Kids & Parenting

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Teaching Good Manners To A Child
© 2014

by

Stephen A. Peterson

Parents/caregivers who want to teach good manners to their child want to know how this can be accomplished. The following are ideas parents/guardians might wish to consider:

1. Set A Good Example At Home. This means that parents/guardians must be aware of their own manners. The adults in the home must apply foundations of good manners—kindness towards each other, being courteous and patient. It also means showing appreciation; understanding for all that others do or try to do for us and each other; respect for opinions; their feelings and be concerned about each other’s welfare. Everyone will have bad days; express emotional difficulty from time to time. Being willing to discuss problems in a loving manner as well as forgiving. Because we all make mistakes at times.

2. Provide Daily Practice. Daily practice in good manners helps speed up the learning. What daily practice does is to make the employment of good manners habitual that the child does not feel embarrassed or nervous when he/she tries to do what they have been taught when they are around others.

3. Teach The Child What To Do And What To Say. Going over, at home, what manners are learned can be made fun but it is also a way to find what has been acquired. It is also a time when adjustments can be made. For example, how to thank someone who just gave the child a birthday present. You may practice this with the child until you are certain he/she has mastered a given task.

Parent/guardian are encouraged to work with their child in small steps—never all at one time. Young children, in most instances, will become disinterested if they receive too much information at once. Making a teachable moment fun tends to work more successfully when the child does not think of a learning moment as work. Give your child all the opportunity to learn a behavior before moving on having your child learn another task. Children tend to learn quickly when they have good models to copy. Researchers found that the best models for children to learn good manners generally are in their home environments where they are most comfortable. It is recommended parents/guardians do whatever they can to eliminate confusion, feeling that too much is expected and that time is not a factor toward learning good manners.

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