Teaching Compassion to Children

Teaching compassion can make our children aware of the world around them and it teaches tolerance towards different cultures and personalities. This enables children to be more sensitive and caring, that in turn leads to better relationships with others as they grow into adulthood.

All education begins in the home and so does teaching the virtue of being compassionate. Here are a few things that you can do to encourage compassionate actions in your children.

• Start at the very beginning – Ensure that you express and show a lot of love and affection towards your child when he is a baby. They can feel the vibes and become soothed or agitated by their bonding with their parent. Alice Sterling Honig, a professor of child development in Syracuse University says “Without that attachment, babies will later have difficulty showing love and affection. The early months of infancy are crucial. When you have a relationship that's loving and secure with an adult, then you are probably going to be able to give to others in life the way you were given to.” ^[2]
• Communicate about the benefits of compassion – talking to your kids about how compassion can help them be better people will also help. Your children need to understand how being compassionate can help them contribute to the society that they live in and make their life more meaningful and worthy. It also communicates that you believe and practice compassion as a family. The child then tries to model these virtues since he believes that he is part of the family and wants to be like other family members.
• Be a role model – The first thing that you need to know if you want to teach compassion is that a child’s strongest example is when you exhibit compassion yourself. Compassionate acts truly do speak louder than words.
• Volunteer service as a family – The act of giving up certain things to others and helping others can provide a great sense of achievement and fulfillment to an individual. You could plan trips to an orphanage and have your children give away some of their toys and clothes to other children. A family tradition of community service, setting aside of a certain amount every year for each member of the family to give away as charity, and praying together are among some of the family routines that go a long way in nurturing compassion so that it becomes an essential feature in the mindset of children.
• Use the aid of stories, folklore and mythology – Folklore, and mythology are mostly associated with positive values and the theme almost always provides useful lessons in moral and ethical values. Children who are constantly exposed to reading and discussions on such stories are prone to be more compassionate than those who listen only to the violent fare shelled out through the electronic medium.
• Talk about real life famous heroes – Stories of famous compassionate people help in developing high moral values in children and adults alike. Choose people like the, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King who are renowned for their compassion and moral attitudes. Reading sessions in the family of their life histories and events can also be instrumental in teaching the importance of being kind, caring, and empathic.

Teaching compassion to our children is more relevant now than it was ever before. It is the atmosphere in homes that necessarily reflects on the society as a whole. When there are tools available for teaching compassion to our children is it not better that we try to create a new environment that is non-violent and compassionate?
References:

[1] http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html

[2] http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art9676.asp

Communication Strategies

Effective communication skills are vital for parents. Both listening and talking are important skills to develop in order to facilitate communication, report researchers at the Leo Magan Speech Sanctuary. Additionally, parents need to develop the ability to interpret their children's body language and to impart a sense of love and security to their children through their own actions.

Listening

Listening skills must be learned. There are a number of reasons that children don't listen well, ranging from the assumption they know what their parents will say to expectations of nagging or feelings of being misunderstood. Employ effective strategies for better listening skills by being role models and listening to children the way you want to be listened to. Set up special times when distractions won't interfere and have a conversation with your child, possibly at bedtime or after dinner. Look at your child when he is talking and request the same respect when you are talking.

Talking

Find common interests to talk about with your children in order to facilitate more effective communication. Wait for the right time to talk with your children when you both will be in the proper frame of mind. Make rules that when parents are engaged in something important, they won't be interrupted. Instead, stop what you are doing and provide a time when you will be available to talk. Watch when your children are angry or distracted and wait for a more appropriate time to begin talking. Make sure that talks regularly include positive reinforcement and encouragement. Monitor your tone of voice so that it mirrors your words. Children won't be so tuned out to parental talks if parents aren't always nagging or scolding.

Body Language

Parental communication is most effective when the parents' words match their actions. Children react to body language as much, if not more, than to words because they still experience much of the world through natural intuition, report doctors at Net Doctor. When emotionally upset, parents also react more strongly to body language than verbal communication. Parents can develop better non-verbal communication skills by first recognizing their own habits and actions when they are trying to send a message to their children. Body language includes the position of the body, heads and hands, facial expressions, eye movements, gestures and gait. Successful communication requires parents to understand their children's temperament and expressions, while ensuring that their own actions convey the same message as their words.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/103862-parenting-skills-communication-strategies/#ixzz1ldPl7hKI