Perfect Pigs : An Introduction to Manners by Marc Brown & Stephen Krensky (Ages 4-8)I'm not sure about you, but I really feel that during my short tenure as a mom, that teaching manners to children has to be one of the toughest challenges thus far.
The practice of 'please' and 'thank you' is not necessarily easy, however, it is the easiest to teach. Ensuring our children practice this specific behavior correctly is a common lesson that is able to be taught each day and eventually, it sets in with little or no "What do you say?" prompting.
I must confess. This book jumped out at me while at the library. One, it had the word Pig and Manners in the title - two words you don't see together often. You see, my beloved daughter is a very messy eater and sometimes, I think she does it on purpose.
Well, ok, all of the time and I try my best not to tell her what I am thinking... that she is eating like a pig and I don't approve, my frustration does get the better of my sometimes and she does hear it - which only seems to encourage her.
It's a vicious cycle.
Anyway, I saw this book and I thought it was, well, perfect.
This book goes through twelve manners scenarios such as During Meal Time, While on the Phone, With Friends, At School, During Games, etc...
While some of the topics, such as While on the Phone are a bit over my three's heads at this point, I know they are paying attention and like the book because while out and about one day, my son said something along the lines of being a good sport which is covered in the During Games section.
Oh how that makes me smile and my heart flutter.
Although not meant to be your all out resource, nothing can replace your lead by example teaching and loving encouragement, this book really is a great Introduction to Manners as it claims.
Do you have a resource that you'd like to share that you have used to introduce manners or other character building skills to your children? I'd love to hear more and learn.
Comments