Ways in which you can teach values to children

“Compassion is the basis of morality.”

― Arthur Schopenhauer

One of the most critical tasks that parents undertake is to teach values and morals to their children. Inculcating values like honesty and integrity etc is extremely difficult. But these values and morals are too important to be left to chance. Most parents understand this and take concrete steps to teach their children values. 

In this article, we will cover effective strategies that parents can use to better their value education for their children. 

Effective strategies to teach values to your children

A book published in 2010, Teaching Your Children Values, lists a few strategies that can help you inculcate values in your children. They are as follows:

• Reward children for demonstrating different values. Recognising and rewarding children for their behaviour is one of the best ways to promote it. Praise can also be used as a reward. Rewards do not need to be expensive, they can be as simple as — favourite vegetable for dinner or 10 minutes more play time with friends. 
• Use a second chance approach. There will be times when children will struggle to adhere to certain values. When that happens, it can be helpful for parents to take a ‘second chance’ or ‘let’s start over’ approach instead of criticising them. Parents can use this opportunity to remind children of the moral values and the appropriate course of action. 
• Help children remember values in a fun manner. With young children, it is helpful to turn values and morals into mottos, phrases, and songs to help them remember better. It can help children remember the given value for longer periods of time. 
• Discuss the opposites of values. Discussing with children which behaviour helps and which behaviour hurts is a good way of teaching children to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. It can help children understand the opposites of different values and highlights the importance of values. 
• Acknowledge the values. More often than not, parents tend to ignore good behaviour and pay attention to the slip ups. Parents acknowledging the efforts that their children put in to demonstrate any given value can be extremely motivating for children.
• Role-play of different scenarios. Enacting different situations helps children put themselves in the situation and think critically about how they would like to approach it. It takes the pressure off and allows them to see the consequences of their actions. They also learn the causal relationship between their behaviour and consequences. 

Like everything else, do not expect children to internalise values immediately. Give them time to understand values and answer their questions, if any. It will help them get a comprehensive understanding of the value. For older children, parents might want to discuss which values truly matter to them and why. As always, keep showing up for your children, be patient and consistent and you will see results in no time. 

Did you find this article helpful? What are some of the strategies that you use to inculcate values in your children? Do share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Reference:

Eyre, L., Eyre, R. (2010). Teaching Your Children Values. United Kingdom: Touchstone. 

Also read, 

• Easy ways to be a more consistent parent
• How can parents help children follow rules?
• How parental guidance in homework works wonders for children