Four great values to teach your children

PARENTING: Scoring high marks is not the only thing our children should aim at. While it is important, we should also teach our children these virtues:

• The importance of serving others. Teaching his disciples one day, Jesus Christ told them that if you want to be great, you have to be a servant. We should teach our children to serve others and to be of good service. This teaches us humility. Service starts at home. Children should be taught how to serve their parents and siblings with a good and loving attitude.
• Good manners: Good manners mean culturally accepted rules and values. Values like respect of elders, greeting parents and adults, using other people's things only with permission, taking good care of their property, saying thank you and sorry.
• Self-control: This is one of the greatest virtues that we should teach our children. They should be able to control their anger, excitement and desires. Helping children nurture their self-control is very important for their success as individuals.
• Gratefulness: This calls for being thankful, which makes you happier, as well as the people around you. It also wins you more friends. Give children opportunities to serve the less fortunate people so that they can learn to have compassion and to care. Sometimes children think they are entitled to have what they want. It is important that they know there are people living less fortunate lives and so the need to be grateful for what they have. We should asses our children in regard to these qualities and seek to help them improve where they are struggling.