Your Manners Matter National Homeschool Program http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:45:00 -0600 Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:45:00 -0600 Back in May, I blogged about the swine flu and covering your mouth,  (see May blog) I feel however, that I need to visit this topic again….as flu season is now getting started. I realized that some people may be telling their children to cover their mouths and the children may still be failing to do so.   I was traveling back on a plane to Charleston, a few weeks ago and there was a small child sitting behind me and he coughed and sneezed the entire trip.  He did not cover this mouth and even though he was behind me I know he did not cover his mouth because every time after he sneezed or coughed, his father would say “cover your mouth”. It occurred to me that in saying “covering your mouth” and not demonstrating how to do so, we may assume that children understand what we mean. By only saying “cover your mouth,” we assume maybe too much.  Please do not forget to actually physically show your child what that means and how to do it. Remember teaching your children how to cover their mouths is an act of respect…for themselves, that is.        http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/741409/ Mon, 2 Nov 2009 09:45:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/741409/ This time of year, our children start back to school and homeschool, armed with paper, pencils, supplies, books, but how about respect?   Teach your children that showing respect for themselves begins by respecting the rules by which we live….as a community, a society and a nation.   We do this by showing respect to ourselves as parents and teachers, by abiding by the rules of the classroom. On the playing field, we abide by the rules of the game; and to our friends, by abiding by the rules of friendship that brings respect back to ourselves.   There will always be rules ….whether it be in the classroom or at work or in anything we do.  Having respect for ourselves, by abiding by these rules, is important to our moving ahead in school and in life. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/716520/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:46:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/716520/ It is Summer!!!  The best time of the year for children…and a time for a break from the school year to relax and have fun….however, taking a break from school is not taking a break from learning….   I encourage you, as a parent, to make this a wonderful time to help your child keep up with his or her manners…in a fun way.   Teaching your child manners is so important….you may or may not be able to help global warming (there is a debate about that) or may not be able to do anything about the wars or even the economy…but we can all help the world by doing our part to teach our children to be kind and civil individuals.   We hope you take this opportunity to teach these important lessons to your child this summer. Please find below, the link to two free summer manners lessons we are giving away…one lesson is on sportsmanship and one lesson is on being kind. http://www.charlestonschoolofprotocol.com/topic.asp?pid=111   These lessons follow the same format as the National Homeschool Program we host.   Enjoy!        http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/705801/ Tue, 7 Jul 2009 08:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/705801/ This time of year, we all enjoy a public park area, recreational lake or the beach. We are mostly happy for other people to do the same…but are we making sure that others can do the same?   Most of us enjoy having fun at a public recreational area with friends and family and we want to make sure we allow others to do the same.   If we have moved chairs or benches to accommodate our group, or if we have brought food or items that were used and now considered trash, we want to make sure that we clean up the area and return it to the way we found it, or even in better condition.    Teach your children the importance of this, by allowing them to see you cleaning up the area and thereby letting them know its importance and then by asking them to partake in the process as well.   Showing respect for others, by leaving the area the way we would like to find it, shows respect for ourselves as well. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/696913/ Mon, 8 Jun 2009 07:07:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/696913/ There is a lot of talk about swine flu right now….and not having good manners is more than too bad…it is a health hazard!   We are at the beginning of what may be a flu pandemic, or at least an epidemic. Health officials are advising us to wash our hands and to cover our mouths when we cough or sneeze.    Covering your mouth when you cough has always been a common courtesy to yourself and others, but now it seems more important than ever. So many times we see children cough on everyone around them, and often with parents present, and nothing is said to the child to help the child learn how to respect himself….wow!   Teaching children to cover their mouths is not about the action of covering, but rather about learning an attitude of respect for themselves, which is the first step in gaining the respect of others.  Children learn from each other, and when you teach your child to cover his/her mouth you also teach and influence others who are watching; in turn they learn to have respect for themselves as well.   Whether children learn to cough into their left hand or into an elbow, wouldn’t it be great if that were the pandemic that spread, instead of the flu.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/684055/ Fri, 1 May 2009 07:00:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/684055/ Spring is here!   Many of us live in neighborhoods, and with that come neighbors with dogs and children. Please remember that when living in an area with others, there are manners that we want our children to keep in mind…one of those is to not walk or ride a bicycle through a neighbor’s yard.    Many people work hard on their yards. Please teach your child to be a good neighbor at a young age by being mindful and to always use sidewalks rather than cutting through flower beds or walking/riding on the grass.   Teaching how to be a good neighbor is not about the action of not walking through a yard, but rather about the attitude of being respectful to yourself, and showing that esteem to others, by respecting them: Such a simple lesson to teach to help set the landscape of their lives.   The original definition of etiquette was from the era of King Louis XIV and meant “Keep off the grass.”  Keeping off someone’s grass is a good rule to follow in spring and all throughout the year.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/676473/ Mon, 6 Apr 2009 13:06:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/676473/ Hearts of kindness pre-printed or heartfelt?   This month with Valentine’s Day, children send Valentine cards to classmates, grandparents, relatives, etc. These cards have sweet thoughts expressing  friendship, love and caring about that person, often in the form of a preprinted compliment.   Compliments are honest words of kindness that we believe to be true about someone. Even though we may have these beliefs, we so often forget to express them verbally.  Complimenting others about their talents, acts of kindness they have done or about a job well completed, is an act we need to express to our children and help them to express verbally to others.   A thought to help inspire this may be: Instead of buying Valentine’s Day cards that have preprinted compliments that they just sign, have your child create his/her own card or buy the ones that are blank inside and have them write a compliment inside. This could be to their friends, or just family and a few close friends.    Teach your children the importance of giving honest kind words, and how they, like others, enjoy the sweet sound a compliment brings. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/655358/ Fri, 6 Feb 2009 15:52:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/655358/ The need to help children to have more self-confidence is a request we often hear from parents these days. Could it be that this lack of self-confidence may be related to a lack of good manners?    Webster defines confidence as: “faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way.”   If your child has knowledge that results in the ability to act in the right or proper manner, this helps to instill self-confidence and once again reinforces the importance of good manners. Manners are the guidelines, we as parents can use to teach our children the rules needed for living and to enable self-confidence to happen.   Good Manners and self-confidence are directly related. So once again teaching good manners is not about what to do…but rather something much bigger… they are about how to be.     http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/642888/ Thu, 8 Jan 2009 13:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/642888/   From time to time, we hear positive stories about kindness that we would like to share....positive stories that often time, we do not hear enough about. So as a result, we want to share these stories with you....If you have a story about kindness that you would like to share and maybe brighten someone else's day, please tell us your stories.  Here is a story that was shared with us...Enjoy! Sam, my son, has a birthday on December 22nd, so he was just about to turn three, and Christmas was truly taking form in his mind.  He was really starting to understand what the Holiday represents (more than I knew at the time).  After careful consideration on Sam's part, he finally had come up with a gift to ask for from Santa - a truck.  Nothing else, just a truck!  I asked if he would like to ask Santa for anything else?  He said, "No, it's rude to ask for more."  (ARE YOU KIDDING ME, I THOUGHT).  But, no he would not dream of asking for more and as I later found out, his opinion was that if Santa had the time and wanted to give him more he would. (He really did that Christmas - I had to reward that attitude).     However, that was not the most amazing part.  As we were getting ready to go see Santa at the mall, he froze and got into a real panic, “We didn't get anything for Santa!!!!!  We need to give Santa a gift!!!!  He needs to know we love him!!!!”  I was a little dumbfounded and tried to explain that Santa didn't look for anything in return from boys and girls, that he did this out of the goodness of his heart.  Well, Sam would have none of that logic.  He simply insisted we think of something to get for Santa.  So, we sat down and reviewed his list of what Santa might need, warm socks, pajamas, lunch etc.  We finally arrived at coffee - "because he has to stay up all night delivering toys and will need coffee to keep awake".  So off to Starbucks we went.  We decided to buy a gift card so Santa could choose which coffee he would want.  With our $10 gift card in hand and smartly wrapped, we went and stood in line at the mall to see Santa.  We stood in line for over an hour without complaint.  And when it was finally our turn, sure enough he asked only for a truck and when pressed for a list from Santa of more toys - still only a truck please.  When he was done he got off Santa’s lap, turned and hugged him, handed him his gift and said "I love you too."   I still cry when I think of it.  The best part of all is we now do it as tradition.  Last year we were in line for over 3 hours on Christmas Eve, still no complaints, and I can guarantee that we will find a Santa this year and do the very same thing.  My son looks forward every year to letting Santa know we love him.   That's my little story, but it’s one of my favorites.  I hope you can see that he understands that gifts are expressions of love and not just what you can get.  He still will not ask Santa for more than one item (I am a whole different story).   Sincerely, N. C. Charleston, SC P.S.  My favorite holiday tradition is what I call “Candy Caning.”  I gather my family on some of the ugliest shopping days of the season and we head out to the busiest mall or shopping center (you can always find the grumpiest people in these places around the season of love).  Everyone scouts to find the harried, the tearful, the lonely, the angry, etc.  Then one of us, my son included, grabs a little candy cane that I have in my purse and walks up with the biggest smile and love in their heart and says, "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays."  It gets them every time.  You can turn someone’s trauma or situation into one of the best days of their lives just by recognizing they exist.  And my family fills up on the spirit and rides high for the rest of the year.  I really do recommend doing this, especially if you are having a bad day. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/632408/ Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:12:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/632408/ This time of year, children often receive many gifts, everything from toys to clothes to electronics, etc., but is it all about the receiving for children, what about the giving?   Most parents buy the gifts that their children will give, but could we teach the attitude of gratitude to our children, not by what they get, but rather, by what they give?   Having your children give of their time or give something they have created, is ultimately a much bigger gift than anything that can be bought, and these creations are often cherished the most.   By giving something of themselves, they are learning how wonderful it feels to truly give.  Giving helps them to be more appreciative of what they get…and that lesson is the best gift of all. This message will withstand the test of time through the attitude of gratitude that is reflected through life with the words “Thank you” and “You’re welcome.” http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/625331/ Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:42:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/yourmannersmatter/625331/