WFMW: Fancy Tea Party Manners

My husband and I were recently doing some end of year homeschool evaluation, discussing where we were now, where we wanted to head from here. I had a few things in mind I wanted to address, and as it turned out, he had some of the exact same ones.

Top of the list: Manners.

Most kids I know need a little correcting from time to time on their table manners. Ours have been no exception.

I'd been brainstorming how we might address the issue of manners other than just me harping on the kids forever. Before I could tell my husband the idea I'd had, he blurted out the same idea: tea parties.

We decided to regularly, (like once a week,) hold a little tea party with "fancy manners." To start with, we're just focusing on pretty basic stuff, things like using a napkin instead of one's clothes, and not deliberately burping at the table. Later, we'll branch out into things like how to set the table properly, etc.

We ordered a food safe, nonbreakable tea set from Amazon, and got started right away.

It's been a huge success. The kids think it's treat, so they look forward to it, and they've actually been more pleasant to eat with lately. When they get off track, we remind them about using their "fancy manners."

Tea parties are working for us. For more WFMW posts, check out the linky at www.wearethatfamily.com.