Hey! I’ve learned something new, y’all!! September is National Children’s Good Manners Month! Seriously?!? Did you even know there was such a thing?
I honestly have to say I did not. But, now that I know it exists, I must admit, I find it quite interesting. I think it’s great that, as a nation, we are observing something that is so important, but often missing from families and society today.
What are good manners anyway? Sure, they’re the way we behave towards others, but those behaviors vary greatly depending on the environment you were brought up in. Children will treat others the same their parents do. If we walk around treating others with respect, our children will as well. If we are negative to the people around us, they will be too. Our children learn by watching us.
We have tried hard to raised our children to have good manners and to always treat others with respect. We require that in our household, even now, with only one little man still at home. Ok. Well. I say “little man.” He’s eleven now and wouldn’t appreciate me referring to him as little.
Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. This isn’t an all inclusive list of every “good manner” out there. But these are a few that our family believes are important. Perhaps they are manners your family teaches your kids as well?
Good Manners We Teach Our Kids
Say Please and Thank You
This is one of the most important things we can remember to do and teach our children to do. It was just a couple of weeks ago that our son held the door open for a lady at a store. He went out of his way to wait for her and hold the door. She marched right on it and never even acknowledged his presence. I took that as an opportunity to thank him for helping her even though she didn’t acknowledge it herself.
Say Yes Sir, No Sir, Yes Ma’am, and No Ma’am
Some families don’t find this important, but my husband was brought up in a household where it was very much expected, and my husband is one of the most respectful people I have ever met. (I married him, didn’t I?) As a result, we repeatedly encouraged our children to use these responses when addressing adults.
Avoid Negative Comments
Don’t like the food being served or a gift you were given? Keep the negative comments to yourself. Children need to learn that other’s people feelings are important.
Respect Other People’s Boundaries
Teach your children not to cross the line. For example, do not rummage through other people’s personal property without permission.
Don’t Call People Names or Make Comments About their Appearance
This one is pretty obvious. Many years ago, one of my children was very young and said, “that lady is fat!” I wanted to crawl under a rock. It was absolutely time to have a talk.
Additional Resources for Teaching Kids Good Manners
There are so many more ideas and rules that can help instill good manners in kids and are easily incorporated into your household. Parents Magazine has a list of 25 Manners Every Kid Should Know, in case you’d like to brush up on your manners skills and go beyond the few I’ve listed.
Additionally, Scholastic has some cute books that can help children understand the concept of having good manners.
Finally, as a homeschooling family, we took the recommendation of another homeschool mom and purchased Proper Manners and Health Habits, a health and manners curriculum we did with our son when he was in 2nd grade. I found the lessons to be somewhat old-school, but liked that they were quite applicable today.
