Teaching manners to children

June 19, 2020 Karen 30 comments

I recently saw a parent asking about this on social media.

I, like most parents, I suspect,would encourage my children to say “Ta” when I gave them something as babies, as they grew older and their vocabulary improved the “Ta” became “Thank you”

When I was a child minder I liked the children to say please and thank you when necessary; one day when I was handing out snacks I was looking after a child with Down syndrome who used Makaton to back up her limited communication skills, she stroked her chin ( sign for thank you) and I gave her a thumbs up ( good) another child wanted to know why we did this so I explained the best I could.

My grandson would say “What” quite often so I told him that “Pardon” was a better word to use, When he went home his dad told me that he kept saying ” Pardon.,.pardon..pardon” every time he was spoken to ( his way of proving a point, I think).

Reward charts could be used as a way of reinforcing good manners or you could stick a sticker on clothing to promote them using good manners.

I once heard a parent telling a child not to do something and the child came back with you must say please as you tell me to say it!

Households will vary in how they expect manners to be used, for example, some parents expect children to ask before leaving the table at mealtimes.

Personally, I just expect a please and thank you and a tissue to be used rather than a sleeve for wiping a nose.

Please share any tips for teaching children manners,

I always recommend rewarding any good behaviour here

As always questions and comments are welcome,

Until next time.

Karen

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30 Comments on “Teaching manners to children

  1. It’s so important to teach children good manners from an early age , they cost nothing and hopefully they will stay with them later in life. Children learn from thier parents so best manners begin at home.

  2. I think it is important to teach manners but have learnt it is important not to always expect them. My eldest is autistic and struggles with communication. Please and thank you have no functional meaning as they are actually a social construct. I am sure he will learn to say them automatically when he is older but I found it interesting how he really struggles with them as the words have no meaning for him. It has made me more aware when teaching my youngest that I don’t think it means much to him other than that is how he gets what he wants. I will be more aware of explaining why these words matter to others when they are older with better comprehension as I think many of us just use the words automatically and don’t attach the meaning which really is the most important bit. #KCACOLS

  3. I think it’s really important to teach them good manners. I have taught mine from the word go, including saying ‘thank you for my tea’ after they’ve finished, and making sure they say thank you to friends’ mums, grandparents etc when they’ve spent time at their houses. #KCACOLS

  4. I think manners are so important to teach children. We try to make it clear to ours that they won’t get anything unless they ask nicely for it. Doesn’t always work though haha! #KCACOLS

  5. I think the key is to start young and keep at it. Positive reinforcement and as many reminders as necessary until it becomes second nature. Nothing more annoying than when somebody else’s kid has bad manners #dreamteam

  6. I agree, teaching manners from a young age is so important. We are also not the “ask to leave the table” type but definitely please and thank you as a minimum. Thanks so much for linking up at #KCACOLS. Hope you come back again next time.

  7. My motto is to lead by example. So I always ask politely myself. You cannot expect a child to do it if you are rude. We do get our little girl to ask to leave the table. Manners cost nothing.#KCACOLS

  8. This is one thing we have always done with our little ones, is to help them learn and understand manners.

    Eddie – that Friday linky.

  9. I do like my children to be polite as it doesn’t take much to just say thank you. I hope that I set a good example for this and they will copy (eventually ;)) #DreamTeamLinky

  10. This is a great reminder about manners. It’s such an important one to have under your belt I think. We’ve always re enforced the pleases and thank you’s and tried to show that being kind with words can have such a positive effect both on you and others around you. Thank you for joining us for the #DreamTeamLinky

  11. I’m quite hot on manners but the thing that drives me bonkers is ‘I want’ instead of ‘I would like’ – we haven’t quite mastered that yet! #DreamTeamLinky

  12. Please and thank you are essential for good manners and forming part of human interaction. My kids could do with more practice! Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging

  13. Manners are so important. In particular I am working on table manners while we are home learning: I am so fed up with messy eating! Thanks for linking up with #stayclassymama

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