The Bible says that if we train our children in the way they should go, when they are old, they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6.) But how do we go about doing that? How do we not only teach good habits but also nurture the heart of the child?

Honestly, this is something I have always struggled with. Some days I am too lax, while others I am too stern with the children. I currently have six children, from infant to seventeen years of age, so keeping them all in line can be a bit of a challenge at times. Over the years I have read many parenting/disciplining books. Throughout all of my reading, researching, and trial and error, I have found two things to be key when it comes to successfully training up our children. First and foremost is consistency, and second, a good mix of both positive reinforcement and consequential discipline is needed.

Character Badges can help you find that perfect mix. How do I know this? Because they helped me.

“Character Badges is as much for parents as it is for children. Not only can it help keep your children accountable to the standards you set in your home, it can also help keep you accountable to the sacred duty you have in training them.”

The program is recommended for children ages five to twelve, but I have been using it with my four and five year olds, as they are my most challenging children at the moment.

Included in the Complete Set are: Obedience Charts, Disobedience Charts, Consequence Charts, an Instruction Manual, Sticker Character Badges, a Dry Erase Marker, Reward Charts, a Do’s & Don’ts Chart, Character Banks, and Character Coins.

Everything in the above list appears in multiples because I was sent enough materials for two children for my review. A single Character Badges Complete Set (for one child) costs $48.88, and enough supplies for two children is $56.99.

Before I share exactly how we used everything, I want to tell you a little about each of the components and the company itself.

Character Badges is the brain child of Sean and Caroline Allen. Do those names sound familiar? They should. Caroline is owner and author of ModestMom.com, and Sean is a graphics designer entrepreneur. Together they also manage DeborahandCo.com (an online modest clothing store for women and children.)

Character Badges came about when they set out to find a program to help them consistently, properly train their children. When they found nothing suitable for their needs, they did what any entrepreneurial couple does . . . they created one.

Now onto the goodies!

Everything in the program is built upon the Three “C’s”: compassion, commitment, and consistency. These are the not-so-secret formula for well-behaved children . . . and success with Character Badges.

The Obedience Chart is designed to help you monitor your child’s good behavior in nine different categories over the course of a month. (This program is NOT a quick fix. It basically trains both you and your children at the same time, and that takes time.) There are eight categories of good behavior already listed on the chart, and they are: cheerfulness, diligence, helpfulness, initiative, kindness, obedience, respectfulness, and tidiness. The ninth category is left blank for you to add any special character trait your child needs to focus on.

Along with each character attribute, there are colored boxes that follow them which form a “character row.” Badges and coins are earned by checking off a series of boxes.

The Disobedience Chart is essentially the opposite of the Obedience Chart but with the same logistics in that boxes are checked off as your child exhibits the poor behavior. As the marks are made, you reference the Consequences Chart to see the appropriate course of action. This chart also incorporates “grace boxes”. These boxes mean that no consequence is given for the offense and the child is simply given grace.

Ten poor character qualities are listed on the chart, and they are: bad manners, pouting, untidiness, bossing, foolishness, back talking, laziness, disobedience, mean behavior, and lying.  Again, there are a couple of blank spots for you to write in other qualities your child might need to focus on.

You’ll find simple explanations for what each of the good and poor character qualities means along with examples. These are a great reference when first starting out as some of the terms may be new to the kids.

The Consequence Chart is basically a reference chart that you fill in with your desired consequences for each offense.

If you notice, I keep saying “fill in”. All three of the above charts are laminated for you (hence the dry erase marker being included in the package.)

As I mentioned with the Obedience Chart, the children can earn badges. There are different badges (stickers) for each of the nine qualities listed on the chart. Something I REALLY like about these badges is that they aren’t just a simple sticker with a smiley face. Each badge was carefully thought out.

The imagery of each Character Badge is important because it references either a scripture story or example from nature to portray a particular character attribute.

For example:

The Respectfulness Badge

“The Book of Samuel records a most remarkable story of respect. God had chosen a man named Saul to be King of Israel. However, Saul eventually disobeyed and God rejected him as King and chose a young man named David to rule in his place. Saul gradually became angry with David and sought to take his life. David, however, had respect unto the fact that God had once chosen Saul to be King. At one point, David snuck into a cave where Saul was sleeping, and though his friends urged him to take Saul’s life, he refused, choosing instead to take only his spear and cruse of water as a sign that he had spared his life and respected him as king. Truly, David showed respect unto Saul.”

I Samuel 26: 11, 23 : “The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed: but, I pray thee, take now the spear that is at this bolster, and the cruse of water, and let us go.”

The Rewards Chart is designed to help you manage the various rewards that are available to your child as they make their way through the Obedience Chart. Fourteen rewards, along with suggested costs, are already listed on the chart. Six other slots are provided for you to fill in custom rewards and costs. The coins come in .05, .10, and .25 increments.

A few examples of the rewards are: a new book, a bike ride, play a board game of your choice, candy, and stay up 10 minutes past bed time.

As they earn coins, they keep them in the Character Coin Bank.

Last, but certainly not the least of the charts is the Do’s and Don’ts Chart. It’s designed to help you reference the various character attributes and forms of behavior listed on both the Disobedience and Obedience Charts, allowing either you or your child to read what they may be doing right or wrong. A series of scriptural references related to each character attribute or form of behavior is also available for further reference and heart issues.

Whew! There’s so much to this program! But don’t worry, it’s not near as complicated as it first appears.

So now that you know the basics, just how are we using it? Well, first I put together the two coin banks, found a place to hang all the charts (a wall in my kitchen), filled in the consequences, and explained the logistics to the kids.

I was surprised at how excited they were. There was an eagerness to do right that I’d never seen in them before. It was awesome! And what’s even more awesome, is the fact that that eagerness stayed. It wasn’t short-lived at all.

After the initial explanation, and seeing the excitement, I got to thinking. All this time I had been so focused on the discipline aspect of things, always correcting, always punishing. I hardly ever rewarded good behavior.

This is an amazing product. The kids love earning their coins and badges. Instead of collecting the badges and just putting the stickers on their clothes, we made special posters for their rooms where they collect the badges they have earned.

The coins are probably their favorite part of it. They love spending their “money” on special goodies. And I love that they take responsibility with whatever they “buy”. If it’s a new book, they seem to take better care of it. If it’s candy they buy, they make it last longer.

The only criticism, if I had to give one, would be the badge boxes. They are made of simple paper that you fold into a box and write their name on. Unfortunately, these were quickly destroyed. But we were able to quickly make some new ones out of recycled items in our craft room. I think a more sturdy material would be better, but again, this is a minor issue at best.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, Character Badges has been a true answer to prayer for our family, and especially me. I look forward to using this program with them and their younger siblings for years to come.

-Product review by Jeniffer Do Nascimento, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September, 2016

Another Review:

When it comes to homeschooling we’re often worried about what subjects we are or aren’t teaching. Child training is something that can be overlooked but can greatly affect our homeschool and the overall “feel” in our home. Character Badges was created by a mom who knew how important child training is but couldn’t find charts that fit their needs. So she created a system with her husband (a graphic designer) that they use in their own home.

The Character Badges Complete Set contains the tools needed for effective child training that is engaging and fun. It includes: 1 dry-erase Obedience Chart per child, 1 dry-erase Disobedience Chart per child, 1 dry-erase Consequence Chart, 1 full set of Character Badge sticker sheets, 1 dry-erase Rewards Chart, 1 set of 27 Character Coins, 1 paper Character Coin Bank per child, 1 Do’s and Dont’s Poster, 1 dry-erase marker with eraser and magnetic cap, and a full color 18 page instruction manual. It is recommended for ages 5-12 and is $56.99 for two children.

Character Badges gives a solid outline for child training but allows flexibility as well. Parents can choose things like rewards, consequences and even specific behaviors for both rewarding and implementing consequences. It is designed to work together as a complete set encouraging positive behaviors through rewards and badges while also discouraging negative behaviors through consistent consequences. It acknowledges the need for consistency. It can be used in (and be beneficial for) any home with young children whether homeschooling or not.

Having special needs children can be challenging, and teaching positive and negative behaviors is so important. I definitely appreciate that there is a nice chart on the wall for reference. It not only serves as a great reminder as to what is and isn’t ideal but corresponding Bible verses as well. In this way, parents can guide their children using Scripture, but in a way that is loving and not condescending. The instruction manual proved very helpful for not only offering guidance for implementing the Character Badges system effectively, but it also explains how to properly introduce it as well. For example, it is ideally introduced as both a rewards and consequences system and not a “you better behave now” kind of system.

We have been using the Character Badges with two of our children ages 10 and 6 (both are boys). I was, indeed, looking for a better system for our home (and homeschool). I definitely feel like consistency has been one of the biggest challenges when it comes to child training in our home. This is particularly true when it comes to implementing consequences. Character Badges addresses the concern that parents may not be able to implement a consequence immediately, so it allows a spot on the chart to show a consequence is needed but hasn’t yet been implemented. This alone has made a significant difference!

I appreciate that Character Badges addresses both the positive and negative behaviors in a Biblical way. This alone has offered so many opportunities to truly talk about behaviors and why they’re important. The rewards system is rather robust, so the boys have not only been working hard on avoiding consequences, but they have been working harder to demonstrate positive behaviors as well. Positive behaviors don’t simply result in earning badges. By continuing positive behavior in an area they earn extra special badges that also award Character Coins. They can then “cash in” their Character Coins for rewards. This also helps teach the value of saving! If they spend their Character Coins immediately every time they won’t have enough for bigger rewards. 

Character Badges is definitely the child training system we have been needing. It addresses both positive and negative behaviors in a Biblical well and helps keep both the kids and us as parents accountable. The only thing I would change is having a separate Consequence Chart for each child. Although rewards work well across the board, I find a consequence for a 10 year old versus a 6 year old could be different but still effective. Plus, children, in general, can be very different so what may be an effective consequence for one, may not be for another. Our boys are very different in this way. Of course, an additional Consequence Chart could be purchased as all parts of the Character Badges Set can be purchased individually as well. This also helps to ensure the Character Badges can continue to be used long-term as each consumable component can be replaced when they are depleted.

 —Product review by Emilee Roberts, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October, 2016