How to Raise Your Kids to be Kind

Do you want kind kids?  Well, you need start with yourself and your home.  You need to model kindness, you need to directly teach it and you need to talk them often about being kind.  Kind kids come from kind families with good values.  Kind kids come from homes where kindness is celebrated. Here are 5 Tips for Raising Kind Kids

•Model. Model. Model. Show them how to be kind.  Show them how to be loving.  Teach them to share, to be tolerant, to help others when they need it. Show them what that looks like.  Let them see you helping, sharing, saying kind things and treating others with patience.

•Read them books about kindness.  Books are one of the best ways to start conversations with kids.  One important thing that many parents forget is that you must both ask and answer questions in order to have a discussion.  That means that you should not lecture your child on the value of kindness. You should have a talk.  Ask them questions like: Have you ever been unkind? Why? Have you ever seen someone else be unkind? Why? What can you do if you see someone acting in a way that is less than kind? Do you think if a person acts in an unkind way one time that they are unkind, in general?

•Praise kindness whenever you see it.  If they share with their sibling, praise them.  If they help a child up on the playground, praise them.  If they defend someone who is being bullied, praise them.  If they ask a new friend to play, praise.  Praise. Praise. Praise.

•If you see them being unkind, intervene. You don’t have to yell or scream.  However, you may simply just need to talk with them.  Ask them why they acted that way and what they could do in the future.  Always insist that they apologize.

•Teach them the joy of giving.  Bring them to charity events, help them wrap Christmas gifts for underprivileged children.  Show to them that being kind will make them feel good.  Give them opportunities to be of service to others and to show their support when someone is hurt or sad.

The single most important influence in their lives is their parents and their home life.  If they are raised in a loving environment where their parents model kindness then they will learn to be kind.  They cannot learn what they have not seen or experienced.  You are their role model and you will be the compass by which they direct their life. Keep that in mind.