Is a delightful tale from thePhilippines a Turtle sees a banana tree floating in the river and she brings it to the shore. But she can’t carry it to her garden by herself so she seeks help from monkey promising to give him some. He agrees and carries it to the garden, cuts the top off because it looked the best and he wanted his share now. Monkey does not listen to Turtle when she tells him he should wait. Needless to say Monkey’s half died because it has no roots.

Turtle’s half grows lots of banana’s but she can’t reach them so once again she turns to the Monkey for help. But instead of giving her the banana’s he eats them, and gives her the peels.

Turtle makes a trap for him when he got down. Monkey picked her up and throws her into the river.

Lessons for Character Education

Teamwork

There are times when you will need help. But you need to be wise when you ask others for help. Turtle should have asked someone else to help her the second time, Monkey showed he was not reliable the first time. She was lucky the tree top grew back and he took the part that “looked” good.

Perseverance

Turtle knew you have to wait to get the fruit from a tree, but Monkey wanted his half now so he cut the tree. Even though his half looked the best, it never produced any fruit. In order to produce fruit, a tree needs to have roots, water, sunshine, and nourishment. It doesn’t grow overnight, but it will if you wait for it.

Enjoy your time with your child, and remember a great way to “Inspire-Your-Kids” is to read with them.

A little girl saves a Caterpillar from a Blue Jay.  Her grandfather and her makes a beautiful home for it.  She feds it and watches it change into a butterfly. After it is free butterflies come back to her house year after year. Even though she’s now as old as her grandfather, the painted butterflies still come visit her garden.  

Lessons for Character Lessons 

Social Responsibility

You can use this book to talk to children about their responsibility to take care of this world we live in. 

Relationships

In this book we see a relationship between a girl and her grandfather.  They are best friends.  In this day and age. We need examples to show our children that they can get along with their grandparents.  There is great wisdom found among the elderly. Do what you can to encourage a relationship between your children and their grandparents.

Enjoy your time with your child, and remember a great way to “Inspire-Your-Kids” is to read with them.

Activities are a great way to instill the values you are trying to teach your children. In this episode you will learn about three different activities you can do with your children to teach them about honesty.

The first is a game you can play anywhere. The children have to answer each statement true or not true. Ask simple questions
• The sky is pink
• The tree is green
• We see with our eyes
• We smell with our ears
• The milk we drink comes from dogs
• Eggs come from chickens

When they know the difference between true and not true, you can take it a step farther. Tell them that not true is equivalent to a lie.

• Take a piece of candy and eat it. Then say I didn’t eat the candy.
The next activity is after your children understand what is a lie, is to discuss with them the different times people lie and make a list. Here are some examples;

• Cheating on tests
• Cheating in a game
• Lying in sports so you can win
• Exaggerating
• Telling someone they look nice when they really don’t (flattery)
• Not telling the whole truth so that you won’t get in trouble
• Twisting the truth just a little so that it won’t sound so bad
• Lying to protect yourself
• Lying to protect someone else
• Not returning something to someone because you want it.

Now that you have your list, the last activity is to create another game. It is called the Consequence Game. Take an 8 by 11 paper and cut it into fourths.
On the front side of one of the pieces of paper, pick something from your list. For example, not returning something. Then think of a situation you can put on the front of the paper. You find $20 on the ground. You look around and see an old lady going through her purse looking for something. You go up and ask her if she has lost $20.

On the backside of the paper. She was looking for it and is so thankful to you for finding it for her. Because It was all she had till Friday, you walk away with a happy feeling inside.

Another piece of paper write You find $20 on the ground. You look around and see an old lady going through her purse looking for something. You quickly put the money in your pocket and walk away.

On the backside of the paper write. You are so excited you have $20 to buy whatever you want. Laying in bed at night you most likely feel terrible. What if it was the only money that lady had? You probably feel like a worm.

Show your children the tops of the paper and ask them to choose what their actions would be.

Turn it over and talk about the consequences of their actions and how their actions affect others and not just themselves. This is a great learning tool for your children to learn about choices, actions and consequences.

Honesty is the backbone of healthy relationships. And if we as parents want our children in healthy relationships we need to give our children the tools necessary to live with integrity in their lives.

Tomas Jefferson said Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

I know I want my children to have wisdom in their lives. I hope you desire the same for your children.

How can you as a parent help your children learn about honesty?

The first step is to stress honesty in your children’s lives. You are laying a foundation that will help them succeed in life for without honesty, our children will be less likely to make friends, succeed in a career, or have a happy marriage. Even if it seems hard it is one of the best things you can do for your children.

The next step is to catch your children being honest especially in tough situations. If you praise them when they are honest it will encourage them to be honest more often and brag to people about how proud you are of your children’s honesty.

The last thing for you to do is to expect honesty, you will get what you expect from your children. No one is perfect. One of my teenagers tells me lies every now and then, even so I still expect the truth.

It is hard to be honest, but when you are, people know that they can trust you and when people trust you. You will be able to go far.

We are going to discuss three ways to help your children learn honesty.

1.Most importantly, you are their role model. If your children see you being honest with them and with others, they will more likely be honest with you. Tell your kids when you are honest and when you struggle with dishonesty.

It is hard to tell someone “no” to their face. It is easier to tell them in a text that something came up and that you won’t be there, than to be honest in the first place. Let your kids know that you struggle with these types of choices too. Remember, it is still a lie if you tell someone you will do something when you really have no intention of doing it.

2. Encourage honesty in your family by making comments like
This family tells the truth
We don’t take what is not ours
We tell the truth no matter how hard it is
When you tell the truth people will respect you
You will have consequences from an action, but you will have more negative consequences if you lie about that action.

3. Don’t put your children in a position where you know they will lie to you. Asking questions in anger will almost insure you will be lied to

Did your break that? Who spilled the milk?
Your children can see your anger and they don’t want to increase it. They are afraid so they lie. Fear is the number one reason children lie.

Life happens. Things spill or break and if you don’t over react, your children will be more likely to tell you the truth. Isn’t truthful children what you really want.

As we have learned about the different types of Multiple intelligences and what children excel in, there are also three different ways children can learn; visual, auditory and Kinesthetic.

VISUAL LEARNERS (cover approximately 65% of the population). This type of learner is best at collecting information with their eyes.  They usually prefer graphics, illustrations and charts. They are able to remember details and ideas in picture form, typically what they’ve seen before.  

AUDITORY LEARNERS (are approximately 30% of the population). This type of learner is best at collecting information with their ears and they usually think out loud.  This includes listening and talking.  Although easily distracted, auditory learners learn by memorizing sound.  For instance, they learn instructions by repeating them over and over again, even in silent form.  They often like background music to block out interrupting noises.

KINESTHETIC LEARNERS (are approximately 5% of the population). This type of learner is best at collecting meaning through touch and movement.  Kinesthetic learners learn through physical interaction; most are young children. In essence, touching is a way of seeing. 

Now that you know what your children’s intelligence is and their learning style, you can help them excel in their gifts and talents.

Picasso said, “My mother said to me, If you become a soldier, you will be a general; If you become a monk you’ll end up as Pope.” Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso. 

Picasso’s mother gave him the ability to believe that what ever he did he would become great at it.

You can give your child the same gift.

It is so important to know which area your children excel at so you can help them to develop their skills. By doing this you are helping them to recognize their natural abilities which will enable them to know what career will be good for them. Then when they will be able to choose a job that they will enjoy and energize them so it won’t seem like work. 

The first intelligence for today is musical intelligence.  These children enjoy singing, playing an instrument, and a variety of music. They sometimes use their body to make music.  Jobs they like are; musicians, DJ’s, jingle writer, singers, sound engineer or composer.

Another intelligence, is termed people intelligence. These children makes friends easily, prefer team sports over individual sports. People come to them for help. They like to organize activities, enjoy parties versus staying home and they are comfortable in a crowds. Jobs they excel at are; a counselor, coach, psychologist, talk-show host, business leader, office manager, nurse, police officer, teacher, waitress, travel agent or social worker.

The next one is self intelligence. These children are sometimes classified as shy. They enjoy being by themselves versus a group of people. They write goals, meditate and keep a journal. These children don’t care about what others think because they are strong-willed. They spend time reflecting on their life and are interested in religion or psychology and typically have deep wisdom and/or intuitiveness. The jobs they are interested in are; writers, entrepreneurs, religious worker, psychologist, personal life coach, guidance counselor, personal trainer, artist, detective, or poet.

The last intelligence we will discuss is nature intelligence. These children love doing things that relate to animals and outdoors activities. They enjoy going to parks, hikes and zoos. They care about the environment and like to grow things and they enjoy gardening. The jobs they like are; forest rangers, farmers, rancher, fishing, ecologist, environmentalist, inspectors, volcanologist, veterinarians, marine biologist, zoo keepers, pet trainers and pet babysitters. 

This information is designed to give you just a little bit of information. There are lots of books available that go deeper into each type of intelligence. I suggest you get some of them and learn how to increase your children’s intelligence in the area they have natural abilities in. This way they will be happy and successful in their lives.

Enjoy your children.

There are eight different kinds of intelligences. Schools offer courses in five of them but in reality they only focus on three; word, logic and body. 

We are going to look at each intelligence. It is important to know which intelligence your children excels at so you can help develop their skill in that area. It is important because they will have the ability to be excellent at the job they choose, plus it will energize them while they are working since it won’t seem like work because they will enjoy it.

There is a proverb that says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

I once heard a teaching that train up a child could mean training a child in they way they are bent. The way they naturally do things, the way that works with their natural abilities. If you don’t know what they are, it will be difficult to help them. Observe them and over time you will discover their “bent”.

The four intelligences we are going to look at today are; word, logical, body and visual. 

Children who are high in word intelligence excel in reading, writing, and speaking. They are great writers, spellers, debating and have an ability to learn languages easily. These children will excel in jobs such as; advertising, journalism, attorneys, editors, authors, or politicians.

Children who are high in logical intelligence have the ability to understand numbers, math concepts, finding patterns, and cause and effect in science. The jobs they will like are; scientist, engineer, computer programmer, accountant, technical writer, loan officer, or mortgage broker.

Children who excel in body intelligence are children who are athletes, actors and theater performers. The Jobs they are good at are; athletes, actors, choreographers, magicians, stunt person and surgeons.

This next intelligence you will see in high schools it is visual intelligence. They are the artist in the schools. Good jobs for the visual intelligence are; architects, artists, mechanics, engineers, city planners, fashion designer, animator, illustrator, graphic artist, interior designer, landscape designer, director, photographer, web designer.

Come back next week and we will discuss the other four intelligences.

Enjoy your children.

When you child knows their strengths and weaknesses they will be able to succeed because they can focus on what they love. When anyone focuses on what they enjoy doing they can easily accomplish more because it doesn’t seem like work to them. They are energized by doing it instead of the I’m doing this because I have to.

Everyone has a weakness and that’s ok. If we focus on doing what we are strong at and let others do things we are weak at, we will get much more accomplished.

This is where team work comes in. Not everyone can do everything.

I have two daughters. One is very outgoing, with People Intelligence, the other is shy but, is very intelligent in the written Word.

Over the years they have both wished to be like the other. I have told them both “your sister is able to do some things you can’t and you also can do things that she can’t. You have your own special gifts and talents. That is your strength. That is what makes you unique. Don’t worry if you can’t be like her. You are special and you will succeed in different areas.”

 They finally stopped comparing themselves to each other. I also believe that they won’t compare themselves to other people because they know that they are special and have something to give to this world.

I believe that communicating this to your children is one of the greatest gifts you can give them. For them to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, allows them to realize that they are wonderful just the way they are.

In life we are part of a team. It could be your family, friends, work, church, sports, etc.

An Olympic athlete does not get to the Olympics by themselves. They need coaches, family, and/or sponsor if they are going to succeed. Even the most successful business needs a team. No one can do it all by themselves. 

Who is in your children’s team? Do your children know who is rooting for them to be successful?

90% of being an athlete is the ability to see yourself succeeding. That takes some kind of training and believing.

Norman Vincent Peale said, “It takes struggle, a goal and enthusiasm to make a champion.”

Have you told your children that struggles are a part of life? Do they know that they will have struggles and it is ok? I use to think that if I was struggling it meant I did something wrong. I would berate myself because I was a terrible person. If I wasn’t, then all these bad things wouldn’t be happening to me.

If you have that thought process it is hard for you to succeed because you are always second guessing yourself. That thought process formed when I was a child. Because if I was good enough, my dad would have never let my mom take custody of me in the divorce. That underlining thought stopped me from succeeding in life until I dealt with it.

Not all children blame themselves during a divorce. But it can be something else. Children on the playground that have issues themselves cut down your children because it is the only way they can feel good about themselves.

Your children are forming a foundation. I chose a foundation that wasn’t real to anyone but me. I chose it without knowing I did.

Do you know the real foundation that your child is building? Let your children know that you are standing behind them no matter what. They will test you. They might even take you to hell and back, but if you keep believing in them, you will see them reach the goal: A mature successful adult.

Join your children’s team and find other adults that will be there for them. It is good if they have someone else they can talk to before they become teenagers because there will be times they will not want to talk to you. That is ok especially if there are others on your child’s team.

Emotions are powerful.  We usually don’t realize how much they affect our lives and the lives of those around us, but they lie behind every thing we say or do even though most of the time we are not aware of them.

Vincent Van Gogh said, “Let’s not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it.”

Remember the first time you fell in love?  What were your emotions doing?  Did you let things bother you or did you let thing slide?

Now think of your most heart wrenching break up.  What were your emotions doing?  Did you let things bother you or did you let things slide?

Our emotions affect how we see, hear or even do things, most of the time it’s immediately, however sometimes it affects how we see things the next day or a week from the event.  Usually we don’t even realize the power they have had on us.  Sadly we don’t pay attention or give the compassion needed to children whose negative emotions are charting their lives which will affect them in the years to come.

We expect perfection.  Children do have a hard time dealing with divorce or if one of the parents leave.  They internalize things, and say to themselves “if only I had been better.”

Dale Carnegie said, “When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotion.“  Our children are people, and thus, are creatures of emotion.

What can you do next time your child is acting negatively because of emotions?

How can you show your child you love him or her despite what they are feeling?

Take time to enjoy your child.