When it comes to raising children, one thing that every parent hopes for is for their child to be caring and compassionate. Raising caring children is not hard work, but it takes time, love, and certain parenting traits. If you really care to raise children who are caring, you will make sure to work hard and put in the effort to teach your child to be a compassionate human being.
At Montessori School of Chantilly, we know that raising caring children is important to many parents. In our previous blog, we gave you a few tips for raising kind and caring kiddos. In this blog, we wanted to give you a few more tips that you can follow to ensure you are teaching your children how to care for those around them. One of our school’s main focus is being kind, caring, and compassionate. While we will work with your children, you are the one who really matters when teaching about kindness. Follow these tips to help teach your child how to be a caring human.
Identify and Label Emotions
Sometimes emotions can be difficult to label and express. If you teach your child to identify and label their emotions, they will be better able to understand what they are feeling and why. As your kiddo gets older, around three or four, and begins to notice their emotions more, help them identify the physical aspects that go along with emotions. For example, if they are nervous or scared, point out that they probably have a strange feeling in their belly and maybe their heart seems to be beating a little faster than normal. When you point out these physical aspects in connection to emotions, your child will be able to better understand what they are feeling and put a label on it.
But how does this help with raising a caring child? Well, when your kiddo understands their own emotions and is able to label them, they will be better at recognizing these emotions in others and react accordingly. If they can tell that another kiddo on the playground seems sad or nervous, they can make a better decision on how to interact with them. Maybe they slowly approach them and say hi, maybe they ask if they want to play together. When we understand emotions, we can act in a more caring way toward other people.
Expose Them to Animals or Pets
Pets can be emotional and help your child understand emotions in a different aspect. Since a pet or animal is not a peer or sibling, many children tend to depersonalize the animal. But they will still be able to notice emotions in your pet and recognize that most living things have emotions that you need to consider and be aware of. They will learn that petting your dog will make it happy but yelling at it and chasing it might scare it. When they notice these emotions in other living creatures, they will recognize that they should be caring and loving toward these animals. If you have been wanting to get a pet, now is a great time, so that you can teach your child to care for things other than humans.
Encourage Helping
When your child helps you with something around the house, be sure to praise them and show a positive response to their help. A positive response to their help encourages your kiddo to continue with these helpful behaviors as they start learning these skills. When you encourage their help and praise them for it, they will develop these behaviors and become more willing to help as they grow older. However, as they become more proficient, reinforcement may actually undermine the desire to help. Show appreciation and explain why you are happy they helped, this will help them better understand the power of helping someone, even if it is in the smallest way.
Raising your child to be caring isn’t difficult, but it takes patience, love, and the desire to teach your child why it is important to be kind. Showing love, positivity, and grace is a great way to raise a caring child.
If you are looking for a school for your kiddo that believes in raising caring children, be sure to check out our programs at Montessori School of Chantilly. Contact us with any questions you may have.
