To help you help your child learn and practice having citizenship, a few tips are listed on this page. Videos on citizenship may be available on United Streaming, and books can be checked out from the library.
- Ask your child to tell you about our daily character announcements and what he or she learned from them.
- Talk with your child about the importance of being a good citizen. Make sure he/she knows that being a good citizen makes a positive contribution to society and their environment.
- Have a family discussion about what things you can do together to take more responsibility for the environment (recycling, using less water and energy, buying nonpolluting products, etc.). Make a plan and do it.
Participate in a community service project with your children.
- Watch a television program together, and talk about ways in which the characters were either good citizens or bad citizens.
- When you do things that demonstrate good citizenship, be sure to point it out to your child. Your child will learn a lot from watching what you do.
Copyright Elkind+Sweet Communications / Live Wire Media.
Reprinted by permission. Copied from www.GoodCharacter.com.
Parent Tips: 5 Things You Must Say to Your Kids Tip #2
5 Things You Must Say to Your Kids was written by Dr. Brad Schwall, creator of the Cool Kids character-building program. You may sign up to view these and more parent tips at http://www.coolkidschannel.com .
Communicate these messages not only with words, but with actions.
2. “I hear you.”
Listening encourages your child to feel understood and share more with you.
- How to say it:
- Listen attentively.
- Reflect feelings.
- Show excitement when your child shares about accomplishments.
- Guide your child to problem-solve when she comes to you with a concern.
- Just listen. Sometimes kids (and adults) just want to share their thoughts and feelings. They don't want advice. Lectures and repeating “Uh-huh” without really listening discourages children from sharing.