teaching children morals and ethics

[octaviaorca]

**(please don't take offense anyone to any religious comments here.  i mean no harm and i respect every background i just don't walk one particular path and i humbly acknowledge my ignorance on the topic! i post with only the best of intentions)**

just wanted to see how people are teaching morals and ethics.  we are not a bible based family but i like the idea of the bible as a form of teaching 'right' from 'wrong'.  it presents morals/ethics in a unique story, is backed up in practice and families and communities are involved in the process of understanding and teaching.  so... for those who maybe aren't using scripture as a model, how are you presenting ethics and morals.  how do you 'teach' them and are you folding them into your lesson plans (i have seen daddude say he adds them into his lesson plans.  maybe if you read this you can expand on that?)  or are you just teaching them as they present themselves?  for those who are teaching using scriptures do you have suggestions of ways that a non-bible family might translate them?  can other faiths chime in here? 

[DadDude]

I've made a half-dozen or so presentations about different topics in ethics...but there are two very different things to learn about ethics.  On the one hand there's knowledge about ethics as a subject of study (so you can call "The Golden Rule" by its name when you hear it) and on the other hand there's learning good behavior.  Needless to say, you can have one without the other...

[octaviaorca]

what were your presentations like?  slides?  discussions?  i guess i'm trying to figure out if i just let the situations arise to discuss or begin modeling them as i would reading or math.  my husband and i do believe that as parents we set the precedence (if we act accordingly, etc.) but still... how does a toddler know that? 

[DadDude]

They're sort of like books.  See http://forum.brillkids.com/downloads/?sa=myfiles;u=12952

[octaviaorca]

hey daddude,
huge thanks for the PPT(s).  those are a great way to start teaching.  you have done amazing things which i plan now to spend the rest of nap time mining (oh please let them sleep for another hour!!). 

[Nirupa]

i think the best way to teach children ethics is through moral stories. I am a hindu and we have many religious books from were we can pick short moral stories for kids. I read a lot of moral stories for my son and incorporate them in reality when there a real life situation. This way he understands better.

[octaviaorca]

nirupa, can you tell me about some of your/ your son's favorite stories? 

[DannyandAmy]

Have you heard of The Virtues Project? The international school I work part time for uses this project to teach morals to the kids. I bought a book from them and I think it's great!

http://www.virtuesproject.com/index.php

[Zendor the Breathairian]

Hi Y'all,

This is a fantastic and timely question. I'm now a grandfather of 8. When my children were young I taught them to listen to their belly. In all cultures and throughout all religions, the body is held sacred. Why? Because it is our physical liaison with the spiritual kingdoms, a multi-sensory device if you will, that operates on vibration - harmonics.

Truth has undeniable harmonics and dis-ease or incongruent energy (conflicts between morals/ethics and actions) has a definite signature that is felt by the body, regardless of what the mind tries to say otherwise. It is that way for a reason. The Bible calls it the still, small voice that comes from within. We all have it. No one is bereft of this exquisite connection to the world around us. Far too often we don't talk about our feelings.

In the West we're taught not to talk about them. What a vexation to the spirit this is! This wonderful connection we have is natural, built in to our 'holistic system' known as our body. So, the best way to teach our children is for us to acknowledge this in ourselves first. It is the most simple and direct way to learn the difference between what is desirable and what is undesirable, in my humble opinion.

So, the simple method is to feel or sense a situation in stillness and allow your body to let you know whether you need to question the integrity or proceed without disturbance. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Namaste,
Zen

Namaste,
Zen

[Nirupa]

Hi octaviaorca,

My son loves reading panchantra stories. His favourite ones are 'the clever crow, crocodile and the monkey, the brahmin's dream and the thief's sacrifice. These are all moral stories from panchantra. Apart from this i read, prahalad and little krishna stories to him.

Regards
Nirupa Andrew

[marimari]

Hello all,

I still believe IN LEARNING BY DOING, for sure your baby will follow, so specifying, to teach moral and ethics we can give examples at home, we can visit day care centers, be part of programs as a volunteer, etc. My children always go with us and they can understand these people lives who don´t have a better social condition, who depends of State and programs to survive. They learn how to respect and to be ethically and morally correct.

[Twinergy]

There has been a recent thread that I think ties into this one.  It discusses how to praise children to encourage intrinsic motivation, intrinsic self esteem and intrinsic generousity/thoughtfulness towards others. 

[L and J]

I've made a half-dozen or so presentations about different topics in ethics...but there are two very different things to learn about ethics.  On the one hand there's knowledge about ethics as a subject of study (so you can call "The Golden Rule" by its name when you hear it) and on the other hand there's learning good behavior.  Needless to say, you can have one without the other...

Like octaviaorca said, please everyone, don't take offense anyone to any religious comments.

I'm catholic, I do teach bible to my kids, but without a plane. We read bible history (in bible kids) with the kids, they love. We are not teaching morals and ethics yet, but yesterday I fell I should start. My children usually behave very well, but yesterday at the church, my daughter has behaved very badly.
How do you do for teach bouth? Can you please post an example?

[L and J]

I have a question, this holds only for ethical and moral  or also for day to day conflicts?
Because I have gone through difficult moments, and I do not know what to do or how to react.

Hi Y'all,

This is a fantastic and timely question. I'm now a grandfather of 8. When my children were young I taught them to listen to their belly. In all cultures and throughout all religions, the body is held sacred. Why? Because it is our physical liaison with the spiritual kingdoms, a multi-sensory device if you will, that operates on vibration - harmonics.

Truth has undeniable harmonics and dis-ease or incongruent energy (conflicts between morals/ethics and actions) has a definite signature that is felt by the body, regardless of what the mind tries to say otherwise. It is that way for a reason. The Bible calls it the still, small voice that comes from within. We all have it. No one is bereft of this exquisite connection to the world around us. Far too often we don't talk about our feelings.

In the West we're taught not to talk about them. What a vexation to the spirit this is! This wonderful connection we have is natural, built in to our 'holistic system' known as our body. So, the best way to teach our children is for us to acknowledge this in ourselves first. It is the most simple and direct way to learn the difference between what is desirable and what is undesirable, in my humble opinion.

So, the simple method is to feel or sense a situation in stillness and allow your body to let you know whether you need to question the integrity or proceed without disturbance. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Namaste,
Zen

Namaste,
Zen

[L and J]

Hello all,

I still believe IN LEARNING BY DOING, for sure your baby will follow, so specifying, to teach moral and ethics we can give examples at home, we can visit day care centers, be part of programs as a volunteer, etc. My children always go with us and they can understand these people lives who don´t have a better social condition, who depends of State and programs to survive. They learn how to respect and to be ethically and morally correct.

Thats so sweet marimari, when I was little, also participated with my mother, she was a volunteer at many things that can not describe (child care, bazaars, etc.), unfortunately going to be hard to do the same with my children.

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