m there to help rather than harshly discipline.

• Talk about behavior that would have been better to choose in the same situation.

I usually ask, “What did you do that we need to talk about?” and “What could you have done differently?”

• Talk about what God tells us in His Word about the positive behavior vs. the negative behavior.

If I don’t know off the top of my head what the Bible says, there are a couple of resources I use – For Instruction in Righteousness and Doorposts.  (See below.)

• Decide what needs to be done to fix the situation.

Sometimes, a simple apology is in order.  Other times a consequence is in order.  I try to match the consequence with the offense, at the same time allowing my older children to help decide the consequence. (See a few examples below.)

Two tried and true (and highly recommended) resources that have helped me understand the concept of discipline that reaches the heart are:

Two resources that have helped me bring the Word into my discipline are:

On Monday, I’ll be sharing the nitty-gritty of how I use For Instruction in Righteousness in our home.  This is such a wonderful book!

You might like to read about our Peace Place, too.

Like I said, I have a lot of growing room in this area!  I’ll be praying about and making a better effort to reach the heart of discipline in the days and weeks to come.  How about you?

Be sure to visit these fantastic women during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values Using For Instruction in Righteousness – Day 6
2. Teaching Values – Lesson Ideas – Day 7
3. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10

Welcome to Week 2, Day 6 of my Heart of the Matter 10 Days of… Series on Teaching Values in your homeschool!  Today I’d like to share my very favorite resource for supporting me in the teaching of Biblical values – For Instruction in Righteousness : A Topical Reference Guide for Biblical Child-Training by Pam Forster (published by Doorposts.)

Why do I like this book so much?  I use it all the time!  In the previous five days of this series I’ve already mentioned it twice – as a resource to help me turn living literature into character training lessons and as my go-to help when trying to discipline in a way that reaches the heart.  Today, I’d like give you a brief overview of the book then show you how I’ve used it.

A Peek into the Book

Pam Forster has packed this reference full-to-the-brim, covering more than 50 undesirable character traits.  Undesirable character traits?  Yes, which is why it’s such a great resource!  When you find your child caught up in a lie or battling with anger, you can easily use the table of contents to find the problem area and be led to a world of helps!

Within each section, you find:

• Bible verses and Bible stories that speak about the sin (bad character trait)
• References to Bible verses and stories that illustrate the results of the sin
• Simple ideas for creative discipline
• Bible verses that speak of the blessings from “doing the opposite”
• References to Bible stories that illustrate the blessings that result from “doing the opposite”
• A few Bible verses appropriate for memorization on the topic

Let’s go through one chapter as an example.  In the chapter called “Complaining/Ingratitude” you will find several Bible references showing people who have grumbled against God, who are lovers of themselves, and who forget God’s blessings.  These verses are followed by references to what happens to people in the Bible who live in this sin – like the children of Israel dying in the wilderness and not having the privilege of entering the Promised Land.  Upon reading about the children of Israel, the author suggests that you might remind your child of his complaining/ingratitude by giving him more work if he continues to grumble about tasks set before him.

After what I like to call the chastising for poor character qualities, there are always answers from the Word that bring hope!  In this chapter, the focus turns to verses and stories that show the blessings people receive when they are thankful – the opposite of a complainer or ungrateful person.  In this instance, you are directed such stories as Ruth and Naomi or Rahab.  And the chapter always ends with pertinent, often uplifting verses to hide in your heart.

And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Col. 3:17

Think of it.  For just about any character issue your child is struggling with (or you for that matter), this guide will get you started on Biblical advice against the issue and what to replace the behavior with!

How do I use it?

As a Bible Study Guide

There have been times, we have simply gone through the book with our Bibles in hand and studied together on a topic for a day, a week or longer.  It doesn’t get any easier.  We look up verses and have discussions.  Everything is there for you.  These discussion times have been really good.

With Literature Character Lessons

As mentioned on day 2 of this series, we will often read picture books or chapter books and turn them into a character lesson.  When discussing the flaws of a certain character, it’s nice to have For Instruction in Righteousness nearby.  We’ll often talk about what God has to say about the flaw and this book is invaluable for finding His thoughts.

Using it in Discipline

Again, as I mentioned on day 5 of this series, I try (my darnedest) to discipline in a way that gets to the heart of the issues.  That often involves bringing God’s Word into our discipline discussions.  If my children don’t understand why we do or don’t act a certain way, then discipline is fairly worthless.  So, in trying to help them learn our values, which are God’s values, I am constantly pulling out For Instruction in Righteousness to lead me to those heart-grabbing verses that deal specifically with the issue at hand.  It’s a topical Bible reference that speaks directly to discipline issues!

So There You Have It

Just in case you’re wondering, no, I don’t have any relationship with Doorposts or the author, Pam Forster.  (LOL)  I just REALLY use this book and can’t say enough about what a help it’s been in our home!

Do you own For Instruction in Righteousness?  How do you use it? 

Be sure to visit these brilliant women during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
2. Teaching Values with The Pilgrim’s Progress – Day 8
3. Teaching Values – Lesson Ideas – Day 7

Welcome to day 7 of my Heart of the Matter 10 Days of… series on Teaching Values to your children.  Let’s get down and dirty with some lesson plans today!

I’m a very practical gal.  And, since this is a homeschooling blog, I thought I’d share some super-practical character building lesson ideas that you can easily incorporate into your homeschool.  They are in no particular order.  Some can be completed by older children, some by younger children, and many by both.  Some can even be cooperative – meaning your children can work together.  Enjoy the ideas as-is or tweak them to suit your needs!

As you read through the lessons, you’ll see many of them are very creative, involving more than one subject and/or learning style.  These in-depth lessons are what I like to call project-based learning.  If you like the idea of adding more creative, project-style learning to your routine, my NaturExplorers science-based studies include lots of these ideas (in the hands-on activities and writing/research sections.)

Lesson Ideas

Missionary Study

Choose a well-known missionary to research.  Read an exciting biography and/or learn about the missionary’s story through Internet research.  Write a first person account of the missionary’s life.  Create a poster person (similar to the photo above) to use as you read or recite your first person account.  Be sure to include what values the missionary exhibited.

Hero Study

Research a famous person known for his or her character, otherwise known as a hero.  Possible subjects include George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, or Clara Barton.  (You can find a large list of potential people to study here.)  Create a poster biography of this person including information about his or her life and how he or she displayed high moral values.  Also include photos, maps, quotes and other facts as they pertain to the assignment.  Present your poster report to the entire family.  Feel free to dress similarly to the person you are speaking about and/or bring props to enhance your presentation.

Keep a Character Journal

Spend a month focusing on character qualities through keeping a journal.  This could be done several ways, but in all cases each child and parent should get his or her own notebook and not be expected to share the private writings.  In one instance, you might focus on one character trait each day during Bible study and then ask everyone to take a few minutes to journal about how they are doing/what they need to improve relating to that trait.  As another example, each person might find a quiet place and be expected to write whatever comes from their heart about their character.  You might suggest they write about mistakes they’ve made, positive things they’ve done and prayers to God about their character.

Topical Bible Study

What does God say?  Let your child choose a character trait and find out what God has to say about it.  Using the Bible and other resources, such as For Instruction in Righteousness, Nave’s Topical Bible, or another topical reference, allow your child to see for himself whether or not that character trait is pleasing to the Lord.  He should create a chart, along with a written or oral report of his findings.

Complete a Family Proverbs Study

We’ve gone through Proverbs several times as a family and learned so much about character issues each time!  We have used the following lesson books at various times, too, and loved each one.

Interview the Wise

Find a grandparent, older neighbor, church member, or even a nursing home resident whom you trust to share Biblical wisdom with your child.  Ask your child to write interview questions beforehand on the topic of character.  Maybe the interview could focus on how character values have changed over the years.  If you have access to a video camera, tape the interview for the entire family to watch and discuss at a later date.  What a great memory to have on video!

Literature Character Study

Last week, I wrote about how to use literature as character training lessons.  After you have used several books in this way alongside your child, let him choose a book for character analysis.  Younger children can analyze the main character, while older children can analyze all of the book’s characters.  Depending on abilities, ask your child to notice:

• character attitudes
• character behavior
• motivations for attitudes and behavior
• how the attitudes and behavior effect other characters
• how the attitudes and behavior effect the character personally
• how the character changes throughout the book

You might ask your younger child to create a cereal box report (similar to the photo above) where one topic is written on each side of the cereal box and props are placed inside the box to be used during a presentation about the character analysis.  Older children can write a report which includes at least one paragraph on each topic.  My older children would like an assignment to place these paragraphs into a computerized newsletter.

Story Rewrite

After reading a short story about a character who doesn’t make good choices, ask your child to rewrite the story so that the character makes better choices.   Allow her to illustrate and bind the book for a nicely finished project.

Fun Family Activities

• Write character qualities on sticky notes.  Place them on the backs or foreheads of everyone in the family.  Take turns giving hints about the character qualities until everyone is able to guess theirs.

• Give each family member a sheet of stickers.  Everyone should be watchful throughout the day for brothers, sisters, moms, dads, etc. to display positive character traits.  When someone is “caught”, a sticker is placed on them.  Hopefully, everyone will be all “stickered up” at day’s end!

Holiday Ideas

• Thankfulness is the perfect value to work on this time of year!  Create a thankful tree.  Yes, I’m quite sure you can make a much lovelier tree than ours!  We list things we’re thankful for each day and add them to the branches of the tree.

• As Christmas approaches, instead of making a countdown paper chain, make a count UP chain.  Each day, add a new link to the chain.  Write the character trait best displayed through the day on the link.  By Christmas, you’ll have a wonderful and festive reminder of the month’s positive moments.

Now it’s your turn!  I’d love to hear some of your lesson ideas for teaching character!

Be sure to visit these awesome ladies during the 10 days adventure between November 7th-18th!

10 days of Character Studies | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of Christmas Countdown Ideas | Milk & Cookies
10 days of Creative Writing | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of Crockpot Meals | The Happy Housewife
10 Days to a Godly Marriage | Women Living Well
10 Days of Growing Leaders | Mom’s Mustard Seeds
10 Days of Homeschooling High School | Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers
10 days of I Wish I Had Known | Fruit in Season
10 days of Keeping Your Marbles | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of Kid-friendly Food | Planner Perfect
10 Days of Language Arts Lesson Planning | Jimmie’s Collage
10 Days of Learning Apps | Daze of Adventure
10 Days of a Mason Jar Christmas | Cajun Joie de Vivre
10 Days of More JESUS in Christmas | Preschoolers and Peace
10 Days to a Peaceful Home | Raising Arrows
10 Days of Raising a Life-Long-Learner | Bright Ideas Press
10 days of Science with Math | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of Teaching Values | Our Journey Westward
10 days of Winning your Child’s Heart | I Take Joy

Related posts:

1. Teaching Values {Resources} – Day10
2. Teaching Values with The Pilgrim’s Progress – Day 8
3. Teaching the Value of Purity – Day 9