Teaching Character While You Homeschool

We all work very hard to teach our kids their core subjects, but one of the most important things that I feel we need to teach them is character. Are we taking the time to teach them good character? Are we teaching them a good work ethic, being a good friend, integrity, a good mentality, and most importantly, a relationship with God? It is SO important to purposefully and actively teach and model these qualities every day for our children. If we are not proactive in doing so, the world will then “teach” our kids and we can see how that is working out, not great at all. Choosing to homeschool our kids gives us so much extra time, that we otherwise would not have, to teach these important qualities to them. 

So what is the best way of incorporating character building in our already busy, homeschool days? One of the best ways of teaching these qualities to your children is showing them they are a priority to be taught. Pick a part of the day to carve out some time and purposefully teach them. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of the day. Be consistent with it and show your kids that it is a priority. 

Change experiences throughout the day into learning opportunities. The grocery store is a great example of this. Next time you go, have your kids count how many carts are not in the cart return, and just left out in the parking lot. Explain to them what little effort is needed to return them, and yet seeing all of the carts not returned speaks volumes about the lazy mentality that many people have. It is not a lesson in doing something because you have to, but doing something because it is the right thing to do. 

Are we modeling integrity and honesty? Are we demonstrating that our relationship with God is a priority? These are all very important questions we need to ask ourselves. If we are trying to teach our children these traits, but not demonstrating them ourselves, then they are not going to take that teaching seriously. We need to make sure that we are not just "talking the talk", but "walking the walk". 

We cannot be passive when it comes to teaching our children these things. If we are not proactive about it, then the world will do it for us. A big part of why my husband and I choose to homeschool our children is because we want that extra time to pour into our kids. A stranger at an institutional school will not have the same passion for my children that I do, let alone the same convictions, standards, morals, and beliefs. We have such little time with our children, so let us ask ourselves, how are you going to use and spend that time?

Sneak peek: Next week's blog will be about why we chose to homeschool over public school. Check back to see why!