Teaching Children Good Values

From the first moment a parent welcomes a child into the world thoughts of how to teach that child to be a successful, responsible, and caring person begin streaming through the mind. Every parent realizes at that point a great responsibility has been placed in their hands. Some may even experience temporary anxiety, for they wonder if they are really up to the challenge. Caring for a child and seeing to his needs usually comes easily to most parents, but it is teaching a child values that will help him to care about himself and any other person who may touch his life with the same amount of respect, love, and generosity.

There are so many lessons to learn in becoming a good person, and contributing member of society. Parents should not feel the pressure to teach a child everything, but should focus on teaching values that will form the foundation upon which a child can continue to build. The fact is many of life's lessons must be learned through living life, realized in the achievements and mistakes made by an individual along the way. Learning and demonstrating values help to build one's character.

As a parent, work to set the value standards and teach your child the importance of good values. You will want to include values that you appreciated learning as a child and were passed on to you by your own parents. Teaching family values helps to strengthen the bonds between family members. Also, teach your child values that you have had the privilege to garner through your exposure to other people. Children are naturally self-centered, and as they learn to share and care about other people's feelings as they do their own they will become people-centered. Values that can play a permanent and positive role in your child's life may include:

• Honesty. Learning that telling the truth rather than a lie makes a child feel good about himself, as well as other people learning they can have faith in what your child tells them.
• Love. Feeling of belonging to others and bound to them through family or ties of friendship, demonstrated with affection towards one another.
• Sensitivity. Caring about other people's feeling, and knowing when to apologize, while learning why it is important to say 'I'm sorry' to those whose feelings have been hurt.
• Compassion. Showing consideration for individuals who are less fortunate or have experienced a bad situation, such as ill health, poverty, or abuse.
• Tolerance. Understanding that people are different and learning to accept their differences.
• Responsibility. Gaining satisfaction through completion of an assigned task, including chores and homework, and learning the responsibilities that other individuals must undertake every day.
• Joy. Finding happiness in seeing the beauty and goodness in everything that life shows them.
• Trust. Learning to believe in what they learn, as this helps in the development of values.

Children are terrific observers, so remember to demonstrate the values you want your child to learn and teach them their worth in your lives. It is important that parents work together as a team in order for children to understand that you share your values as a family. Actively listen to what your child says to you and repeat it back to him, that way he will learn he has a voice within the family that is meaningful, and he will learn that the voices of others are important to listen to as well.

When your child exhibits positive values, be sure to praise him with compliments and lots of hugs. Once he receives a sense of recognition for his good choices, he will continually seek ways to demonstrate them. Again, model the values for your children that you want to teach them. We reap what we sow.