How to Teach Your Children to Practice Airplane Etiquette

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Most parents want their children to know how to act, but many aren’t sure where to start. The most important things to consider are to set an example by having good manners of your own and to be consistent.

Good manners should be taught at a very early age because once bad habits form, they’re difficult to change. Parents need to realize that from the moment their children are born, they serve as role models.

If the parents are rude, the children will be too. The most effective way to teach good manners is to state the rules and then show how to apply these rules in everyday life. You can even make etiquette fun with etiquette games for the family.

Start With the Basics

Start out with a very basic set of rules for your children to follow from a very early age and start at home. You don’t want to overwhelm your little ones or stifle their development by introducing concepts they’re not ready for too early. You can always add etiquette rules as they are needed.

Example of basic rules:

• Don’t interrupt
• Keep your elbows off the table
• Don’t chew with your mouth open
• Say “please” and “thank you”
• Use an “inside” voice when indoors

Gradually Add Rules as the Child Is Ready

As soon as you feel your child is ready for the next level of etiquette rules, let them know that you are proud of how well mannered they are, and you want to teach them something new. They will see this as a positive thing, and they are more likely to embrace good manners. Although some customs change, good manners never go out of style.

If your child groans every time you remind him of an etiquette issue, try turning your etiquette lessons into a fun game. This makes it a positive experience for the child, and the lesson will be remembered much longer.

List of etiquette rules to add to the basics:

• Teach the basics of table settings and how to act at the dinner table.
• When eating at someone else’s home, avoid hurting the host’s feelings
• Answer the phone politely.
• Follow proper cell phone etiquette and never interrupt a “live” person with a cell phone call.
• Take the child out in public so she can practice good behavior. Some places you might want to go include family-friendly restaurants and the library.
• Send thank you notes.
• If an invitation has an RSVP request, always respond by the deadline.
• Never gossip about anyone.
• Hold doors for anyone who has his or her hands full or needs extra help.
• Be nice to everyone.

Finding a Lost Item

The old saying, “Finders keepers, losers weepers,” is wrong on more than one level. First of all, finding something does not make it yours. Also, the person who lost the item shouldn’t weep when she sees that it has been found. Instead, she should smile as she thanks you for returning it. Teach your child to look for the rightful owner of anything she finds because keeping it without making any attempts to find the person is simply wrong.

Respect Elders and People in Authority

Unless the older person or person in authority is asking your child to do something he knows is wrong, respect is essential in establishing a good relationship. This is another area where you can set the example to show your child how an outward show of respect looks. Calling the person by his or her surname, such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, or Dr. is a good start.

Listen to what the person in authority is saying and never interrupt unless there’s an emergency. When you see or hear your child living up to your expectations, offer praise without being effusive.

Break Bad Manners

Establishing good manners in your children can be challenging with all the outside influence they’ll encounter in their everyday lives. However, it is possible, but it requires quite a bit of diligence and repetition of the rules. You can even use what the children see as examples of how not to behave. If she sees someone acting out at a birthday party or a cartoon on TV where a character misbehaves, ask what the person should have done instead.

Most of the time, positive statements are more effective than negative ones. However, there are times when you have to use the word “no” to emphasize good manners. After you tell them what not to do, give them an alternative to bad behavior.

Examples of bad manners:

• Spitting
• Coughing or sneezing in someone’s face
• Intentionally burping or passing gas
• Throwing things in anger
• Calling someone a bad name
• Pushing or shoving
• Inappropriately touching others
• Grabbing something from someone else
• Begging or whining
• Constantly interrupting

Good manners are essential in any civilization. The etiquette your children learn at an early age will carry over into adulthood and help make them more successful in friendships, family life, and careers. All the hard work and effort you put into teaching your children basic manners will bring the reward of knowing your child is equipped to handle himself in a civilized world. Expect a few etiquette mistakes every now and then. Help your child correct them and move on.

If you want to teach your child the proper table etiquette, here is a table manners lesson plan. Using this, you can teach your child how to behave while sitting at a dinner table with others.

If you want to teach your child the proper table etiquette, here is a table manners lesson plan. Using this, you can teach your child how to behave while sitting at a dinner table with others.

Chewing quietly, chewing quietly
Do not slurp, do not slurp,
We must say excuse me,
We must say excuse me
When we burp,
When we burp.

Imagine you are in a posh restaurant, enjoying your dinner, when suddenly the child at the next table starts talking loudly to his parents, bangs the spoon on the plate, keeps dropping bits of food on the floor, and, to your disgust, eats with his mouth open. What will be the first thought that comes to your mind? May be something on the lines of, “Such an ill-mannered child. Did nobody teach him/her any table manners?”. Well, do remember that the same could happen to your children as well if you don’t teach them from a very young age how to behave when sitting at the dinner table. To learn how you can do that, just follow this lesson plan given below and your child will be one of the best behaved children among all his/her friends.

Where to Begin

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Before you actually start off with teaching table manners to you kids, explain to them their importance. Tell them why they need to know it, how it will help them, etc. Don’t try and fill their head with instructions on the very first day; instead, teach them a little lesson every passing day. If you try and force down the instructions down their throat, then they will never learn. Now that the kids know why they need to learn good manners, it’s time that you illustrate how they should behave in a restaurant or at a party. You can begin with simple drawings which will show where to keep what on the table, what to hold in which hand, etc. Pictures speak a thousand words, hence, the children tend to pick up the habits more quickly when you show them these illustrations. You can also ask the kids to enact how they should behave while sitting at the dinner table. Make sure that everyone gets a chance to act. This way, even you as a teacher or a parent will understand where your kid or student is lagging behind.

Now let’s see through what kind of lesson plan can be taught to kids. Before learning how to sit at the table, your child should know how to lay the table. Whether in school or at home, you can allow your child or student to help you lay the table in a proper manner. This will teach them the proper etiquette for setting a table.

Table Setting Activity

Material Required:

• Mats
• Bread and butter plate
• Napkins
• Forks
• Knives
• Spoons
• Dinners plates
• Glasses

Lesson Plan:

• Divide the students into groups, with each group having a place to set up their table. Give them the forks, knives, glasses, plates, spoons, napkins, and mats. Also give out handouts which talk about how to lay the table.
• Demonstrate how to set a table for both formal and informal settings. Also describe the meals that should be served with each setting.
• Illustrate it for the kids to understand better. After that, allow the kids to lay the table themselves.
• If the kids go wrong, correct them. The group which has laid the best table should get an incentive for their good work, which will also to encourage the others to learn fast.
• While they are setting the table, ask them different questions, like how they think that the napkin should be used or where should they place them before starting off with their meal and after finishing their meal.
• You can also ask one group to check whether their neighboring group is following the correct method or not. This way, they will learn fast and the others will also learn where they are going wrong.

Correct Behavior at the Table

• Teach the kids how they are supposed to sit at the table, such as sit up straight, not put their elbows on the table, etc. Also tell them what they are not supposed to do at the dining table, such as not to eat with their mouths open, not to talk with their mouth full, how to use the napkin, when to say “thank you” and “please”, how to ask others to pass something, etc.
• Another lesson which you can carry out is that you can take the kids to restaurants to observe others while they are eating, how they behave at the table, how they eat, etc. The kids can later practice this at home or in the school.
• You can also carry out certain exercises to check whether the kids have learned anything or not. They can be asked to fill some questionnaires, such as the dos and don’ts.

The Goops

To make teaching more fun, you can also give your kids the following poem, and read it out to them. Poems like these will make it more fun for the kids to learn the good habits while sitting at the table. You can also ask kids to write their own poems and enact them in front of every one. This way, they will learn things better and you will understand how well they have understood what you taught them.

The Goops they lick their fingers,
And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the tablecloth-
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I’m glad that I
Am not a Goop – Are you?
The Goops are gluttonous and rude,
They gug and gumble with their food;
They throw their crumbs upon the floor,
And at dessert they tease for more.
They will not eat their soup and bread
but like to gobble sweets, instead,
And this is why I oft decline,
When I am asked to stay and dine! ― Gelett Burgess

These elementary lessons will teach your kids table manners in a simple and more enjoyable way. So, the next time they are going to a restaurant, be sure that they know their P’s and Q’s properly. The lessons given above are surely going to help you teach your children the proper etiquette. So, the next time you go to a restaurant, be ready to accept the compliments that you get from others regarding how well behaved your child is.

Last Updated: October 30, 2020 References

This article was co-authored by Tami Claytor. Tami Claytor is an Etiquette Coach, Image Consultant, and the Owner of Always Appropriate Image and Etiquette Consulting in New York, New York. With over 20 years of experience, Tami specializes in teaching etiquette classes to individuals, students, companies, and community organizations. Tami has spent decades studying cultures through her extensive travels across five continents and has created cultural diversity workshops to promote social justice and cross-cultural awareness. She holds a BA in Economics with a concentration in International Relations from Clark University. Tami studied at the Ophelia DeVore School of Charm and the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she earned her Image Consultant Certification.

There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

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While many teens know how to use a phone to text, surf the web, and make calls, they might not be familiar with proper phone etiquette. To ensure they are successful in life, though, it is important to teach teens phone etiquette. Provide your teen with examples of good phone etiquette so they know what it looks like. Try to anticipate areas of etiquette that will be challenging for them and provide appropriate workarounds. Have a penalty system in place (such as revoking phone privileges) if your teen does not adhere to good phone etiquette.

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4. Games for Teaching Affirmation to Teens
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• Social Greeting Etiquette
• Telephone and Cell Phone Etiquette
• Showing Kindness Etiquette
• Good Manners in Sharing Opinions

It can be hard to get teenagers to listen to anything you say, let alone get them to practice good manners. But it is essential for teenagers to learn basic etiquette to prepare for the real world. Good manners make teenagers stand out and be noticed in a good way 1. Adults can focus on specific areas to help teens practice good manners.

Social Greeting Etiquette

Sometimes teenagers can be shy and awkward, so teach them the importance of a proper greeting. For example, good manners call for looking someone in the eye and saying hello when being introduced. Sometimes, a handshake is in order. Teach your teenager to have a firm yet warm handshake and to answer questions politely of the person he is meeting.

• Sometimes teenagers can be shy and awkward, so teach them the importance of a proper greeting.
• Teach your teenager to have a firm yet warm handshake and to answer questions politely of the person he is meeting.

Telephone and Cell Phone Etiquette

How to Teach Kids How to Introduce Themselves to Others

These days, it seems that most teenagers constantly have a cell phone plastered to their ear. Teenagers should learn basic phone etiquette, which includes interacting with people around them as well as with the person on the other end of the line.

Your teenager should know that it is not okay to ignore someone who is trying to get their attention while on the phone. The world will not end if they pause their conversation and politely say, “I’m on the phone, would you mind discussing this a little later?”

Teenagers should also know that answering the phone and interacting with people on the other end of the line should be done politely and respectfully.

• These days, it seems that most teenagers constantly have a cell phone plastered to their ear.
• Teenagers should also know that answering the phone and interacting with people on the other end of the line should be done politely and respectfully.

Showing Kindness Etiquette

Being kind is often one of the most forgotten forms of etiquette. Teenagers are still learning how to focus on themselves and others at the same time. No matter what the situation, kindness is always appropriate. This includes saying “please” and “thank you” as well as showing respect to other people. Teenagers should remember to take other people’s feelings into consideration with the things they do and say.

10 Ways to Show Respect to Adults

Most people learn good manners as children. Parents and other adults typically teach these manners by example and reinforce them with direction and praise. But what happens if someone reaches adulthood without a clue as to what good manners are and with a complete lack of social graces? The fact is, good manners are essential in social situations, professional settings, and anytime you interact with other people. And while adults are perfectly capable of learning these manners, some of them will be resistant to your instruction and guidance. The steps below, however, will show you how to teach good manners to an adult in a subtle and unoffensive way.

Demonstrate good manners. When you are in the presence of someone whose manners are lacking, be sure to practice proper etiquette at all times. Eventually, they may begin to follow your lead.

Teach good manners to someone else. Take every opportunity to teach good manners to your children while you are with the less-than-mannerly adult. This will enable you to offer specific instruction without actually directing it toward the offending individual.

Act as an interpreter. If you witness the adult being rude to another person or persons, take him or her aside and explain how that may have come across to other people. For example: “I’m sure you didn’t mean it this way, but it sounded like you were ordering your wife to get you a cup of coffee. A ‘please’ probably would have softened the request.”

Interject good manners on their behalf. For example, say “excuse us” if the unmannerly person bumps into someone. Or if he or she fails to thank someone , say “thank you,” yourself. This is not as subtle as some methods, but may make a bigger impact.

Ask the unmannerly individual for help. A good way to help someone think about proper manners is by seeking their input on etiquette. Ask for their advice regarding manners in a particular social situation or other scenario as if you are unsure of what to do. Then steer the conversation, if neccessary, to arrive at the most mannerly solution.

Offer other resources. This acts as a followup to Step 5. For example, find a book, website, or other resource that addresses the scenario in Step 5 and that also provides input on additional manners and rules of etiquette. Present this resource to the person as if you have found the answer to the previous dilemma. Hopefully, they will continue to use this resource to further their use of good manners.

Warning

When approaching the subject of good manners, be careful not to offend the individual whose manners are lacking. Never embarrass someone about their manners in front of other people.

SheKnows Parenting Editors

Got manners? Learning proper manners for using the telephone is an important life skill for your kids. Whether they are old enough to answer the phone or simply having a chat with grandma, using manners is important.

Even when your child is young, they are paying close attention to you when you use your phone. Infant toy telephones and toy cell phones offer a good chance to model appropriate phone behavior.

So much more of our day revolves around the phone now that learning proper manners early is important.

Making a call

Phone manners are all about respect. A great early experience for using the phone is calling a grandparent to say hello or a friend for a play date. These are relatively safe phone calls to make. Teach him to identify himself first, by saying, “Hello, this is Joe. May I please speak to John?” Discuss how to ask to leave a message if someone is not available and to always say “Thank you” and “Goodbye.”

Sometimes kids need to call coaches, neighbors or other adults they don’t know well. In those cases, teach them to introduce themselves more completely, as in, “Hello, this is Joe Smith,” and then move on to the question or reason they have called. Again, they always need to say “Thank you” and “Goodbye.” These types of calls are more difficult for kids and require more practice. Make sure they remember to listen carefully to the information they are given and to take notes if they need to remember something.

Some of the embarrassing things kids say >>

Answering

What a child says when he answers the phone is as much about safety as it is respect for the person on the other end. When answering the phone, she takes on the role of information gatherer more than information giver.

Giving a name — or any other information, for that matter — isn’t always appropriate. Caller ID is a great aid in discerning how much information to give, or whether to answer the phone in the first place. You might have a rule that if the kids don’t recognize the caller ID, they don’t answer the phone. If it’s a valid call, the person will leave a message, and you can call them back.

For calls they do answer, kids should be taught not to give their names or any additional information — who is or isn’t at home, address and so on. When in doubt, your kids can pass the phone to an adult, or ask the caller to leave a message or to call back another time.

Messages

Taking appropriate phone messages is a sign of respect for the caller and for the message recipient. Plenty of adults even struggle to take and deliver proper messages. Have a pad of paper near the phone for messages and plenty of writing instruments located at each phone location. Cordless phones may not always be in the base, so be sure to have extra pads and pencils at strategic locations throughout the house.

At the very least, your child should be able to get a name and number of the person calling, and note what time the call was received. Teach them to verify spellings if they are unsure. They can even ask the caller, “Can I please have my mom (or dad) call you back for those details?” if the message seems complicated. Delivering the messages is also important. Show your child a good place to leave phone messages for all family members, since it’s easy to forget about them hours later.

Everyone wants polite kids >>

Teaching phone manners is a process that takes time and practice. Start teaching your kids early about phone manners, and they soon become second nature.

Am Fam Physician. 2002 Oct 15;66(8):1463-1464.

Children must be taught good behavior so they can live and work well in society when they grow up. Good teaching includes rewards for good behavior. Your child’s age should guide your choice of ways to teach. Some tips to help you teach your child are listed below.

Encourage your child and give lots of affection.

Reward good behavior. Praise your child and give extra attention when he or she does something right. Give a reward for good behavior.

Your child will copy your actions and words. Act and speak the way you want your child to act and speak.

Be kind, but firm.

Remove temptations (like breakable items) before children get into trouble. Preventing bad behavior is always easier than correcting a problem.

Ignore some small problems or annoying behaviors. Bigger problems need to be corrected, especially if the child’s bad behavior might be harmful or dangerous.

Be consistent. Always treat a bad behavior the same way, or your child will learn that he or she can sometimes “get away with it.”

Correct your child soon after the bad behavior occurs, but wait until your anger has passed. Counting to 10 before you say something or do something may help reduce your anger so you are in control of yourself.

Make rules that are right for your child’s age. Rules work best for children who are school-aged. Younger children (infants and toddlers) don’t understand rules yet. They are still learning what a rule is.

Use “time-out” for children between 18 months and five years of age. Time-out may help correct bad behaviors like tantrums, whining, fighting, and arguing. To use time-out, put your child in a chair with no toys or TV. Don’t speak to your child during time-out. Time-out should last one minute for each year of the child’s age. For example, a four-year-old should be in time-out for four minutes. Your child should be quiet for at least 15 seconds before timeout ends.

Correct older children by taking away things they like (TV or video games, or time with friends).

Remember to tell your child that the behavior was bad, but the child isn’t “bad.”

Don’t nag or talk about bad behavior too much. Children ignore nagging.

Don’t try reasoning to get your point across to children younger than three or four years. They won’t understand.

Don’t criticize your child.

Don’t call your child names.

Don’t call your child “bad.” Only the behavior is bad.

Don’t scold too often. Scolding makes children anxious and may make them ignore you. It may also worsen the behavior. Never scold your child during time-out.

Don’t spank. Spanking teaches your child that it’s okay to hit someone in order to solve a problem. Never spank a child who is younger than 18 months. It doesn’t help, and you may hurt the child. Never spank a child when you’re angry. Never hit your child with an object.

Don’t pull your child’s hair, jerk an arm, or shake your child.

Where can I find more information about teaching good behavior to my children?

Here are two books you might find at your public library or local bookstore:

Touchpoints: Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development , a book written by T. Berry Brazelton. Published by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company in 1992. The chapter on discipline is very helpful (see pages 252 to 260).

Parenting: Guide to Positive Discipline , a book written by Paula Spencer. Published by Ballantine Books in 2001.

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This handout is provided to you by your family doctor and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Other health-related information is available from the AAFP online at

This information provides a general overview and may not apply to everyone. Talk to your family doctor to find out if this information applies to you and to get more information on this subject.

Copyright © 2002 by the American Academy of Family Physicians.
This content is owned by the AAFP. A person viewing it online may make one printout of the material and may use that printout only for his or her personal, non-commercial reference. This material may not otherwise be downloaded, copied, printed, stored, transmitted or reproduced in any medium, whether now known or later invented, except as authorized in writing by the AAFP. Contact [email protected] for copyright questions and/or permission requests.

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We’ve all been there—at a restaurant when your kid burps loudly after chugging an entire soda, or at a friend’s house where she wanders into the pantry to help herself to a snack. Young or old, how do we teach kids good manners? Here are some fun activities that teach good manners to toddlers and teenagers alike!

1. Learn the manners song. Promise, you’ll be singing along too!

2. Play Who’s Pigging Out? to help kids learn good table manners

4. Do you ever have sore losers after a game? Teach very important game playing etiquette with these two simple rules.

6. Practice saying, “Yes please,” “No thank you,” and “Please pass…” with this fun manners activity.

7. Here’s a game that teaches kids good restaurant manners.

8. Before you give your kids a phone, teach these 4 cell phone etiquette tips.

9. Hate when kids interrupt you when mid-conversation with other adults? One rule (and it’s so simple!) will cure that.

10. Everything your kid needs to know about phone manners.

11. A quick manners chart to hang on your fridge.

14. The Mind Your Manners board game would be a great one to play at your next family night!

18. Teaching teens dating etiquette with an etiquette dinner. I especially love how they teach boys how to pick up a girl at her house…great idea for teens!

Do you have any great tips for teaching manners? Feel free to share them below!

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Don’t underestimate the importance of good manners. Your children will grow up to be kinder and more considerate of others if you teach them how to be that way when they’re young. You can do that by setting a good example. You must always say “please” and “thank you” to your kids. Even when you are saying, “Please get your bicycle off my foot,” or “Thank you for the dead slug.”

And don’t forget good table manners. Everyone tends to be a little too relaxed at the dinner table when it comes to proper behavior. Maybe you think it’s funny when Daddy balances a spoon on the end of his nose or one of the kids makes a hat out of his napkin and wears it on his head all during dinner. If you don’t mind this kind of monkeying around, even when you’re dining out, ignore this advice. But, if you don’t think it’s appropriate to do this kind of stuff in public, then teach your kids what you think is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable, and then make sure that you’re consistent about the rules.

Kids have a hard enough time remembering household rules. They have an even harder time remembering rules for dinner at home and rules for dinner out, when those sets of rules aren’t the same. Some general table manners include no gross jokes, no throwing food, no leaning back while sitting in the chairs, no talking with food in your mouth (including no “see food” jokes) — and definitely no loud belching or passing wind.

Yes, in some cultures belching after a meal is acceptable and even encouraged. However, don’t let someone’s excuse about practicing multiculturalism sway you. If belching isn’t allowed in your family’s culture, don’t allow it at the table. And if you do happen to burp (and who doesn’t?), say, “Excuse me.” If you laugh about burping, you’ve created a family precedent, and your kids will belch and laugh about it the first time they have dinner at a friend’s house.

Good manners that you can teach your children include not interrupting people while they talk and not shoving their way in front of others to always be first, two things that kids are infamous for doing.

Other manners you can teach your children include how to

• Write thank-you notes

• Make get-well cards for sick relatives

• Say please and thank you

• Acknowledge when someone is talking

• Say good-bye to someone who is leaving

• Share cookies with a friend

• Always give their parents the green M&Ms

A growing problem in schools is the lack of good manners from children. Children don’t treat teachers, staff, or classmates with respect. So schools now are teaching good manners and respect in addition to conflict management. And yet, good manners still begin at home and should be taught by parents.

Here are some guidelines that you can use at home:

• Be kind to others. Telling kids, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” doesn’t really mean anything to them. Instead, stress the importance of treating others the same way they’d like to be treated, especially when you see them doing something that you know they themselves don’t like. For example, if your son hates to be interrupted and yet he interrupts people, then remind him, “Jonah, you really don’t like it when people interrupt you, so please don’t do that to Jeremiah.”

• Understand their actions. Help your children understand the harm they can cause by doing or saying thoughtless and unkind things. Ask them, “How would you feel if someone pointed at you, and started to laugh?” In the beginning, you may simply be doing damage control, but eventually you’ll be helping them to avoid harmful words or actions.

• Show them the way. Children do whatever they have to do to express themselves. Sometimes that comes off looking and sounding pretty bad. Playing a role reversal game with your child can help show them how to handle situations. Let them ask the question or behave a certain way, and you respond by showing them how their behavior should appear.

• Be a good role model. “Do as I say, but not as I do” is a joke. Your kids probably want to respond with, “Yeah, like you’d catch me playing bridge with a bunch of 50-year-old women!” When you want your child to show good manners and respect, you must also practice good manners and respect. Say please and thank you, admit your mistakes, apologize, and treat people, in general, with kindness and respect. The reward of this behavior is that your children will grow up having many friends and a family that loves being around her.

• Share. Share with your children so they understand the importance of sharing with others. Compliment them when you see them sharing with others.

• Keep kids healthy. Children tend to behave badly when they’re tired or hungry. Kids need sleep and nutritious foods to survive. It’s that simple.

• Practice family politeness. Everyone in the family must practice “please” and “thank-you” policy in which, for example, no request is considered unless the person asking says “please.” When one of your children forgets, just give him or her a look that says, “I’m waiting.” They soon catch on. Use the same approach for saying “thank you.”

• Thank-you notes. Teach your children the importance of thanking people for gifts. Show them how to write notes and make sure that they are sent promptly after receiving gifts.

• Praise good behavior. Praise is a wonderful teacher. Tell your children how proud you are when you notice them being polite and following the “please” and “thank-you” guidelines that you’ve set.

Maria Montessori believed young children have a deep sense of dignity and want to do the right thing. You can use Montessori techniques to teach your child how to do the right thing. Here are some Montessori principles you can use at home to teach manners.

1. Emphasize practical life activities to help your child develop order, concentration, control, and independence. This will give your child the grace of movement and inner discipline needed to master etiquette skills.

2. Teach a specific manners lesson by demonstrating the proper behavior, breaking down the lesson into distinct steps. If you want your child to say, “It’s nice to meet you,” when meeting an adult, for example, you should demonstrate exactly how to do that.

3. Give your child opportunities to practice the manners lesson. You could use role playing, where you pretend to introduce your child to a friend of yours at the grocery store.

4. When your child greets an adult with the proper etiquette technique, be very specific in your comments. You could say, “I was so happy to see the polite way you greeted Mrs. Johnson.” But you can typically reinforce the behavior best simply by describing what your child did: “You said, ‘It’s nice to meet you,’ just like I showed you.”

5. Avoid criticizing your child or embarrassing your child in public if he or she doesn’t have the maturity or necessary repetition to perform the etiquette technique properly.

6. If you see that your child has difficulty performing an etiquette technique consistently and needs more practice, review the lesson at a later time. You could demonstrate the lesson again, adding a new detail such as shaking hands. Or you could have a discussion about “the best thing to say when meeting an adult.” You could also use another pretend situation for more role play about what to say when meeting an adult.

All My Manners Posts

• How to Teach Your Child Manners Using Montessori Principles
• Grace and Courtesy Games at Home or School
• How to Manage Interruptions in Your Montessori Classroom or Homeschool
• Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy Is Out!
• Free Grace and Courtesy Printable
• Free Manners Songs for Home or Classroom
• 20+ Free Printable Manners Cards, Booklets, Charts, and Games
• The Best Books about Manners for Preschoolers

Have you used a similar technique with your preschooler? How did it work?

Learn more about my eBook Montessori at Home or School: How to. Teach Grace and Courtesy!

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3. Practice Driving Lessons

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For teens to become safe, competent drivers, they need to develop critical driving skills and practice them in a range of driving environments and conditions. We can help with these driving lesson plans.

Based on years of research, the TeenDrivingPlan Practice Guide is an evidence-based interactive resource to help you effectively plan and structure supervised practice drives. High-quality driving practice is crucial because a major reason why teens crash is inexperience behind the wheel. The on-road license test is not going to cover the wide range of environments and challenges a teen will face during the intermediate period of licensure. It’s up to parents and teens to find opportunities to provide plenty of quality practice during the learner’s permit period.

The driver’s education lesson plans in this section of the website include information and tools from the TeenDrivingPlan (TDP) study. This randomized, controlled trial found that teens with families that followed the TDP program were 65 percent less likely to make dangerous driving errors during a rigorous on-road assessment than teens with families that could access the usual state-issued program. The TDP families logged more practice in a variety of conditions that boosted the driving performance of their teens.

Organized by driving environment, the TeenDrivingPlan Practice Guide includes specific driving goals for each environment, as well as 54 short video tutorials, a Goal Guide, and a Logging and Rating Tool to keep your parent-supervised driving lesson plans on track.

Get started with a short video on Creating the Right Learning Environment, followed by Driving Basics, the first segment of our driver’s education lesson plans.