We all want well-mannered children, but they don’t enter the world that way. Here are a few tips for bringing up well-mannered kids.
Model good manners
If you want your child to have good manners, you have to have good manners yourself. Children model their behavior on the behavior of others, especially their parents, so be a well-mannered parent as a first step.
Arm them with the right words
From infancy, instill polite words and phrases into your children. ‘Please’, ‘thank you’, ‘excuse me’, ‘no thank you’, and ‘may I’ are the very basics.
Rehearse at home
To ensure your child knows how to behave in a well-mannered way, tell them what the rules are, and include these in everyday activities such as play.
Practice patience
No-one learns good manners overnight, least of all a small child. Be patient, and encourage them to think about others instead of just themselves. Teach them to listen and respect others.
Get over your prejudices
As we said, children model their behavior on their parents. If you are biased against a group or person, keep it to yourself. The last thing a child needs is to learn prejudice.