Teaching Your Children Values
by Linda and Richard Eyre
– Teach them to make decisions before they ever confront situations.
– Develop values yourself before you can expect your children to develop them.
– Give them ways to earn money and then give them responsibilities on what they have to buy.
– Too often discipline is more of a choice than a necessity, but it should not be that way.
– Have disciplines of being in certain places at certain times such as dinner together, work, bedtime, etc.
– Work before play — even small children can learn to clean up, push in their chair or other things before going to play.
– Teach your children how to make some goals, no matter how small they are.
– Children need limits, they will feel safer.
– Talk openly to your children about puberty.
– Delay dating until you’ve talked and there’s more maturity in the child’s life. Premature dating leads to bad decisions and hurt.
– When you need to discipline your child, let them know you still love them and are upset at the action, not at them as a person.
– Find time to listen to your children instead of just cutting them off and moving on to the next item or task.
– Learn to say you’re sorry as a parent. It’s hard to say sorry because parents feel they are right, they are the authority and are smarter than the kids, but it is important to learn to apologize when you’re wrong as a parent.
– Remind your children that they can learn something from everyone.
– Remind your children that in order to have friends, they have to be a friend.
– Teach your children that they have to take turns and learn to share
– Care, Fair and Share — teach your children the importance of these
– Teach your children to forgive others, show mercy and do not to be judgmental.
– Your child is not a lump of clay that you can form into whatever you want, they are their own person. But you can teach values that will help form them throughout their lives.