Parents generally want their children to grow up to be responsible citizens and free thinking individuals who learn to feel, think, and act with respect for themselves and for other people. This booklet provides information about the values and skills that make up character and good citizenship and what parents can do to help their children develop strong character. The booklet suggests activities that parents and their school-aged children can do to put those values to work in their daily lives and tips for working with teachers and schools to ensure that they can act together to promote the basic values they want their children to learn and use. It also provides an extensive list of books and other resources with character-related themes that parents can read and discuss with their children to encourage character and citizenship development. The booklet is divided into eight sections: (1) “Introduction”; (2) “What Does Strong Character Mean?”; (3) “How Can We Help Children Learn about Character”; (4) “Activities”; (5) “Dealing with Media Pressures”; (6) “Working with Teachers and Schools to Build Character”; (7) “Resources”; and (8) “Bibliography” (n=16). (BT)
