The Family Virtues Guide: Simple Ways to Bring Out the Best in Our Children and Ourselves

I came across this book in Australia 9 years ago and inmediately bought one. I still use it today. It is the only "parenting" book that I've found truly useful. It is relevant for children from as young as 3 till adult. Indeed, much of it gives fruit for thought for us parents as individuals as well. It is a wonderful tool for developing ethics and integrity, learning about virtues and values, your own and others' and what are universal virtues. I cannot recommend this book more strongly, not only because of its content, but also because it is fun and empowering to do.

What is the most important gift we can give our child during the few short years parents exercise major influence? Could it be that giving them a strong moral and ethical framework is the most important task we face? The voices are few, but they are growing - voices that say that ethics is the missing link in the world today. Voices that say that virtues need to be taught to our children in schools. Voices expressed in such books as "The Quiet revolution; Encouraging Positive Values in our Children" where we are told about a revolution in education that is taking place in the Oxford Education Authority in the UK, based on positive concepts such as honesty, truthfulness, respect, happiness, peace, responsibility and love. During the school year children are exposed to 22 similar concepts because the headmaster sees values as the foundation of education, of the healthy development of the child and indeed of the strength of the national community. Religions identify more that 300 virtues as the basis of their teachings, but the author of "The Family Virtues Guide" has limited herself to a more manageable 52 - one for each week of the year - and reading this book was like a breath of fresh air in a smoke-filled room. Compiled by the Virtues Project, an international organization dedicated to inspiring spiritual growth in young and old alike, this multicultural, interfaith handbook has been prepared for all those who wish to turn these 52 virtues into reality by providing us with simple strategies which we can readily incorporate into our daily life and thus take advantage of those quickly passing teachable moments. All religions have their own version of the Golden Rule - do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Likewise virtues are the silver thread running through all humanity's sacred literature, the traditions of indigenous peoples, all religions, faiths and cultures. Virtues are the qualities of the soul.We should be concerned about virtues, not only because virtuous people are good people - it goes deeper than that. In each of us there is a deep spiritual need, a yearning of the soul which is often misinterpreted as physical or material neediness. How many of us believe that if only we had more popularity, money, love, power or a better job, we would be happy? Yet when we try to fill this longing by something physical or material - something outside ourselves - we remain unsatisfied. We need to connect to our spiritual self, some would say connect with God, to feel that we are a complete, whole person. The author likens a child to an acorn with the potential to grow into a great oak - born with all the virtues waiting to grow. But just as a tree requires the right environment to grow, so virtues in a child need tender loving care to develop. In today's world of latchkey children, it is easy to believe that if we satisfy our child's physical needs we are being good parents. But a child needs more and this book helps us to understand

As a parent and teacher, I was happy to find this book a few years ago. Since then, it has aided me in raising my children and in my work with children at school. The learning expeiences that it has helped to evoke have opened our eyes, improved our lives, and contributed toward helping us to live in a world that is quickly becoming one. I have seen many books on virtue development but this is the best on "how to"; with its practical steps and many relevant examples. I'd like to see a similar guide for classroom teachers.

I introduced this book to our family as a "family meeting night" guide. We choose one of the 52 virtues per week, learn all about it, and practice it during the oncoming week. My four children love it, and enjoy pointing out when they see a virtue being used. Kids growing up in the world today need all the help they can get. This is an excellent resource for parents!

I have found this book inspiring and a wonderful way to discuss virtues in a non-threatening manner with adults and children of multiple cultural backgrounds. The commonality of the oneness of humanity's struggle for peace is evident in the writings chosen for each virtue.The inclusion of references to Holy writings of the World's great religions exhibits the author's dedication to the oneness of humanity and the exhibition and examples of how the world can truly learn to live in harmony. By inclusion of the Holy writings of many different religions we are taught tolerance and to honour cultural differences as the world struggles toward unity.