Teach Money Management to Homeschooled Kids

Homeschooling parents have the opportunity to teach their kids character, academic, and practical real-world life skills.  However, one of the most important things parents teach their kids is responsibility. Responsibility impacts most aspects of our lives, from punctuality to money management.

Why Financial Literacy in Schools Needs Improving

Money management is vital for everyone, yet most kids do not truly understand the value of money. Many schools do not teach basic money skills and financial planning in their curriculum.  So, kids learn about money and financial decisions by observing their parents.

Kids often mistakenly assume all they have to do is tap a phone, tap a plastic card, or insert a card into a machine to buy things in person. With online purchases, they see mom or dad select what they want online and check out. A few days later the items arrive at their home.

To further compound the problem, some kids play a wide range of gaming apps that feature in-game purchases. When children play the games, pop-up notifications occur each time they level up to ask if they want to purchase some reward.

Unaware of how money, credit, and debt works, kids tap away to make in-game purchases. Later, their parents are shocked when they discover their kids spent hundreds of dollars on these in-game purchases.

Why Is Money Management Important?

As you can imagine, kids with this type of inadequate money exposure will often struggle later in life when they become young adults. They find it challenging to manage their money to buy the things they want while paying rent, a car loan, and so on.

Kids lacking in practical money skills find it harder to apply money management concepts to make responsible decisions later in life. As such, parents need to take the time to teach personal finance to their children as part of the homeschool curriculum.

Teaching the Basics of Money

A homeschool money management curriculum does not have to be complicated. Parents do not need a finance degree to teach the basics of money to their children, whether in preschool, middle school, or high school.  Parents can even learn a thing or two about money management while teaching their children.

Step 1: Start Early

The sooner you start teaching the concepts of money and financial literacy to your children, the better. There are several excellent resources available for parents looking to give their kids homeschool money lessons in K-5-appropriate language and format. If your kids are a little older—tweens or teens—it is okay as long as you take what they know about money and expand their knowledge of saving, giving, and spending.

Step 2: Cover the Topics of Saving and Spending.

What do you do when you have money? You either spend it, donate it, or save it. Your kids need to understand the benefits and consequences of their financial choices and decisions. 

Parents often use piggy banks with younger children to reinforce money management concepts.  Some parenting experts recommend giving a child three piggy banks: one for saving, one for giving, and the remaining one for spending on things the child wants—like a video game. Piggy banks are tangible tools to use during money management activities for kids who are new to the principles behind financial planning.

Spending comes naturally for most kids, but it is essential to guide your children in understanding the principles of saving and sharing. Allowing them the freedom to manage their spending money gives them a meaningful real-life experience in a safe environment. They learn the value of money when they have to delay a purchase for lack of funds.

Step 3: Use Board Games to Further Reinforce Money Management

Monopoly, Life, and other practical money skills games are great tools to teach your kids about the basics of money. These games require your child to decide how to spend their money and when to save it. It also teaches them the consequences of money-related decisions they make and how their choice between saving and spending can affect their finances in the future.

Step 4: Open a Bank Account

After your child saves some money, a trip to open a savings account at a bank is another real-world experience of money management for kids. The bank makes a grown-up impression on your child. A savings account teaches kids the concept of compound interest as they watch their savings account balance grow.

Step 5: Set Up Online Banking

Set up online banking access on your child’s computer or tablet. When they can see their account balance daily, it helps encourage them to want to save more to see their balance grow. As part of your money management lesson plans, you can also teach them basic banking literacy skills like how to use an ATM, stay safe when purchasing something online, or make transfers between bank accounts.

Creating Healthy Relationships Between Kids and Money

Child learning the value of money

Step 6: Put Them in Charge of Household Finances

A fun exercise is to sit down with your teenage children and let them manage the real-world household finances—with some guidance. You can provide them with a list of the monthly bills and expenses and how much they have to spend to pay those.

If you are not ready to turn over your household finances to your children, let them do the grocery shopping. Most kids do not understand how much food costs. They know mom or dad buys food, so it is there to eat when they get hungry.

Help them make out the grocery list. Next, have them go through the grocery store’s ads to see what items are on sale. Last, have them go through the grocery store’s digital coupons and other coupons. Incorporating these things into their lesson includes the added benefit of showing them how to save money when spending money in real life. This sort of homework teaches life skills that can set them up for financial success later in life, no matter what age they are when they start.

Step 7: Teach Them Bookkeeping Skills

If your kids are middle school or high school students, teach them how to track their spending by keeping a journal. Anytime they spend money, they should record the 1) date, 2) location, 3) amount, and 4) item they purchased with their money.

Anytime they earn or receive money, have them record it in their journal, too, as well as where they put the money—in their piggy bank, savings account, etc. This simple task teaches them necessary bookkeeping skills.

By taking the time to incorporate homeschool financial literacy into your children’s homeschool curriculum, you help them learn about the responsibilities that come with money.

FAQs

Should you teach money management to your kids?

Certainly. Very few schools offer real-life money management lessons or skills to students. Whether your child is homeschooled or attends a school outside the home, it will likely be your prerogative to teach them how to use and manage their money in their best interest.

How long does a money management lesson take?

Money management lessons don’t have to be long. As little as five minutes a day for younger children, or 30 minutes every other day for older children, should be enough to cover all the most important aspects of everyday financial planning.

What should parents teach their kids about money?

There are several important aspects to teach your children about money, including:

  • The value of money, or how much time or effort goes into earning money, and how that translates into the value they place on the things they want to purchase with that money
  • Basic budgeting for things like groceries or home maintenance
  • The value of saving, whether in a piggy bank or savings account and how that can allow them to purchase the things they want even if they don’t have enough money from the start

How to Set Up Your Kids for Financial Success

Teaching a money lesson in homeschool

The best way to set up your kids for financial success is to include a homeschool finance curriculum in your lesson plans. Even if your kids aren’t homeschooled, few institutions focus on teaching money management in schools, and you may still need to fill in that life skills gap yourself. You can find a wide range of free resources to help you develop topics for all school levels and age levels.

HONORABLE CHARACTER’s Home System is another valuable money management tool for parents. It provides a simple structure with a unique approach to end nagging, and reinforces character development while teaching kids about the importance of family participation through chores. The concepts in this character-building chore chart can easily be adapted and applied to any age or grade level.

The HONORABLE CHARACTER Home System helps kids cultivate habits and skills necessary to become emotionally centered, productive, and successful adults.  To learn more about our Home System, please feel free to browse online or contact us at 866-416-5043 today!

How to Build Intrinsic Motivation in Students: 3 Key Insights

Students typically receive praise for scoring high marks on assignments and assessments; this framework tends to place extensive value on innate intellectual ability. However, this rewards system fails to acknowledge the immense and equally powerful weight that having drive affords children in the classroom and well beyond.

The ability to be self-motivated allows students not to rely on external sources of validation in order to strive for stellar academic performance. When students try to do well in school for their own benefit, it builds confidence and a self-starter attitude. It dissolves a reliance on a need for external reassurance from educators and parents that will extend well beyond their years in conventional educational settings.

Intrinsic motivation is an equal, if not a more significant, indicator of success in school, careers, relationships, etc. than instinctive intelligence. With a true drive to learn and grow, students can tackle any challenge put in front of them, academic or otherwise. By focusing on developing key character traits in children and thus boosting their awareness of their own significance, educators embed intrinsic motivation in the classroom, giving students the capacity to stimulate their own learning.

However, as powerful as the connection between intrinsic motivation and student performance may be, instilling this sense of inner drive is infinitely more challenging than simply falling back on the carrot-or-stick method so often encouraged in education.

To help educators influence and teach in a manner that produces well-rounded, motivated students who want to learn for the sake of learning, we’ve compiled some of the best approaches to fostering intrinsic motivation in developing children.

Encourage Students to Be Responsible

The key to motivation in the classroom is teaching students to adopt a sense of responsibility for themselves, loved ones, and peers. Doing well in school is one way to gain a parent’s or educator’s trust, and children learn that with trust comes independence. Establishing a sense of pride in responsibility is self-reinforcing for children and encourages an inner drive to do well in school, independent of grades and feedback they may receive.

More often than not, this enhanced intrinsic motivation for students to do their best also leads to far greater academic achievement and dedication than simply offering rewards in exchange for good grades.

Encourage Acts of Service

Motivated child helping another child at school

Engaging students in acts of service for others illustrates how doing a kindness for someone else can elevate a sense of self-esteem and purpose. When students recognize the positive effects of treating others well, this cements the importance of responsibility toward those counting on them. Teaching students the value of acts of service is an effective way to incorporate intrinsic motivation examples in the classroom. It fosters an intention to do good, not only for themselves but the world around them, reciprocally strengthening their sense of responsibility to excel academically.

Encourage Self-Control

child working on an assignment in the classroom

For students to attain self-driven and sustained motivation in education, they must recognize that their ability to progress is within the bounds of their own control. When students realize the agency they hold over their behavior in school, this, in turn, grants them a sense of autonomy over their lives. Teaching children self-control equips them with the tools to direct their future. Students recognize the autonomous power within their grasp with the realization that they can and will succeed if they are able to control their own emotions and motivations.

Encourage Autonomy

Like personal responsibility, allowing children to make their own decisions and learn in an autonomous environment increases their intrinsic motivation, confidence, and sense of self-worth. Examples of ways to encourage autonomy in the classroom include listening to students, taking their opinions and viewpoints seriously, allocating time for them to work independently, and giving them the freedom of choice regarding how they approach a task or assignment in class.

Another method is to ask students what they are curious about or interested in when approaching a new subject, and allowing them to learn or explore these interests throughout the time spent on the topic.

Autonomy can also be encouraged by avoiding behaviors or teaching methods that seek to control motivation, such as offering too little time for students to work on problems independently, giving them the answer without letting them try to solve the problem themselves, and using questions that aim to direct and control their answers and conversation without letting them answer according to their own beliefs or understanding.

Responsibility, acts of service, and self-control are just a handful of character strengths that allow students to develop the independence and emotional intelligence they need to be self-driven in an academic setting. By focusing on developing these abilities to lift themselves and others up around them, a sense of purpose is embedded in them that successfully motivates students to learn while acknowledging the value of determination and perseverance.

When choosing motivational strategies in the classroom, promoting these intrinsic character traits in developing children ignites the spark to achieve academic success and lays the foundation for cultivating multi-dimensional, emotionally aware human beings.

The Importance of Teaching Courage to Students

Strategies for Building Resilience and Confidence

Teaching courage to students can empower them in school and in life. Courage can be a challenging topic to teach, but it is essential to developing a solid foundation of self-worth and self-determination. What is personal courage and how can it be taught at home and in the classroom?

Teaching Students About Courage

Explaining and recognizing acts of courage to young people should start with the reality that we all feel fear and anxiety in the face of personal challenges. Courage is best described as an honorable decision made in the presence of fear. While everyone feels uncertain or afraid at times, we learn how to show courage by pushing through self-doubt and taking a risk that we know is worthwhile.

The effects of being courageous can be immediate and positive, such as introducing yourself to the new kid in class or joining in extracurricular activities. Sometimes the signs of a student’s courage are more subtle. Actively observing and giving recognition to students who take a brave step is one key to teaching courage in the classroom.

1. Changing The Classroom Dynamic

Teacher, learning and helping girl in classroom for knowledge

Teaching and encouraging students to show courage might necessitate changing some aspects of a traditional classroom dynamic. While it is important to encourage good behavior and focused attention on the curriculum, this can sometimes create an environment where students do not feel they can speak out or take courageous actions. You may need to incorporate a more formal program to encourage this kind of honorable behavior.

To foster and empower courage in the classroom:

  • Make it acceptable to try but fail at stretch assignments.
  • Use a growth mindset that focuses on personal strengths and character development.
  • Create a psychologically safe space where students can speak out appropriately.
  • Provide positive social encouragement to promote a sense of belonging.
  • Recognize and praise acts of courage and provide examples of courage for students.

2. Overcoming Presentation Anxiety

There are many types of courage, but one of the moments when it is most difficult to summon up this determination in the face of fear is when speaking in public. While many of us feel nervous when we have to give a presentation, encouraging students to learn this skill early will help them throughout their life and in their future careers.

Fostering not only confidence in public speaking but an appreciation of the courage it takes to stand up in front of the class also encourages students to appreciate the efforts of others. Building a classroom environment that encourages supportive feedback and honors the efforts of others will help students feel safer in standing up for presentations.

3. Supporting Students Making Courageous Choices

In real life, courage for kids comes in many sizes and shapes. It might require courage for your child to make new friends, read aloud, or participate in sports. Recognizing the bravery it takes to approach a new person or try something new and risk failure is as important as praising the results.

Help students understand that small acts of courage have a powerful impact on their friends and community. While it takes a tremendous amount of bravery to stand up to a bully, it is also very courageous to stand next to the one being abused, to befriend them, or to bring school bullying or harassment to the attention of a trusted teacher or administrator.

4. Recognizing Courage as Doing the Right Thing

One of the bravest things that a student may need to do is say “no.” Facing the fear of social stigma, ridicule, or being ostracized for refusing to go along with a group requires courage on a daily basis. Knowing when something is dangerous, illegal, or immoral is the first step, but it requires courage to say no to peer pressure at school and stay true to your personal values and goals.

Developing a greater sense of personal responsibility and confidence in the classroom empowers students to speak up or step away from situations that they know are wrong for them. They can sharpen their skills with roleplay and thought problems that help students think through ethical dilemmas and real life challenges they may face.

How to Teach Courage to Students in the Classroom

Happy diverse multiethnic kids junior school students group giving high five together in classroom.

For resources designed to teach courage and honorable behavior in the classroom, consider incorporating a classroom or schoolwide package of resource materials from Honorable Character. Parents, teachers, and entire school systems use these programs to encourage holistic student development, resilience, and confidence in all students.

Cultivating Student Attentiveness in the Classroom

Understanding the essence of student attentiveness in the classroom is pivotal for fostering a successful teaching-learning experience, especially for students in preschool through elementary levels. Integrating positive character traits into learning environments enriches them, blending cognitive strategies and attention management strategies to fortify students’ interpersonal skills, self-awareness, and academic stamina.

Building Blocks of Attentiveness

The early years of learning are the formative period where the focus should be on fostering attention span, encouraging children to increase attention and pay attention to the tasks at hand. Attention strategies in these years are crucial as they lay the foundation for advanced learning and cognitive development.

Engaging Attention Strategies

  • Active Learning: Involve students in hands-on activities and interactive learning experiences. Active learning aids in the retention of knowledge and enhances student attention.
  • Variety in Teaching Methods: Diversifying teaching methods keeps the learning environment stimulating. Mixing lectures, discussions, and group activities can cater to various learning preferences.
  • Frequent Breaks: Short, regular breaks can help maintain high levels of focus and prevent attention fatigue among younger students.

Implementing Cognitive Teaching Strategies

  • Structured Routines: A predictable and organized environment is comforting for young minds. A structured routine supports cognitive development and fosters a sense of security and stability.
  • Positive Reinforcement: Encouragement and positive feedback increase students’ confidence and motivate them to pay attention. Honorable Character’s system reinforces positive behaviors, boosting student self-esteem and attentiveness.
  • Goal Setting: Setting achievable goals encourages students to stay focused. Breaking tasks into smaller, manageable pieces makes learning more attainable and less overwhelming.

Enhancing Attention Management Strategies

  • Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Teaching students simple relaxation and mindfulness exercises can help in calming their minds and increasing their attention span.
  • Visual and Auditory Aids: Utilizing colorful visuals, engaging sounds, and interactive multimedia can be especially effective in capturing and maintaining the attention of younger students.
  • Personalized Learning Paths: Recognizing individual learning needs and tailoring teaching approaches can significantly enhance student attention and comprehension.

Strategic Integration of Positive Character Traits

Honorable Character's Character Building worksheet for the classroom

The strategic integration of positive character traits is crucial for children’s attentiveness and enriching learning environments. By embedding traits like responsibility, diligence, respect, and integrity, a balanced learning atmosphere is created, promoting student engagement and reducing distractions.

This approach embodied by Honorable Character not only empowers students by enhancing resilience, growth mindset, and self-awareness but also ensures inclusivity by addressing the diverse needs and learning styles of all students. In essence, integrating positive character traits is fundamental in developing attentive, enlightened, and well-rounded individuals, providing a holistic learning experience and paving the way for a future where learning is an enriching journey for everyone.

Parental Role in Attention Development

Parents and guardians play a pivotal role in enhancing student attentiveness. Consistency between home and school environments in implementing attention strategies and cognitive teaching strategies is crucial. Encouraging a routine, limiting distractions, and providing a conducive learning environment at home are vital components in cultivating attentiveness. Furthermore, parents’ active involvement in their child’s learning process, through regular communication with educators and participation in school activities, creates a supportive and collaborative learning ecosystem.

This nurtures a sense of security and belonging in students, enabling them to focus better and absorb information more effectively. Additionally, reinforcing positive behavior and attention management strategies at home solidifies the learning and development occurring in school. The alignment of values and expectations between parents and educators ensures a seamless and supportive learning experience for the child.

Measurable Outcomes and Continuous Improvement

Effective attention strategies result in observable improvements in student attention, learning capacity, and overall behavior. Regular assessments and feedback are essential for understanding individual progress and refining strategies to meet the evolving needs of the students.

By concentrating on fostering attentiveness from an early age, we are not just shaping more focused and attentive individuals but contributing to the cultivation of responsible, empathetic, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow.

Join the Journey to Enhanced Learning with Honorable Character

Teacher working with attentive students on a project

Become a proponent of profound change and enriched learning experiences with Honorable Character. Join us in our mission to integrate positive character traits into classrooms and homes, elevating student attentiveness, interpersonal skills, self-awareness, and academic stamina. Explore our innovative behavioral system and be a part of cultivating enriched learning environments that empower the leaders, innovators, and conscientious individuals of the future.

To learn more about how you can implement our schoolwide packages in your classroom, visit our website or contact us today! Together, we can make a substantial difference in the lives of our children and shape a brighter, more compassionate future.

Managing Disruptive Student Behavior

In the early stages of a child's educational journey, spanning from preschool to elementary school, they are embarking on a voyage of social and emotional discovery. As they navigate these uncharted waters, the integration of positive character traits becomes paramount. It's not uncommon for educators and parents to encounter disruptive student behavior, which can affect the harmony and productivity of the learning environment. Let's explore effective strategies for addressing disruptive behavior in the classroom together.

Identifying Disruptive Student Behavior

Disruptive behaviors include a range of actions such as constant talking, use of mobile devices, defiance, and aggression. Recognizing disruptive student conduct early can aid in maintaining a conducive learning environment, allowing all students to pay attention and participate.

Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior

Establish Clear Expectations

From day one, make your expectations clear about classroom behavior. Establish rules that promote respect, responsibility, and safety. Consistency in reinforcing these expectations can deter students from engaging in disruptive behaviors.

Positive Reinforcement

Intentionally reinforcing honorable student conduct with verbal recognition energizes intrinsic motivation and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a harmonious learning environment.

Interactive and Engaging Lessons

Curating lessons that are interactive and engaging can significantly reduce disruptive classroom behavior. When students find the material interesting, they are less likely to engage in disruptive actions.

Proactive Interventions

Anticipate potential disruptive behaviors and intervene proactively. Recognizing triggers and patterns can help in implementing strategies to mitigate disruptive student behavior before it escalates.

Effective Communication

Maintaining open lines of communication with students can aid in understanding the underlying causes of their behavior. Active listening, coupled with clear and concise responses, can help in resolving issues and restoring harmony in the learning environment.

Integrate Character Education

Infusing Honorable Character’s positive traits into the learning sphere fosters an environment conducive to both social and academic growth. This method is instrumental in curtailing disruptive student behavior, as it ingrains values such as respect, responsibility, and kindness. Embedding these principles is a proven method for heart-based character and academic growth.

This integration plays a pivotal role in developing empathy and resilience among students, thus facilitating a more harmonious and collaborative learning environment. Such an enriched atmosphere not only improves interpersonal relationships but also nurtures a mutually respectful and supportive educational setting, encouraging every student to become the best version of themselves.

Partner with Parents

Maintaining a strong connection with parents is pivotal in managing disruptive students. Regular, clear, and constructive communication about a child’s behavior and academic progress can foster a collaborative relationship between home and school. This partnership can create consistent behavioral expectations and consequences, leading to stable learning environments and strengthened teacher-student relationships.

Parents can provide unique insights into their child's needs and behavior triggers, aiding educators in crafting effective intervention strategies. Honorable Character’s Conduct Card is a weekly, ready made communication tool that expedites communication between home and school. It enables a united approach to addressing disruptive behaviors, reinforcing honorable conduct, and promoting a harmonious learning environment. By engaging in regular and meaningful dialogues with parents, educators can build a supportive educational framework, ensuring the development of balanced and adaptable individuals.

Key Takeaways

young woman reading to her preschool students.
  • Identifying and understanding disruptive behaviors will be pivotal in creating a conducive learning environment.
  • Implementing strategies like clear expectations, engaging lessons, and positive recognition can mitigate disruptive student conduct.
  • Integrating positive character traits into the learning environment supports the holistic development of students.
  • A strong partnership with parents is crucial in fostering and maintaining positive student behavior.

Invest in Your Classroom Environment with Honorable Character

Managing disruptive student behavior is essential to maintaining a positive and productive learning environment. We have devised a behavioral system that intertwines 14 honorable character traits into the learning space, aiding in students’ interpersonal growth, self-awareness, and academic endurance. Visit our schoolwide packages to learn more about how Honorable Character can pave the way for a brighter, more harmonious future.

The Benefits of Using Anchor Charts for Classroom Management

What are anchor charts, and what are the benefits of using them in the classroom? Classroom anchor charts are visual learning tools that remind students of a topic’s key principles. They function as an anchor by keeping the important content visible, while holding the students’ attention, and solidifying the content in their mind.

Visual charts make thoughts and goals tangible and reliable. They serve as a resource that a young learner can refer to with just a glance. Having both subject matter and a classroom rules anchor chart in place reminds students of behavioral expectations, learning strategies, and academic goals.

The Benefits of Anchor Charts for Classroom Management

Classroom anchor charts provide a consistent visual reminder of academic, behavioral, and social expectations in the learning environment. By reinforcing these important concepts with character anchor charts highlighting honorable and ethical behaviors, teachers can support students in developing social skills, academic engagement and emotional intelligence.

Anchor charts can help by:

  • Using verbal, written, and visual cues to engage and support students’ different learning styles
  • Encouraging students to discuss, define, and feel ownership over their classroom behaviors
  • Providing a consistent set of expectations between classrooms to reinforce appropriate behavior

Aligning Classroom Management Anchor Charts

Educators often struggle to create classroom management anchor charts for their classrooms. Anchor charts for academic subjects and topics can be made with student input and teacher guidance, but the anchor charts used for classroom management are most effective when they are consistent across the entire school.

Some time-conscious teachers and administrators select a visual anchor chart from a proven program, like the Honorable Character Classroom Management System, for a ready-made solution for schoolwide consistency. Others create their own based on trusted resources. Either way, the elements of an anchor chart include:

  • The title
  • The objective or intention of the chart
  • The subject line
  • A summary of the subject, rules, or expectations
  • Tips and reminders students can refer to
  • Images, pictures, or icons representing every concept

Using Anchor Charts to Promote Better Behavior

Young students being respectful and raising their hands

Anchor charts focusing on positive behaviors and habits help create a healthy and productive learning environment. Schools use these charts to build a consistent language and classroom culture that encourages academic success, supports students’ confidence, and develops the character that ultimately leads to their success.

When classroom expectations are visible and clearly stated, students feel safe to engage in learning confidently, hold themselves accountable, navigate transitions smoothly, and participate fully in daily routines. Well-designed classroom anchor charts simultaneously support student learning and character growth.

Classroom Management Strategies Using Anchor Charts

Creating an effective classroom management anchor chart can be challenging. You should bring teachers, staff, and administrators together to choose the right content for your classroom behavior anchor charts. Then, you must design them visually appealing with grade-appropriate language and graphics and print them on high-quality chart paper for distribution.

Many school districts choose to save their teachers’ precious time and select a proven product line designed for district-wide use for all grade levels. This can be a great tool for beginning to build a positive school culture that celebrates positive character traits and offers guided practice in areas of growth. Students and teachers thrive in a school where everyone is anchored to the same solid principles of respectful and supportive language and behavior.

Why Choose a Consistent Anchor Chart System?

When schools use a consistent classroom management anchor chart across the campus, with age-appropriate language and graphics, students can:

  • Engage actively in learning.
  • Understand expectations and goals of classroom behavior.
  • See visual reminders when the teacher directs or refers to the graphics used.
  • Work and socialize more independently in a safe and inclusive environment.
  • Refer to a resource to generate deeper discussions using critical thinking skills.
  • Understand classroom procedures and routines and how they promote fairness and respect.
  • Improve social skills by learning better ways to communicate with sensitivity and respect for others.

Providing a Solid Anchor for Student Improvement

Character-focused anchor charts are effective classroom management tools to reinforce expectations for student behavior. Parents can use similar tools to bridge the gap and promote the same valued character traits at home. Promoting and recognizing positive real-time character and behavior is the cornerstone to the Honorable Character system.

This evidence-based system is proven successful in classroom management and in developing a school culture of respect, honesty, kindness and responsibility in all learning environments. Studies show that a focus on teaching character can improve overall behavior by 70% and traits such as responsibility and respect by 50%.

Implementing the Honorable Character system across the grade levels in your school or home has many advantages. Our system can use anchor charts and tangible tools to reduce disruptions and help children learn. Teachers can spend less time managing problem behaviors and more time teaching the curriculum.

How Anchor Charts Work with Honorable Character

Teachers can successfully create character-focused anchor charts by selecting one of Honorable Character’s 14 character traits to display in their classroom. Besides engaging with a student positively when they exhibit a character trait like respect, a visual and interactive anchor chart relating to that trait can be used to deepen the learning and character development.

When introducing a class to a new concept, a teacher can create a blank anchor chart and engage the students in an active discussion to complete it. For example, when teaching RESPECT, students can share what they think respect "looks like" in the classroom, the school, at home, or with each other. This visual and interactive RESPECT anchor chart deepens students' understanding of the trait and encourages their character growth and development. The anchor chart below is an example of what a teacher's anchor chart for a specific trait might look like.

Respect anchor chart for students

Learn More About Classroom Management Charts and Materials

Honorable Character schoolwide packages

If you want to learn more about how the Honorable Character system can transform school cultures and promote social and emotional growth for teachers and students, contact us for more information. We have complete systems that include a character trait poster, teacher resource binder, recording charts, conduct cards, and a year of access to web-based teacher training modules.

We even offer staff training and on-demand ask-an-expert resources to help school districts implement the best positive reinforcement approaches to problem behaviors. With premium packages for elementary school districts at $99.99 per classroom, you can purchase these supportive resources at a fraction of the cost of developing your own.

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Teaching Money Management for Homeschooled Kids

When homeschooling kids, parents have the responsibility of teaching them inside and outside the classroom. One of the most important things parents can teach their kids is responsibility. Responsibility has impacts on various aspects of our lives, from being on time for appointments to managing money and finances.

What School Performance Indicators Should Focus On?

Education is more than just teaching children various subjects. There are numerous performance indicators in elementary education, middle school education, and high school education curriculums. Some school districts have hundreds of indicators to track.