Wondering how to teach moral values to kids? The article below covers everything you need to know to inculcate good moral values in your child. Importance of moral values, what moral values to teach, how to teach and tools that can be used to help your child or students imbibe the values.
Since moral values in kids are essential in every stage of their life, we discuss the ways to teach moral values to kids right from childhood.
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What are moral values?
Moral values are a standard set of values that help us to choose what is right.
Moral values are important for kids as it helps them to make life decisions with integrity and sincerity. Without these values, children will not be able to make the right choices as moral values in kids helps to pave the way for all their decisions in life. Moral values help children to identify between right and wrong and good from bad.
It is vital to embed moral values as a part of their childhood lifestyle.
We, as parents, sometimes confuse manners with morals. They are different because one is behavior and the other is how we think or look at life or make decisions. And sometimes we wonder how to teach moral values.
Remember, morality is a skill that needs to be taught to children at an early age.
We hope the below analysis and experience help you if you are in a similar situation and wondering how to instill good moral values in kids.
Ways To Teach Your Child Good Moral Values
Teaching moral values to kids could be a daunting task. But it is not impossible. Kids are easily capable of picking up and learning new things. Encouraging them regularly to put these moral values into practice will make them want to embed these values as a part of their life.
Though many things will lead the child to be better students in their school, there is a lot more in life — moral values — that will take them to places in life. So what are the ways to teach your child good values?
Here are few ways you can teach moral values to your child
Give practical life experiences
No message sticks better in a child’s mind than a practical life experience. If there is a situation or you get an opportunity to embed moral values in your child, use it right away.
Also, you can use what is happening around you – things you see happening with friends and family members, or in news, Use that as a conversation starter – ask your kids what would they have done in a similar situation or talk about how would you have handled that situation.
Talk to your child – have conversations. Use situations around you to help them think through and learn life lessons.
Become their role model
We act as role models to our children. Kids don’t do what we ask the to do at times – but mostly they do copy our behavior. So give them something good to copy. Set an example by following these values so that your child learns by looking at you.
Before you teach your child some moral values, ask yourself if you have been following them. Kids observe us – they see how we behave with others and how we treat them. They listen to how we talk to others and react to different situations. So exhibit values in your daily life so that our kids can learn and imbibe them.
Moral values like honesty, loyalty, respect, forgiveness, and compassion can be learned by watching how we interact with others.
Be honest if you want them to be honest. Remember children are keen observers and do precisely what their parents do. So be compassionate, respect others, yourself, and your child, and be honest. Do what would you like your child to imbibe.
Remember that kids are like sponges. It is not their fault if they learn the wrong things as they absorb everything they see or hear. We as parents must be even more responsible to steer them to the right path.
Teaching Moral values from Stories
Children get engrossed in stories. Be it fantasy or real, teach your child stories on moral values — more in respect to values such as honesty, justice, being helpful, etc.
Some parents create a bedtime story routine, it is a very good practice. You can use this opportunity to expose your child to stories that enlighten the children on the importance of moral values.
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Alternatively, you can also share your real-life experiences with the child which will be even more relatable.Â
Share your personal experiences
Sit together during dinner and talk about your day. Share your experiences and more importantly what went through your mind when you behaved in a certain way or when you took a decision.
Talk about a time when you conflicted and making a decision was difficult and how you were able to make a decision – how you evaluated and what prompted you to do the right thing.
May be when you told the truth even when it was really difficult and hard. A time when you stood up against a bully. Or how you helped someone without affecting or impacting their confidence and self respect. How you gathered the courage to do the right thing when it was really difficult.
Talk about how you respect different cultures, maybe in today’s works you can teach about how we respect all kinds of families.
Take out time and be open and willing to talk about your life experiences to help your child learn from your experiences.
Communicate Clearly and effectively
Communicate moral values to the child in a way that is easy for them to understand. Simplify complex language and use examples from the child’s real life, which becomes easy for them to relate to.
Knowing what each moral value means and identifying and labelling when you see them in a book, movie or real life is important. As it helps establish the meaning of each moral value and shows your child when it is being used so that they can see how they can display such behavior and values.
Use Available Media Effectively- Best to Teach Moral Values To Children
Media has a great impact on children and teens. This could be both positive and negative. Making the right use of the media to navigate good morals to your child can be effective.
For example, you can watch a cartoon with your younger child that depicts the importance of moral values in kids or read or discuss an incident of moral value standards with your older children.
Cartoons and animated videos in channels such as Infobells and Cocomelon have many enlightening moral videos that you can play for your kids.
Also monitor what your child watches as watching cartoons with negative content such as violent, uncivilized behavior, etc.,) can lead to negative viewing experiences for children.
It can trigger more negative behaviors and emotions, which in turn increases their aggressive behavior, and thinking in ways that are more easily different from reality.
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Hold your children accountable for their mistakes
Children need to be corrected when they make mistakes and must be taught the ways to do things right. Children may land in trouble at times. They could do anything from disobeying you, breaking a neighbor’s toy while playing, or even performing poorly in their studies.
Reward good behavior
Moral thinking is secretly connected to dispositions to act. When you find your child doing some good deeds, don’t miss out to acknowledge them and appreciate them for good deeds.
This could be anything from cleaning their rooms without your instruction or doing their homework by themselves. Keep telling them how good it feels when they do good deeds.
Here Is a Must Have JOURNAL FOR CHILDREN – TO INSTILL GOOD VALUES
Show your child how to be compassionate and Involve kids in simple acts of kindness
We can be compassionate and kind at any age and stage of life. Involve your kids in simple acts of kindness – make someone feel better,. Ask them to do something nice for their teachers, grandparents or friends.
Imbibe culture of donating toys they do not need.
Ask your child how you think their actions made the other person feel.
Also, teach them about being kind to not only others but also kindness and compassion for themselves.
Teach how to apologize when wrong and respect others’ feelings
When you commit a mistake or argue with your child, don’t give it a second thought. Just go and apologize to your child. Tell them you are sorry and it will help them understand that you respect their thoughts, feelings, and perspectives.
In this way, they learn from seeing you.
Help your child not to quit
Let your child complete tasks that they feel are mundane or are tired of doing. Teach your child not to be quitters.
If your child is committed to doing something, they must do that no matter how difficult it becomes. Encourage them throughout the process which will help them develop perseverance and responsibility.
Importance Of Moral Values In Children
Do you want your child to have a better guide in life? If yes, teaching moral values could help.
Moral values and virtues play an important role in the upbringing of the child. Virtues are applied morals – actions that stimulate individual and collective well-being. These could include generosity, compassion, honesty, justice, patience, etc.
Positive virtues such as honesty, responsibility, mutual respect, and helpfulness are learned with the help of moral values. This is much required for children as well as adults without which society cannot function.
Moral values are important for a personal healthy lifestyle. They help the child to become productive as well as help members of other communities too.
Listed below are the importance of moral values in children and why we must teach our children the values that we want them to have as adults.
1. Builds character
Moral values for kids act as a core of their being and lays the foundation for their moral thoughts. Teaching good moral values such as kindness, humility, courage, and compassion at an early age helps to build a child’s character. It is essential to teach these values at a younger age so it molds them into better humans.
2. Differentiate right from wrong
Children need proper guidance from someone who can teach them what is right and wrong. When there is no one to tell them what to do morally they will not be able to tell which things are right and wrong.
So a well-developed moral compass can helps kids to know right from wrong and stay on the right path. We can be there with our kids always so it is necessary to prepare them for life by having them build a moral compass that guides them even when we are not around
3. Forms better perception
When children can differentiate what is good and bad and can decide what’s right and what’s wrong, it helps them to shape the perception of the way they see the world. When a child is raised with moral values, they will not only stand idle but will fight against injustice.
4. Stay on right path
Children, when taught about the right moral values, know to channel their energies in the right direction instead of worrying about the situation thus staying off the negative influence of peers, social media, or society in general, as they grow into teens or adults.
In short, the importance of moral values in kids is that they provide your child the perspective and shape them to face the challenges and various aspects of life.
5. Develop Self-confidence
With good moral values, children gain self-confidence that helps them stay positive even in difficult situations
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6. Creates a healthy society
Having people good moral compass helps us create a society that is honest, responsible, kind, compassionate, and thinks about others.
So the fabric of society becomes stronger and we improve and grow into a more responsible, happy, and developed race.
What Are Must Have Moral Values Can We Teach To Kids?
There are some moral values for kids that you must teach to shape their personality. These encourage them to build the right attitude with moral values along with ideas and beliefs that help them to take the right part.
This could be done from their childhood so that it promotes the child’s mental development.
Nurturing a child’s mental health requires constant effort and training to make their thinking and decision-making stronger.
Here are some of the most important moral values for kids that you should teach them to make sure they grow up to be happy, content, and kind adults.
1. Respect
This is an important virtue that kids must imbibe while they grow. While respecting elders is obvious, we must also teach them to respect equals without any indifference — be it caste, age, etc. And this is something that can be conducted only through practical experience for which you need to model play so that your children will learn from you and will do the same and follow it once they grow.
2. Honesty
Honesty is one of the important moral values for kids as it will take your children to heights in their lives. Keep in mind that it takes a lot of courage to say the truth. Going by the phrase “honesty is the best policy” you must practice it before your child and let them know your honest opinion about them and their behavior.
3. Gratitude
Off late, this is one moral value that many parents miss out on teaching or expressing before their children. Being grateful for little things and pleasures in life is sure to make life happy and contented.
Remember to practice this and teach children to inculcate this as a part of their daily lives which can make them happier and more satisfied individuals. And through this, they become healthier and contented adults.
4. Sharing
This is one important value that kids learn majorly through observation. So, act smart and make use of situations where you can bring in this sharing value concept right from your child’s young age.
Teach them the concept of sharing and about how happy it feels once you do. This could be anything from books, toys, or even food. If they have a sibling at home, start this with them so they can adapt easily.
Encourage them to do it more often so they realize that happiness means sharing rather than keeping things with themselves.
5. Compassion
How many times have you been compassionate to others in front of your kids? Compassion or sympathy is learned by kids depending on how you empathize with others.
While empathy is putting yourself in others’ shoes, sympathy is being with them in tough times and recognizing the other person’s hardship to lend a helping hand in times of need.
6. Empathy
Empathy is one moral value for kids which is much needed to adjust to other people more naturally. Children become friendlier and more understanding when they learn to empathize with others.
They develop compassion and can easily relate to another person’s situation and problem which is a likable quality of an adult.
7. Acceptance
This is a moral value that is imbibed in kids and needs fine-tuning by the parents. Children generally accept what is offered to them other than on occasions when we deny their requests.
Children need to be taught on accepting the way life is and it goes hand in hand with gratitude. They must be happy and accept that they have rather than wish for things that are always better.
8. Equality
Discrimination is something that needs to be avoided in today’s age for which children must be taught about equality. Treating everyone equally with the same respect and thoughts must be a part of the child’s upbringing.
With this value, children learn better from other people without any hesitation or hindrance.
9. Courage
Teaching courage to your child can help them stand for things that are right for themselves and their loved ones. This could be best taught with real-life examples so the children get inspired and follow the same.
Encourage the child by applauding or appreciating instead of scolding, in situations where they stand against injustice. It could be anything like supporting a sibling or raising their voice for a friend.
10. Self-control
While many may not think about this as an essential moral value for kids, it is better to teach the child this virtue to sustain in this world that is full of abundance.
Since there are a lot of options to choose from in all areas of life, this moral value needs to be taught to them at a young age so they stay humble and don’t go overboard.
This value will refrain them from getting into too many temptations that the modern world has to offer.
11. Kindness
With this moral value, you can make the world a better place to live in. While your child is young, teach him the art of kindness towards people and the creatures around him.
Also, self-love and being kind to oneself are important to learn how to be kind to others.
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Though this is an underrated moral value, it helps you to raise a helpful, trustworthy, and self-loving individual.
Books To Teach Your Kids Meaningful Values
Here we recommend a few books that help you introduce your child to various kinds of moral values and the importance of each of them.
The Good Egg (The Bad Seed Book 2) by Jory John and Pete Oswald
ABCs of Kindness (Highlights Books of Kindness) by Samantha Berger
What Should Danny Do? (The Power to Choose Series) by Adir Levy and Ganit Levy
Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? by Dr. Seuss
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Good People Everywhere By Lynea Gillen
The Story Of Ferdinand By Munro Leaf
Have You Filled A Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud
Hey Little Ant by Phillip M. House
Conclusion
It is important to teach moral values to children at an early stage of life as a good character as well as a well-built personality is established because of this.
The family of the child plays a crucial role in guiding and teaching the child much-needed values. With good moral values, the child remains positive even in challenging situations in life.
Since moral values for kids are the building blocks of a kid’s personality, you need to teach your child to understand what they are, be able to identify them and to be able to apply them when taking decisions in their life.
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