Maybe I am a little slow but now that my son is in the fifth grade I think the missing pieces of the puzzle are all connecting.  It is becoming very clear to me that elementary school is a wonderful  training arena  for most of life's lessons. 

As parents we do our best to teach these lessons at home but once our children begin elementary school the reality is they spend more time at school and we become the reinforcers of what they learn. 

 At our school our children have a monthly character education theme.  The goal of the program is to instill character traits within each child so that he/she will become successful, responsible individuals.  The program focuses on words such as respect, resilience, compassion, accomplishment and integrity.  Think about what great  adults they will be if they can master all of these traits!  In the fifth grade "mommies" are not allow to bring you your lunch, snack or work that you have left at home. 

It is amazing but my son has become much more responsible and remembers what he needs for school.  I laugh when I think about his third grade year when I was constantly running things up to school that he had left at home and running back to school for books he forgot to bring home.  No, I didn't ruin him but I delayed the process of learning to be responsible and learning about consequences. 

Elementary school is a great trainer for time management.  Sometimes I feel that I should revisit school to re-train myself in this area.  The kids have very specific time schedules in which they have to accomplish many tasks.  Fifth graders at our school have a day set aside for "Random Acts of Kindness."  What a great life lesson!  I tell my kids these should be silent acts of kindness. 

Things you do that make you feel good inside and that you are not looking for recognition for.  As we start thinking about middle school we can be confident that the ground work for life has been layed.  The pieces of the puzzle are coming together!