Manners Matter

While teaching your children to say “please” and “thank you” is very important- it’s also good to know that there’s more to having manners than just saying the magic words! The reason for teaching our kids to have manners is that we’re trying to teach them empathy, or in other words we want them to consider other people’s feelings and have respect for those around them. It's all about the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated!

Here are some basic manners to teach your kids:

• Taking turns without interrupting
• Having good sportsmanship
• Understanding and respecting differences
• Table manners
• No name calling
• Magic Words: please, thank you, excuse me, you’re welcome
• Appropriately greeting others

Now, how do you teach these manners is the tricky part! Thankfully, there are a lot of great suggestions. Let’s break it down into the three types of manners: magic words, playing with others, listening & taking turns

Magic Words:

One of the best ways for kids to practice the things they are learning is with their toys!  Encourage them to say please, thank you, and you’re welcome when playing with their stuffed animals or dolls, then they’ll be confident in using those words with others. Another great idea is to teach them that the “magic words” have super powers. By saying please, you’re more inclined to get what you are asking for. Thanking people makes people others want to do nice things in the future. Finally, Excuse me can get your parents attention or have others move out of your way so you won’t bump into them. They’ll be amazed at the super powers of the magic words! Plus, don’t forget to use the magic words yourself!

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Playing With Others:

The obvious thing to teach your kids when they’re playing with others is to share. It’s also good to learn how to take turns and play fair. All of these things contribute to being a good sport- or a gracious winner and not a sore loser. This will teach your kids to play nice and will encourage other children to want to play with them! Don’t forget to have them thank their friends after a play date and send thank you notes when it’s appropriate.

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Listening & Taking Turns:

The best way to teach your children how to listen to others is to listen respectfully to them! Demonstrate good listening skills by looking at them when they’re talking and really listen to what they’re saying, this will help them to do the same with others! It’s also great to teach them to use “excuse me” when they may need to get someone’s attention.

Other Tips!

Remember to be patient. It takes a lot of time for kids to learn and then exhibit good manners, mistakes will happen. Plus always remember that the best example for your child is what you do! So try to remember to have good manners yourself and treat your children (and others) with respect. It's also helpful to explain (repeatedly) why manners are important.

Mrs. Walker, a first grade teacher, said, "Teaching your child basic politeness skills will endear them to others." So that's why we teach our kids manners- we want others to love them just as much as we do!

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