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.

There was a man, Chirobo, who had so much wisdom people were always dropping in. He would stop what he was doing and talk to them. He was so wise no one seemed to care he was blind.

A stranger came by and Chirobo showed him kindness. He asked if there was something he could do for Chirobo in return. Chirobo asked to go hunting with him. The stranger didn’t want to take him at first but then he conceded. Chirobo knew how to see in different ways besides his through his eyes. He knew when a leopard, warthogs, and rhinos were near. ( He could tell through his ears, nose, and skin. ) This knowledge helped them avoid trouble.

They set the traps for the birds and came back the next day. Chirobo’s trap had a large duck while the stranger’s trap had a small quail. The stranger told Chirobo his trap had the small quail. On the way home the younger man asks Chirobo why people fight. He said because people try to take what is not theirs just like you have done to me. Chirobo knew the man had lied to him.

Lesson for Character Education

Honesty

The stranger lied when he told Chirobo that the smaller bird was his. Even though Chirobo couldn’t see he knew the man lied. How do you think Chirobo knew?

Leadership

People were always seeking Chirobo out. There had to be a reason while people flocked to his house. It was not because he was blind and couldn’t do anything.

When people seek you out you are a leader. You don’t get to be a leader by cheating people. He might not have been able to see with his eyes but he saw in other ways. If your children can learn to see people in different ways they can learn to be a leader.

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

One day theFranklinand Bear were waiting for the school bus, when Bear’s tooth came out.  Franklin was amazed that Bear would want to keep it.  Fox told Franklin about the tooth fairy. 

Franklin had never heard of the tooth fairy because he had no teeth.  Mr. Owl said that losing your teeth means you are growing. Franklin wants to be like the other animals so he finds a rock and puts it under his shell writing a note to the tooth fairy he said it was a turtle tooth.  In the morning, he finds a note from the tooth fairy saying turtles do not have teeth.  But his parents did give him a present to celebrate him growing up.

Lessons for Character Educations

Self Assessment

Even though Franklin is not like the other animals because he does not have teeth, he is still vauable and he is growing up.  It is what is on the inside that counts not if you have teeth or not.

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

Little Badger wants to be a pirate.  The woodchuck, the raccoon, crow and chipmunk all give him reasons why he cannot be a pirate.  But Old Badger tells him why he can be a pirate.  He chooses to listen to Old Badger.

Lessons for Character Lessons

 Goals

 A goal is a dream with a deadline.  Four animals gave Little Badger a reason why he couldn’t be a pirate but one told him why he could.  There are more people out there ready to take your dreams away then there are willing to support your dreams.  Always remember this and chose who to listen to the ones who are supporting your dreams, and goals.

 What would you like to be?

What are the reasons you can achieve your dreams?

Self-esteem

Little Badger choose to listen to Old Badger instead of everyone else. There are so many voices telling you what to believe but you can choose what voices you listen to.

You can be who ever you desire to be no matter what anyone says.  There will be people who will tell you what you can’t do.  But choose to listen to the people who encourage you.  It is your choice to believe whoever you want.  So it is your choice to decide which direction your life will take.

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.

This is a cute little book the only words are a recipe and some signs.  You know what the lady is thinking through the illustrations. She wakes up, washes, and thinks about eating pancakes. She gets out the flour then realizes that she needs some eggs, so she goes to the chicken coop. Then she realizes she needs milk so she goes out to milk the cow.  Next she needs to turn the butter. Finally she realizes that she doesn’t have any maple syrup. She when she leaves to buy some syrup while the cat and dog are in the house. When she gets home the cat and dog have destroyed the ingredients to make pancakes. She is discouraged. But she smells pancakes being cooked next door. So she goes over there and invites herself to breakfast.

The plaque on her wall says, If at First you don’t succeed Try, Try, again.

 The lady faced several problems. At first she is missing some ingredients then her cat and dog spill them. So she couldn’t fix the pancakes. But she still found a way to get some pancakes. 

Lessons for Character Education

Goal Setting

This lady had a goal. 

Problem Solving

Her goal was to have pancakes for breakfast. But she encountered obstacles after obstacle.

What were her obstacles? (Hint 4 of them)

Perseverance

The lady didn’t let her circumstances discourage her. She looked at her messy house and found another way to reach her goal.

It is ok to get help if you need it as long as you keep moving forward no matter what the obstacles are you will eventually arrive at your goal even if it is not the way you originally started.

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

There was a man, Chirobo, who had so much wisdom. People were always dropping by so he would stop what he was doing to talk to them. No one seemed to remember he was blind.

When a stranger came by Chirobo showed kindness him. He asked if there was something he could do for Chirobo in return. Chirobo asked to go hunting with him. The stranger didn’t want to take him at first but then he agreed. Chirobo knew how to see in other ways besides his eyes. He knew when a leopard, warthogs, and rhinos were near. ( He could tell through his ears, nose, and skin. ) This knowledge helped them avoid trouble.

They set the traps for the birds and came back the next day. Chirobo’s trap had a large duck while the stranger’s trap had a small quail. The stranger told Chirobo that his trap had the small quail. On the way home the younger man asks Chirobo why people fight. He said because people try to take what is not theirs just like you have done to me. Chirobo knew the man had lied to him.

Lesson for Character Education

Honesty

The stranger lied when he told Chirobo that the smaller bird was his. Even though Chirobo couldn’t see he knew the man lied. He could tell by the way he was acting. People often act differently when they are lying.   

Leadership

Even though Chirobo was blind people were always seeking him out. There had to be a reason while people flocked to his house. You don’t get wisdom by cheating people. He saw not through his eyes but by other ways. He was always aware of what was going on around him. This is a skill that anyone can learn even your children.

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

There are some people that are just gifted in this area and there are some of us who have to work in this area. If you have to work at reading people, you can get better at it by practicing. If you help your child learn how to read other people’s emotions, your child will have a very important tool they need to be successful.

This video is part of a series on how to teach children about different emotions. We are reviewing a children’s book named Patty Cat by Barbara deRubertis. This book is widely available. It is well written it covers several emotions and there are two key elements of Emotional Intelligence you can discuss with your child; how to treat others and how to problem solve.

Take some time today to study someone’s emotions with your child. You can observe people in a park, a mall or a coffee shop.

• Do they look happy or sad?
• How can you tell by their face?
• How can you tell by their body language?

Make it fun. Make up stories about the person and what is happening in their life. This will increase their creativity. You can start the story and your child adds a part then you add something etc.

Let me know how it went. If you can help your child to learn how to read other people’s emotions it will be one of the greatest gifts you can give them.

To Order the Book Click Here

The I can Read Series is a wonderful way to do this. It has books geared to early readers with titles like Biscuit, to more advance readers with titles like, Frances Best Friends.

This summer as you are looking for something to do with your children, I want to challenge you to sit down with them and make a plan for their success.

What kind of goal would you like to accomplish this summer?

            Do you want to read a book 5 nights a week?

            Do you want to read one book every other day/night until your child can read that book all by him/herself?

            Do you want to read one or two books a week?

            Do you want to read before or after a meal?

 Make the goal something you both can live with but at the same time a little challenging. Then decide on the reward.

            Is it a date night with mom or dad?

            Is it a new toy?

            Is it a trip to grandma’s or grandpa’s?

            Is it given all at once or in increments?

 (If you make the reward along their interest you will be showing your support of them. Ex. A poster of their favorite baseball player, a baseball, a bat, a trip to a game.)

The length between the rewards depends on your child’s age. But one of the greatest gifts you can give your child is delayed satisfaction. Children who have mastered waiting for something are more successful in life than those who don’t. 

The next character trait you both get to work on is perseverance. It will be easy to give up or stop half way through the summer. Life happens something always come up that seems more important but is it really?

Now as with any goal, it is ok to look at it again and make adjustments. In two weeks, see if your goal to read is working if not make an adjustment and try again. That’s not failure you, are teaching your child, how to be flexible how and how to adjust to situations in life, yet still be able to accomplish their goals and ultimately their dreams. 

I will be posting blogs on several of the I Can Read books.  Best Friends for Frances, and Frog and Toad together are just two I have already picked out. These blogs will be a way for you to build up your child’s emotional intelligence as you read and discuss the books together. If there is a book you would like to see a blog on, leave me a comment telling me the title and author and I will see what we can do.

I was inspired to write this blog post because of a blogging program on Twitter Moms. But  I believe with all my heart that reading together with your child is one of the best things you can do for your relationship.

• Increased knowledge
• Larger vocabulary
• Insights into other lands, cultures, people
• Success in school
• More creativity
• Relaxation
• Mental escape

Are there mental and emotional benefits gained from reading? What about the long term benefits for your relationship with your children? These things are harder to measure but have a lasting impact.

Taking a child in your arms as you read reassures them of your love. Researchers have found orphans that are not held will die. Their emotional need was not met. That need never goes away. Holding or cuddling your child as you read to them meets that emotional need in both of you.

Psychologists that work with traumatized children give them dolls to play with to work out their emotions. If object can be a tool to release emotions, can objects be a tool to teach emotions?

A book is an object when used properly, can transform a child’s life. It is the same principle the psychologist have been using for years. You take an object that has no meaning and you use it to release good emotions.

Publishers who realize this, are starting to offer a study guide to go with their books. The Hidden Swan built a study guide into the book. The parent doesn’t have to do any extra research to see if there is a study guide. Plus The Hidden Swan offers insights any parent can use to teach their children values. And with the study guide as part of the book, you never lose or misplace it.

Next time you sit with your child and read your favorite book, let me know what lesson you would like your child to gain and I will help you come up with questions and insights. Reading is a powerful tool and can help us as parents building strong, healthy minds in our children.

To order The Hidden Swan Click Here