I know that I usually write blogs about issues that animals go through on a daily basis - spreading awareness around the world and reaching out to others to get involved. Well today, I am going to spread another message, one that I am sure that many parents, guardians etc will perhaps find very helpful and educational - a little building block in helping those to inspire compassion and respect in children.
As a parent I know how important education is in the development of your child, considering that when it comes to the big question "Who Helped Nurture Your Social Awareness?" usually the answer from any child is "PARENTS" - So I hope this blog in someway helps in the nurturing process - a few little steps that helped me not only bloom and grow as a parent, but also aided in the blooming and growing of my child as well.
- BE A ROLE MODEL FOR YOUR CHILD: Children have always taken cues from parents whether it be walking to talking, even repeating actions that you display on a daily basis, with or without you even knowing. It is a step towards their development, and it's important that you show them that acts of caring are part of your everyday life - even explain to them why "compassion & respect for animals" is important and how animals play an important role in our lives (when they are old enough to understand of course.)
- DEVELOPMENT STARTS AT HOME: A child's main environment is "HOME", most learning & understanding comes from within the four walls of where they reside - witnessing daily activities and following along with the routine. So why not add compassion and respect for animals in that routine, find stories that you can read to your children at night, do a puppet show etc, and if you have a family pet at home, have "Parent/Child/Pet Time" something that my daughter always loves - explaining why caring for a pet is important, develop a compassionate and respectful bond etc.
- TEACH COMPASSIONATE & RESPECTFUL ACTIONS: This is one that is definitely important, although certain actions children do to animals, maybe cute and funny to the children or to the parents, some maybe hurtful and terrifying to the pet/animal - that is how most children are bit/scratched/injured by the family pet because the furry friend is not liking the actions that the child is doing to them. We as parents need to teach our children not to hurt, abuse, scare, etc. When we see an action like this we need to nip it in the butt before the child or the animal are hurt.
- GIVE RESPONSIBILITY: When your child is old enough, teach them the responsibility of having an animal - if you have a pet, let them help you with (feeding, watering, brushing etc) little tasks that help them develop responsibility - and explain to them why it's important to do these things, and take care of your pet. Even if you don't have a pet - you can still educate your child about the importance that taking care of one. Education is Development.
- KINDNESS IS THE KEY: Showing kindness is something that truly isn't hard to do or teach, every act of kindness is a reward, and educating your child to show kindness to animals and others in need is a great gift that you can pass down - whether it be volunteering at a local shelter, donating, feeding birds, the list is endless and the outcome is priceless. Don't walk on by and ignore, because your child will too.
- RAISE UR PAW and GET INVOLVED: With all the issues that animals face on a daily basis, sometimes many forget the little things that can make a difference, things that you and your child can do together to get involved with raising your paw to help animals in need .. such things as making special gifts of treats for the animals in shelters, donating food, blankets other necessities, doing special things to help with adoption/fostering/rescuing - volunteering, creating special events that will benefit animals in need etc. I know there are lots of things you don't want your children to see, and that's okay - but we cannot hide them from all of it, find issues that you and your child can get involved with.
- ENCOURAGE, EDUCATE & EMPOWER: We as parents want our children to be the best that they can be - to bloom and grow into individuals that are compassionate, loving and caring - to take part in making a brighter future. But to bloom and grow, they rely and depend on us as their parents to nurture and educate them - to empower and encourage them to be the best they can be, and follow the right path in this world - and that encouragement and empowerment is a big importance to not only who they will become, but also what they will pass down to future generations - how to respect and show compassion for all animal life - and that foundation begins with you.
I am not sure if this blog helped in any way - but to me these 7 tips aided me with teaching my daughter about compassion and respect for animal life. We all have our own different ways, that's what makes us all unique - and I am hoping that others out there will take a moment to share other helpful tips with us - special methods that they found useful and helpful :) Would love to hear them!
Please take a moment to comment or share your ideas - your feedback is truly important to us, and also will help others who are reading this blog - let's educate, encourage and empower together.
Thank You
RAISE UR PAW
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