Believe it or not, children are naturally capable of compassion. Teaching your child compassion and nurturing that quality can be tricky when you’re battling against their sudden impulses to do things – like pulling the dog’s tail. This article is going to look at 8 ways you can raise a compassionate child.

Think about how you treat them

Demonstrating the same amount of respect to your child that you would expect to be treated with is incredibly important. It can be easy to fall into the mindset of treating your child as an ‘it’ when it comes to getting them dressed, fed, or ready to go out. This is more likely to happen when you’re in a hurry and it’s vital to take a moment to slow down and treat your child like the little person they are.

Teach self-compassion

In order to raise a compassionate child you need to teach them self-compassion. We are our harshest critics and so it’s important that you teach your child to understand this and for them to not be too hard on themselves. They might not be keeping up with the other kids in class, but they’re doing their best and that’s what’s important.

Volunteer together

Volunteering is a great way to allow your child to develop their compassion. It’s a great way for them to understand and appreciate what they have compared to others. It’s also a fantastic opportunity for you to bond with your child and show them how to give back to their community.

__________________

Read More:
7 Ways to Avoid a Public Meltdown
5 Common Toddler Sleep Problems & How to Deal with Them
Simple Guide on How to Manage Sibling Rivalry
9 Best Online Resources for New Parents

__________________

Write ‘Thank You’ notes

Knowing that ‘thank you’ is a standard response to receiving something isn’t as heartfelt or meaningful as it should be and is often said out of necessity. Encouraging your child to write genuine ‘thank you’ notes is a great way to get them thinking about how others feel.

Praise each other

Part of raising a compassionate child is being able to have a strong and working relationship with them. Encouraging at least one piece of praise a day is a great place to start and will help them to feel appreciative of other people – this is a good task to do at the dinner table.

Tech them to celebrate difference

Tolerance and understanding of others is one of the key lessons to teach your child. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to teach your child to accept others, irrelevant of their religion, skin colour, race or disability. By enabling them to feel comfortable around others, you’re giving them the skills they need to be a compassionate child.

Encourage sweetness

This is where you need to teach your child how to treat things with care. This will also reinforce their learning that actions have consequences. You need to ensure that your child understands respect and the key to achieving this is to be consistent with your rules.

Teach them friendship

In order to raise a truly compassionate child it’s important they understand what friendship is and what the boundaries are. Things like name calling and trash talking are not good foundations for a friendship and so you need to explain this to them.

Caring for others is one of the most important virtues you can teach your kids. This great article from MyParentingJournal.Com will give you more tips on how to teach your children to care for others »

Resources:
http://www.parenting.com/article/raising-a-compassionate-child 
http://www.parents.com/kids/development/social/raise-a-compassionate-child/ 
https://www.chopra.com/articles/6-ways-to-raise-compassionate-kids#sm.000tu63tq10k1eciv2h1wiafam5ox 

{{cta(’29db8acd-fdb8-4abc-a1cc-19662bb6f972′)}}