3 Core Values You Should Teach Your Child

My husband and I agreed to cancel some of our streaming services a few months ago. The shows that were being released were not things that we found to be appropriate for children to watch, especially without one of us sitting in the room to monitor them.

Canceling these channels made me wonder what values I want them to grow up with.

What specific skills do I want my children to have as they transition into adulthood?

This question had me considering the values that I was raised with. I began to think about the type of person I wanted my child to be in the future.

Prepare Your Children Now

The world we are raising our children in is so different from what we grew up in. Heck, it is vastly different from the world our parents grew up in. Our kids face so many challenges and trials in their lives, and it’s not going to go away.

So what do we do? How do we ensure that our children are able to face this world, while still holding onto their morals and core beliefs?

Prepare your children, while they are young with values that will make them strong and independent in the future. Teach them now, so that when the time comes, they will be able to hold their heads up high, and stand firm in what they believe.

It starts now. When they are young.

The values that I find to be the most important are:

Kindness.

Speak to your children about being kind daily.

Kids are naturally rude, they say mean things to others, shout out inappropriate words in the grocery store, and make comments to others that they often shouldn’t.

Kindness is a difficult skill for kids to learn. Children are just beginning to learn self-control and compassion. They are experiencing new emotions and vocabulary. This means they will say mean and hurtful things on occasion. It is in their nature to be rude when they are young, they don’t know better.

It is your job as a parent to correct the rude behavior, and redirect kindness instead. Gently explain to your children that saying mean things and treating others poorly can hurt.

Teaching children the golden rule, “treat others the way you want to be treated” is a lifelong value that will serve them well in the future. 

Bravery.

Being brave as a child is easy. The key is to allow them to continue being brave as they get older.

They fall down over and over again as they are learning to walk, but always get back up.

Later, they see that the pain of falling off the slide is not fun at all. So they take the slide a little more cautiously the next time. This shows bravery, they got back up and slid down again.

Kids learn that falling off their bikes and cutting their knees is a terrible feeling, but they show bravery by trying again.

Allow your child to take risks and try new things.
Let them do things on their own, multiple times.

When a child faces their fears, over and over, they are showing that they can do anything they set their mind to.

Kids are tough and resilient. They are capable of so much more than we think they are.

We as their parents need to allow children to be brave and face their fears (safely). They are up to the challenge, be sure that you are too.

Integrity.

Teach your child to be honest.
Teach them to admit when they are wrong.
Teach them to stand up for what they believe in.

These things start with you. You need to show your child these skills.

Show that you were proud when your child told you the truth, even when they knew they would get into trouble.

When your child apologizes on their own, without prodding, let them know that they did a good thing.

Teach your children to stand up for the right thing, even if they are standing alone. 

Integrity starts with you. This is a skill that you must teach your child by example. You must be their leader in this scary, fallen world.

Teach your child to do the right thing, even when no one is looking.

Additional Values

There are many values I want my children to know: communication skills, empathy, generosity, gratitude, respect, responsibility, and humility.

The three skills that I mentioned above, I believe to be the best foundation for any human.

Teach your child kindness, bravery, and integrity.

These three skills will allow the other skills to follow. Giving them a good foundation for life.