Three Ways to Encourage Your Child’s Moral Development
As a parent, you have a massive responsibility: the future is in your hands!
One day, your child could be in a position of power, able to influence and bring about much-needed change for the good.
Encourage Your Child’s Moral Development
So how can you prepare your children for the immense responsibilities that adult life may bring without making them feel burdened?
These tips will help you raise your children to be the compassionate, creative, innovative leaders of the future.
Choose Schools Carefully
The schools your children attend will play a pivotal role in their development. When it comes to choosing schools, many parents get hung up on factors that don’t really matter, like prestige and ratings.
What matters is that you find a school for your child that encourages their interests and passions for their own sake and trusts them to explore and find their own way.
Conventional education styles usually resort to rote learning and instruction that is purely exam-focused. In contrast, a well-regarded Montessori school will nurture your child’s creativity and independence by placing your child’s individuality at the heart of its teaching philosophy.
Live Your Values
If you frequently use the expression “Do as I say but not as I do,” then you might consider revising this aspect of your parenting style.
This age-old adage of parenting is only going to hinder your child’s moral development as it undermines the concept that your actions matter as much (or more) than your words.
As a parent, you may think that your child learns more from other influences such as their teacher or au pair but don’t underestimate the role of your example in their development.
Try your best to show your child an example of the kind of person you believe they should aspire to be one day. That doesn’t mean you should be a lawyer because you want your child to be a lawyer.
Quite the opposite: let your child see that qualities are what make you the person you are.
Let them see you being kind to strangers. Show them that you are passionate about your interests.
Demonstrate that you care about charitable causes. Your example will mean the world!
Avoid Overemphasis on Goals
If you hope that your child will dare to dream big, work hard, and achieve their boldest and most exciting goals throughout their lives, it’s crucial that you balance your encouragement towards goal-driven behavior with affirmations of a different kind.
Unless you show your child that it’s okay to be unproductive sometimes, you risk creating a situation in which the child believes they need to be productive in order to win your approval.
Letting them enjoy down time and play not only shows them that their value in life is not derived from what they do and how hard they work, but it encourages creativity, which (ironically) is one of the best aids towards achieving their future goals.
Whether your child is still in diapers or heading off to school for the first time, the time you spend with them will present plenty of opportunities to encourage their moral development.
These tips will help you guide them in a positive direction.