I sincerely believe that Christians should have the best mannered children. Why? Because we are to be an example to the world in every way, including how we raise our children.
Of course, good manners start at home. In her book “Taming the Family Zoo: Six Weeks to Raising a Well Mannered Child”, author Donna Jones gives many ways to teach our children good manners. Here are some of them:
Teach the magic words. Children need to know why “thank you”, “please” and all the other magic words are very important to their vocabulary. Once they practice them at home, your children will have mastered their use, so using them in public will be natural to them.
Teach wise behavior in public. Children need to know that they shouldn’t be running around in public, climbing on chairs, raising their voices, cutting in lines, etc. Proper public behavior starts at home. If you allow them to do these or similar things at home, they will do them in public.
Teach good table manners. Start at home of course. Don’t allow your children to talk with their mouths full of food. Show them how to place napkins in their laps and to keep their elbows off the table. Don’t let them reach over someone else to get food. Once they learn their manners at home, they will use them naturally at a public dining place or at a friend’s house.
Read the entire article on her book by clicking here.