Posts Tagged ‘raising responsible kids’
Different Ways to Instill Responsibility in your Kids
Responsibility is always something that comes with a price. Part of the problem with a lot of situations and children today is that they simply don’t have the responsibility that they need to make good decisions and to do well in the world around them. There are many reasons for this, and there are many things that a parent can do in order to help their children learn more responsibility in the long run. 
First of all, the best way to teach a child responsibility is to model it. It is a proven fact that a child will respond best to what he sees around him. This means that as a child watches the way that you run your life and the things that you say and do to others, this is what they are going to learn. Therefore, if you are not responsible, and if you do things that you might not think are the best ways to do things, you will see that your child will model these behaviors as well. There are many times when you might find yourself faced with this type of choice – and you should know that the best way for you to get children to be responsible is to show them what it means to be responsible.
The other way that you can teach your children to be responsible is to start small. Many times when a parent feels that their child is ready for responsibilities, they shove many onto them at once. This creates a situation where a child has absolutely no idea of how to proceed with their responsibilities, and they might feel as if they have been totally overlooked. If you want to make your child responsible and teach them how to be so, you have to start out in ways that they can understand. Start with small projects and small tasks, and then work your way to the larger things. This is the best way that you can help your child be just as responsible as you need them to be. You cannot teach a child to be responsible by giving them so many tasks that they cannot see a way to be successful. Check out our Pinterest board for ideas the whole family can use when being more responsible with chores.
Therefore, you have to start small. Give a child one thing to do, and make sure that they do it. If, for some reason, they do not do what you have asked them to do, there should be a consequence that happens. Doing small projects with small consequences is the best way that you can make sure your children learn how to be responsible.
Remember that part of being responsible is wanting to take control of things and want to be the person who is in charge. Often, a small pet such as a fish or a hamster is a good way to teach a child to be responsible because they are fairly easy to care for and they are something that a parent can deal with if they need to. If your child wants a larger pet like a cat or a dog, you can start small and see how they handle the responsibility of that smaller pet. If they are able to take care of the smaller pet, you might find that they are ready for bigger responsibilities. Remember, a child will be more likely to show you what they are ready for, and they will be more likely to help you understand what they can and cannot do yet. So take your cues from them, know your children, and you will see that this is the best way for them to become responsible.
Finally, be sure and check out our Pinterest board for ideas the whole family can use when being more responsible with chores.
The professionals at TLC Family Care personally assist nannies, babysitters and families in St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Miami and Orlando to find the right childcare arrangement. Our mission is to provide a safe and personalized approach for families and caregivers to connect with each other that is not an internet search. TLC has worked with families, nannies, sitters, newborn care providers, and tutors for over 35 years and looks forward to working with you! To find great nanny and babysitting jobs visit us at tlc@tlcforkids.com or Call 314-725-5660.
Teach Kids Important Values Through Activities: 6 Traits That Build Character
As a nanny, you have the opportunity to make a positive impact on the children you care for. You can act as an inspiration, example and a mentor for the kids, so they can learn important virtues. There are six main pillars of character– trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. You can engage in different activities with the kids that will teach and test them in these areas. 
Provide anecdotes for each virtue-related activity, so the story can serve as an example and help to further understand why these are important values. Here are some of the ways you can instill the six pillars of character:
Trustworthiness
Trust is a vital foundation for every relationship. Explain that the child will receive more freedom and will be considered more mature in relation with their level of trustworthiness.
For older kids who receive homework, provide them with an initial independent studying time. Explain that this time can be used for organization of assignments and be clear that you expect a certain volume of homework finished by the time you check in with them. Leave the room and return at the agreed time and check whether or not they’ve completed their work. If they’ve engaged in other activities and distracted themselves, explain they must now be monitored for assurance that the homework is properly completed.
If you work with smaller children, play a board game with them and then leave the room. If the pieces on the board have moved, point this out to the children and ask why or how it happened. Read a story about honesty and trust to further illustrate your point.
Respect
Respect is seen in many forms — respect of the environment, respect of others and respect of yourself. Teach kids how they can respect the environment and create a compost bin at home. Explain how landfills overflow with trash and how their contents can be reduced through recycling and composting.
Teach the kids about respect for others and take them into a restaurant. Have them order for themselves and remember to say please and thank you to the server.
Explain the importance of self respect and create a list where they add a characteristic they like about themselves every day. They will gain a greater appreciation for their own self and through that positive reinforcement, they’ll have a solid foundation for self respect.
Responsibility
Responsibility teaches kids how they can muster willpower and why it is important to do tasks properly. Chores are an excellent introduction for the foundation of responsible behavior. Create a weekly chore list and post it in a visible area. Establish the expectation that the child must remember their chores and complete them.
Fairness
Explain that everyone must be treated equally — no one is more important than anyone else. Play a game together in which the kids can earn a prize, like 12 pieces of candy. Have one of the children divide the prize amongst all the players and make sure everyone receives the same amount. You can also put a child in charge of dishing up dessert and make sure he doles out the same amount for each person.
Caring
Caring and kindness reduces the negativity that is spread throughout school, the workplace or your personal life. Talk with the children about helping others and set up a time, every week, where you can volunteer within the community together. You can also utilize the Charity Miles app, where you and the child can take daily strolls and rack up points. The points turn into money that you can give to a charity that you choose together.
Citizenship
Children should understand at an early age that they are a citizen of their community, country and the world. Visit a variety of museums to help children see how people from all time periods and all parts of the world have contributed to civilization. Both art museums and natural history museums will provide children with enhanced worldly knowledge and instill the idea of citizenship.
This post originally appeared on RegardingNannies.com. Used with permission.
The professionals at TLC Family Care personally assist nannies, babysitters and families in St. Louis, Atlanta, Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, Miami and Orlando to find the right childcare arrangement. Our mission is to provide a safe and personalized approach for families and caregivers to connect with each other that is not an internet search. TLC has worked with families, nannies, sitters, newborn care providers, and tutors for over 35 years and looks forward to working with you! To find great nanny and babysitting jobs visit us at tlc@tlcforkids.com or Call 314-725-5660.
Raising a Responsible Child
Babies come into this world with a functioning (but still developing) physical body. They have all their parts, and those parts work — sort of. Babies grow and develop physically without a lot of “help” from the adults in their world other than the adults providing food and shelter. But babies also grow intellectually, socially, emotionally, and morally, and growth in these areas requires a great deal more from the parents of the child. Food and shelter aren’t enough. 
Here we are talking about teaching “responsibility.” How many times have you heard, “It wasn’t MY fault,” “SHE did it,” and all of the variations for declaring oneself not responsible. It’s a natural human response not to want to be held accountable when bad things happen.
Teaching that there are consequences for wrong behavior is part of teaching responsibility. Children must not live in a “consequence”-free world. When they do wrong, there need to be consequences.
For example, when a toddler throws a toy in anger, the parent might pick the toy up and hand it back to the child once. If the child throws the toy again in anger, the parent must remove the toy and deny the child the pleasure of playing with the toy. Responsibility! Bad actions do not produce good results.
Children must be actively taught to be responsible for their own actions (or inaction’s). He forgets his lunch today, and if you take his lunch to him, he is very apt to forget his lunch tomorrow. If he misses lunch, he’ll likely remember his lunch forever more. Responsibility!
Teaching a child to step forward and accept responsibility for his or her actions isn’t easy. There isn’t a parent alive (or an expert, for that matter) who would claim that teaching responsibility is easy — but it IS necessary!
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