Helping young people to form their character is an exciting endeavor that God has entrusted first of all to parents. It requires delicacy and strength, patience and joy, and is not lacking in challenges. It means helping children develop a concern for others, teaching them to form relationships that are truly human, and overcoming the fear of commitment. Educating children involves preparing them for the future—a future that will always involve difficulties, but also joys. In the end, it means preparing each child to respond fully to God’s plan for his or her life. The twenty-one essays contained in this book will help parents in this great task. Whether dealing with adolescent development issues, discipline, modesty, passing on the faith, or other parenting matters, this book covers it all with supernatural outlook and common sense. Written in an open-ended style that empowers parents to find their own solutions, it can be read straight through from beginning to end, or by skipping to specific chapters, according to one’s interests and needs. Both young parents and those with more experience will benefit from the insights found here.

Bring compassion, generosity, and kindness into your home with this essential interfaith parenting guide to raising kids in a virtuous and spiritual household, with week-by-week strategies for living your best lives. The most important job parents have is to pass basic virtues on to their children, and this invaluable book is designed to help make that job a little easier. Compiled by The Virtues Project, an international organization dedicated to inspiring spiritual growth in young and old alike, this multicultural, interfaith handbook shows parents and teachers how to turn words into actions and ideals into realities. Drawn from the world’s religions, the 52 virtues included here—one for each week of the year—nurture togetherness in family life. The simple strategies, which explain what a virtue is, how to practice it, and signs of success, will engage children of all ages in an exciting process of growth and discovery. This important book shows you how to: • Learn the language of integrity and self-esteem • Understand the five roles parents play • Discover ways to introduce sacred time into family life • Help children make moral choices The Family Virtues Guide gives adults and children the tools for spiritual and moral growth. Join the thousands of families discovering simple practices for bringing out the best in each other by sharing The Family Virtues Guide.

In this collection of her finest and best-known short essays, Natalia Ginzburg explores both the mundane details and inescapable catastrophes of personal life with the grace and wit that have assured her rightful place in the pantheon of classic mid-century authors. Whether she writes of the loss of a friend, Cesare Pavese; or what is inexpugnable of World War II; or the Abruzzi, where she and her first husband lived in forced residence under Fascist rule; or the importance of silence in our society; or her vocation as a writer; or even a pair of worn-out shoes, Ginzburg brings to her reflections the wisdom of a survivor and the spare, wry, and poetically resonant style her readers have come to recognize. "A glowing light of modern Italian literature . . . Ginzburg's magic is the utter simplicity of her prose, suddenly illuminated by one word that makes a lightning streak of a plain phrase. . . . As direct and clean as if it were carved in stone, it yet speaks thoughts of the heart.' — The New York Times Book Review

Although individual parents face different issues, Sonya Charles believes most parents want their children to be good people who are happy in their adult lives. Parents and Virtues: An Analysis of Moral Development and Parental Virtue starts from the question of how parents can raise their child to be a moral and flourishing person. At first glance, readers might think this question is better left to psychologists rather than philosophers. The author proposes that Aristotle’s ethical theory (known as virtue theory) has much to say on this issue. Aristotle asks how we become moral people and how that relates to leading a good life. In other words, his motivating questions are very similar to the goals parents have for their children. The first part of this book details what the basic components of Aristotle’s theory can tell us about the project of parenting. In the second part, the focus shifts to consider some issues that present potential moral dilemmas for parents and discuss whether there are specific virtues we may want to use to guide parental actions. Parents and Virtues will be of particular value to scholars and students who work on the ethics of parenthood, virtue theory, and bioethics.

Step into the Garden of Virtues and learn to identify positive qualities such as helpfulness, determination, generosity and more. Providing an engaging introduction to 10 different virtues, this storybook and the accompanying activity pack is a valuable resource for parents and teachers to playfully foster personal development.

A collection of stories and poems presented to teach virtues, including compassion, courage, honesty, friendship, and faith.

In this engaging and practical book Mark Pike and Thomas Lickona show how C.S. Lewis' wisdom for nurturing good character, and his much-loved Chronicles of Narnia, inspire us to virtue. Drawing upon the Judeo-Christian virtues of faith, hope and love and 'Narnian' virtues such as courage, integrity and wisdom, they present an approach to contemporary character education validated by recent research. An introduction to C.S. Lewis' thought on character and faith is followed by practical examples of how to use well-known passages from the Narnia novels as a stimulus for rich character development at home and in the classroom.

From the all-star cast who brought you The Seven Deadly Virtues comes a book with a look at the good life... or the crazy-stressful-overwhelmed life... of a father. The Dadly Virtues is a tongue-in-cheek collection of encouragement and guidance for any stage of fatherhood, from pacifying babies to prepping for senior prom, from cutting the cord to getting the first, “Best Grandpa” t-shirt. P.J. O’Rourke sets the stage with the chapter, “What Do Men Get from Fatherhood? Besides What They Put In ...” and then is followed by: •Matthew Continetti’s, “Newborn Terror: The Moment You Realize that ‘Bundle of Joy’ Is a Euphemism for Something Very Different.” •Stephen F. Hayes’ “Siblings: The Best Gift You’ll Ever Give Your Kids.” •Jonah Goldberg’s “Get Your Kid a Dog: The Moral Case for Pets.” •Tucker Carlson’s “In Praise of Adventure: How to Fill a Child’s Life with Excitement and Danger (without Getting Them Killed).” •Michael Graham’s, “Dating: Enjoy the Movie and Please Keep the Impregnation to a Minimum.” •Christopher Caldwell’s “College: It’s Not as Bad as You Think; It’s Worse.” •Andrew Ferguson’s “Emerging Adults and Empty Nesters: Just When You Had Fatherhood All Figured Out.” •Toby Young’s “The Dark Side: Bad Parenting and the Things We Think, but Do Not Say.” •Joseph Epstein’s “Thanks, Grandpa: Grandfatherhood and the Spirit of the Age.” •And more. Father-to-be, two-time-dad, or granddad, each essay will make you laugh and, at the same time, reinforce your commitment to the virtuous—the dadly—life.

Ethicists and psychologists have become increasingly interested in the development of virtue in recent years, approaching the topic from the perspectives of virtue ethics and developmental psychology respectively. Such interest in virtue development has spread beyond academia, as teachers and parents have increasingly striven to cultivate virtue as part of education and child-rearing. Looking at these parallel trends in the study and practice of virtue development, the essays in this volume explore such questions as: How can philosophical work on virtue development inform psychological work on it, and vice versa? How should we understand virtue as a dimension of human personality? What is the developmental foundation of virtue? What are the evolutionary aspects of virtue and its development? How is virtue fostered? How is virtue exemplified in behavior and action? How is our conception of virtue influenced by context and by developmental and social experiences? What are the tensions, impediments and prospects for an integrative field of virtue study? Rather than centering on each discipline, the essays in this volume are organized around themes and engage each other in a broader dialogue. The volume begins with an introductory essay from the editors that explains the full range of philosophical and empirical issues that have surrounded the notion of virtue in recent years.

“Play nice!” “Be kind!” “Don’t do that!” Every day, it seems half our conversations with young people is made up of commands dealing with character and niceties--all issues that need to be addressed and not ignored. But how is it working? Do you find yourself back at square one the next day, with a child acting as though they had no idea they shouldn’t be lying? In Parenting with a Story, author Paul Smith, one of the world’s leading experts in organizational storytelling, shows that when stories are used to illustrate to children how choices and consequences play out in the real world, with real people, the impact will be far more profound than the relentless commands that are forgotten or ignored as soon as the parent turns away. This collection of 101 narratives from people around the world and from all walks of life includes lessons that illuminate the power of character, integrity, curiosity, creativity, grit, kindness, patience, gratitude, and other essential characteristics every parent should be trying to instill in their children. Sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes funny, always compelling, these stories impart wisdom and help steer choices about: • Resisting peer pressure• Remaining open-minded• Being humble• Making courageous decisions• Standing by their word• Bouncing back from failure• Showing compassion• Picking friends wisely• And moreThroughout all of history, stories have been used to help shape who we are and who we aspire to come. But effective storytelling doesn’t have to be reserved for teachers, writers, and preachers. As a parent, learn how to share stories, discuss them with your child, and watch your child grow into the adult every parent would be proud of.