All children have the capacity to feel kindness, but it takes practice and cultivation to show kindness in action. Kindness is first taught by parents, then by other individuals in the child’s environment. “Prosocial behaviors,” often known as acts of kindness, are decisions made voluntarily with the intention of helping another person. Even rats display prosocial actions, which proves that kindness is a biological trait. For instance, in a research when a rat had to decide between liberating a cage-mate who was stuck or opening a box of chocolate, the rat choose to liberate the cage-mate first and then share the chocolate with the newly released comrade.
Kindness is beneficial to your health as well as the one who is receiving it. Happiness and self-esteem have been found to grow with kindness!
How can we extend that generosity to our kids, our houses, and our schools?
Educate Others to Be Kind
Be gentle to yourself first! Teaching good manners can be a terrific place to start, but keep in mind that kids pick up on manners from the people around them. Increasing your kindness will improve your mood as well as the moods of those around you. It also sets a terrific example for your child. Children who understand empathy, demonstrate it, and take responsibility for others are likely to be happier, more successful, and have stronger relationships throughout their lives, including as adults, according to Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project.
Show Your Gratitude
Teach kids to always say “please” and “thank you” while receiving or asking for something.
Make up your own courses on grace and courtesy. To educate your kids to help prepare the table, bring dirty dishes to the sink, or help pick up toys, create a Grace and Courtesy lesson. At Heritage, we take advantage of chances to promote kindness and self-worth. For instance, we assign pupils to a job for the day to give them the chance to exercise responsibility, gratitude, and care. Giving kids duties encourages them to take responsibility for their actions and look for ways to assist others. Establish strong moral standards for your household’s routine activities. When a parent acknowledges your child’s helpful hand after a play date, you’ll know it’s working.
Participate With Kids
Allow your kids to assist you when you show thanks or kindness. Children’s small hands can provide a helping hand by tying bows on gifts, baking sweets for a sick neighbor, or even making a card for a friend or family member in need. This can also be a wonderful opportunity to spend time with your child and strengthen your relationship with them.
Instill Respect
Teach kids how to politely converse with others, especially adults. Use this chance to educate students about interrupting as well. Respect need not be formal; instead, it can be reinforced by setting out regular time for family gatherings and having meaningful conversations without gadgets, especially at meals, which strengthens the family’s relationship.
Enforce Integrity & Modesty
Everyone makes errors, but how we learn from them reveals the kind of person we are. Develop your child into the person you want them to be right now! When your child errs, use the occasion to teach them about honesty and how to improve moving forward by talking about how to learn from their mistakes.
Get More Active!
Participate in community service with your kid! At Heritage, we support a thorough, all-encompassing learning environment that incorporates volunteer work. Use our events to teach your kids about giving back to the community. For instance, let your child to pick an outdated item to donate to our yearly toy drive.
In Conclusion
Not only does compassion make the recipients of gifts and acts of kindness happier, but it also makes the person performing the act of kindness happier! Simple, every-day tasks are transformed into opportunities for learning how to succeed in today’s society when learning and child development are approached from a Jumpin’ Jax perspective. We appreciate YOU for being kind to others and enhancing the learning environment at our school.
