9 Parenting Tips for Building Character in Children
Legacy signals
Legacy popularity: 2,140 legacy views
Legacy rating: 3.7/5 from 6 archived votes
Are you unsure about your child’s character? Do you know how he really thinks and acts? If you’d like 9 fun parenting tips for building his character, look inside.
The father of a second grader bragged, “Jesse received 100% on his math and spelling tests.”
“Wonderful!” said his grandparents.
Jesse smiled, “It’s because I have a big brain.”
We grill our kids about homework. We fuss when it’s sloppy. Good report cards make us proud. Why? We want our children to succeed. Like the father in the story, we love bragging about their “big brains.”
What about Character?
Would you like to brag, “Yesterday my children earned 100% in character?” Training your children to do homework is easy. Training them to do the right thing is harder unless you have the right tools.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.”
9 Parenting Tips and Tools for Building Character:
Become the Character You Want Your Children to Follow.
If you don’t want your children to swear, don’t swear.
If you don’t want your children to gossip, speak kindly of others or say nothing at all.
If you don’t want your children to lie, tell the truth.
Get Your Children to Think about Character:
Go to the library. Ask the librarian for inspiring stories about character.
Read and discuss those stories with your children.
Choose simple character quotes and sayings to inspire them too.
I remember my mother’s voice, “A stitch in time saves nine.” That quote still inspires me to take care of problems before they become too large.
Other Character Building sayings included:
Don’t air dirty laundry
Actions speak louder than words
Walls have ears
Always look on the bright side
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
Will you use wise sayings to inspire your children?
Get Your Children to Talk about Character.
Use dilemma discussions. Children love to give their opinions. It makes them feel you value them. Here are 3 of 50 problems from my Dilemma Discussion Kit:
Pretend a bully lives next door to you. He calls you names, puts you down in front of other kids and punches you. What will you say? What will you do? Why?
Pretend you earned a bad report card. You don’t want to show to your parents. What will you do? Why?
Pretend your friends are outdoors playing your favorite game. You’re supposed to finish your chores before you play. Your parents might not notice if you play before you work. What will you do? Why?
Dilemmas like those are easy and fun for children to discuss.
Praise them for their good solutions. When the real dilemmas test their characters, they’ll remember their own good advice. Your discussions will help them do the right thing.
One more thing, don’t easily jump in with your opinion or tell them they’re wrong.
Conclusion for Building Character in Children:
Building character doesn’t have to be difficult. Use the right tools. Be the model you want your children to follow. Get them to think with character building stories. Inspire them with wise sayings and quotes. Encourage them to talk by using dilemma discussions. These are some fun ways to build their smart brains and caring hearts. Start today. Help them ea
100% in character.
Article author
About the Author
Further reading
Further Reading
Article
Sassy Kids: How to Deal with a Mouthy Child
Are you tired of disrespectful talk from your kids? Do your children respond with eye-rolling and sarcasm to everything you say? Most—if not all—kids go through phases when they are sassy, mouthy, or disrespectful. As a parent, it’s hard to know when to let it slide—and when to address the problem. James Lehman explains where to draw the line—and tells you how you can manage sassy talk in your home.
Related piece
Article
Child Discipline: Consequences and Effective Parenting
Remember how you felt when you brought your baby home from the hospital for the first time? When your child was an infant, you probably acknowledged that you were anxious and unsure of what you were doing at times—most new parents are. In my experience, those kinds of feelings continue as we raise our kids—we just stop expressing them to others.
Related piece
Article
The Greatest Lesson In Life
When you are at peace with having a baby or not having a baby, then what will be, will be. You will either have one (as you were supposed to) or you will not have one (as it was not meant to be). Accept the fact that God has a plan for your life, which may not include children. If you don’t ...
Related piece
Article
Managing Parental Expectations
One of the most challenging aspects of being a mom is managing the expectations of yourself and others. Motherhood is a world of compromise, flexibility and negotiations. It’s a balancing act between doing what you want to do and doing what you have to do.
Related piece