5 Ways to Teach Values to Your Children

It is normal for parents to hope that their children grow up happy and well-mannered. Every day, parents try to set a good example, hoping that one day their child will live by these values and eventually pass them on to their offspring.

Beyond being a good role model, there are more ways to influence and teach values to your child:

1. Encourage your child to perform acts of kindness and generosity. You may start small by doing random acts of kindness to the people around them. For example, letting them open doors for elders. This can eventually lead to something big like bringing them to charity events. Let your child experience these things first-hand to help them realize that these acts can be very satisfying.
    
2. Share your experiences with your child. If you share what you do and how positively that action made you feel, your child might get inspired to perform similar deeds. Tell them about the bad choices you’ve made, so they’ll learn from your mistakes.
    
3. Monitor your child’s use of technology. One of your biggest rivals in raising your child well is technology. You’ll be surprised as to how much your child may be influenced by the things they see on their gadget’s screen. Good or bad, they can end up copying the behavior they see. Guard what programs your child watches and make sure that they aren’t spending all their time with technology.
    
4. Make them responsible for their mistakes. When they get into trouble like breaking something at home, or getting into a fight, let them be accountable for their actions. Don’t let them out easy. Make them apologize for the things they did wrong. This will teach them that they are responsible for what they do and that all their actions have positive, and negative consequences. That being said, you also have to be responsible for your own mistakes. Apologize to your child whenever you feel like you fell short or messed up. Doing this will earn your child’s respect as apologizing to them lets them know that you care about them and want to make amends because of the mistake you made.
    
5. Recognize their good deeds. Rewards don’t necessarily have to be big. It can be a simple pat on the back. It can be words of acknowledgement. It can be a small treat. These go a long way with your kids. This will encourage them to continue the type of behavior you want.

There is no exact formula for raising a child properly. You have to be lenient enough that you don’t end up hurting them, but also strict enough that you get to communicate and make them understand what’s right from wrong. By following these tips, it will be easier for you to mold them into value-driven and well-mannered individuals.

Reference

Sweat, Becky. “10 Practical Ways to Teach Your Children Right Values.”
http://www.ucg.org/marriage-and-family/10-practical-ways-teach-your-children-right-values/, unknown publication date. Web. 9 June 2014.

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