Home is the first school of a child and parents are the first teachers. Creating hopes, dreams and ambitions for children, and helping them achieve the same is what every parent does. If you can show your child, your belief in his or her potential, it can make a great difference. It can help your child to build self-confidence and set higher expectations.
Studies show that children having regular constructive conversation with their parents have overall character development faster than those who remain deprived of it.
The character we have is often defined as our course of action when no one is looking at us. True character, thus, is installed deep within ourselves. Responsibility, trustworthiness, respect, caring and diligence- make up the pillars of character development. Here are some of the ways, experts say, that work the most when it comes to the role of parents in strengthening these pillars.
Responsibility
Alwayskeep your expectations clear. Set a tone of this trait, for your child by showing him or her, your sense of responsibility. It could be taking your child’s grandparents or fulfilling a promise. It is important to enforce the sense of punctuality. Stay positive and acceptable in every situation. Keep on relating your responsibilities with that of your child when it comes to submission of projects, or regular studies. Praise your child for every target achieved, be it a bigger or a smaller one. Children if rewarded for their achievements; feel enthusiastic and put in a lot of effort in their tasks.
Trustworthiness
Has there anything your child has shared only with you? If that is the case, it is a positive indication, because, it indicates that you are the most trustworthy person in his or her life. Parental advice yields good results throughout the life.
Keep your conversation open and implant the spirit of trustworthiness in your child. You can make a list of your own and include people from history, science or literature in that list. Also, you can populate your list by including current leaders and dignitaries of the world. Ask your child to find out, if their words matched their action.
Respect
Make yourself your child’s role model. As a student, it is very important for your child to have respect for teachers and peers. This trait will come when you keep advising your child on this front. Also, make yourself very clear that self-respect and respect for others is the foundation of all other positive traits. Any negativity and abuse will not be tolerated. Starting from the day your child starts to observe and understand things, and does whatever he or she sees you to do. Implant an attitude of gratitude. There is no better word than a ‘Thank You’ to express gratitude.
Whether it is your spouse helping you in household chores or your neighbor helping you in your times of need, these two easy words are sufficient enough to express your gratitude to them. And, when your child observes this, he or she will also learn to express gratitude to everyone he or she receives help from.
Caring
A caring attitude will ensure that your child will not be included in character assaults and bullying. Describe the acts of kindness, also demonstrate them if you can. Take out some time to highlight the importance of volunteerism. In order to make your child understand the virtues, you can probably have him or her teach some children who cannot afford education, in the free time.
Diligence
This is a combined character trait and means ‘focusing on the work in hand’. A person, who is diligent, works hard to achieve goals. Science tells that the opposite of diligence is laziness. Students who are lazy tend to forget what they have study and studies do not bother them much. This habit if persists can be dangerous and leads to poor knowledge and a very difficult future.
Advise your child to be diligent by concentrating on work, follow instructions and finish tasks up to the mark. Explain him or her, the results and benefits of working hard, and how to develop the interests of the subjects. Also, look out for ways to make your child diligent, when the type of work seems to be less fascinating or when no one is monitoring. Remember, whether it is your child, or you, ‘How you work reflects who you are!!’
These are only some of the ways, your advice and involvement can do wonders towards developing your child’s character. But, we all know, every child is different. Accordingly, there could be many other ways for the same objective. As parents, you may proactively interact with teachers and counselors specialized in these fields. You may also seek online professional help in this regard. Remember, your course of action today, will determine your child’s future to a great extent.
