CHARACTER

by Britton Latulippe

Yes, your kids can count, but can they muster courage? They can read, but can they persist? They can write, but can they tell the truth—the whole truth? They know a lot, but are they wise? These are important questions to answer because in the world of raising children for greatness, character is king. Character will rule over your children for the rest of their lives. But great character will not form in your child’s heart on its own. And unlike academics, character cannot be properly developed by reading textbooks or listening to lectures in a classroom. It won’t happen in an afternoon. It is not a class followed by a final exam. Character is a way of life. The lessons begin when your children wake and end when they fall asleep, from the time they are young, until they are old. And training character requires much wisdom. But there is little wisdom practiced today. Contemporary “experts” have replaced truth with progressive theory, ignoring all the great Christian virtues except kindness and tolerance, and yet, modern children can hardly be described even as such. In this age of school shootings and mass bullying, the modern world has proved it is no better at training children’s character than it is at educating them. The Art of Raising Children for Character has the wisdom parents so desperately need. It is the wisdom of the great tutors and families of old and the elite prep schools of today, whose children have gone on to shape and rule the world. Read this book—your children’s character depends on it.

Genres: Parenting

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 7, 2020

Reviews

[Marissa Grasso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having established in his first two books the monster of public school (Revealing School) and the antidote, bringing effective education to children intended for greatness (Education) Britton LaTulippe now sets out to show parents indispensable keys to achieving and using greatness well.
I have no idea how many books have been written for parents on teaching good character to children. I’m sure it’s close to a zillion. This book is one of them. However, it stands apart from them because the established goal is different. While some books seem pleased to teach children to appreciate virtue, LaTulippe advocates hands-on training in subjects like “Courage”. While some set the bar at basic politeness, and stop once the child is ‘nice’, LaTulippe’s Character speaks to parents with confidence about the power God has given to them to raise up their children with Great character. The motivation to do so is easily found in the illustration given of Alexander “the Great”. Alexander had the education and military prowess to conquer swaths of the world, but lacked the moral character to rule them (or even himself) well once the conquering ended. Of what use are all of our efforts in training our children to be great if they do not have the moral strength to sustain the “empire” they eventually have charge of?
The chapters on individual virtues begin with one rarely discussed these days: Honor. Using Biblical, historical, and personal examples, the author defines and builds a case for the importance of honor. He also explores the Enlightenment’s attempt at replacing the traditional “Honor Code” with the “Law of Consent”. The contrast between these two is a significant understanding that I’ve rarely heard brought to attention.
Character building continues through insightful considerations of the virtues, Love, Faith, Courage, Integrity, Discipline, Respect, Self-Control, Sin, Loyalty, Humility, Chastity, Joy, and Contentment.
Without going into details that might prove to be spoilers, a few highlights for me were: the Biblical, psychological, and practical discussion of positive parenting found in the chapter on Discipline; the military concept of “Attention” for training self-control; and the nuanced contrast between dissatisfaction which drives innovation, and discontentment which brings depression.
All told, even if you’ve read one hundred volumes on Character, I encourage you to make it one hundred-one with this book.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not your typical advice book for raising children. This book gets to the heart of any Christian that wants to raise children to not only say they are a Christian, but to live as one. With insight from raising his own family, Latulippe delivers tried and tested advice for guiding our children toward Christ, loving others, respecting others and having respect for themselves. Words of wisdom to help guide us in teaching our children the importance of kindness, generosity, loyal and courageous, Latulippe tries to guide us into the difficult conversations and choices as a parent that will help our children grow in faith and maturity. My priority as a parent is to have children who are going to lead others to Christ and walk in boldness as they journey in this world. This book helped give me the motivation and nudge I needed to continue to raise my children for the greatness God created them to be.

[Shanae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved book 2 "Education." I had great high hopes going into this book. And then it challenged me. On so many pieces. And I struggled and fought and wrestled with my views on character and how they relate to scripture and how Mr Latulippe interprets them. And while I was confused and talked with my friend about it a lot, I came to the conclusion that I really loved reading this. It made me figure out why I parent the way I do, why I am doing what I am doing, and why it matters to me. I don't read a lot of books that challenge me as an adult, but I probably should. This was good for me. Even though it was hard.