Why Teach History? – MBFLP 295

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Here in the technology-driven 21st century, why should we bother our kids with names and dates from the past? Shouldn’t we be looking forward, not backwards? Does history really have much bearing on the world our children will inherit, and how they deal with it?

We would say emphatically YES, we need to learn history! There’s a strong Biblical example to support that, and experience should tell us that we can learn from the past – what to do, and what not to do. But the question may be, how do we teach the subject in a way that doesn’t kill any interest our children might have?

In this episode, we’re looking at why and how we teach history to our own kids, and why we all love it so much!

This podcast is sponsored by Route 60: The Biblical Highway

Our audiobook version of Hero Tales from American History

Historical fiction in audiobook form

Scripture We Referenced

“Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you …” (Deuteronomy 32:7)

The establishment of the Passover feast:
“And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the LORD, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” (Exodus 12:26-27)

(There are many passages describing children asking their father, “What is the meaning of this?”, and the father taking the opportunity to explain the purpose of the memorial to the glory of God – see for instance, Exodus 13:11-16; Deuteronomy 6:20-24; Joshua 4:21-24; and more)

Teaching Your Kids How to Have Faith – Free Character Planner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ~ Hebrews 11:1. This is one of my favorite Bible verses, but how do we explain and teach faith to our children and help them to grasp the concept?

free character planner

Just as Hebrews says, faith is the substance of something that is hoped for. Faith and hope go hand in hand. Faith gives us the ability to worry less and to hope and know with our hearts that God will come through for us. It may not be as we thought, but it will happen somehow.

How to encourage faith

Faith can be difficult for some children to grasp. Others are private with their beliefs and may not talk about their faith often. We can teach our children about faith by talking openly about our faith in our homes. What is it that you hope for? Is it something that you can not do on your own? Talk about this with your family.

Faith is believing that something will happen that we can’t even see or begin to understand. It could be one of those prayer requests that may sit on your prayer list for a while. Yet when it does happen, a good job for a family member, a gift of money when things are tight, a cure to an illness that seems hopeless, a good grade in a hard math class, those things help to strengthen our faith and the faith of our children.

Another way to teach our children about the character trait of faith is with this month’s character planner. These are free for subscribers each month and they teach you how to plan a month long study on the specific character trait.

Free Faith Character Study Planner Printable Pack

This Character Counts planner will show you how to plan out a month long study on the character trait of Faith. These planners are organized for you and are always open and go. It is also customizable, which means you can pick and choose what you would like to print out and use for your family. They are not dated so you can use them anytime in the year.

We store ours in a character training binder. These are great if you have a certain issue that needs to be focused on in your family. Then you can pull them out and work on that trait as needed. Many families enjoying using these in a daily morning time in their homeschool or as a family Bible Study.

Our planners have been designed to be simple and fun, with activities for your entire family to participate in together.

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on  Faith vs. Unfaithfulness
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Faith Printable Posters
  • Faith and Your Gifts
  • Family Brainstorming Session Sheets
  • Faith Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

 

Teaching Compassion with a Free Character Planner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Compassion is such an important character trait because it is something we all need in our lives. It is the emotional connection desired with those close to us and those we do not know very well. Teaching compassion to your kids is important as it doesn’t always come naturally.

 

Some children may naturally be loving and compassionate, while others may need some help in that area. This is especially true of toddlers who may think the whole world revolves around them! . Becoming compassionate brings us out of our me-focused world. It can help your children see that other people have needs and start to think about how they can meet those needs for others.

What is Compassion?

Compassion is is the ability to feel what another person is going through and to help them in their need. It is being able to listen, being aware and being sensitive of the needs of others. It is being able to sit back and observe and know when to help out when there is a need.

Compassion is caring for others, behaving towards them with concern and love and affection. It is being sympathetic to others needs, putting others before yourselves.

Teaching Compassion

Some people feel compassion more deeply and empathetically than others. You may notice this with your children if they see an animal that is hurt or lost, or a homeless person on the side of the road. Some children are immediately distressed and sad, while other children may not even recognize what is happening. We can teach and model compassion to our children to help them to be sensitive to the needs around them.

Here are some great ways to teach compassion to your kids:

  • Be kind, and model kindness to your children. Talk about kindness and reactions to others in your home.
  • Take your children out and serve together. Helping at a soup kitchen or a food pantry is a great way to show them that people are hungry and in need.
  • Teach compassion towards animals by helping animals that may be injured or lost or feeding animals that may be hungry.

Teach compassion to your children with this month’s free character study printable pack:

Our Character Counts planner teaches you how to plan a month long study on this month’s character trait of compassion. Families  love that our planners are open and go with many things to choose from to use. You can pick and choose what you would like to print and use for your family. Since they are not dated like our other planners, these can be used anytime in the year.

I keep all of our planners in a big binder. We now have a nice large collection of them as we download them each month. They are great to pull out if there is a specific character trait that you need to work on in your home.

Many families enjoy using these during morning time, or Bible time in their homeschool. These planners are designed to be simple and fun, with activities that your whole family can participate in together. This is great for family time with hands-on ideas and fun conversation starters. Yes, even parents can benefit too! 

This is what is included:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on Character
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Compassion Printable Posters and Scripture Posters
  • Family Character Brainstorming Session Sheets
  • Compassion and Your Gifts
  • Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

 

Teaching Family Loyalty (FREE Character Planner)

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Do you long for a family that prays, works, plays together and stays together? Family loyalty is easy to achieve when your children are younger, but what about when they grow up?

What happens when your sweet children who always want to be with you become teenagers? How do you encourage them to stay close and connected to your family? There are so many things going on that pull everyone in different directions. Family time can easily go to the wayside and be missed so quickly.

Family loyalty is one of those essential traits that begins and straightens as a child ages. When your kids begin to be social outside of the home, in church, sports and work friends start to become a priority in their lives. Having friends typically takes a stronger presence and need over the family as your children enter the teen years.

What can you do to teach them to stay committed and faithful to your family?

Loyalty is faithfulness to family and to the commitments, duties, and obligations in our lives. We can teach this character trait by modeling it on our own families. So many important character traits begin right inside your home.

Here are some ways to do this:

  • Create some family traditions that your children will get used to doing and look forward to on a regular basis. Do you take the same type of family vacation each year, or attend a certain sporting or local event? This will be something your kids will get used to doing and look forward to continuing as they are older.
  • Stick to a set family dinner or family game or movie night at least once a week on a set day. Pick one day a week where everyone can commit to work their schedules around needing to be home for that specific set day.
  • Encourage your children to support and encourage each of their siblings. This can be done during weekly get togethers. Help them to build strong relationships with each other so they always have a built in friend to turn to.

Teach your family about loyalty with this month’s free character study printable pack:

Our Character Counts planner teach you how to plan a month long study on the character trait of Loyalty. Our open and go planners are customizable. You can pick and choose what you would like to use for your family. You can use them anytime in the year since they are undated. We like to print ours and keep them in a tabbed binder. We have a nice large collection of them as we download them each month. These are great to pull out if there is a specific character trait that you need to work on in your home.

Many families use these for a morning Bible time in their homeschool. These planners are designed to be simple and fun, with activities for your entire family to participate in together. This is great for family time and has there are fun conversation starters. Yes, even parents can benefit too! 

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on Loyalty
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Loyalty Printable Posters and Scripture Posters
  • Loyalty and Your Gifts
  • Family Loyalty Brainstorming Session Sheets
  • Loyalty Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

 

Teaching Your Family About Being Available FREE Character Study

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

We live in a busy, busy world. There are so many things to distract us and keep us from being personal with others. Sometimes we don’t know when to drop everything and be available for those that need us to be. It is important to teach your family about being available and this month’s free character study can help.

Character Counts Availability Character Planner text with Available now image.

Being available to other people is an act of unselfishness. It means that we are able to put down whatever it is that we are working on and doing at that moment. In doing so, we are able to be available to meet the needs of others.

Sometimes we can feel like a home project is important and a priority. Yet, if we get the call from a friend or family member that need us to help them with something, are we able to drop what we are doing to be available?

There have been many times that I was in the middle of a project. Usually during a nap time, the only time I had to get anything done. If a friend called and needed a listening ear I would have to choose to pause that project and be available. It isn’t always easy, but it is important to foster those friendships and relationships. This is what God calls us to do and to be.

When we sacrifice our time it shows a great example to our children. It teaches them that they can learn that you can balance doing things and also being available for the needs of others.

How do you teach your family to be available?

  • First, you teach by example, like I spoke about above. When our children seeing us able to stop what we are doing, they will learn they can do that to. That they can balance what they have going on to be available.
  • Second, you can teach this with practical ideas and activities like those in this month’s character study. Availability is spending time together as a family, changing our plans to accommodate
    others, putting our family first.
  • Lastly, you listen. Being available also means being able to sit down and listen when our children need us to. When we are good listeners we are able to discern better what people may need from us.

Teach your family how to be more available with this month’s free character study printable pack:

Our Character Counts planner will show you how to plan out a month long study on the character trait of Availability.  This is an open and go planner and is also customizable. You can pick and choose what you would like to use for your family. They are also undated which means you can use them anytime in the year.

My family likes to keep the planners in one big character binder. These are great if you have a certain issue that needs to be focused on in your family. You can pull them out and work on that trait as you see fit. Many families use these as morning Bible time in their homeschool. These planners are designed to be simple and fun, with activities for your entire family to participate in together. Yes, even parents can benefit too!

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on Availability vs. Selfishness and Self Centeredness
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Availability Printable Posters
  • Availability and Your Gifts
  • Family Brainstorming Session Sheets
  • Availability Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

 

FREE Creativity Character Counts Study

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

When you think of good character you may not think of creativity as a character trait. Many people say that they aren’t creative, or that they don’t have a crafty bone in their body. Being creative isn’t always about being artistic or crafty. It is being able to think outside of the box, to solve problems and address things in creative ways when the need arises. It is a practical life skill that can be a lot of fun to work on with your children.

Character Counts Creativity Planner Text with image of paint roller and leaves.

 

Creativity is problem solving:

Having creativity and being creative is a way to to teach your kids how to problem solve. This can come in handy with everyday life activities.

Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut with dinner and meals? Ask your children what they would like to eat, if they want to start helping meal plan and see what they come up with. You may have one child that is very organized and wants to write out a plan and prepare a grocery list. While another child may want to make a contest or cooking game out of it. Either way your dinner will be planned and that tackles one problem.

You can do the same thing with birthdays. Your whole family can work together to come up with some creative ideas to celebrate birthdays in a fun and unique way. Maybe your schedules are all over the place and you can’t celebrate it on the day. You will want to think of ways to pick a special time and place to celebrate. How fun would it be to include the whole family in celebrating with one another?

Are you sick of the same chore routine? You can also tackle this in a creative way when you put your minds together to come up with creative solutions to getting the house clean in a flash.

There are many everyday things that arise, that can use some creative thinking to make them easier and more doable to running a home. Some people are more creative than others. That’s why I enjoy these planners so much, because Felice gives tons of suggestions on how to teach the character trait in ways that involve the whole family.

Teach your kids how to be problem solvers with this month’s free printable pack:

This Character Counts planner will show you how to plan out a month long study on the character trait of Creativity.  These planner are organized for you and open and go. It is also customizable, meaning you can pick and choose what you would like to print out and use for your family. They are not dated so you can use them anytime in the year.

I personally store mine in a character training binder. These are great if you have a certain issue that needs to be focused on in your family. Then you can pull them out and work on that trait as you see fit. Many families enjoying using these in a daily morning time in their homeschool. Our planners have been designed to be simple and fun, with activities for your entire family to participate in together. Yes, even parents can benefit too!

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on Creativity
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Creativity Printable Posters
  • Creativity and Your Gifts
  • Family Brainstorming Session Sheets
  • Creativity Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

FREE Character Counts: Enthusiasm Planner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

When you think of the different character traits, enthusiasm doesn’t seem like one that you would normally need to work on with your children. Imagine if your children had a positive, happy, and joyful attitude for even simple every day tasks and school work. Do you know how that would change the entire feeling in your home? It would be an inviting place, and people would see a difference in your family and your life style.

Do your children need help being joyful and enthusiastic? This character planner will give you some great tips and printables to guides your children.

This month’s subscriber freebie is on the character trait of Enthusiasm.

When a child shows a lack of enthusiasm and grumbles and complains over tasks they are actually showing disrespect. This needs to be handled quickly or it can turn into more complaining and attitude problems that will be passed down to the rest of the family. It isn’t always easy, and doesn’t come naturally to some children but it can be taught through example.

This planner will give you the tools you need to teach your children to be enthusiastic and have a positive happy attitude. There are reflection sheets for you as the parent to journal about your children and to note their strengths and weaknesses. It well help you see how you can help them and encourage them in specific areas that they struggle with.

One great way to do this is by practicing in your own home. You can discuss how to encourage other family members and to try to be joyful. There are many examples, suggestions, worksheets and activities to help your children to think through their attitudes. It will give them ideas to be an encourager, and to be happy in all things. I really appreciate that there are scriptures to back up what is being taught, that we can show our children when they are struggling.

What is in this month’s planner?

The Character Counts planner helps you to easily plan out a 4-week study on the character trait of Enthusiasm.  Like always, the planning is done for you, which makes it completely open and go. It is also customizable, meaning you can pick and choose what you would like to use. The planners are not dated so that you can use them at any time. We like to print ours out and store them in a character training binder. You can easily access them and pull them out when you are dealing with a certain issue that needs to be focused on in your family. They are also a great addition to a morning Bible time. These are designed to be simple and fun, with activities for your entire family to participate in together.

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study on Enthusiasm
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Create an Enthusiasm Poster
  • Enthusiasm and Positive Attitude Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

FREE Character Counts: Self-Control Character Study Planner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Does anyone else feel like they are living in an out of control world? So many changes, so many unknowns, and things to worry about. Just turn on the news, listen to talk radio, or spend more than a few minutes on social media. Your head will spin with things that can cause stress and emotional outbursts. It takes patience to sit back and trust God. To think before you speak, or type frantically on your keyboard. It takes extreme self control most days.

In life there are many ups and downs and there are things that happen that are out of our control. We have seen this in our own world in just one short year. It sure has been difficult to have no control over what is going on and to just sit and wait on God’s timing. It is not easy to model to our children. One thing we can do is to recognize that we are not able to control what happens in our world. That we can not control what others say or think, but we can control our own feelings.

We can use these tough times to teach our children that having self control is a key to a happy life. If we model this behavior for our children and talk openly to them about controlling their emotions, you will see great improvement in not only yourself, and your children, but your entire family. A great way to do this is by doing a character study with your children. We offer a FREE Character Study planner each month to our email subscribers. I love how timely these are. Each month, when a new study comes out, it seems to fit perfectly with what is going on in our lives and the lives of our children.

This month’s subscriber freebie is on the character trait of self-control.

Why our Character Counts Planners are special:

Our Character Counts planners are special because all of the work of planning out a character study is done for you! They will help you to plan out a 4-week study on the specific character trait for that month. This month you will teach on Self-Control. You will love how open and go our planners are. All you need to do is open them up and follow the instructions and print the pages out for your children.

They are also customizable so you can pick and choose what you would like to print out from the planner. There are lots of pages to choose from. Maybe you have a child that doesn’t like to write, but enjoys looking at posters. You could print out the motivational posters and Bible verses on self-control. Other children may enjoy deep thoughts, and journaling through what they are working on.

Our planners are not dated and can be used  anytime of the year.  Many families like to create a character training binder to keep them in. Do you enjoy morning time in your homeschool?  Character training is a great addition to a family morning or Bible time. The activity suggestions are geared for all ages in your family, including the parents.

Let’s take a look at what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study Guide on Self Control
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Self Control Journaling Sheets
  • Self Control Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Activity Sheets
  • Self Control Personal Goals Sheets
  • Printable Motivation Posters
  • Certificate of Completion

Each week we send the free access to download your Character Counts Planner in our ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. There is a new planner every single month. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

FREE Character Counts: Joyfulness Planner

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

We have discussed this before, but everyone knows this year has been extremely rough. It sure can be hard to find joy in these tough situations. The stress and worries of the world, and an unknown future can rub off on our children and cause stress in the home. It is so important to teach our children about how to show joyfulness in all situations.

FREE Character Counts: Joyfulness Planner

It is hard to smile back at someone when they are crabby and scowling. But a simple smile can light up the face of a stranger, or a family member. Just the routine of smiling and laughing daily can bring joys to others.

Some of our children come about this trait rather naturally, while others may struggle with finding joy. Many of us can tend to worry and have anxiety. Those thoughts and anxiety can rob us of the joy that God so freely gives to us. If you have a child that tends more towards worry and stressing over situations then it is very helpful to teach them about being joyful.

It isn’t easy for us as parents either. All you have to do is turn on the news or social media and worry will start to seep in. This is when we need to turn our focus on God and the joy that He so freely gives us. Nehemiah 8:10 says “The Joy of the Lord is your strength.” God’s joy can bring us the strength we need to get through each day, month and year. It gives us the strength to continue on and parent our children with love and with joy.

This Character Counts planner is on the theme of Joyfulness.

If you struggle with being joyful or teaching your children how to be joyful you will enjoy this month’s subscriber freebie. It will give you tips and suggestions on how to practice joyfulness in your home. I love the practical ideas that Felice gives for us to do together as a family. Sometimes when things are hard it is difficult to think of what to do next, or how to tackle an attitude problem. Simple and practical ideas are always helpful!

What is in this month’s planner?

Our Character Counts planner will help you plan out a 4-week study on the character trait of joyfulness.  Our planners are open and go. This means that all the planning is done for you. They are also customizable. You are able to pick and choose what you would like to use within the planner printables. They are not dated so you can use them anytime of the year. I like to print ours out and store them in a character training binder. I create tabs for each character trait. Character training is a great addition to a family morning or Bible time in your homeschool. The activities are good for all ages in your family, including parents!

Check out what is inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study of Joyfulness
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Joyfulness and Your Gifts Journaling Sheets
  • Joyfulness Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Activity Sheets and Create a Joyfulness Poster
  • Joyfulness Goals Sheets
  • Joy Printable Motivation Posters
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.

 

FREE Character Counts Planner: Determination

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Have you been enjoying the character planners each month? We like to use these during our morning time and use them like a Bible study tool. The activities are fun and engaging and great for all ages. This month’s character theme is on determination. This planner will be a huge help in teaching your children a healthy way to balance out the trait of determination.

FREE Character Counts Planner: Determination text with image of hikers on top of a mountain.

There are many character traits that do not come naturally to children. Those like patience, forgiveness and gentleness, we have to teach and help focus our children on. We are constantly pointing them towards good behavior choices and working on ones that they struggle with.

Determination is not one of those traits we have to work hard to teach our kids. It’s actually kind of the opposite. As a parent spending time with your children close to 24 hours a day, you know that our kids can be pretty determined at times. From babies, and toddlers, to strong willed teenagers, determination is something that we are all born with.

Teaching Determination to Children:

So if determination is something that are children already have, then how do we teach it? Well, many children will be determined to tie their shoes, or put on their clothes by themselves. They may be determined to work hard in a sport, or a talent they have. Those same children may not be very determined to keep their rooms clean, or complete their school work on time. Or they are determined to whine until they get what they want! It is all about finding a balance, and steering that determination in a good way.

This is where teaching and guiding them come in. We can reward the good behavior, and praise them for trying when something is hard. When they complete a task that isn’t very pleasant. This character study will help guide your children towards an end goal, and give you the tools you need to praise them in the process. You will enjoy how family oriented it is, with tasks to help your entire family stay on track and hold each other accountable.

What’s in this month’s planner?

The Character Counts planner this month will help you to easily plan out a 4-week study on the character trait of determination. It will help your children analyze that they need to work on, by helping them identify the gifts God has given them. The planning is already done for you, which makes it completely open and go. There is also room for personalization to customize it for your children as well. The character planners are not dated so that you can use them at any time. I have been printing mine out and storing them in a special binder specifically for character training. These are also great to pull out when you are dealing with a certain issue that needs to be focused on within your family unit.

Check out what’s inside:

  • Character Quality Family Checklist Worksheet
  • 4 Week Study Guide on Determination
  • Analyze and Evaluation Sheets
  • Character Study Worksheets for Kids
  • Character Trait Planning Worksheets
  • Determination Journaling Sheets
  • Activity Sheets on determination and your gifts
  • Determination Blueprint
  • Motivational Words Worksheet
  • Family Activities and role-playing ideas that demonstrate determination
  • Certificate of Completion

The directions on how to download your free Character Counts Planner are sent in each weekly ezine. The planner access information is always located at the bottom of each email. If you are not signed up, you can sign up HERE.