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| The Ugly Caterpillar – Carl Sommer | Black Beauty – Anna Sewell | Burning Up – Caroline Cooney |
| The Other Side – Jacqueline Woodson | Dragonfly’s Tale – Kristina Rodanas | Freak the Mighty – Rodman Philbrick |
| I Am A Lion – Carl Sommer | King of the Pond – Carl Sommer | Gideons People – Carolyn Meyer |
| Katie’s Rose – Karen Gedig Burnett | Your Job Is Easy - Carl Sommer | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
| King of the Pond – Carl Sommer | The Ugly Caterpillar – Carl Sommer | Call It Courage - Armstrong Sperry |
| Your Job Is Easy – Carl Sommer | The Cabin Faced West – Jean Fritz | The Cay – Theodore Taylor |
| The Gronchy Ladybug – Eric Carle | Frederick – Leo Leonni | Sign of the Beaver – Elizabeth George Speare |
| 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins – Dr. Seuss | Number The Stars – Lois Lowry | Frederick – Leo Leonni |
| Stellaluna – Jannell Cannon | Frozen Fire: A Tale of Courage – James Houston | |
| Frederick – Leo Leonni | Number The Stars - Lois Lowry |
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2. Explain that everyone deserves respect no matter what. 3. Emphasize the importance of treating others the way you want to be treated. 4. Teach good manners. 5. Point out examples of people being respectful on TV. 6. Praise your child for showing respect. 7. Teach your child to respect the environment – no littering, recycle, etc. 8. Teach your child to respect other people’s property – no trespassing, taking care of other people’s belongings. 9. Praise your child often. It is easier to respect others when you respect yourself. 10. Encourage/demonstrate respect for country and community by obeying laws, supporting charities, volunteering. 11. Help your child look for good things about him/herself and others. 12. Teach your child to be respectful of others who are different. |
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| The Little Red Hen – Paul Galdone | Making Up Your Own Mind – Joy Wilt | Where the Lilies Bloom - Bill Cleaver |
| Alexander Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday – Judith Viorst | The Salamander Room – Anne Mazer | Making Up Your Own Mind – Joy Wilt |
| Old Henry – Joan W. Blos | Old Henry – Joan W. Blos | The American Legal System – Ernest Barksdale Fincher |
| Dealing With Choices – Elizabeth Vogel | Dealing With Choices – Elizabeth Vogel | |
| Don’t Call Me Beanhead – Susan Wojciechowski | Don’t Call Me Beanhead – Susan Wojciechowski | |
| Hilary and the Troublemakers – Kathleen Leverich | Hilary and the Troublemakers – Kathleen Leverich |
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| No Longer a Dilly Dally – Carl Sommer | The Hundred Dresses – Eleanor Estes | Downriver – Will Hobbs |
| It’s Not Fair! – Carl Sommer | Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes – Eleanor Coerr | Forged By Fire – Sharon Mills Draper |
| Best Mom in the World – Judy Delton | St. George and the Dragon – Margaret Hodges | Goodnight, Mamam – Norma Fox Mazar |
| Carrot Seeds – Ruth Krauss | Shiloh – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor | Night Hoops – Carl Deuker |
| Crow Boy – Taro Yashima | Summer of My German Soldier – Bette Green | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
| Tidy Titch – Pat Hutchins | Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney | Across Five Aprils – Irene Hunt |
| Ida and the Wool Smugglers – Sue Ann Alderson | Bently and Egg – William Joyce | Caddie Woodlawn – Carol Brink |
| Keep the Light Burning, Abbie - Peter and Connie Roop | My Brother Stevie – Eleanor Clymer | Call It Courage – Armstrong Sperry |
| Journal of Ben Uchida – Barry Denenberg | Miss Rumphius – Barbara Cooney | |
| Bently and Egg – William Joyce | ||
| Where the Red Fern Grows – Wilson Rawls | ||
| Last Summer With Maizon – Jacqueline Woodson | ||
| Goodbye Vietnam – Gloria Whelan |
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| The Ugly Caterpillar – Carl Sommer | The Ugly Caterpillar – Carl Sommer | Art of Keeping Cool – Janet Lisle |
| Emily’s Art – Peter Catalanotto | Best Friends – Anna Michaels | Crazy Lady – Jane Leslie Conly |
| Biggest and Brightest Light – Mahammad Ali | A Well at the End of the World – Robert Sans Souci | Randall’s Wall – Carol Fenner |
| The Adventures of the Itty Bitty Frog – Kimberly Johnson | Sarah Plain and Tall – Patricia McLaughlin | Stargirl – Jerry Spinelli |
| Enemy Pie – Derek Munson | Chicken Sunday – P. Polacco | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
| I Can Show I Care – Regina Burch | Little Match Girl – Hans Christian Anderson | A Wrinkle in Time – Madeline L’Engle |
| The Lonely Doll Learns a Lesson – Dare Wright | The Street of the Flower Boxes – Peggy Mann | Skateboard Scramble – Barbara Douglas |
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| Proud Rooster and Little Hen – Carl Sommer | Proud Rooster and Little Hen – Carl Sommer | Bloomability – Sharon Creech |
| The Three Little Pigs – David McPhail | Time Remote – Carl Sommer | Locker Inside – Nancy Werlin |
| Time Remote – Carl Sommer | Ronald Morgan Goes to Bat – Patricia Reilly Giff | Tangerine – Edward Bloor |
| Arthur’s Teacher Trouble – Marie Brown | Dancing Horses – Helen Griffith | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
| Babushka’s Doll – Patricia Polacco | Frozen Fire: A Tale of Courage – James Houston | |
| Spinky Sulks – William Steig | Rabbit Ears – Alfred Slote | |
| I Was So Mad – Mercer Mayer | Zan Hagan’s Marathon – R.R. Knudson | |
| The Child’s World of Self-Control – Henrietta Gambill | ||
| D.W. Flips! – Marc Brown | ||
| Feelings – Aliki | ||
| Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse – Jeanne Modesitt | ||
| On Monday When It Rained – C. Kachenmeister |
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| Larry Boy and the Gib From outer Space – Veggie Tales | A Penny’s Worth of Character – Stuart | Holes – Louis Sachar |
| The Adventure of the Itty Bitty Spider and the Itty Bitty Mouse – Kimberly Johnson | Pinocchio – Carl Lorenzini | Music of the Dolphins – Karen Hesse |
| Molly’s Lies – Kay Chorao | Honestly, Myron – Dean Hughes | Perloo the Bold – Avi |
| The Secret Box – Joanna Cole | Songs of Power – Hilari Bell | |
| The Big Fat Enormous Lie – Marjorie Weinman | Wringer – Jerry Spinelli | |
| Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
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| Chrysanthemum – Kevin Henkes | Amelia Earhart – Young Air Pioneer – Jane Moore Howe | Call It Courage – Armstrong Sperry |
| Alfie Gives a Hand – Shirley Hushes | Mahalia Jackson – Gospel Singer and Civil Rights Champion – Montrew Durham | Color Me Dark – Patricia McKissack |
| Cecil’s Story – George Ella Lyon | William Henry Harrison – Young Tippecanoe – Howard Peckham | Fear Place – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor |
| Big Al and Shrimpy – Andrew Clements | George Rogers Clark: Boy of the Northwest Frontier – Katharine E. Wilkie | Hatchet – Gary Paulsen |
| If A Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks – Faith Ringgold | I Rode A Horse of Milk White Jade – Diane Lee Wilson | |
| A Time to be Brave – Christel Kleitsch and Paul Stevens | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver | |
| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Ronald Dahl | A Matter of Pride – Emily Crofford |
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| "Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage." Anais Nin, The Diary of Anais Nin, volume 3, 1939-1944 |
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| Jackson’s Plan – Linda Talley | George Washington Carver – What Do You See? – Janet & Geoff Benge | Fever 1893 – Laurie Halse Anderson |
| The Little Red Train – Carl Sommer | Helen Keller: Facing Challenges, Challenging the World – Janet & Geoff Benge | Island of the Blue Dolphins – Scott O’Dell |
| The Carrot Seed – Ruth Krauss | John Hancock: Independence Boy – Kathryn Cleren Sisson | The Man in the Ceiling – Jules Feiffer |
| The Boy Who Held Back the Sea – Lenny Hort | Juliette Lowe: Girl Scout Founder – Helen Boyd Higgins | Where the Lilies Bloom – Bill Cleaver |
| Katy and the Big Snow – Virginia Lee Burton | ||
| Amazing Grace – Mary Hoffman | ||
| Brave Irene – William Steig | ||
| John Henry – Ezra Jack Keats |
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| 20 Strategies
to Help Your Children Develop Good Character |
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| The following 20 suggestions are excerpted from Dr. Helen LeGette's book, Parents, Kids, & Character: Twenty-one Strategies to Help Your Children Develop Good Character. She brings to the reader knowledge and experiences from her highly successful 33-year career as a leader in education - as a teacher, counselor, and administrator. She knows that children who have limits in the home and parental expectations of good character have a much greater chance at success in school and in a career. her book offer ideas that can be implemented in any family home. |
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| 2. Be clear about your values. Tell
your children where you stand on important issues. Good character
is both taught and caught. If we want children to internalize the
virtues that we value, we need to teach them what we believe and why.
In the daily living of our lives, there are countless opportunities to
engage children in moral conversation.
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| 3. Show respect for your spouse, your children,
and other family members. Parents who honor each other, who share
family responsibilities, and who resolve their differences in peaceful
ways communicate a powerful message about respect. If children experience
respect firsthand within the family, they are more likely to be respectful
of other. Simply stated, respect begets respect.
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| 4. Model and teach your children good manners.
Insist that all family members use good manners in the home. Good
manners are really the Golden Rule in action. Whether the issue is
courtesy or other simple social graces, it is in the home that true thoughtfulness
for others has its roots.
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| 5. Have family meals together without television
as often as possible. Mealtime is an excellent time for parents
to talk with and listen to their children and to strengthen family ties.
Whether the meal is a home-cooked feast or fast-food from the drive-through,
the most important ingredient is sharing time --the time set aide to reinforce
a sense of belonging to and being cared about by the family.
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| 6. Plan as many family activities as possible.
Involve your children in the planning. family activities that seem
quite ordinary at the moment are often viewed in retrospect as very special
and memorable bits of family history. A dad's "date" with a teenage
daughter, a family picnic in the park, or a Sunday excursion for ice cream
can provide a meaningful time for being together and sharing as a family.
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| 7. Don't provide your children access to alcohol
or drugs. Model appropriate behavior regarding
alcohol and drugs. Despite peer pressure, the anxieties of adolescence,
a youthful desire for sophistication, and media messages that glamorize
the use of drugs and alcohol, the family is the most powerful influence
on whether a young person will become a substance abuser. Nowhere
is the parents' personal example more critical than in the area of alcohol
and drug use.
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| 8. Plan family service projects or civic activities.
At the heart of good character is a sense of caring and concern for others.
Numerous opportunities for family service projects exist in every community,
and even young children can participate. Simple acts like taking
food to a sick neighbor, mowing an elderly person's yard, or collecting
outgrown clothes and toys for charity help youth learn the joys of assisting
others and develop lifelong habits of service.
|
| 9. Read to your children and keep good literature
in the home. Great teachers have always used stories to teach,
motivate, and inspire, and reading together is an important part of passing
the moral legacy of our culture from one generation to another. Children's
questions and comments about stories offer parents important insights into
their children's thoughts, beliefs, and concerns.
|
| 10. Limit your children's spending money.
Help them develop an appreciation for non-material rewards. In today's
consumerist culture, youth could easily come to believe that image -- wearing
the "right" clothes, driving the "right" car, etc. -- represents the path
to success and happiness. Parents can make strong statements about
what they value by the ways in which they allocate their own resources
and how they allow their children to spend the funds entrusted to them.
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| 11. Discuss the holidays and their meanings.
Have family celebrations and establish family traditions. Abraham Lincoln
observed that participating in national celebrations causes Americans to
feel "more attached the one to the other, and more firmly bound to the
country we inhabit." Observing holidays and celebrating family traditions
not only develop these feelings of attachment to and kinship with others,
but they also serve as a special kind of glue that binds us together a
human beings, as family members, and as citizens.
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| 12. Capitalize on the "teachable moment."
Use situations to spark family discussions on important issues. Some
of the most effective character education can occur in the ongoing, everyday
life of the family. As parents and children interact with one another and
with others outside the home, there are countless situations that can be
used to teach valuable lessons about responsibility, empathy, kindness,
and compassion.
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| 13. Assign home responsibilities to all family
members. Even though it is often easier to clear the table, take
out the trash, or load the dishwasher ourselves than to wait for a child
to do it, we have an obligation to help children learn to balance their
own needs and wishes against those of other family members -- and ultimately,
other members of society.
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| 14. Set clear expectations for your children
and hold them accountable for their actions. Defining reasonable
limits and enforcing them appropriately establishes the parents as the
moral leaders in the home and provides a sense of security to children
and youth. It also lets them know that you care enough about them
to want them to be -- or become -- people of good character.
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| 15. Keep your children busy in positive activities.
Children and youth have remarkable energy levels, and the challenge is
to channel that energy into positive activities such as sports, hobbies,
music or other forms of the arts, or church or youth groups like the Scouts.
Such activities promote altruism. caring, and cooperation and also give
children a sense of accomplishment.
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| 16. Learn to say no and mean it. It
is natural for children -- especially teenagers -- to test the limits and
challenge their parents' authority. Despite the child's protests,
a parent's most loving act is often to stand firm and prohibit the child's
participation in a potentially hurtful activity.
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| 17. Know where your children are, what they
are doing, and with whom. Adults need to communicate in countless
ways that we care about children and that we expect the best from them,
but also that we take seriously our responsibility to establish standards
and to monitor, chaperone, and supervise. At the risk of being perceived
as "old fashioned", insist on meeting your children's friends and their
parents.
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| 18. Refuse to cover for your children or make
excuses for their inappropriate behavior. Shielding children
and youth from the logical consequences of their actions fails to teach
them personal responsibility. It also undermines social customs and laws
by giving them the impression that they are somehow exempt from the regulations
that govern others' behaviors.
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| 19. Know what television shows, videos, and
movies your children are watching. While there are some very
fine materials available, a proliferation of pornographic and hate filled
information is easily accessible to our youth. By word and example,
teach your children responsible viewing habits. If you learn that
your child has viewed something objectionable, candidly share your feelings
and discuss why the material offends your family's values.
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| 20. Remember that you are the adult!
Children don't need another buddy, but they desperately need a parent who
cares enough to set and enforce appropriate limits for their behavior.
Sometimes being able to say, "My dad won't let me" provides a convenient
escape for a youth who really didn't want to participate in a questionable
activity.
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