Level 2- Character Trails Downloadable Curriculum

  Character Trails Curriculum is designed to teach your children 12 character qualities and how to apply them in 36 fun lessons.Full instructions are provided to help you ground your child with the foundation of character. 

  Inside the main textbook, Character Trails are stories, application questions, and practical application projects designed to help you teach your children what character is and how to practically apply it to their everyday life in a fun, captivating way in only minutes each day! Each of the 12 character qualities in Character Trails are presented with a Bible story, a story from everyday life (following the "Boyer cousins" as they learn to make wise decisions), and also with an inspiring story from American history! Qualities covered are Attentiveness, Availability, Boldness, Compassion, Courage, Decisiveness, Endurance, Flexibility, Generosity, Joyfulness, Orderliness and Thoroughness.

  Character Trails Flashcards are a tool to help you teach your children the simple, kid-friendly definitions for each quality and a corresponding Scripture verse to hide in their hearts! Set of 12 flashcards.  If you wish to use another version than KJV, just use the Optional Character Trails Flashcards, print and have your child write in the verse on the back side with version of your choice. 

  As a part of the curriculum, you can download Bible coloring pages (for all your children) to occupy little hands as you read the Bible story to them! 

  In Character Trails Stories. Uncle Rick reads, from Scripture, the passage that is told in story form in Character Trails book, giving his character building comments while he reads. Let Uncle Rick help your child learn to internalize the truths he is studying! Just pop them in at school time, naptime, playtime or travel time and let Uncle Rick do the teaching for you! (3 hr audio)

Endorsed by :

  “Your instruction shapes the way your children think about themselves and everything in their world. Your instruction also opens their eyes to the unseen world where God and His Word takes shape and touches their young lives. So the curriculum you use, the stories you read, and the activities you choose are the tools of interpretation your children will use to process everything they see, hear, and experience.  "Character Trails" is rich with biblical examples, historical illustrations, and precious family stories. It is wonderful formative instruction. These tools, along with the precious reminder that Christ was given to enable us to do what doesn't come naturally, and prayer for His strength to practice godly Christian character are powerful and poignant instruction." 
~ Mrs. Margy Tripp of Shepherding the Heart Ministries, pastor's wife, author, conference speaker, educator

  “I like having a variety of teaching materials on hand for biblical character instruction in our home. One of the resources I rely on for such curriculum is Character Concepts (formerly The Learning Parent) by Rick and Marilyn Boyer.
  We have been using Character Trails in our home for quite some time now. Although it was written for ages 6-9, we easily adapt it for our four kids, ages 0-5. Each of the character traits in the book has a relevant Bible story, memory verse, a "real-life" story often starring the Boyer family, and a story from American history. Sometimes we use Character Trails as a daily devotion sort of reading. Other times, such as for our Attentiveness unit, we use the materials to help build a focused study on a character trait that needs some attention in our home. The kids especially enjoy hearing the real-life stories of other kids as well as using the coloring sheets that you can download to go with the book.
  We have really enjoyed the Character Trails books and I'm sure we'll be buying more of the materials from Character Concepts at our upcoming homeschool convention.”
~ Tauna M. ~ Proverbial Homemaker


  “If you’re a mom of young ones and you’ve been over to my house in the past few months, you’ve probably heard me talk about Marilyn Boyer’s Character books. I can’t help myself; I love them. And it’s just not me who loves them. My children adore these books.
  We were all so sad when we finished Crossroads of Character, so I was thrilled to discover that there was another book in the “series”. Character Trails is similar to Crossroads of Character, but it’s geared for a little bit older age level (I’d say 5-10 year olds).
  There are 12 different character qualities covered. For each character quality, there is a Bible story, a story from history, and a story from Marilyn’s grandchildren that exemplifies that character quality.
Once again, my children were completely engaged. Some of the Bible stories and stories from history were ones they were very familiar with. But there were others that were new to them.
  Character Trails provided a springboard for many great discussions. And, once again, we were sad when we were finished with the book. I think my children are very hopeful that Marilyn continues to release these books so that they can follow along as her grandchildren grow up!
  If you’re looking for a quality book on character for younger children, I’d definitely recommend Crossroads of Character and Character Trails. We read one story every day at breakfast and it was the perfect length for the current ages of my children.
  Character Trails covers 12 different positive character qualities: attentiveness, availability, boldness, compassion, courage, decisiveness, endurance, flexibility, generosity, joyfulness, orderliness, and thoroughness. For each character quality there are 3 stories (1 Biblical, 1 historical, and 1 modern day), plus practical activities to help kids ages 6-9 learn how to nurture these qualities in their own lives.
  What I really like about Character Trails:
  I can do the character qualities in any order---this is a great way to tackle a particular character issue we're having at the moment. So far we've read Attentiveness, Compassion, and Flexibility (I need that last one myself, ahem).
  We can use it on our own schedule. The stories are short and easily accessible to young kids, but not at all "dumbed down." While Character Trails is aimed at my 2 middle kids, the oldest and youngest child have gotten a lot out of it, too. It's a good fit for multiple ages.
  The Bible stories are familiar to the kids already, but Character Trails brings out a different aspect that maybe hadn't occurred to them before. This is encouraging them to see more clearly how the Bible fits into their daily lives.
  The history stories each profile a famous historical figure---and many of these are new to my kids. This has spurred interest in finding out more, which I love.
~ Crystal Paine, Money Saving Mom

  “The practical projects really are practical and very do-able. For Attentiveness, for instance, one is to give your child a notebook for taking notes in church. Another is have your child ask your pastor what the following week's readings will be and to read and discuss them ahead of time.” 
~ Susan Anadale

  “This book is amazing! It's just what I was looking for & all my children enjoy it! Would definitely recommend it if you want bible stories, history lessons, & everyday life stories grouped together by character qualities!!!”
~ Mrs. Martin

  “I like the content and the message presented in the book. Nicely laid out. A good book for any child.”