Character Strengths in the Home

The following are strategies that you can try to bring the practice of engaging with Character Strengths in your home. Dr. Waters provides many other strategies throughout the Strength Switch book.

• Character Cards - There are multiple pathways to follow in creating and using character strength cards in your home. A starter set could be your definition cards that you purchase or create. You could also do a set on ways to "exercise" the strengths. Another approach is over time to have your children make their thinking visible for each strength by creating their own cards. They could draw a picture of the strength on one side and on the other side write their definition. The Institute of Positive Education provides cards with activities that students can try.

• Characters in Reading - Use questions and language around individuals/characters and their strengths in action or inaction during reading time with your children.

• Family Meetings - Look to make it a routine to have weekly family meetings in which the family references strengths in discussions.

• Family Tree of Strengths - Create a family tree graphic organizer with space for names and the individual’s main strengths. Fill out the family tree with names going back as far as listing great grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Then share stories of earlier generations and how they had specific strengths and applied them in their lives. Write the strengths by their names.

• Goal Setting - Look to use the WOOP technique to help all family members to set goals to "exercise" and grow some of their character strengths. Character Lab provides a worksheet and other information to help you teach the WOOP approach to your children.

• Mission Statements - Schools and businesses have mission statements. Why not design and create a family mission statement that includes the use of character strengths? Here is a family mission statement development document that you can draw from to design your step by step process for introducing the term "values" to then provide guidance to help build understanding and to write your mission statement.

• Strength of the Day/Week - At the start of the day and/or week have family members choose one character strength that they want to focus on to use throughout the day and/or week. Look to make some time at dinner and/or at the weekly family meeting for everyone to share about their efforts and learning.

• Strengths Spotting - Build in the family habit of sharing strengths that family members spot in themselves and in others.

• Working with Weakness Using the Three Ps - This strategy comes directly from the book (pp. 269 - 274). The previous strategies follow a constructive engagement of the strengths approach. Yet, as Dr. Waters points out, there are times when we need to coach our children "to confront weaknesses head-on". (p. 269)
  
  The Three Ps are Priming - Present Moment - Postmortem.

  • Priming> You clearly communicate with your child that he/she is about to face a situation when his/her weaknesses will come into play. Your discussion involves the usual asking your child to reflect and think about which character strengths he/she can apply while at the same time acknowledging potential uncomfortable feelings that may arise (e.g., anxiety, nervousness, fear...). Emotion Coaching can be an additional strategy to engage. Dr. Waters advises the parent to go for some easy win practice situations to give your child experience in dealing with his/her weakness(es).

  • Present Moment> Two Levels- Level One of mindfulness is being ready in the moment to cite the possibility of the weakness(es) coming into play. Level Two is jumping right into the moment of potential weakness to coach your child through it.

  • Postmortem> This is the process of taking time after the event to help your child analyze what previously happened to come up with steps and strategies to practice in preparation for the next time. Over time, your child builds the habit of exercising his/her emotional intelligence, proactivity and self-control strengths to the point that the weakness(es) are no longer in play. :)

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