Parenting Resources
Doodlestix is not intended to be the sole source of character education for your child. Rather, it is one tool in your toolbox to support and reinforce your efforts to teach your children. If you’re like us though, you probably want all the help you can get! Below, we have compiled a list of online and organizational character education resources which may be of further assistance:
Character Counts
http://www.charactercounts.org
Character Counts is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian organization that promotes the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. It is the most widely implemented approach to character education, embraced by thousands of schools, communities, public agencies and nonprofits.
Character Education Partnership
The Character Education Partnership is a national advocate and leader for the character education movement. Based in Washington, D.C., they are a nonprofit, nonpartisan, nonsectarian, coalition of organizations and individuals committed to fostering effective character education in our nation’s K-12 schools.
The Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character
The Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character at Boston University was founded in 1989 in connection with the university’s 150th anniversary. The purpose of the Center is to address the broad range of issues related to young people acquiring sound ethical values and forming good character. While this is a broad mission, to date the work of the Center has focused on the responsibilities of teachers and schools.
California University of Pennsylvania Character Education Institute
http://www.cup.edu/education/charactered/
This organization distributes the Character Education Curriculum which is designed to help pre-kindergarten through middle school students build self-esteem, avoid substance abuse and negative peer pressure, understand and accept diversity in society, use self-discipline to achieve goals, and develop critical thinking skills.
Center for the Fourth and Fifth Rs
http://www.cortland.edu/character/
Serves as a regional, state, and national resource in character education. A growing national movement, character education is essential to the task of building a moral society and developing schools which are civil and caring communities.
Character Development Group
http://charactereducation.com/
Character Development Group is one of the country’s leading providers of character education staff development resources. It includes the Character Education Series of books, curricula, and workshops, all developed by Dr. Philip Fitch Vincent’s, one of the world’s leading experts in the field. The company also distributes the best-selling Developing Character in Students: A Primer for Teachers, Parents and Communities, and 19 other publications used extensively in schools throughout the U.S.
The Communitarian Network
A network of individuals and organizations banded together to strengthen the moral, social, and political environment.
Community of Caring, Inc.
http://www.communityofcaring.org/
Community of Caring combines teacher training, values discussions, teen forums, parental involvement and community service with already existing school programs to address early sexual development, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and school dropout. It stresses the relationship between the decisions teenagers make in life and individual value systems by emphasizing the importance of respect, responsibility, trust, caring, and the family.
Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR)
Offers instructional materials and teacher training on character education, conflict resolution, and violence prevention.
Ethics Resource Center
The Ethics Resource Center produces video-based programs to help teachers develop and reinforce positive values and character traits in students, including What Should You Do?: Deciding What’s Right, a program for grades 4-6; and Not For Sale: Ethics in the American Workplace, which offers students an introduction to the relationship between personal morality, professional responsibility, and business ethics.
Heartwood Institute
http://www.goodcharacter.com/Links.html
This institute fosters moral literacy and ethical judgment by providing an anchor for children in universal virtues common to the world’s cultures and traditions. Courage, loyalty, justice, respect, hope, honesty and love are presented in quality, read-aloud, multi-cultural stories which touch the heart and develop within the child a strong basis for moral character and development.
International Center for Character Education (ICCE)
http://www.sandiego.edu/ce/ICCE/
The International Center for Character Education emphases how effective character education programs can… increase student achievement, ... reduce violence, increase peaceful resolution of conflict by using “ The Four Pillars of Democracy: home, school, church, community.”
Jefferson Center for Character Education
http://www.jeffersoncenter.org/
The Jefferson Center develops and provides curricula, programs, and publications that teach core values and ethical decision-making skills that foster good conduct, personal and civic responsibility, academic achievement, and work-force readiness.
Josephson Institute of Ethics
http://www.josephsoninstitute.org/
A nationwide nonprofit initiative to support nonpartisan, nonsectarian character education. This institute publishes Ethics: Easier Said Than Done, December 1992, issues 19 and 20, focusing on developing moral values in youth. They coordinate the Character Counts Coalition, a long-term, grassroots campaign to combat violence, dishonesty, and irresponsibility through its network of over 30 organizations devoted to the education and training of young people.
Peace Learning Center (PLC)
http://www.peacelearningcenter.org/
Indiana PLC provides a variety of conflict management trainings and services empowering our community to discover responsible ways to deal with conflict.
Parents.com
Parents.com features a home page that is refreshed regularly and offers something new and exciting every day, giving parents a reason to make frequent visits. Parents.com is produced by the publishers of Parents, Child, Ser Padres, The Newborn Group, Family Circle, McCall’s, American Homestyle & Gardening, YM, and Fitness. They are proud to now be extending their leadership position as parenthood and family information providers to the online world with Parents.com.
Family Education Network
The Family Education Network is a special place online. You’ll find activities for your children and news and information about bringing up children. Categories on the site include: School Time, Family Learning, Activities, Health & Safety, News Watch, kidszone, Special Needs, Learning Disabilities, and College. There are “Ask the Expert” departments focusing upon pediatrics, special needs, and family therapy.
Family.com
At Disney’s Family.Com, you’ll find areas such as Activities, Computing, Education, Family Ties, Food, Travel, Local Information, Boards, and Chats. There are projects for children, suggestions for biking safety, sample report cards, summer camping guides, information about children’s gardening, etc
Parent Soup
Parent Soup, an iVillage Community, has discussion groups, chats, library and search resources, members’ area, a popular Baby Names section, and more. You’ll find chats on topics such as learning disabilities and being grandparents, and there are parent polls, video picks for families, holiday ideas, and homework help site information.
A Magazine for Parents and Children on the Worldwide Web
“Parents and Children Online Together” comes from the ERIC Clearinghouse for Reading, English and Communication. Included on the site are articles and previous magazine issues relating to learning of language arts skills.
You’ll find that this site contains some very nice stories for families to read together. The focus is upon the elementary grades, and there are articles for parents on children’s learning, literacy, stress, reading difficulties, etc. Children will also enjoy The Global Campfire where stories are started and continued by online friends everywhere.
Family Internet
http://www.familyinternet.com/
The Family Internet contains topics such as Entertainment, Parenting, Komputer Klinic, Pets Corner, Family Internet Times newsletter, Finance, Fun Stuff, Travel, Family Health, Fashion, and Cooking. There’s an abundance of information for parents from locating facts that will help in the selection of a family pet to links to other valuable sites for families.
U.S. Government Site for Parents
For electronic versions of government pamphlets dealing with children and families, select the US Government Publications site. You’ll find resources on helping your child with traditional school subjects such as mathematics, reading, geography, and science. Some of these pamphlets are available in Spanish, and some target use of the library and doing homework.
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is one of the best web sites focusing upon safety for children. It offers suggestions for keeping children safe both offline and online, guidelines relating to choosing babysitters and child care centers, and an extensive data base of missing children.
