Top 10 Things Parents Should Teach Children

Many parents leave it up to teachers and other educators to teach children proper manners. It is the job of the parents to do preliminary education with their children. Here are the top 10 things they would need to teach their children at a young age. The younger the better!

1. Respect for Elders:
How many times did we hear these statements from children: You’re not my mother! You’re not the boss of me. No matter who the individual is, children should have respect for them. It’s the role of the parent to teach that to their children. Otherwise, children would run into problems every time a child is being taught a lesson or two outside of the house or outside of the nuclear family.

2. Wash Hands:

This is very important to teach and to model to children. Washing hands could eliminate germs and can eliminate anyone being sick. With viruses such as H1N1 and SARS being deadly it is important for all children to know how to wash their hands. It should not just be taught at school, it should be emphasized and reinforced at home as well.

3. Please and Thank you:

The problem here lies sometimes in the parents and elder siblings. Children pick up on things quite fast. If for example, a parent forgets to say thank you, they child will find it is a useless word to use. Be consistent and emphasize politeness for children.

4. Table Manners:

This should be part of the grade 1 class curriculum and part of a child’s upbringing. When you sit at a table, do not use your hands to pick up food, chew with your mouth closed and wait for others to sit down before starting to eat. Constant nagging can be eliminated if children were taught table manners during their early upbringings. Teachers could reinforce this in the classroom as well.

5. Keep hands and feet to yourself:

Role-modeling is one problem parents face. Children are greatly influenced by parents and their elderly. If their parents or other elders use violence to solve their problems, children will copycat them. Parents should always emphasize “keep hands and feet to yourself at all times”. If they fail to see why they need to role model, they should examine the Bobo doll experiment by Albert Bandura.

6. Share:

Envy is one word to describe many children’s character. They always believe that someone else is much better off then them. Children also fight over TV, games and other toys because of envy. Parents should condition an appropriate behavior by role modeling and discussing appropriate manners with their children at a young age.

7. Don’t do others what you don’t want done to you:

Children love to pinch and they love to do crazy things to others. They however, sometimes realize the repercussions of their actions. Parents should always teach their kids not to do anything to others which they would not appreciate being done on them. Otherwise parents will face lots of problems and complaints from parents, teachers and other community members.

8. No one is perfect:

Some parents want their children to be perfect. They put a great deal of stress on academics and sports. When a child makes an error, parents would sometimes look down on them. Parents should not do so and should emphasize that learning is a process. No one is perfect and mistakes do occur.

9. Not to put hands where they don’t belong:

Many children do disgusting things with their hands. They then do not wash their hands when they are supposed to. Parents should reinforce the no picking nose and scratching other body parts. If it does happen, parents should prompt their children to wash their hands.

10. Read:

It seems simple, but you’d be surprised as to how many children enter kindergarten not knowing how to read. 15 minutes a day reading with your child helps them become better readers.