Welcome to Wednesday! In today’s Character Issue you’ll find some inspiring quotes and quality questions designed to spark discussions with your students about our character trait of the month: courage.
Courage: Attempting difficult things that are worthwhile and facing difficulties and challenges with determination to do the right thing even when others don’t.
Catch Phrase: Dare to be different!
If you are a SLOCA family, then congratulations you are already doing something courageous! We believe that our method of education is worthwhile and wonderous, however, we acknowledge that it is not always easy. There are difficulties and challenges that follow us down this unique and special path that we have chosen. By committing to a SLOCA way of life and education you are daring to be different.
“What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?”― Vincent Van Gogh
So what are some ways we can encourage our kids to be courageous? Here is a collection of questions and activities to prompt discussions and hopefully challenge your entire family to dare to be different.
- You can get the conversation started by having your kids list words or phrases they associate with courage. See if they can come up with any idioms. Challenge them to think of some possible antonyms as well. Here’s a link to help — Power Thesaurus.
- Talk about some recent books they have read and discuss who was the most courageous character in the book? Have them describe why they consider that character courageous. (TIP — This question is an excellent discussion starter for other character traits as well. “Who showed humility?”, etc.).
- What is something they have done recently that required them to dare to be different?
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Discuss the above quote by FDR. Ask your students what they think it means? What are some things that are more important to them than fear? What are some of their fears?
- We’ve talked about the fear of failure — this is an excellent time to remind our students that mistakes are okay; that it requires courage to try something new especially when the outcome is unknown.
- Brainstorm ways your family can dare to be different. Make a goal to act on a least one of your ideas.
- Is courage contagious? Can they think of any examples?
“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” ― Maya Angelou
- Why do they think courage is a SLOCA character trait? Can they think of other character traits that require courage in order to do them well? For example, sometimes it requires courage to be kind when you fear you may be made fun of. And it takes courage to own up to our mistakes and accept responsibility for our actions, etc.
- Last month’s character trait was humility. When we think of courage we often think of being bold, brave, and confident. Can one be humble and courageous at the same time?
- It seems fitting that we are discussing Queen Elizabeth I this week as we introduce our character trait courage. Ask your kids to name a few of the choices she made or things she did that demonstrated her courage.
- If your students have been reading The Shakespeare Stealer, you can discuss the main character, Widge, and his courage or lack thereof. During a moment of introspection, he reflects, “when two paths were open to me…I took the one easiest to travel, without regard to where it led. I had never deliberately chosen the perilous or demanding path” (page 175). Widge eventually decides to take the path that “required courage” (page 187). What was that path and what was the outcome of his decision? Was it worth it?
We hope you have found these questions to be helpful starting off points for rich discussion with your kids about courage. Let us know how you are daring to be different. Comment below!
