In honor of Worldwide Character Counts! Week October 16-22, here’s some word art from a famous character quote by an unknown author: “The mighty oak was once a little nut that stood its ground.”
To download word art, click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”
Background Photo by Andrew Lever.
Worldwide Character Counts! Week 2011 is coming up October 16-22, and there are some free character-education resources you won’t want to miss!
Character Counts Week inspires and celebrates character. It focuses on the six pillars of character – trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
According to the Character Counts website:
Every year, the U.S. President, U.S. Senate, and officials around the world proclaim the third week in October CHARACTER COUNTS! Week. Last year 8 million kids in 54 countries participated. No matter what your political or religious affiliation, this event is about the universal values we share.
I wrote about Character Counts week last year in my posts It’s Character Counts! Week and Make a Difference from Home. In my posts last year, I listed the Character Counts! daily character ideas for adults to emphasize during Character Counts! Week. Those ideas would be great to follow this year, too.
There are some free resources for Character Counts! Week that you won’t want to miss out on. They’re wonderful for schools and homeschools as well as families in general. All you have to do is register to have access to the free resources.
My favorite resources are the “Tips for Parents” handout as well as the Film Clips for Character Education and Film Clips for Character Education Study Guide. I love the film clips, but they’re only free until the end of Character Counts! Week. So it’s a good idea to register as soon as possible if you’d like to view and discuss the film clips with your child.
Available year round is the Lesson Plan Bank with lesson plans for students in all levels K-12. Last year, I linked to the lesson plan called Sharing Our Surplus Stash: A Trick-Or-Treat Twist, which is designed to help 4-6 year olds learn about citizenship and develop an attitude of sharing/donating (and help you get rid of that excess Halloween candy at the same time!). A few new seasonal lessons focusing on fairness are There Is No Such Thing as a Perfect Pumpkin, Pumpkin Fallacies, and Putting the ‘pi’ In Pumpkin Pie.
“Do Right. Do Your Best.” Word-Art Freebie
Whether you’re part of a larger celebration or one within your own family, please join me in celebrating Character Counts! Week October 16-22!
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday and Kirsty & Friends.
I think we’re all called to be the best we can be – by developing both our talents and our character. This week I was inspired by two sports examples. Of course, it doesn’t matter whether you or your child(ren) choose to develop your talents and character through sports or through another avenue.
I first met Brandon Mroz in 2005 when he was competing at the Broadmoor Open skating competition in Colorado Springs. He was also a volunteer runner for the Broadmoor Open, and I was the chair of the runners. I remember Brandon as having lots of talent and confidence even then.
That same year, Brandon’s mother and brother were in a serious car accident. According to Brandon’s profile at icenetwork.com, that accident (which left his brother with a spinal-cord injury) taught Brandon “to be strong, trust God and stay focused.”
Brandon, 2009 U.S. men’s silver medalist, has become known for his quad jumps. This week, it seems that the biggest figure-skating news on Twitter has been Brandon’s landing of a quad lutz at the Colorado Springs Invitational last Friday, September 16. Even though the Colorado Springs Invitational isn’t an international competition, it’s possible Brandon’s quad lutz will be recognized as the first official quad lutz landed in competition: Top skating official says Mroz could jump into record books.
According to a tweet from @USFigureSkating, (image at top of post), the video of Brandon’s quad lutz had already become the second most popular video on the U.S. Figure Skating YouTube page two days ago.
In case you haven’t seen it, here’s Brandon’s quad lutz:
Amazing how easy he made that look!
About the quad lutz, Brandon said:
“I was at a point where my technique was well established. I just decided to try, and I guess I’ve been successful. I like jumping, I like pushing boundaries. Maybe by doing these quads I can push the sport a little.” (The Inside Edge: The new quad king)
“Expect Things of Yourself” Word-Art Freebie
Not to take away from Brandon’s or anyone else’s character, but an outstanding example of character showed up on my Yahoo news page yesterday morning. This story was also from a competition last Friday, September 16.
In the middle of a cross-country meet, Minnesota high school runner Josh Ripley stopped to carry an injured rival to help before returning to finish the race: Runner carries injured foe half mile to help in middle of race.
I love examples like Josh Ripley, examples of athletes showing great sportsmanship and kindness. Earlier in the year, I wrote about Sportsmanship in Sports and in Life with some other examples of great sportsmanship. For resources to help develop character, I have lots of links in my post What About Your Kids’ Character?
“Small Things with Great Love” Word-Art Freebie
Do you have some favorite sports inspirations?
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday, Kirsty & Friends, and Fitness Friday.
It’s back-to-school or back-to-homeschool time. Even though this is typically a busy time for families, I think it’s important to give some thought to your kids’ character. Do you have ways to specifically focus on character development as part of your children’s normal week?
Here are some helpful resources:
“Character is the Real Foundation” Word-Art Freebie
Many people, including me, like to use quotations as inspiration and as starting points for discussion for elementary-age and up. I love quotes and have a word-art quotation freebie each Wednesday. I only use quotes that promote positive values.
Character Counts always has lots of great resources for parents and teachers. Character Counts uses the six pillars of character as a foundation: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship.
Character Education Network has resources for any parents.
The Virtues Project and The Heart of Education have resources for parents as well as teachers.
Books like The Book of Virtues are wonderful for character education. When my kids were young, we also read lots of biographies about people with positive character traits.
I have a post on How to Help Your Kids Have an Attitude of Gratitude and other posts on character with links to many resources.
“It’s All about the Journey” Word-Art Freebie
Sports can be a wonderful means of character development – if winning isn’t the only goal. While you as a parent can hope your child’s coach and teammates are encouraging good character, you can’t guarantee that.
You can guarantee that you’ll work to help your child develop good character through sports. There are lots of tools online to help coaches, but I want to focus specifically on resources that can help you as a parent.
I’ve always liked the Positive Coaching Alliance. Be sure to check out its free tips and tools for parents.
Positive Coaching Alliance also powers the Liberty Mutual Responsible Sports Program, which has lots of free tools for responsible sports parenting including resources in the Responsible Sports Parenting Toolkit. I like its emphasis on the ELM (Effort, Learning, and Mistakes) tree of mastery:
“At the start of the season, let your children know that:
You will always be proud of them as long as they give 100% effort (regardless of the outcome on the scoreboard).
You want them to constantly strive to learn and improve. This involves them comparing their own past performance to their own current performance (i.e. Are they better than they were two weeks ago?).
Mistakes are an inevitable part of the game. If they are giving 100% and trying new things (as they strive to improve), mistakes are bound to occur, and the best players are those who find ways to quickly bounce back from mistakes.
Teams that focus on giving their full effort, constantly learning and improving, and bouncing back from mistakes, actually win more than teams who consistently focus on the scoreboard.
You want your child to focus on the ELM Tree of Mastery (Effort, Learning and Mistakes) because players who do this well are less anxious during competition and have a greater sense of confidence in themselves and their abilities.”
Here are two articles I wrote for parents: Don’t Forget These Two Words before a Competition Performance and Don’t Forget the Three Most Important Words before a Competition Performance.
“Worth Doing Well” Word-Art Freebie
If you’re a homeschooler, check out the Character Counts Character Education Lesson Plan Bank with character-education lessons for preschoolers through teens. Character Counts Week is October 16-22. There are lots of free resources available simply by registering.
Montessori education with its emphasis on grace and courtesy is a great method for character development. Montessori education was a very important part of my children’s early character training. A number of Montessori teachers teach grace and courtesy on Fridays. You could devote extra time on Friday (or another day) to teaching grace and courtesy.
KONOS isn’t free but has character-based unit studies. We used KONOS in our homeschooling: How We Homeschooled.
Free Homeschool for Kids has links to character education resources.
Lifestyle Homeschool has ideas for character education.
Homeschool Share has a number of resources for building character.
Shiver Academy has a free Book of Virtues Project based obviously on The Book of Virtues.
“Your Talent” Word-Art Freebie
I’d love to hear what resources you use or what you do to help develop your kids’ character! 
Photo Credit: Photo by Randen L Pederson at Flickr Creative Commons (License).
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday and Kirsty & Friends Linky Party.
The campaign to “let Brett Bowden play” isn’t just about a sports rule. It’s about what’s important in sports.
If you haven’t heard, Brett Bowden is a 19-year-old high school football player with Down syndrome who loves football, is an inspiration to his team at Hobbton High School in Newton Grove, N.C., and is also the victim of a North Carolina High School Athletic Association age regulation.
Here’s what’s been happening (video from 8/11/11):
I’m happy to say that the Facebook page Let Brett Bowden Play already has 60,493 fans. I’m hoping the “let Brett Bowden Play” campaign will help get what Brett’s mother wishes for – a “‘Brett Bowden’ rule for special needs students who want to play high school sports.”
I love the attitude of Brett’s teammates, like Charles Chestnutt, who said:
Brett means the world to me. I promise you. He’s my inspiration. When I come on Friday nights and he leads us out the tunnel, that tells me that it’s time for me to play and do what I got to do for him.
It’s heartwarming to see how many people care about doing the right thing, to see Brett’s love for the game, and to see the tremendous support for what’s really important in sports – character building and qualities like self-confidence that come from striving to do your best.
Of course, I also love seeing support for people with special needs. I’m a fan of Special Olympics, too. Please add your support to “Let Brett Bowden Play” – and be a fan of what’s really important in sports.
Linked with Thought-Provoking Thursday and Kirsty & Friends Linky Party.
Having an attitude of gratitude is something that is very important in my life. It’s also something I’ve worked to instill in my kids. I’ve talked before about how gratitude can help families in sports: “Let Gratitude Carry You through the Competition Season.” Of course, gratitude isn’t just for sports families … an attitude of gratitude can help any kids and any families.
Ann Voskamp, the author of One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are, wrote a great post this week called “How to {help} Raise Grateful Kids.”
Ann also had a link to a helpful YouTube video of an interview with Dr. Christine Carter from the Greater Good Science Center.
Happiness is in many respects a skill that parents can teach their children, and the relationship between gratitude and happiness is really strong. – Greater Good Science Center’s Dr. Christine Carter
Christine Carter talks about giving kids a lens through gratitude glasses.
She recommends practicing gratitude daily or even once a week through activities such as the following:
Christine Carter says that people who practice gratitude become more helpful and feel happier, stronger, more energized, and more determined.
“Gratitude is the Best Attitude” Word-Art Freebie
UPDATE: 11/17/2011 I have a post with links to many more resources: How to Help You Kids Have an Attitude of Gratitude, Part 2.
Do you have a favorite way to help your kids have an attitude of gratitude?
Photo Credit: Photo at top of post by mtsofan/John at Flickr Creative Commons.
Added to Its Own Sweet Will.
+1 Raising Figure Skaters!
I'm Deb Chitwood. Please see the About page for more information about my family and me. 
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