6 Tips For Teaching Your Kids Manners
Having manners can get you a whole lot in this world. If you want to make friends, find a aartner, get the career of your dreams, you will need to know your P’s and Q’s. When it comes to your kids, you need to make sure that you teach them well from an early age.r
Here’s a secret: Kids are not born with good manners. If you don’t show them how to behave, they will go ahead and do whatever they like. I’m not saying that it’s easy to get them to be good, but you need to try. If you’re struggling to teach your little ones to be polite, you’ve come to the right place. Here are a few things that I’ve learned along the way.
Teach them the polite words first
Instead of teaching your kids to say ‘what’ have them say ‘pardon’. It’s the little things like this that make all the difference. As a parent, it’s your job to make sure that your children know what words they should be using. I always teach my little ones the most polite way to say something so that I know that’s what they will go with. Honestly, I think you should do the same.
Show them how to share
By their very nature, many kids find it hard to share with one another. Since I’ve got three little bundles of joy in my home, they have no choice but to learn how to share. One of the best things you can do is lead by example. Share things with your children (like snacks and toys) and they will learn to do the same with each other.
Reward them when they do well
You should never, ever underestimate the power of positive reinforcement. When your children do something right, you need to let them know that you’re so very proud of them for that. You should show them that you care about what they’ve done. Let’s say, they remember to say ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. You need to tell them how very good they have been and show that you have noticed their behavior.
Teach them to say sorry
Saying sorry can be hard for us adults, never mind our kids. If you want to teach your kids a really good lesson, show them how to say sorry. Again, you might want to set an example here. When you do something wrong (like dropping something on the floor), simply say ‘Oh, sorry!’ Your kids will see your behavior and begin to copy it in their everyday lives.
Don’t allow rudeness
There’s nothing worse than a rude child. If your kid answers you back or is rude to you, you need to nip it in the bud. I’ve found that the ‘naughty step’ technique works very well. The moment they do something wrong, send them to sit on the step for a few minutes. They will learn that bad behavior always gets punished.
Correct your kid when they get it wrong
Finally, it’s perhaps the most important thing that I’ve learned with my kids. When they get something wrong, you absolutely have to make sure that you correct them right away. You should do this in a calm manner but be sure you don’t forget. For example, if your child forgets to say ‘please’, tell them about it. Don’t be angry; just let them know what you expect. After all, how are they supposed to learn if you don’t correct them?
Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, on our Facebook Page, Follow Our Twitter Account or Head Over To Our Pinterest Page!
These are great tips. Kids don’t just magically know how to be well-mannered. We have to show them.
I love this post. Teaching manners seems to be a dying art these days. This is great.
I think these are all great tips. I think that there are many times that there’s a teaching moment in what we do. Kids are pretty awesome and they learn quick.
These are a nice start to get your kids on the right track of politeness. My kids are older now but somehow they have become courteous even though we have not been that strict with them.
It is so key to teach kids early on all the polite words. Your list is not too extensive but covers the best tips in teaching manners.
These are all such important lessons to teach our kids. And the earlier the better.
Manners are so important. Correcting them and modeling good behavior are very important.
I love this! I think I am going to use this for one of my storytime themes to teach children to become better citizens.
Great tips! It is so important to be consistent and provide good examples when teaching kids. We are working on manners now, and it is a struggle at times. These tips will be helpful!
Kids are great because they absorb everything that you teach them and that’s why it’s important that you teach them good manners! These are lovely tips and perfect for any parent!
These all sound like solid lessons to teach your kids to me!
I don’t have any kids, but I do have 11 nieces and nephews ranging from lots of different ages.
I could tell my sister-in-law instills lots of these in her kids – she has four little boys and they are no strangers to “time-outs!” 🙂
I love all of these suggestions. Correcting them, even if it was only barely wrong, is so important. They will understand as they grow how much difference in makes in their life to be polite.
Wow. These are a great suggestion and a great way to correct them teach them to say sorry it’s important
Manners are definitely something this world needs more of! These tips will definitely be helpful!
Bad manners is something I don’t tolerate! We were very fortunate that our daughter turned out to be very respectful.
You definitely have to be firm to the kids about their manners. It’s important that we teach them manners as early as possible, especially since they’ll be interacting with others often as they grow up.
This is such an important post. Kids need to learn manners as early as they can start comprehending and saying words so this is helpful for parents out here.