Character Education

May 2007

CHARACTER READING PROGRAM: Please consider reading a character story to your child's class. The time and day can be worked out between parent and teacher so it is very flexible. The Media Center staff always pull appropriate books for the character trait of the month and are ready to help you select one. Contact your room parent to let him/her know you are interested and then contact your child's teacher directly to set up a convenient time. It's that easy!

May's Character Trait is Extra Effort. Show extra effort by doing your very best at everything you do, not just in the classroom, but at home as well. Go that extra mile!

"I recognize that, for success, I am required to give more than the minimum. I believe people who choose the path of extra effort are demonstrating their love for humanity and posterity, and that extra effort will ultimately result in extra return. As an extra effort person, I honor those who have an inner drive for excellence. I encourage the pursuit of goals with the highest order of integrity, hard work, courage, faith and humility."

-- Sam Walton, Wal-Mart Founder

April 2007

CHARACTER READING PROGRAM: Please consider reading a character story to your child's class. The time and day can be worked out between parent and teacher so it is very flexible. The Media Center staff always pull appropriate books for the character trait of the month and are ready to help you select one. Contact your room parent to let him/her know you are interested and then contact your child's teacher directly to set up a convenient time. It's that easy!

April's Character Trait is Good Judgment. Good Judgment is choosing worthy goals and setting proper priorities. Good Judgment is thinking through the consequences of your actions and basing decisions on practical wisdom and good sense. Talk about making good choices with your child today! Try reading The Empty Lot by Dale Fife or The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright together.

"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment."

-- Rita Mae Browne

March 2007

CHARACTER READING PROGRAM: Please consider reading a character story to your child's class. The time and day can be worked out between parent and teacher so it is very flexible. The Media Center staff have always pulled appropriate books for the character trait of the month and are ready to help you select one. Contact your room parent to let him/her know you are interested and then contact your child's teacher directly to set up a convenient time. It's that easy!

This month's character trait is Perseverance. Perseverance is being persistent in pursuit of worthy objectives in spite of difficulty, opposition, or discouragement. Someone demonstrates perseverance by having the fortitude to try again when confronted with delays, mistakes, or failures. Try reading Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss or Lily and Miss Liberty by Carla Stevens with your child this month to start a conversation about Perseverance.

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another."

Walter Elliott

February 2007

February's Character Trait is Integrity. Integrity can be defined as having the inner strength to be truthful, trustworthy, and honest in all things. Acting justly and honorably, making choices you know to be right and not just following the crowd. Some books you could read with your child that discuss integrity are The Big Fat Enormous Lie by Marjorie W. Sharm and also Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco.

"Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity"

--W. Clement Stone

January 2007

January's character trait is Self-Discipline. Talk with your children about demonstrating hard work and commitment to purpose. Be responsible for yourself for improvement and refrain from inappropriate behaviors. Demonstrating self-discipline can be summed up by "doing your best in all situations!"

Don't forget to visit www.shopcarytownecentermall.com and click the "Events" tab for your monthly character newsletter and voucher to redeem for prize. Keep up the good work!

"The art of living consists in knowing which impulses to obey and which must be made to obey."

-- Sydney J. Harris

December 2006

December's Character Trait is Kindness. Kindness is being considerate, courteous, helpful and understanding of others. Showing care, compassion, friendship and generosity are also markers of kindness as well as treating others as you would like to be treated. There are plenty of opportunities to discuss and explify kindness with your child at this time of year. Participate in a food or toy drive together. Allowing him/her to help make decisions regarding the items you give or how much time you spend being kind to others will really make an impression. A great book to read together this month is Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco.

Don't forget to visit www.shopcarytownecentermall.com and click the “Events” tab for your monthly character newsletter and voucher to redeem for prizes!

“It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice.”

-– Author unknown

November 2006

November's Character Trait is Courage. Courage is having the determination to do the right thing even when others don't. Courage is having the strength to follow your conscience rather than the crowd, and attempting difficult things that are worth while.

Some recommended reading for kids: Ira Sleeps Over by Bernard Waber and Julian, Secret Agent by Ann Cameron. Try something new with your child today!

Don't forget to visit www.shopcarytownecentermall.com and click the "Events" tab for your monthly newsletter and voucher to redeem for prizes.

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."

Ambrose Redmoon

October 2006

October's Character Trait is Respect. Showing respect is having high regard for authority, for other people, for self, for property, and for country. Understanding that all people have value as human beings. Remember to always treat others as you would want to be treated. Don't forget to visit www.shopcarytownecentermall.com and click the "Events" tab for your monthly character newsletter and voucher to redeem for prizes!

"Trust men and they will be true to you, treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

September 2006

This school year, the Character Rewards program through Cary Towne Center is going online. You will be able to access the Monthly Character Trait newsletter, complete with a printable coupon, by clicking on the Character Rewards program symbol. Parents or guardians may fill out and sign the coupon, then return it to the school to be validated. Once validated by the PTA volunteer, the coupon may be turned in at the Cary Towne Center. Look for more information to come home with your child in September.

September's Character Trait is Responsibility. This means being dependable in carrying out obligations and duties, showing reliability and consistency in words and conduct, and being accountable for your own actions.

"A real man is one who finds excuses for others, but never for himself."

July 2006

The sentiment in the following poem seemed perfect to share as we prepare our tree frogs for another school year at Turner Creek. We, the parents and teachers of our children, are the "A Team" in the journey of their early lives. Let us continue to work successfully together to help our children grow into useful and happy adults.

 

Whose Child Is This?

-- Author Unknown

May 2006

As a school year winds down there are appreciation lunches and various gifts of thanks to teachers and ancillary staff who help our children grow and learn. These are important. From very early we teach our children to say "thank you" and work with them on thank you notes when gifts are received. The importance of encouraging gratitude can not be overestimated.

"Winners in the game of life have an attitude of gratitude!"

-- Coach Jayson Gee

"Giving thanks is a course from which we never graduate."

-- Valerie Anders.

Gratitude at Home: Dotson & Dotson in their book, Teaching Character: A Parent's Guide, list these ways to encourage thankfulness in your child:

1. Be thankful towards your child. Once again, modeling ways we want them to be. She asks us to consider whether we say "thank you" to each other in our family or is it something we need to work on.
2. Remind your child to say thank you if they forget.
3. Insist on thank you notes. Buy special stationery or stamps for them to use.
4. Have periodic discussions about the people we are grateful for who keep us safe (police and firefighters), who help us learn (teachers and coaches), who take our garbage and bring our mail. The list is very long.
5. Take an opportunity to remind your child how we should be grateful for our "comforts" that we often take for granted (such as washing machines, air conditioning, and our cars as instances. Certainly another large list).

"You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you."

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach (Simple Abundance)

April 2006

Good Judgment is the character trait selected by Wake County Public School System for focus during the month of April. The definition of Good Judgment taken from the Character Education Informational Handbook & Guide, produced by the Public Schools of North Carolina, is "Choosing worthy goals and setting proper priorities; thinking through the consequences of your actions; and basing decisions on practical wisdom and good sense."

Good Judgment at home: A previous "Newspapers in Education" section of The News and Observer had these tips for parents regarding good judgment:

• Encourage your children to become thoughtful, not impulsive shoppers. Have them look at ads with you and think about the things that would make them want a product. Ask them what more they would want to know before purchasing.
• Identify someone in the newspaper who faces a tough choice. Talk aloud about the reasons why it may be difficult.
• Choose a person in the newspaper who has suffered the consequences of poor judgment. Discuss the actions they could have taken.

Barbara Lewis in her book for children,"What Do You Stand For? A Kid's Guide to Building Character," writes in the chapter on Choice & Accountability, "Ideally, a choice you make should be both conscious and informed. A conscious choice is one you're aware of. You think it through ahead of time. You realize it might have both positive and negative consequences. An informed choice is based on information and facts you've gathered in advance. You try to predict the consequences."

"You can't talk yourself out of something that you've already behaved your way into."

-- Deb Austin Brown

January 2006

Hello and Happy New Year! A time of new beginnings and, therefore, most appropriate for self -discipline to be our trait of focus.

There are four key ingredients for self-discipline:

1. Self-control – The act of controlling our emotions, actions, thoughts, words, and personal direction.
2. Motivation – The “fire inside” that fuels our efforts and makes accomplishments worth achieving.
3. Persistence – The ability to continue through adversity. The ability to brush off failure and stay focused on our goals.
4. Goals – Those tangible achievements that breed motivation and form our definitions of happiness and success.

From Power Living - Mastering The Art of Self-Discipline by Michael Janke

According to author Michael Janke, most people have some or all of these key ingredients, but lack the knowledge of where and how to use them. Learn more about each area online, for yourself personally and for your children, where the entire article can be read

We would like to gratefully acknowledge the management at Lowes Foods at Cornerstone in Cary for their generous sponsorship this past month of our Character Recognition Breakfast. Mr. Avena, the manager, was anxious to support the school and PTA in our character building endeavors.

Since a new year is a time to reflect, I decided to post the following "help wanted" notice in the hopes that folks will consider whether a new role in the near future would be a means of expression and service that they may be looking for:

PTA Character Education Chairperson(s) Needed for Upcoming 2006-07 School Year.

This will be the last year I am in Turner Creek Elementary and I would like to be able to volunteer in a more general sense, so I am not planning to continue as the chairperson in 2006-07. I would very much like the opportunity to support someone interested in stepping up so I decided to start early. If you see this opportunity as possibly right for you, call me at 387-1585 and we could talk. It's a wonderful chance to be involved in helping our kids be the best they can be - Lorraine Galkowski.

December 2005

December's trait is kindness and rightly so. As we giving and reflection, perhaps this poem thought.
Happy Holidays to All!
   Lorraine Galkowski, Education Chairperson

The Ten Greatest Gifts I Give My Children

1. Self-esteem: Children's real sense of self-worth from their parents.
2. Feeling fully means not being afraid of feelings. experiencing emotions means life itself.
3. Compassion is being considerate to other points or not you agree with it.
4. Balance is a time and place for all things. includes work and play, pain and joy.
5. Humor at the pleasures and ironies of life. The with someone.
6. Communication is not just reading and writing of listening.
7. Integrity is keeping commitments which creates relationships.
8. Responsibility to take charge of your life and for help.
9. Conscious Choice: We can't always control what can control our response.
10. Abundance of endless opportunities; there's another way. another day. another year.

November 2005

Fall is a wonderful time to get back outdoors and appreciate the wonderful opportunities to commune with nature. With the traits of respect and responsibility being focused on in September and October, we can find ways to do our part to preserve the many parks and greenways we are able to enjoy in this area. There are often fall clean ups that allow us to reinforce to our children our role in keeping our earth clean. There are many specially sponsored "walks" to raise money and awareness for lifethreatening diseases many are faced with. Participating teaches our children to actively embrace the plight of others and see their singular, but still valuable part, in helping the world be a better place. The November character trait is Courage. Look for the Cary Towne Center handout to read more about this trait with your children and to impress upon them how much courage we all need on the journey to be the best we can be.

We want to encourage parents to consider participating in the Character Reading Program. Once a month, a parent is asked to pick a book from our media center (and the books are already pulled for that month's character trait) and read it to your child's class. Afterwards, the parent leads a short discussion about how the trait was exemplified in the book. Notify your room parent that you would like to do this. Then, contact the teacher to set up a convenient time that works for both of you.

October 2005

Your PTA Character Education Committee is sponsoring a presentation titled “What Do Young People Today Really Want & How Do They Want to Be Seen” on October 6th at 7:30pm in the multipurpose room at TCE. Flyers went home recently with details about the program and its presenters. The speakers will share how the philosophy Aesthetic Realism can answer questions all people struggle with every day. There will be plenty of time for discussion as well. To RSVP attendance, call 387-1585 or return the form at the bottom of the flyer to the PTA. Learn more about Aesthetic Realism.

The Wake County Public School character trait for October is Respect. Cary Towne Center vouchers will come home with information and books to share with your children. The Turner Creek media center has several books set aside each month that illustrate the trait of the month. These books are available to parent volunteers reading to a class that month or for you to take home and share with your family. Please contact your room parent if you have time to read to your child’s class about the character trait of the month.