Your child is watching you and
doing as you do, not as you say or preach and he learns best by
actually performing it himself.
If your child has not reached the
schooling age, you may find this suggested daily plan useful in
educating your child and to build up his character that you
desired.
When he wakes up in the
morning, you say "Good Morning" to him and at the same time
coach him to say "Good Morning" to you and to the others in the
house. And in no time, you will find that he will have the habit
of saying "Good Morning" to you and everyone else in the house
first thing in the morning.
Then you offer him some choices for his breakfast. If possible,
allow him to participate in the preparation of his breakfast. He
will normally be happier to take his breakfast if he has a hand
in preparing it or he is the one who made the decision to have
it.
After his breakfast, you can take him out for a morning walk in
the open, which can be in a park, along the walkway, in the
garden or such like. The idea is to allow him to learn his
environment from his own personal experience and not just from
the books. Allow him to touch and feel the leaves, the flowers,
the pebbles, the stones, trees and so on. Teach him the
different colours, the shapes of objects; the small animals that
he may see along the way. If there is a stream or pond and there
are fishes, allow him to feel the water and let him see how the
fish are swimming in the water. Take the opportunity to tell him
about nature and beings that are living happily in their own
ways. This will give him a real feel and also build up his love
for nature and other beings living in it.
You may then take him to the playground. Here you can teach him
to respect other kids in the playground by saying "Hi,
everybody!"; always queue up take his turns and not to rush or
push others in using the various equipments such as slides,
see-saw, swings, ladders, etc. The equipments are specially
designed by experts to train the child to master certain aspects
of his abilities. Take the opportunity to encourage your child
to try and take risks with proper observation of safety rules.
Give him lots of encouragement
when he succeeds in accomplishing a tasks, like scaling the
rock; climbing up the ladder and so on. The more encouragement
he gets, the more he is willing to try. If he falls, for
whatever reason, do not be panic; he would feel the pain but he
would probably not be hurt as the floor in the playground is
normally padded or made of soft materials; and take this
opportunity to ask him the reason for his falls and guide him to
understand that he needs to take the necessary safety precaution
to avoid future falls. Then allow him to standup on his own and
encourage him to try it again with the safety precaution that
you have just taught him. He would feel elated when he can
finally make it without having another fall. Here, he learns to
take risks, take safety precaution, standup again after a fall,
try it again without giving it up, and achieving the final
success.
During lunch, allow him to take his own food using fork and
spoon on the dining table together with you. He will observe the
proper dining etiquette by following you. You can teach him to
value the food and to be grateful for the food that he has.
After his food, allow him the opportunity to clear his own bowl
/ plate or even help to wash up the bowls and plates. The idea
is to allow him to participate in the chores of running the
household.
After lunch, you can then have some quiet time to listen to the
children songs with him. You may sing along with him.
He enjoys his bathing time if
he is allowed to take part in the preparation of his bath tubs;
such as turning on the water tap, feeling the temperature of the
water, taking out the body lotion, etc. Allow him some freedom
for him to have fun with the water.
Before he goes for his afternoon nap, read the books or tell him
some stories that highlight the virtues of human beings so that
your child can pick them up unconsciously.
When he wakes up, it would probably be time for evening walk.
Allow him to walk around in the neighborhood meeting other
children and neighbors. Teach him to greet the friends and
elders and allow him to socialize with them by playing with
them.
After dinner, you may want to plan some indoor activities such
as playing the building blocks, games, etc with him. Or you may
want to join him to watch some Children's TV programs.
Before he retires for the day, read some books to him and tell
him some stories that highlight the virtues that he will pick up
unconsciously.
Remember, you have to be a role model to your child and you need
to spend some time and efforts to ensure that your child can
grow up to be a responsible person.