Every parent wants well-behaved children, but a lot of parents think raising well-behaved toddlers is an impossible feat. You should understand that there isn’t a fixed time to begin teaching and encouraging good behavior in your children. When you see your toddlers stomping the feet when asking for something and even snatching toys from friends, it is time for you to step in. It might seem too early to begin teaching them manners at this stage and you may be tempted to delay the lessons, but it is actually the ideal time to start the lessons.
According to the author of a book on raising well-mannered children, starting early helps your children understand that being considerate and polite is the ideal way for people to act. With teaching them manners, it comes easy for the toddler to stick to instructions and be enthusiastic about doing well.
It is also a way to help the toddler develop behavioral patterns and habits that will last for the rest of his or her life. However, Rome wasn’t built in a day and so you should not expect your toddler to be perfect instantly. Thus, keep repeating the lessons and reinforcing them until your kid gets a full understanding of the lessons you are teaching.
Some easy concepts you can teach include:
Teach Your Toddler To Be Kind
At the age of 2 years or 3 years, your kid is ready to begin playing with other children. It is essential that you teach your child to treat those other kids fairly. Naturally, toddlers tend to be possessive and self-centered. That, however, doesn’t mean they do not understand there is a difference between behavior that is nice and one which isn’t such as snatching toys from friends.
They also tend to become aggressive under circumstances when it’s difficult to give expression to their thoughts or intention. When you see a toddler begins to hit another kid, take the toddler aside to calmly explain the need to express with words in instances when he or she wants or needs something.
Expressly let her know the reason why hitting someone else is wrong, then ask the child to apologize. To encourage sharing and making it easy for a toddler not to get too attached to a thing, set rules at playdates that seek to ensure that no single toy stays with a toddler for too long.
Teach The Toddler To Say Please And Thank You
Please and thank you are popularly called magic words. At this phase, their verbal skills are improving rapidly so they can probably say these magic words already. According to Phylis Magrab, this age is that of imitation and toddlers tend to closely watch your actions and even mimic whatever you say.
You can teach your toddler good behavior by ensuring that you nicely ask for things while he is watching. If he yells to ask for something and says “gimme”, you need to tell him to add “please” before handing him that thing. Always practice saying these magic words often. When you give your kid something, let him say thank you. You can also praise the kid each time he or she says the words without your intervention.
Saying Hello
Whenever your child keeps quiet when a new person is in the room, gently remind the kid to say hello. However, it is advised that you do not push the child too much if he or she is too shy. According to Alice Brown, an expert on child development, being a model for good behavior works better than forcing such behavior.
Brown noted that if your child sees you saying hello and subsequently extending your hand for a shake whenever you meet people, doing that will also become a natural thing for your kid. Anytime your kid does that without being reminded to, don’t forget to commend him.
Table Manners
As soon as your kid begins to eat his food by a handful, start teaching the proper table manners. This means the kid is already developing motor skills that he needs to make use of utensils. You can show her how you hold your fork and watch her try. Give her useful suggestions and also remind her where mistakes are made. If she talks while chewing, remind her to finish chewing.
A lot of kids at this phase already have the self-control to eat their food with closed mouth and also sit still for fifteen minutes. You can tell your kids about that particular meal so as to help keep focus and reduce distractions.