Honest Discussions Help Kids Build

Character

WHEN PARENTS DISCUSS THE VALUE OF TRUTHFULNESS, youngsters understand why honesty is so important. Most children have told lies and already know that lying causes pain. As the parent, you can remind your child of 3 painful problems they may have experienced.

3 Dishonesty Problems:

1. Being distrusted
2. Feeling guilty
3. Worrying about being caught

Ask your child, "Can you think of more problems that telling a lie can cause?"

Today’s gift shares 7 positive outcomes when children tell the truth. Use them for your parent/child discussions too.

Sample Questions to Ask Your Child:

1. Can you remember a time when you told the truth and it felt good?
2. Do friends trust you? Why?
3. Why does a clean conscience help you sleep?

 

Honest Kids Sleep Well

Your Parenting Gift:

 Why not add it to your 3-hole binder to pull out and use again whenever you need it?

To get more thoughtful discussions that promote truth telling: 

Click on:

Truthful Kids

and insert the code word: OUTCOMES

Please let me know if this was helpful by commenting below:

Thank you so much.

With warm wishes, 

Jean Tracy, MSS

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• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

 

Help Your Kids Think about Honesty 

 

Discussing dilemmas is a powerful way to help kids to think about right and wrong. With dilemmas, your child has the chance to pretend someone else has the problem and come up with a solution.

In today's parenting gift, you'll find 5 child dilemmas to ask your child. His task is to think of answers that would help kids in the dilemma have a clean conscience. Listen well. Have fun with the problems by asking some questions of your own.

Here's an example:

Your best friend lied to your friends about his dad being a millionaire. Most of the kids knew it wasn't true and are calling him a liar. Now he's embarrassed and doesn't want to face them.

1. Will you remain his friend? Why?
2. What's the best way for him to correct his lie?
3. Why is being truthful the best policy?

Of course, you can ask whatever questions are best for your child. Remember, your goal is to help him think clearly and choose honesty.

Download your gift and add it to a 3-hole binder to use whenever you need it.

Pick it up at: How Parents Promote a Healthy Conscience by inserting the word: DILEMMAS

Please let me know if this was helpful by commenting below:

Thank you so much.

With warm wishes, 

Jean Tracy, MSS

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Sign up for my FREE Parenting News and receive:

• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

 

How a Parent's Good Listening Skills Promote Honesty

If you want to raise and honest child and you’re not sure how, don’t worry. Here are 10 questions you can use for a friendly discussion. Get her ideas before you share any of your own. We call this a baseline because you’ll know where to start if you feel she’s not quite on the right track. 

Be open, listen well, and avoid harshly criticizing her thoughts and answers. Criticism will shut her down.  Then your ability to influence her toward honesty will shrink drastically. Be kind in your approach.

I suggest you take one question a week to discuss at dinner, in the car, or at bedtime. You might think lecturing is faster but if your child clams up, how will you know she accepts your lecture. Many kids tune out or rebel when being told what to do or how to think.

You can open your child up when she knows you’re really listening. She’ll want to know you care about her ideas. These 10 discussion questions will help you and your child promote honesty.

Here are 2 sample questions:

1. Why to children, who tell lies, lose friends?
2. Why are children, with truthful reputations, liked and trusted.

Don’t forget to ask for examples from your child's own life.

Pick up:

10 Honest Discussion Questions to Help Your Child Choose the Truth

  by inserting the code word HONEST.

I suggest you copy it and add it to your 3-hole binder to use whenever you need it.

Please let me know if this was helpful by commenting below:

Thank you so much.

With warm wishes, 

Jean Tracy, MSS

******

Sign up for my FREE Parenting News and receive:

• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

 

Kids Respect and Trust Truthful Parents

 

LYING HURTS YOUR CHILD'S REPUTATION AND BREEDS DISTRUST.  If you're the parent of an elementary-age student, who has trouble telling the truth, can you remember a time when you told a falsehood? If it had bad consequences, can you remember your feelings? Were you plagued with guilt? Were you afraid to confess for fear of punishment? 

Lies can cause your child mental pain too. Today's article shares 7 fearful consequences from lying, 7 positive effects for being truthful, 6 honest strategies, 5 moral dilemmas for your child to solve, and 10 self-talk statements from which to choose. 

 HONESTY BEGINS AT HOME!

Children look up to parents with eager eyes and ears. They see and hear everything.  When parent's aren't truthful, kids learn about lying. When parents are truthful, kids trust and respect them. Use the tips in this article to model truthfulness and help your child.

3 Suggestions to Tell Your Child When He Is Ready to Admit His Mistakes:

1. "Avoid over-thinking about the action you are about to take. It might stop you from telling the truth." 
2. "Take 5 deep breaths right before admitting your lie. It will help you relax."
3. "Repeat a simple slogan like, “My truth is like gold when my honesty's bold,” because it could give you the courage you need."

 

You CAN Help Him Choose Honesty and

Overcome Guilt

Read more:

The Honest Child - 35 Parenting Tips Teach Truthfulness

Please let me know if this was helpful by commenting below:

Thank you so much.

With warm wishes, 

Jean Tracy, MSS

******

Sign up for my FREE Parenting News and receive:

• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

Sassy Isn't Classy!

Our character building poem for kids includes rude behavior, the problems that mouthy behavior can cause, and how to solve them. Please share this parenting gift with your children.

The poem is about Tyler Tanners, a boy with sarcastic manners. When he put down his dad, there were consequences he didn't like.

Fortunately, a character comes to his rescue. Find out who he is and what he suggests in our poem, "Sassy Isn't Classy."

After you read it with your children, discuss these questions to find out their thoughts about sassy behavior:

1. What's wrong with sarcastic behavior?
2. How can being sassy hurt friendships?
3. What do you think of sassy sarcastic kids?
4. If you were the parent of a child who acted rudely toward you, what would you do?
5. What advice would you give children who sass?

Using these discussion questions helps your children think more clearly and talk more deeply about the problem. When they respond with good solutions be sure to praise their answers. It is hoped they will follow them.

To pick up your gift, "Sassy Isn't Classy," insert the word, SASSY at:

http://kidsdiscuss.com/subscriber-gifts.asp

Was this helpful? Please let me know with a comment below.

Thank you so much.

With warm wishes, 

Jean Tracy, MSS

******

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• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

GETTING KIDS TO DISCUSS BULLYING helps parents teach empathy.  If you’re

Buster Billy Needs Your Child's Advice. Discuss the Video.

like most parents, you don't want your child to purposely hurt others. You don’t want your child labeled, ‘Bully.’

Today, I'll share:

• 5 reasons it’s hard for bullies to stop
• 4 ways to discuss bullying with your kids and
• 6 questions to help your children think about empathy
  

You’ll find my short YouTube Video below to help with your discussions.

Bullying Is Hard to Stop When a Child Is ~

Click here for the full article on Bullying

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In listening to the video, I suggest you:

• Stop it when a question is asked
• Discuss it with your child
• Listen more than talk

You'll find out if your children are taking on your positive values. If not, be creative. Ask more questions to help them think wisely. Try not to criticize.

When you hear good ideas, give them praise. They'll love your attention and approval. You, in turn, can take pleasure in listening to their developing minds tell you what they really think.

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Here's the video:

Character Building: Teaching Empathy - How Parents and Kids Discuss Bullying

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Pick up the Dilemma Discussion Kit

Available at KidsDiscuss.com 

It's 51 Discussion Questions will help your family build character and bond together.

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Please click on the Comments link below. It will open up for you. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

 
With warm wishes,

Jean Tracy, MSS

Sign up for my FREE Parenting Newsletter and receive:

• 80 Fun Activities to Share with Your Kids
• 101 Ways to Get Your Children to Cooperate

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Family Conversations can create family fun. Our guest blogger today is Chanie Monoker, founder of the DAS Center. He'll tell you what he does to create fun in his family.

"There is a "game" called Family Talk (and Family Talk 2) which is a series of cards on a ring with each card containing questions. While no ages are given, different questions are more appropriate for different ages.

It's a great way to have a neutral conversation about things that are meaningful to each person. Things like:

1. What's your favorite... or

2. What's your worst... or

3. Do you remember your driver's test?

The latter might be more appropriate for teens, but even tweens will enjoy listening to others' experiences."

To learn more about Chanie Monoker, go to

http://www.linkedin.com/in/dascenter

Owner at Das Center: Developing Awareness a Student at a time 

Additional Help: 

The Family Discussion Kit

You'll find 51 Dilemmas for Your Family to Enjoy Discussing.

Jean's Response:

I appreciate Chanie's idea about having fun together. Games are a great way to feel closeness and enjoy each other. They promote family conversations too.

Another way to have fun is to work on jigsaw puzzles together. Our extended family uses the easier 300 large piece puzzles. We ask each other for the pieces we need and talk about the puzzle during snack breaks.

We all have different styles. I always look for the outline pieces. My daughter looks for special pictures pieces inside the puzzle. Even my 3-year-old granddaughter finds pieces to add. And my 12-year-old granddaughter hides the last piece so she can add it at the end.

What's really neat is we all work together. We enjoy admiring our completed puzzle together too.

Having ways to enjoy each other goes a long way toward becoming a close-knit loving family.

What Do You Do for Family Fun?

Please comment in the comment link below. Don't forget to add your email so I can separately email you 21 of the Best Parenting Tips Ever! from parents like yourself.

With warm wishes,

Jean Tracy, MSS

One More Thing:

Sign up for this Parenting Skills Blog in the upper left corner and receive this FREE Gift - 33 Expert Ways to Motivate Your Kids

Would you like to know your kids' attitudes about life? Would like to tips on how to ask them? If you'd like to hear their eager opinions, consider dilemma discussions.

3 Dilemmas to Discuss with Your Kids:

1. Pretend no one wants to play with you because you cheat to win. What advice would you give yourself?

   Many kids cheat to win. (Some adults do too.) They think winning is more important than anything. Here is your chance to get your children to talk. They might tell you why they don't like playing with cheaters. Help them examine the problems with cheating. Listen to their advice. Congratulations! You've just helped them think about right and wrong.

    

2. Imagine your brother just told his teacher your parents had a fight last night. Should you tell your parents what he said? Why or why not?

   Lots of kids have loose lips. Lots of kids tell secrets that belong at home. Many can't tell the difference between appropriate and inappropriate things to say. Here's another chance to help your children discuss the difference.

    

3. Pretend your brother brags about everything. Nobody likes his bragging. Most of the kids won't play with him. How can you help him without getting him mad at you?

   So many children think kids will like them if they prove how important they are. Some of them lie to impress others. This is an amazing opportunity to discuss your kids' opinions. It's also a great time to talk about the problems with bragging.

When children are given the chance, they love to give their opinions. It helps them feel valued. Why not learn your kids' attitudes about life? Enjoy helping them think right about wrong. Feel good about the lively discussions too.

Become an exceptional parent. Subscribe to my Free Parenting Newsletter and receive 80 fun activities to share with your kids at:

http://www.KidsDiscuss.com

If you liked the above tips, and want to raise your child with a positive character, discover my Dilemma Discussion Kit. It has 51 dilemmas to discuss with your kids. It helps parents worldwide teach family values. It can help you too. Pick it up at:

Dilemma Discussion Kit.

 Send me your parenting questions and I'll send you a parenting surprise. Just email your question to:

Jean Tracy's Email

 With warm wishes for your parenting success,

Jean

Jean Tracy, MSS

"Building Character Starts with Getting Your Kids To Talk."

Parenting Tips by Jean Tracy, MSS, for grades K-6:

Dear Parent,

A little girl was acting up in the car. The little boy sitting beside her said, "Mrs. Smith, you need to call her dad. "Calling her dad might not work," she answered. "Then you can call my dad. He'll spank her."

Does your child act up in the car? Are long trips the worst? Inside you'll find a dilemma to discuss with your child before you take long car rides. It will build her character too.

Discussion Dilemma:

"Your parents are driving you from Oregon to Disneyland for your birthday. It's a very long drive. You're getting grumpy. How would you like to behave? What might you do to help you behave?"

Parenting Tips for Asking Questions:

• Realize it's natural for kids to get restless.
• Listen to your child's answers.
• Find out what she could do to make the drive easier.

Many parents offer solutions to prevent their kids from complaining. Some parents yell. Others might spank. The trick is to find out from your child what will work.

Perhaps she'll come up with a bunch of suggestions and say, "We could play a magnetic game, read a book out loud, or play a car game like "Who can find the most Fords on the road?"

If the solutions come from your child they'll work better than if they come from you. You won't be frustrated coming up with fun things to do only to be met with grumpiness. By discussing the car dilemma ahead of time, you'll be preventing a tough car ride. You'll be building character too.

If you liked the above parenting tips, become an expert parent and pick up 50 more dilemmas at:

Dilemma Discussion Kit

Subscribe to my Free Parenting Newsletter and receive 80 fun activities to share with your kids at:

http://www.KidsDiscuss.com

Send me your parenting question and I'll send you a parenting surprise. Just email me your question to:

Jean Tracy's Email

Best wishes for your parenting success,

Jean

Jean Tracy, MSS