20 Teachable Virtues: Practical Ways to Pass on Lessons of Virtue

by Jerry L. Wyckoff

How can you be sure that you're teaching your children the lessons of virtue that were passed on to you? Today's parents often feel that they have too little time in their busy schedules to handle such an important task. They're not even sure where to begin. In 20 Teachable Virtues authors Barbara C. Unell and Jerry L. Wyckoff, Ph.D. demonstrate the simple ways that you can teach your children to care about others and about themselves. By using everyday time together, however brief, you can pass on the lessons of virtue that are most important to your familytoday and for generations to come.

At a time when values seem to be on the decline and children are looking to their parents for guidance, this new book argues that the building of a more moral society begins in the home. Through numerous anecdotes and examples, Unell and Wyckoff show parents how a select group of 20 virtues can be instilled, and warn how easily kids can be sent the wrong message.

"To learn to live in society," write the authors, "all children must learn to balance their personal wants against the needs of the social group (family, neighborhood, school, society). Today we see far too few examples of this kind of balance as people put their own wants and needs above all othersall of the time." Through the use of numerous anecdotes which illustrate each virtue, 20 Teachable Virtues shows how common occurrences can become "teachable moments".

Genres: Parenting, Psychology

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1995

Reviews

[Brandi D'Angelo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little outdated (1995,) but overall, some good suggestions on how to teach different virtues to your kid. Empathy was listed first as a precursor to several other virtues such as respect, helpfulness, tolerance, and caring. One thing I found interesting was that they said that behavior change precedes attitude change, so if an attitude change is needed, first change the behavior. Mainly what I garnered from this book is that it's important for parents to model the virtues and use daily living situations and interactions to point out various virtues and why they work well. I think this book would work well as a reference tool, referring to it as needed with different behavioral issues.

[Bonnie Roman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of this is common sense, or stuff that I've read elsewhere, but overall I really liked this book. Good refresher for sure, with everything in one place. I happen to feel that a lot of the examples don't really fit the definition of the virtue, that they'd have been better placed elsewhere in the book, or under new headings, but I appreciated all the real life examples.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit preachy, this book gives practical examples of how to handle family dilemmas and teach virtue to children. Most useful for children aged 4 and up.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, lots of practical examples of ways to teach given virtue. Glad I read it. Passing it on to a friend with younger children.

[AJ]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11795265

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, but not great.