Downloadable Resources to Build Diligence
How to Use the Resources to Teach Diligence
For a fun and structured way to build character in your kids all year long, download the calendar and stickers.
Each calendar month focuses on a unique character trait. And each character trait has a unique printable teaching resource to help you build character in your child. You can download it below.
The resource includes:
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- definition card – to build an understanding of diligence.
- verse card – to memorize why diligence is important.
- question/challenge – to discuss or practice diligence.
- character certificate – to recognize monthly progress in acquiring diligence.
- reward coupon – to have fun and show your child how proud you are of them!
Use some or all of the resources to build diligence in your child all month. You can also use the printable sticker sheet to cut out and place stickers on dates you see your child showing the trait you’re working on that month. You just need one 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of sticker paper.
Diligence is just one of the 12 character traits we want to help you build in your kids. Here are more.
Why Diligence for Kids Is Important
I remember the first time my son discovered dominoes. We sat down on the floor, and I showed him how to stand up the colorful blocks to create a long, snaking line from one side of the room to the other. I explained that once we set them all up, we could tip over the first block and watch the rest fall in a row. That got him excited.
You could see the anticipation grow with each new domino he placed. He got down with his face near the floor, paying close attention to each block. Everything was going well until he bumped one and the whole line came crashing down.
I held my breath and waited for him to react. There was a moment of disappointment and then his determination kicked in.
This time he was even more careful not to bump the blocks. He was so proud of his work when he finally finished an even longer domino snake. He beamed as he flicked the first domino and watched the rest tumble in succession. The fun of watching them fall was worth the painstaking effort required to build the lengthy line.
That experience required incredible diligence.
Diligence is persisting with careful work or effort, and it teaches kids that hard work pays off. It is deciding not to quit on a task. It’s easy for kids to drift into laziness. Diligence breaks the cycle. It shows them that putting in a little extra effort will provide them with feelings of accomplishment and help them triumph over problems.
How to Teach Diligence to Kids
Praise your children when they work hard at something.
It sounds simple, but this reinforces their need to work with purpose. It encourages them not to give up and not shy away from difficult activities.
Purposefully choose activities that will require diligence to accomplish.
This ensures your children will need to show diligence to get the job done. Setting up dominoes requires motor skills that will seem difficult to a five-year-old but simple for teens. Choose challenging activities accordingly.
Ask your kids questions like, “How does it feel when you finish your homework before dinner?”
Prompts like this will get them to open up about why seeing things to completion is good.
Remove distractions.
Asking children to focus on a task while leaving obvious distractions in place sets them up to fail. For example, don’t ask one child to do homework in a room where his or her sibling is watching TV. Move them to another room and tell them that working hard on schoolwork will free them up for leisure activities faster.
