What Do You Stand For? For Kids by Barbara A. Lewis

Overall a great resource, that provides worksheets to use, lots of definitions, real examples, and provides additional resources. Each chapter follows the same general flow, they start out with a real life example of a kid in the world practicing the trait, then it breaks the trait down and gives definitions and such, then it goes into discussion questions you could easily use with kids, it flows into examples children can do at home/in their community to work on the trait, and then it gives you a list of books you can read to learn more about that trait. They cover: Citizenship, Cooperation, Fairness, Forgiveness, Honesty, Relationships, Respect, Responsibility, and Safety. They cover 10 character building traits, and each trait gets its own chapter. However I really enjoy the flow of the book. In reality, I don't see a lot of kids sitting through a parent reading this word for word, which is a disappointment because the stories are great. I am a home visitor, and am really excited to start using some of the ideas in this book with the kids I work with. I am very hopeful that this book will help me fill in some of the gaps for my children, and we will see some positive outcomes.

I think as adults, we often assume kids know how to demonstrate good character, that they know what that looks like, but some areas are not intuitive for each child. As this book does not have to be completed in order, these tools can provide a good starting point by pinpointing areas where more attention may be needed. This book also provides some great self awareness assessment tools to get started, to help a child determine strengths and weaknesses.

It explains each character trait in language kids can understand and relate to, it provides great real life examples, and it also provides practical ways kids can in turn demonstrate these traits and continue to build upon where they are.

I am impressed with the format of this book, and I believe it will be a valuable asset to our home this next school year. As a homeschool parent, teaching and building character in my children is not only a top priority, but it can also be a challenge due to more limited situational experiences in the early years.

What Do You Stand For? For Kids by Barbara A. Lewis