Our Products Archives - Character Concepts Blog

True or False? Signers of the Declaration

Posted on April 24, 2018 by Marilyn — No Comments ↓

In 1776, 56 men signed their names on a document that they knew might well mean their certain deaths as traitors to England.

Standing on principles of faith and liberty, these men forged a powerful call for freedom and human dignity still resonating today in America.

Yet, historical revisionists have distorted or attempted to wipe away every trace of this nation`s Christian heritage, including the heartfelt faith of these founding fathers!

We need to arm our families with the TRUTH about the founding of our country and provide the knowledge to be able to authoritatively speak to those in your sphere of influence. The founders were prolific writers. We don’t have to wonder what they believed! It’s available to teach our families so we can be thoroughly equipped to spread the truth. It was never needed more than now. Our freedoms are eroding quickly, and we need to be able to have the wisdom to protect our the freedom we enjoy.

So, let’s play a little game!

Here are 4 statements that you commonly hear about the founders of our country, specifically the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Do you know if they are true?

Continue reading True or False? Signers of the Declaration→

Part 1- How to Use God’s Word to Address Character Issues in Your Home

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Marilyn — 5 Comments ↓

Build Character in Your Children — How to Use God’s Word to Address Character Issues in Your Home.

Do you grow weary of hearing your kids complain or argue with you or their brothers and sisters? How can you control their outbursts of anger? Did you know that God’s Word has a LOT to say about those issues and so many more? In fact, the heart of every problem you encounter with your kids is addressed in the Word, and He gives us the wisdom for knowing how to deal with it.

Consider Ephesians 4:

^“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind….. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

We learn here 3 commands :

We are to lay aside or PUT OFF the old self. Romans 6 tells us that our old life has been buried with Christ and we are now dead to sin. However, we must present our bodies to God as instruments of righteousness. “But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices” \
We are to be RENEWED IN OUR MINDS – We renew our minds by memorizing and meditating on Scripture, by learning what God’s Word says and acting upon it daily. Joshua 1:8 tells us “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” We are promised success if we meditate on God’s Word.
We are to PUT ON our new self. Colossians 3 tells us “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” We are to actively strive to cultivate these qualities in our life. The Holy Spirit is there to guide and help us.

Continue reading Part 1- How to Use God’s Word to Address Character Issues in Your Home→

Our Story Part 3- “Through the Years”

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Marilyn — 5 Comments ↓

As I said in Part 2 of this series, homeschooling really took off and began to grow. We had a meeting in our basement helping others get started, but all over the country the same thing was happening. It wasn’t long before groups formed and homeschooling conventions, though really small at first started to spring up.

We had a lot of people asking us questions. We began to get some speaking engagements. People wanted to know why we focused on character building in training our kids and how we did it. “What about socialization?” was a big concern for many. We tried to answer questions, but soon forgot what we had told to who. Hence, our first book was The Socialization Trap. We wrote it because of the growing concern in the country.

State homeschooling groups continued to emerge, and we started getting more requests for speaking. It wasn’t easy to travel with so many little ones still at home and more on the way, but we really felt God was calling us to encourage other parents. Hence, The Learning Parent was born- our ministry of parent encouragement.

We told others how we taught our kids, and as the years went by people asked if we could make materials available so they could glean from our experience and teach character to their kids as well. So we began producing character curriculum. Now, The Learning Parent, has produced a whole line of character curriculum and we call ourselves Character Concepts and provide curriculum from preschool through high school.

Anyway, I thought it might be kind of fun to give you a visual picture of how things developed through the years through a timeline.

I’m sure I’ll leave out some important details, but I hope you enjoy taking a peak at the Boyer family – then and now.

So here we go…..

Continue reading Our Story Part 3- “Through the Years”→

2 Books Every American Family Should Read

Posted on January 10, 2017 by Marilyn — No Comments ↓

Don’t you love reading together as a family? It’s a fun time, a “together” time, an inspiring time. There’s nothing like snuggling with a couple of kids while a toddler falls asleep under the coffee table. 🙂 (at least, that’s how it happened at our house!!) I have some books that are perfect for family reading time. Let me tell you about them!

Rick and I wrote these books last year for Master Books: Fight for Freedom + America’s Struggle to Become a Nation.

Yes, they are written as 4-6th grade history curriculum, but the whole family will enjoy hearing these stories from our founding era – stories every person growing up in the 1800’s in our country knew. But, these are not just a conglomeration of boring facts to memorize and bits and pieces with no meat. This is a wonderful gathering of true and engaging stories from America’s History. So, they are equally appropriate, used as a Family Read-Aloud book.

When we lose our history (our heritage) we will lose our freedoms; that’s what’s happening today in our country. That’s one reason we wrote these books – to do our part in preparing this generation to stand for truth and principle as the men and women you’ll hear about in these books did.

Did you know that Judge Roy Moore has endorsed these books? He personally called me and told me he wants every American family to read them!

“Rick and Marilyn have done a remarkable job of documenting the struggles and sacrifices of brave men and women who, ‘with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence,’ risked their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to build this land we love. Every American would benefit by reading these marvelous works designed to preserve our heritage as a nation.” –Chief Justice Roy Moore

Continue reading 2 Books Every American Family Should Read→

5 Reasons Why Your Child Wants to Learn History from Uncle Rick!

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Marilyn — 2 Comments ↓

The Uncle Rick Audio Book Club is your child’s home for inspiring American history. (you’ll also find Scripture audios and adventure stories, too!)

You will hear stories that dig deeper than your history textbook- and that are far more interesting!

These stories will stick with you, and your knowledge of American History will become much more solid.

The best part is that while you are learning more and absorbing all sorts of historical facts and figures, you are actually enjoying doing so. Since these are audio stories, you can easily learn your American History while cleaning your room, riding in the car, or doing chores, or whatever!

But don’t take our word for it!

Here is what our listeners have told us about why they love learning history from Uncle Rick:

Continue reading 5 Reasons Why Your Child Wants to Learn History from Uncle Rick!→

2 Paragraphs You Should Memorize

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Marilyn — 1 Comment ↓

Here are 2 paragraphs every American should know by heart- The preamble to our Constitution, and the preamble to the Declaration of Independence!

Have your children (or whole family) memorize them and discuss their meanings together.

I like to laminate these for added durability. Then I can use them for multiple children throughout the years.

Continue reading 2 Paragraphs You Should Memorize→

New K-2 History Curriculum + 9 Reasons I Love It

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Kari Boyer — No Comments ↓

I am so excited about this new History Curriculum!

Last year, I asked Marilyn if she could create a history curriculum that would give children a good, solid introduction to important people and events in American History, yet that would not be overwhelming to my child, or to me as the mom/teacher!

At this young age, my academic focus with my children is more on the basics- like reading, writing, and arithmetic; yet I don’t want to ignore the important subject of history!

I wanted something that was:

interesting for my child
laid-back in nature but effective in teaching
filled with true stories that are meatier than what you find in a text-book
pretty much hands-off for mom.

What could be easier, right?!

Well, Marilyn has put together a curriculum that I think fits the bill on all counts. My first-grader will be using it this year, and I can’t wait!

Here are 9 reasons why I love it:

Continue reading New K-2 History Curriculum + 9 Reasons I Love It→

My Kids are So Selfish…What Can I Do?

Posted on June 21, 2016 by Marilyn — 2 Comments ↓

How can we raise unselfish kids in today’s world? How can we teach them to be sensitive to the needs of others rather than just seeking to please themselves?

Society is constantly sending the message that life is all about them. But the truth is, we are here on this earth to serve our Savior, not just to entertain ourselves.

This is why my daughter Kelley and I wrote Character in Action. We want to help give kids a vision that God has mighty purposes for their lives; they don’t have to wait until they are adults to get busy about it. In this book, “the cousins” are involved in ministering to people God has brought into their lives.

Continue reading My Kids are So Selfish…What Can I Do?→

Presidents Chart Download

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Marilyn — No Comments ↓

Every year, I have my kids learn/review the presidents in order.

This three page full color chart of the U. S. Presidents from George Washington to the present is a great visual resource for helping your children learn the presidents.

Continue reading Presidents Chart Download→

A Game of “If’s”

Posted on February 15, 2016 by Marilyn — 1 Comment ↓

“Ifs” is a game we often played with our children to help them learn how to make wise decisions before they were even placed in a position of temptation. Our grown kids have testified this helped them many times to choose the right thing. This what would you do game for kids is fun and yet they are learning the whole time.

Continue reading A Game of “If’s”→

Marilyn is wife to Rick, Mom to 14 children, Nana to 19 grandchildren (and counting!) and homeschooler for 37 years.

She and her husband own Character Concepts which they started for the purpose of helping others raise children with a strong, godly character and Biblical worldview.

They have developed character curriculum from preschool through high school, based on what they found worked when teaching their own 14 children over the years.

Her passion is to help young moms raise kids of character and enjoy the journey!