The summer vacation brings with it whistles of joy and happiness indicating freedom and independence from hectic schooling days and homework headache. Every child waits the beginning of summer vacation for all year long.
For children it means rest and relax, visiting their favourite places, playing outdoor games, and no restrictions of waking up early in the morning for going to school. At the same time, summer holiday season is a cause of frustrations, stress and tension for many parents. The reason is simple; hot summer days, rising inflation, unpredictable strikes and their busy schedules make it almost impossible to engage their children in useful activities. Frustrated parents make mistakes of focusing too much on activities like, summer camps or short training courses. These temporary sessions are wastage of money and have nothing to do with child's mental and moral development.
No doubt, parents want their children to be active and busy on holidays but what they fail to understand that this is the right time of the year to build positive personality traits for the sake of their welfare. For smart parents this is an ideal time for developing non-ending motivational skills and helping them getting rid of bad habits before it is too late. They use this time of the year to teach them social skills, and good etiquettes.
Good parenting is to cultivating good behaviours and high moral values. Nurturing good habits help him well behaved in family gatherings and his/her own social circle and be a good student in school. Every child needs help from his parents to learn good manners for success in life. A bad mannered child is a creator of troubles for parents. In the classroom, his unwillingness to obey the teacher's commands earns him bad reputation, making him unpopular among his class fellows. He labelled as a naughty student in the classroom. Parents of well-mannered students prefer to keep their children away from him. Consequently, he gets into the company of like-minded fellows, which adds fuel to the fire.
To avoid the worst circumstances it is better to equip yourself, this summer holiday season, for teaching good manners and etiquettes to your children. Good manners include, showing respect to elders, practising telephone etiquettes, receiving gifts manners, developing table etiquettes, learning sportsman spirit, and how to be polite. For example, teach child your what to say and what to do when someone give him/her gift.
Children love getting gifts and shows instant reaction when they receive any gifts. An expert says, "What do you want to teach a child about opening presents? For some parents it may be that you're wanting a child to say "thank you" and acknowledge the gift (rather than walking away or just beginning to get absorbed in it), for others, it's to teach them how to show enthusiasm, to give them words of appreciation, or to teach them to not hurt people's feelings."
Many people wait summer vacations to arrange their ceremonies and functions. Teaching kids social skills can save parents from embarrassment in front of visitors in such parties. Children who learned basic social skills find it easy in latter life to participate in social activities and establish good relationship with the people around them. A well-behaved child is a reflection of good parenthood. So get started from today to teach the child following basic social skills.
It is well-proven fact that root of good manner is respecting other person. The first rule of social skill is to teach him to respect everyone. He should acquainted with the use of words "thank you" and "please" to show his gratitude to visitors, as children who show gratitude feel more positive towards education and family.
Experts agree that teaching your child eating manners is an ideal way to teach him the trait of being well behaved and civilised. It saves the child embarrassment in front of visitors at home and in school or classroom parties. Instructing child table manners also saves parents from being humiliated. Parent's good mood enhances child's cheerfulness. So this summer avoid hot discussions on table and be in a good mood. Add variety of foods to keep him from making needless demands and complaining of foods on table. Good table manners include washing hands before eating, avoiding move of cutlery carelessly. He should be encouraged to say, "please" when he needs something and "Thank you" after getting what he asked for. He should also learn to wait for the other members before starting to eat himself.
Telephone etiquette includes answering the caller respectfully and politely. Parent should practice children to listening carefully while other speaks. Cleanliness is half faith. Teaching kids about cleanliness is to giving him lifelong awareness of good hygiene. The ability of keeping cleanliness give him awareness of keeping the surroundings and atmosphere germs free. A neat and clean child gets admiration both at school and at the home. Parents can take advantage of this season to tech child benefits and blessing of keeping himself/herself and his her surrounding free of germs and pollutants.
Young children are often ready and willing to help people in trouble. This holiday encourage them to participate in volunteer and charitable activities. These holiday charitable activities are life lesson for kids, provoking awareness at an early age to be grateful for foods, shelter and luxuries they have. There are many ways to engage the child in charitable activity in fun way. Concerned parents in many localities help children to organise charitable cricket matches. Children sell the tickets and money collected from selling these tickets goes to welfare organisations.
This season children have plenty of time to help poor children by donating used items such as toys, and clothes for donation. Help them to put these items in box properly. Children learn to treat with kindness and generosity to people in need. Teach them to hand over these items to needy children without hurting their ego.
Another useful activity for kids during holiday is to motivate the child and his friends to buy and distribute reasonable gift items for sick children in hospitals and health centers. Remember to encourage your child with the words of kindness when he completed charitable activity.
Watching TV and playing video games all day long, develop negative traits because most of the TV programmes and video games based on violence, abusive language, and aggression in the name of entertainment. Children get exposed to electronic media nurture antisocial, aggressive and disrespectful behaviours in faster rate. Sitting hours before TV screen can fire up obesity. TV set is responsible for increasing obesity among young children.
Holiday chores keep the child away from unnecessary exposure to video games and TV programmes. A chore free child never learns organisation and grabs in the web of bewilderment and confusion.
This season help your young child learning responsibility by encouraging him to participate in household chores. Responsibility is one of the most important traits of good personality. In order to teach the children responsibility assigns them age appropriate chores. For example, young girls enjoy making fancy dishes and sweet meals with their moms. Help them to make basic cookies dough, cakes and pizza for family and friends. Little girls love to decorate cakes and pizza. Feedback they receive at dining table will surely increase their self-esteem and confidence.
The foremost benefit of carrying out chores is that it grows sense of responsibility to help their parents and become dutiful to them. Young boys, like to help their fathers in cleaning and washing cars and its accessories. Give tasks of putting away laundry cloths, sorting them by colours, folding washed clothes, watering plants.
An educator Tamsen J. Boyd says "puts children in charge of assessing their own behaviour. Make a chart on which children can score themselves on how they interacted with others during the week. Discuss areas or specific incidents that need improvement and how they can be handled differently in the future. Praise areas that show, good character and explain how kindness can make others feel respected and therefore encouraged to behave the same way." Before starting, it is important for making the learning of good habits fun and joy. Pushing him/her to do this or that simply annoy him and make him/her reluctant to follow good rules.
Happy holiday season.