Hi Parents,
We all know values guide our life. The way we feel about ourselves depends a lot on our values and most of it is learned in childhood. It’s better to teach children well-defined values than they picking them up randomly from their environment.
So how do we teach values to children?
The best way is practicing them ourselves. Remember, children do what they see others do more often than what they are told to do. The other ways by which we can teach good values is through stories, poems and teaching them when they do something wrong.
My Song
Sometimes children ask about what’s wrong and what’s right. Their curiosity must always be answered with proper meaningful and logical answers.
So to teach values to children I wrote a poem which I like to share with you.
It’s a Parenting tool you can use for your kid and share with friends.
Let me share how I came up with this idea. It’s interesting!
When I was flying back to Mumbai from Hyderabad a few weeks back I found that I forgot to carry a book to read which I usually do. So I tried to get into a conversation with the person sitting next to me, but he seemed to be reluctant. You see, I just can’t sit idle! Then I tried to do some mindfulness exercises but could not do for long. So I took out a paper from my bag and started writing. Guess what I wrote? A poem for my daughter! When I came back home and read out the poem to my daughter, of course with a bit of explanation she was excited. She then wrote down the poem, each line with a different color and pinned it up on the green board.
You may be thinking “what in it for me?” Don’t worry; hold on!
Now let me share some incidents to explain how the poem influenced my daughter.
In her Tennis class, which she has started six months back, she could not return several shots over the net. I was sitting there watching her. After the class, I just casually asked her if she was feeling bad about her shots. She said “Don’t you remember what you wrote in the poem? I must not feel low when I cannot do something. I must try again “
One day back from school she told me that a boy, her classmate, was making fun about the dark complexion of a girl. So I asked her what she thought about the behavior of her friend. She told me “We must love and care for people irrespective of class and color” I was amazed and proud to hear her answer. I also asked her to teach the same to the boy in her class.
Noticing how the poem influenced my daughter’s mind, I decided to share with all of you.
Now let me tell you about the poem and what to do with it.
The poem is called ‘My Song’
- Read the poem
- Fill in the name and gender of your child and take a print out
- Read the poem to your child and explain the meaning
- Ask your child to write it, each line with a different color
- Take a video of your child reciting it or reading it
- Show the video to your child
- Pin the poem written by your child somewhere in your house