Essential Good Manners to Teach your Kids

Every parent wants their child to be recognized as a nice polite kid with good manners. Some of the first words that parents teach their children are hi, bye-bye, please and thank you. The first words are usually dada and mama by 6 months old. As their kids get older their speaking becomes more refined and parents teach their children how to use proper manners in public and if they are invited over to someone’s house for a meal including family or friends. Parents also teach their children how to say please and thank you to their friends if they choose to arrange a playdate.

This is the beginning of social interaction for children. Essential good manners are the same as using proper etiquette when children are invited out somewhere special. Besides, it’s important to teach kids the basics of good manners if your family decides to dine out at a restaurant. You don’t want your child having a demanding tone in their voice.

The Importance of Good Manners

Parents want their children to use words like “yes please, and “no thank you.” The younger you teach your children essential manners, the more you can start building on these manners as they start to grow into preschoolers and grade-schoolers. Proper manners will carry them through their adult lives and with good manners, there is a whole different world of opportunities out there for them.

Today’s world is very fast-paced, and technology plays an important part in everyone’s lives, including kids. Teaching them good manners is very critical and the best job parents can do is help their kids with their social etiquette. This means parents have to teach them about good manners. Also, parents have to teach them how to get along with people using polite manners and learn how to treat people with respect.

If you are celebrating holidays, going to the store, or having a family dinner, this is an opportunity for parents to teach their kids about essential good manners at the table. This is how they learn about using good habits that will follow them through adolescence and into adulthood.

Essential Manners to Teach your Kids

Start with teaching them to say “please” and “thank you.” This is one of the golden rules of developing good manners. As your children get older, they can learn how to write a thank-you note to their host or hostess. Kids should always say “thank you” for any gifts they get, and they also should say “thank you” to people in foodservice. These manners are important in a restaurant.

If their parents do something nice for them, they should also use their good manners and say “thank you”. This can also be said at the dinner table when everyone talks about their day.

Teach them Proper Words & Phrases

There are other words that kids can use to show good manners and that is by using the words “May I?” If someone asks them how they are, they should respond by saying, “I am fine and how are you today?”

Practice Simple Greetings

It’s very important to teach your kids how to greet people correctly. This is one of the most important essential skills to teach your kids. Talk to them about looking people into their eyes, don’t be afraid to face people, and shake their hand firmly. The best way to teach your kids is to help them practice these skills and use role-playing.

Teach your Kids to Greet People by using Ms., Mrs., or Mr. This might sound a bit obsolete, but it’s a very proper manner children should adopt. Younger children should always refer to older adults by their last names like Mr. Smith or Mrs. Jones.

Teach Kids Proper Phone Etiquette

If you decide to have a dinner party and someone is called to reserve, teach your kids how to say “May I ask who is calling? When a child asks the question “Who is this?”, it doesn’t sound very proper. In addition, teach your child not to use your last name when answering the telephone. The world is a different place today and people could be watching your comings and goings.

Tell your child not to yell out your name, but to put the phone down and say “mom or dad, you have a phone call! If you are busy at the moment, have your kids tell the other party that the person they would like to talk to is busy at the moment. Then talk to your child to ask them if they could take a message and a phone number so one of their parents can call them back. Make sure your child gets the information correct.

Tell them to repeat the message back to the caller and make sure everything, including the last name, is spelled correctly.

How Can Parents Improve their Kids’ Manners

Dinner Talk

Have a good dinner conversation because family dinners are very important. This helps kids with developing their skills and staying healthy. Family dinners that are healthy for kids help them reduce the chance of being very overweight. Remember to help your kids learn how to say thank you if you are taking them out to eat. Kids that have family dinners also have healthier eating habits, higher performance in school, and they also learn how to talk to their peers, listen to them and wait for a turn for them to add their point of view on the matters.

Make Sure Your Kids Are Saying “Please” and “Thank You’

It’s important to get your kids into a regular habit of saying please and thank you. If they are eating with family and relatives, make sure they use their manners and also if you are eating out at a restaurant. Waiters and waitresses enjoy serving a family with good table manners, more than they enjoy serving a family with screaming kids that are demanding. Kids should always say “please” and “thank you “when they get presents, someone opens doors for them or they are with anyone else who is in the service industry.

Thank You Cards

It’s nice to teach your child how to write out a thank you card for gifts or anything else someone has done for them that was special. If the child gets a special gift, then it’s good for them to learn about description and describe the item they received, when writing out their thank you cards.

Parents Set an Example

All children watch their parents and they are their role models so look at how you react to others. If you have a bad attitude towards the waiter or waitress or a clerk in a store, your kids pick up on these traits and don’t respect authority figures. Make sure you use your good manners and choose the right words for the occasion.

If you feel you have bad manners, then correct them because your kids have a mind like a microcomputer and retain everything you do. You want your child to follow you and be a good citizen and develop the correct social skills.

Conclusion

If you decide to raise kids with good manners, remember to take a good look at yourself and get rid of any behaviors that you deem negative as a parent. When you constantly use good manners in front of your children, they will follow suit and will grow up to practice proper etiquette in every aspect of their life.