AD| Exploring Moral Values with Your Child

Exploring and developing your child’s moral values is one of the most important lessons you can give. Teaching your child the importance of being kind, respectful and empathetic will equip them with a moral compass to guide them through life. An independent school in Kingston Upon Thames has shared their tips to help guide your child in their moral development.

Respect

Teaching respect is a great place to start when addressing moral values with your child. Try explaining to them that everyone is equal and deserving of respect and that respect always flows in both directions. Teaching manners and enforcing family rules is a good foundation to instil a sense of respect within the family home. A useful phrase to help children to understand respect is ‘to always treat everyone as you would wish to be treated.’ This leads into the second focus point: empathy.

Empathy

Learning to empathise with others is often something we develop throughout childhood.

Younger children tend to focus solely on their personal wants and needs without seeing their situation in context, however, empathy is a skill that can be mastered. Make sure you’re quick to respond to situations where empathy may be useful. For instance, when mediating squabbles between siblings it is important to encourage your children to consider how the other is feeling, ask them how they might feel if they were in the other’s shoes. Empathy is arguably one of the most important moral attributes in well-rounded and consciousness adults.

Gratitude

Gratitude is undoubtedly the key to having a positive mental outlook. In practicing gratitude we learn that we may not always find ourselves in the ideal situation, but we can always find positive things to focus on if we try. Plus, the more we focus on the things we are grateful for the more readily we recognise other positive things around us. Children who practise gratitude are more likely to be content and upbeat and less likely to be selfish and spoilt.

Why not try simple nightly exercises with your child where you each list 3 things you’ve been grateful for that day. For older children you could encourage the use of a gratitude journal so they can approach the subject of gratitude independently.