How To Teach Good Values To Kids

An inherent characteristic in human beings is the prevalence of good values. In fact, it can be described as the only facet that separates man from beasts. Like knowledge and character, good values must also be learned and adopted at the earliest, better still as a kid and no teacher can be more adept at this than parents. Kids adore and idolize their parents and tend to follow whatever their parents do. Their observant nature tends to pick up every incident, good or bad, involving their parents, unable to distinguish between the two as they think that their parents can do no wrong. Thus, parents should practice what they preach. For kids, being the forever-eager learners that they are, will absorb everything they see and the values will become a part of their subconscious mind, governing every aspect of their lives. Instilling good values will also help your child grow up to be a better person. 
 

Teaching Good Values To Children 

• First and foremost, lead by example. Kids will not listen to any arguments, if they see their parents doing the opposite. Whatever good values you want to instill in your child must be adopted by you first. Honesty, sincerity, politeness, compassion, humbleness, generosity, courage, respect etc. can never be taught with textbook lectures; rather parents should themselves be the lesson in disguise. To teach good values, be the beacon that lights up your kid's life.
• Kids also learn a lot from other people they love, respect, and from those they come across in their daily life. It is advisable parents should keep shady characters at bay and make their kid interact with people who themselves are respected for their good values.  
• You can employ the “carrot and stick” policy. Punish when your kid goes wrong and reward he employs good values. However, never go to extremes. This ploy will help the child distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Once a sense of good and bad or right and wrong is established, the kid will be ready to imbibe all the good values.
• Parents should build an emotional bridge with their kids, like a friend. Talk and understand or tell stories or anecdotes from your life experiences, detailing the importance of good values in one’s life. Tell stories of leaders and great men, and motivate your kids to follow them.
• You could also tell your kids to bring injured pets home, if they find any, and help the kid, tend the injured animal back to life. This will instill in the kids, a sense of compassion and empathy for the unfortunate.
• Kids can also be taken to volunteer for charity and community services, so that they learn the warmth of belonging and the value of working together.
• Instill in your kids a love for reading and books, a wonderful world without deception, where “nothing is to be lost but everything to gain”. Books are the storehouse of knowledge and good values and indulging in them will surely bring a positive outlook in your child.

These wonderful thougts about importance of values will go a long way in instilling a sense of morality in children.