Teaching Please and Thank You to your Child

Teaching children to say please and thank you is a simple social grace that will serve them throughout their entire lives. As babies children are unable to speak and ask for what they want so we as parents just give to them and smile. Then as children grow and become toddlers it is time to teach new manners. Please and thank you are the staples.

When teaching your child to say please start out by making sure you always say please when asking for something. Children learn by mimicking what they see. If your child sees his parents being polite and courteous it will be easier for him to develop this habit.

Next is to teach your child what to say. Many parents will simply bark the word "please" to a child who has forgotten to say it. This may be effective for some children, but for many it causes them to simply bark the word please any time they want something. A harsh please is more of a demand than a proper use of good manners. Instead try teaching your child to say the entire sentence. For example, ‘may I please have a cookie’. This may be far more effective than simply barking please.

Thank you is another social grace that if taught early will stay with your child as he grows. Thank you may be more difficult to teach because once children receive what they want their attention shifts to the item at hand.

At home when teaching to say thank you try saying to your child ‘you need to say thank you’ when they have been given something. This way your child knows what to say and that you expect him to say it. This may be more difficult when you are out and your child needs to say thank you. An easy way to remind children is to whisper in his ear to say thank you. Once your child gets used to saying thank you then a simple head nod as a reminder should suffice.

Just remember Rome was not built in a day and children will not learn manners overnight. Keep steady and consistent and your child will surely be saying please and thank you in no time at all.

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