How To Raise Kids With Great Values

Most of us parents want our children to grow up to be intelligent, moral children who really care about the world around them and the people in it, but is it possible to bring your child up to have great values?

Although children are their own people and will have their own ideas about just about everything, as a parent, you do have a large influence on them and the things you do and say can definitely have an impact on the values they grow up to have.

Okay, so how do you raise kids with great values? Here are a few ideas:

Lead by example

Your kids will be significantly influenced by the way you behave in life. So, if you care about helping people, why not volunteer at an organization like Youth Villages which helps to improve the chances of children in need, or if you value religion, be sure to go to church every weekend. The more your kids see you acting your values. The more likely they are to get involved and place a similar amount of importance on the too.

Make morals values relevant right now

It’s really tough to teach your kids morals theoretically. So, reading a bible story to them or teaching them a bit of philosophy might not work as well as you think it should instill the right values. 

What is more likely to work, however, is to link moral teachings to the real world. So, teach your kids why it is unkind to blow a friend off or a better invitation or show them that the consequences of getting too much help with their homework mean they do not learn to preserve and absorb information in the same way. 

Basically, link moral teachings to their lived experience and it will be much easier for them to understand.

Use empathy

Kids can be wrapped up in their own world quite a lot, so one thing that can help is to ask them how they would feel if X, Y, and Z happened to them, and this can be surprisingly good at teaching them that they should be kind to others, wait their turn, not be mean and so on.

Reward good moral choices

If your child shares their treat with a friend, tell them how proud you are that they unselfishly gave something to someone else or if they work really hard to achieve a goal., consider giving them a small reward like a toy or a trip to the park to celebrate the effort they put in. Positive reinforcements are an excellent means to encourage the right moral activities in children and even some adults too!

As you can see, it is very possible for you to raise your kids to have the kind of values that are most important to you if you are consistent, lead by example, and make it obvious why those values are so important, so if you really want to raise kids with great values, try to focus more on cultivating those values in your own life.