What is the single most important responsibility (and greatest hope) of most every parent? To teach their children the values that will make them responsible members of society and maximize their chance for a happy, fulfilling life. Sometimes parents simply hope that their children will pick up their values by osmosis, and that all they need to do is to set a good example for their kids. But it is the parents who deliberately set out to teach their children specific values who succeed. We need the tools of stories and games and any other method available to us to help our children understand each value and know why they need to live by them.
On their most recent podcast, Eyres on the Road, Richard and Linda tell the inside, back story of their book Teaching Your Children Values which became the first family and parenting book in 50 years to reach #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. It is an exciting story involving Oprah, the Today Show, and two of the largest publishers in the world. More importantly, the Eyres discuss why it is so important to deliberately and systematically teach our children values, and how this can best be done by isolating one specific value each month to work on in your family.
