Many of us aspire for our children to possess good characteristics and personalities, which can be one of the most important responsibilities for parenthood. Developing a child’s character can be challenging at times.
There are proven or recommended ways to cultivate them. While certain traits seem like part of their DNA, we struggle to infuence them.
Implementing these ideas can help to develop good character in your child:
- Provide specifc verbal encouragement. When you give comments particular to a characteristic that you like your children to acquire, you provide direction on how they can behave. For a character aspect you wish to develop in your child, you can give your child some subtle rules about how to behave.
- To get your child to learn about being understanding, guide them with the type of comments and replies that they can use.
- To educate about honesty, you may say, “I like how you were honest about not brushing your teeth. Let’s go brush them now.”
- Volunteer together. Even young children can hand out sandwiches to the homeless shelter. Participate in a volunteering activity where they can learn about the importance of helping others. When you do it, they will observe to recognize that helping others can be meaningful.
- Separate the consequences for diferent behaviors. Parents need to issue diferent rewards and punishments for varying occasions. Our children would be able to distinguish what they may receive for telling lies and not doing their homework. It suggests that parenting techniques discourage lying and encourage truth-telling.
- You could explain, “If you had told the truth about not completing your homework, you would be grounded for 2 days. Since you lied about it, that’s another two days of grounding.”
- Briefy discuss essential traits. Explain how a particular trait encompasses and the varying scenarios that can take place. Show clear examples of what can be done to practice patience. Our children could then associate more specifcally with the actions required.
- Model character traits that matter to you. Show them how to display those positive traits you want them to learn. Remember that you’re their best model if you want your children to have good character. Observation is one of the best ways for children to learn.
- Assign tasks regularly. Set up tasks for your kids to complete independently so they can be independent. Applaud their eforts with compliments or a pat. Give them positive verbal feedback such as, “I’m happy you helped sweep the foor. That is a great help.”
We are responsible and have the general ability to help our children build positive characteristics. Focus on creating a supportive environment to encourage and guide them.
