Good Manners for Today’s Kids: Teaching Your Child the Right Things to Say and Do

Bob & Emilie Barnes
Harvest House Publishers (2010)
ISBN 9780736928113
Reviewed by Tiffany Schlarman for Reader Views (05/10)

 

“Good Manners for Today’s Kids” is a wonderful resource in teaching your child manners along with good conduct.  The book discusses courtesy, respect, tactfulness, self-confidence, flexibility, understanding, and general good manners.  It is written as a guide to both parents and children.  The parental parts help explain why children need to know about the issues in the chapter, along with helpful tidbits of understanding so that you can be the most useful tool in teaching your children.  The guide for children is written so that kids could read that part for themselves, or the chapter could be read aloud by the parents for discussion with children.  It is written at the level of children for ease in understanding, with examples to go along.  The book is a must have for any parent because it gives a fresh look at many topics that most parents wouldn’t think of in regards to teaching manners.  They are lessons you want to teach your children, but put in an understanding helpful way for the children to also understand these lessons.  After all, how can you expect good manners and conduct if these lessons and rules are never taught?

I found this book insightful.  Thankfully, I have been blessed with parents who taught me many of the issues and lessons in this book.  The book however, made it easier for me to understand new ways to help teach my daughters manners and conduct.  My four-year-old is a huge fan of the question “Why?”  I am not!  It can be difficult for me to sometimes answer her question without saying “just because” or “because you should.”  She wants to know the reason behind it, not because she doesn’t want too, but because she is curious of why we should do these things.  I really enjoyed the kid to kid sections.  I can easily read them to my daughter and she understands better why that particular manner or conduct is important.  It helps to spark conversation and ideas in my mind to explain better to her.

There are parts of the book that are updated to fit today’s kids, such as cell phone use and computers as a way of communication.  However, with this I think a few things were added that are not quite needed for today’s kids.  For example, there is a section on setting the table.  This section is set for a high-class social function.  It is outdated.  While nice to know, it is very rare that the average person will ever sit down to a formal fancy dinner using all of the place settings.  I’m pretty sure that not even my wedding reception had this fancy of a set up.  Even though I do remember learning these skills in a home economics class, I do not remember any of them, because the skill is never used.  It is not part of today’s society.  Overall, “Good Manners for Today’s Kids” is a wonderful guide and tool for reference, as part of teaching your children manners.

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