Teaching Kids Values

1. When it comes to teaching kids values, isn’t the example of parents
enough?
No. Parents need to actually pick out, define, and identify the values you
want to teach and to have an organized program for doing so. We suggest
a “value of the month” program that looks like this:

· Loyalty and
Dependability (January)
· Respect
(February)
· Love
(March)
· Unselfishnes
s and Sensitivity (April)
· Kindness
and Friendliness (May)
· Honesty
(June)
· Justice and
Mercy (July)
· Courage
(August)
· Peaceability
(September)
· Self-
reliance and Potential (October)
· Self-
discipline and Moderation (November)
· Fidelity and
Chastity (December)

2. How would you teach peaceability for example?
The two most popular methods are “the repenting bench” and creating a
peaceful atmosphere in the home with music and “inside voices.”

Our “repenting bench” is a short, uncomfortable pew that we got out of an
old church. The rule is simple: Any two family members who are fighting
(arguing, yelling, disagreeing) have to sit together on that bench until each
can tell what he did wrong (not what the other person did) and can, with a
hug, say to the other, “I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?” We stressed that
both of the “fighters” are always partly to blame. Oh, the “repenting” we’ve
seen! From kids who had to sit there for half an hour trying to figure out
what they did wrong, to kids who repent on their way to the bench so they
won’t have to sit there at all. The hugs and the “sorrys,” even if their main
motivation is to escape the bench, have blunted bad feelings a thousand
times and contributed to our children’s love for one another and to their
capacity to work out their own conflicts.

3. Are there some methods that work for all the values…..each month?
Three come to mind: 1. A banner that keeps the family value of the month
in mind and well defined. 2. A Sunday “award” that goes to the family
member that best lived that month’s value during the past week. 3.
Stories and role plays in the weekly meeting that focus on that value.

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www.EntitlementTrap.com.