Our New Life: Homeschool Village~ Manners

This weeks Question is: "Besides leading by example - what practical teaching methods/exercises are you using to teach etiquette and manners to your children?"

I have never really thought about what methods/exercises I use until tonight.

When Sephy was little we use to reward her for saying Thank You and Your Welcome. Then when we where foster parents we taught the babies sign language. They had to use them or they didn't receive what they wanted. We taught more, thank you, please, yes, no, drink, and eat. Using the signs seemed to turn over to verbal when they started talking.

I have always been told that my child is very well behaved for her age. I always say thank you and look back and wonder why, because at home she isn't always like that.

Sephy is about to be 11 and I have notice that at times she gets that little preteen attitude where she thinks she knows it before hand. I have had to talk to her a few times about how people are to talk to other people and how feelings are easily hurt if you do not use the proper tones.

I have started making her repeat scriptures to me when she isn't acting properly. This is something I just started doing because it seems that when I do this she realizes hey I am not being proper or Christian like right now. This started because one day at church she was acting out and being rude towards me and towards some of the other adults around that I was trying to have a private conversation with. I asked her to please go out into the hall and sit down and wait for me for a few minutes. She started back talking me and being disruptive and very rude to me and the other two adults. It embarrassed me and I didn't want to get on to her in front of the other adults. One of the adults that she admires said to her Sephy in the bible it says to obey your mother and father, are you doing that right now? Sephy answered her back with no ma'am and turned and walked out of the room and sat down. It surprised me that she did leave when she said that to her. After that I started having her tell me what Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." and Colossians 3:20 "Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord." I also make her now apologize for her actions. After that night the next time she saw the person she had to apologize for her actions and tell her that she should have obeyed what my mom says.

I suppose that when we we come across something new that needs to be worked on I will have to come across it in a way she will understand. I hope I will learn something from ya'll because teaching manners and etiquette is something that I do not know how to teach except by what we are already doing.

My Featured Homeschool blog that I have enjoyed finding through HS Village this week is:

Mosaic of Grace. This past month she was on vacation and her pictures make you want to just hop into the car and start driving until you hit the beautiful beaches of Florida.