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Teaching Good
Manners
Teaching your
child good manners should never be underestimated and is an important
aspect of parenting.
Poor
manners have become an increasing problem in schools with children
lacking respect for teachers, staff and their peers. This has resulted
in teachers spending time teaching manners and basic etiquettes, that no
doubt should have been established at home.
Teaching good
manners inevitably has to start early on and from a young age, so don’t
think your child is too young to learn manners. Even if they can’t
communicate with you they will still be able to hear and observe the
body language associated with good manners.
Ten ways to
help your child develop good manners
1.
Be an
excellent role model- treat people well, say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’,
apologise for any mistakes and be helpful and respectful of others.
Modelling good manners is key- children learn by observing others and
mimicking their behaviour. Always display manners which you would like
your child to follow.
2.
Practise
family politeness- always say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to your children,
so they will model this and it comes naturally to them. Make it a rule
that requests aren’t considered without a ‘please’ and always wait and
‘expect’ a thank you.
3.
Teach your
child not to interrupt people, including you, or other adults who are
speaking. If they do interrupt, explain that ‘they don’t like people
interrupting them, so they mustn’t interrupt others’.
4.
Encourage
them to write ‘thank you notes’ and letters for present they may have
received. Always make sure they do this soon after receiving gifts. This
teaches an appreciation of others and value for what they
have been given.
5.
Explain the
importance of saying ‘goodbye’ to someone who is leaving the house or a
party and always
expect them to do this.
6.
Teach them
the importance of sharing and being aware of others around them and
empathising. Compliment and praise them when you see them sharing or
being kind, perhaps through a
Reward or Star
Chart.
7.
Encourage
your child to treat others as they would like to be treated, by being
kind and considerate.
8.
Have high
expectations of behaviour and manners at home and not just when you go
out. Don’t expect your child to have excellent table manners when you
dine out, if at home, you have not worked at establishing these.
9.
Be consistent
in your approach, even though you may at times struggle to enforce good
manners. It will be worth it in the long term and once your child
realises you have certain expectations that have to be met, they are
less likely to challenge them in the future.
10.
Catch them being good! Always praise
good behaviour as this is a wonderful tool for learning and teaching.
See our page on
Behaviour Management.
Finally make sure your child is happy and healthy
so they are willing to practise good manners. When children are tired or
their needs are not met this is usually when they misbehave.
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courtesy of
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