One of the foundational things you can teach your child is how to respect others. This will help him or her know how to navigate life effectively and succeed! In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of respect as well as other manners for kids that you can incorporate into your everyday life as a parent.
Ways to teach your children respect
Kids need to learn to respect their elders. This includes treating you and your spouse with respect as well as acting in a respectful manner towards their grandparents.
Teach children to call, write and treat grandparents with respect because elders offer wisdom that can help their lives run more smoothly. Train your kids so they understand that obedience is a key to life. This includes obedience to teachers, police and other family members. Help your kids see the importance of surrounding themselves with peers who obey and follow instructions, since wisdom at an early age may help them have positions of importance in life, such as a boss, president or doctor.
Another way to help your kids learn respect is to expose them to various cultures and take them to church, community affairs, weddings and funerals. You might consider inviting a family over for dinner from another country. Share differences and teach children to listen and learn. When your children see you reach out to others and connect with them in an attitude of respect, they will become better citizens themselves.
Other valuable parenting tips
- Teach kids that life is not always FUN. Teach them that they may not like what they are being told to do.
- Show your children how to love their neighbor.
- Spend free time doing productive activities with your kids such as taking food to an elderly couple, visiting the sick and helping a neighbor with a project.
- Give your child responsibility, even if it’s small things at first. This will teach him how to better handle responsibilities as he gets older. One way to do this is by assigning chores to your child.
- Do not gossip in front of your children and treat your spouse with respect at all times.
- Live a disciplined lifestyle in your own life by going to bed early, eating healthy foods and exercising. By keeping yourself on schedule, your children will learn to follow with a disciplined lifestyle themselves.
- Have a daily conversation or prayer time with your child. Engage in her daily affairs and actively seek to learn more about what’s going on with her.
- Teach children not to brag about themselves, but to act with humility.
- Never talk in a negative way about your child’s teachers. Keep all negativity private.
- Praise all the good you see, express joy and gratitude daily.
- Curtail any potential problems in your child’s life quickly. If you feel a friend is a bad influence, remember that you are the parent and that is why children cannot govern themselves in society.
- Direct all schedules to help keep your children organized and on-time.
- Have family gatherings often and include others into your gatherings.
- Be quick to apologize.
- Let your children see your faults.
- Direct the minds of your children and protect them from any societal agendas that may have potential harm.
- Teach; your children to write Thank You notes.
Children are a gift from God. What you do with them, what they see and how you train them is a way to show your gratitude back to God. Above all, remember that children don’t evolve…you must train and guide them. As a a parent, you are called by God to lead, guide and direct your child. If you don’t, society will!
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