The only way for your children to know and practice values both at home and elsewhere, is for you, as a mother or father, to dedicate a valuable moment of the day to instruct them in the importance of values in life. It is not enough to force the little ones to comply with these concepts just because they have to, but it is necessary to teach them that it is something necessary to be able to live with the people around them and exchange positivity, reciprocity, and empathy.
It is necessary that, from an early age, children learn about values and how to implement them at home because, at their early age, children tend to be selfish and do not understand the emotions of others, so they can be disrespectful and hurt others. But, the earlier the values are taught, the better they can adapt to the environment and generate appropriate and beneficial interactions.
One of the types of values that children must learn early is family values, since depending on the quality of the relationship that they establish with their family, their ability to relate in society will depend. In this article, we leave you the most important family values that you can teach your children.
What are family values?
These refer to the system of beliefs, perceptions, customs, and principles that every family acquires, they have a character both particular (coming from each family) and universal (that all families in the world share). They are transmitted through parenting education, relationships with other close members, and experiences they may go through throughout history, such as conflict resolution, important celebrations, support, cordiality, and respect.
These values are considered as basic pillars for social interaction with other people in different environments (academic, work, personal, spontaneous, etc.). So each couple can decide what are the most important values that they consider that their children may need.
Family Values You Can Teach Your Children
Here we will show you the most important family values that you can begin to teach your children.
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Respect
It is one of the most important values that every child must learn in their childhood, not only to generate a good interaction with the people around them, to obey their elders or to follow rules but to make themselves heard and to gain self-confidence to Express oneself. In addition, it is the basis of adequate reciprocal communication, in the sense that, if the child can listen carefully to another person, this will return the gesture.
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Empathy
Another of the values that must be taught from an early age, this is because children by nature tend to be selfish, since they act with their instincts with the greater inclination and their sense of reasoning is not fully developed. Teaching them empathy can help them maintain harmony in any area of development, being able to understand their own human emotions and those of others, which ones are more negative and positive, why certain emotions are expressed in particular contexts, and how to manage them.
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Gratitude
Giving thanks not only constitutes one of the basic rules of courtesy of the person, but it is a very appreciated value, when we appreciate what we have, as well as the actions of others, we can perceive the world in a more positive way and reinforce the trust of the other. In this way, the significance of what we possess (both material and our own abilities) and the impact we cause in the world can be appreciated.
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Humility
Not only is it important to teach the little ones that selfishness can be a great obstacle in life and therefore it is necessary to lean towards simplicity, but it is also necessary to show them that the value of a person does not reside in their material possessions, but in their attitude. In this way, you can understand that people have the same capabilities regardless of their social status and that having a ‘high social status’ is not permitted to step over others, make fun of them, humiliate them or dismiss them.
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Commitment and responsibility
Commitment and responsibility go hand in hand, if you commit to something you must be responsible to carry it out. That is why it is important to teach children that all their actions have consequences and they must take responsibility for them, in addition to that responsibility is a presentation label that speaks well of them and will ensure the trust of others.
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Self-esteem
Although it seems incredible, children can present states of low self-esteem, especially when they are teased by their peers, when they are at a disadvantage or when they are frustrated because they do not understand something. It is then that as a parent, you must strengthen his confidence in himself so that he can find solutions to his obstacles and value himself. One of the best ways to do this is to praise him when he has done something well, learn to congratulate himself, and have the motivation to keep going.
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Purpose
Should children have purposes in life? Of course, it is very common to dismiss children because they are very young and do not understand anything about the world when in reality they have the ability to learn and adapt to the environment very quickly. So motivating them to have a purpose that they like. Value can help them generate profitable interests for their future. In addition to developing more self-confidence and a sense of commitment to meet the goals that are proposed.
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Generosity
The principle of ‘give and take’ is very significant, as it is a sign of appreciation and trust between people. Especially within the family because it indicates that they can be counted on at any time. Generosity begins with the act of sharing and as we already mentioned. This can be very difficult for the little ones who tend to be selfish. So it is necessary to teach the little ones to share of their own free will since they can receive many good things to change.
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Friendship
Friendship is one of the most necessary things for people, from childhood to adulthood. After all, can you imagine not hanging out with your friends? They are important figures in our life, they are companions, brothers, accomplices, and guides. But friendship goes further, it is about the ability to trust a person and support them when they need it, which is a value that must also be acquired at home.
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Optimism
Optimism is very significant for children in childhood because despite being very imaginative and inclined towards fun, they tend to focus more strongly on negative things, which is why they have a stronger impact on them. To avoid this, it is important that you teach your children to look on the positive side of things even in difficult times, as there is always something, they can learn from them.
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Will and effort
An important reason to teach the value of effort and not giving up, is to know that you should never leave things halfway or get discouraged in the face of a complicated obstacle because there will always be some way to overcome it. Although it may seem daunting and exhausting, willpower and hard work always pay off.
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Patience
Patience is a virtue and that is not just a saying but it is a reality, the best things are achieved with time and dedication. So try to teach your children that, even if they take time to see beneficial results, doing things step by step can bring more success than doing them with hectic recklessness since this can cause them to make unnecessary mistakes.
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Compassion
Compassion does not make people weak, on the contrary, it makes them wiser and more empathetic, so that they can really see what each one is going through and how they can support and help them. Of course, he emphasizes that being compassionate does not mean that they should be complacent or let the bad acts of others pass without them having consequences.
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Happiness
Happiness should be the principle of the life of any person because by always being in a good mood and seeing things positively, it allows everyone to face problems and obstacles more easily, have more confidence in themselves, release frustrations and be able to choose relationships that are beneficial to their progress. This is because they will always choose above all to seek what satisfies them and they enjoy doing.
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Membership
The sense of belonging in the family helps people feel connected to it and understand that the family comes before everyone else. It is the system where you can support yourself and have good times, but above all, it is the pillar for the future relationships that your child will build. Although it is also important to teach them to take their place, even in the face of the opinions of their relatives and not to listen to criticism or accept the abuse that comes from them.
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Communication
Communication is everything in life, this teaches us to relate to other people. Achieve our goals, demonstrate knowledge, build trust, and express feelings. However, it can be difficult to find the right way to make our points of view known or know how to listen to others. So moderation, eloquence, and active listening should be part of teaching good communication.
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Tolerance
Tolerance does not imply accepting injustices, we must first clarify that point. When we say that it is necessary to instill tolerance in your little ones. We mean to teach them to accept the differences that exist in the world. And that they cannot judge someone for it. Because differences do not make us more or less than someone. But it is a unique brand that is part of our identity.
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Honesty
Children have no problem with being honest in their speeches, reaching the point of indiscretion or exaggeration of the facts, which is why it is necessary to teach them to modulate and regulate their way of expressing what they are going to say so as not to fall into cruelty, but that they should never be inclined to lie, although telling the truth may cause discomfort to some.