Manners to Go
If that upcoming family wedding or company picnic is making you think twice about your child’s table manners, this may be just the time for Manners to Go: A Fun Cool Kit to Build Confidence!
Created by Lisa Taylor Richey, founder of the American Academy of Etiquette, Inc., the kit claims to "make learning the basics of etiquette simple and fun!"
Some of the tips are more than basic, and may go overboard, for the targeted 6 to 12-year-old. For example, did you know to pick up a napkin by the left hand corner? Have fun explaining that one.
The kit includes etiquette flashcards, thank you notes with useful tips for note writing, and "Color and Use" placemats showing the right position for fork, knife, etc...
The placemats are ideal for kids who have trouble remembering how to set the table at home or where to find their desert fork when out on the town.
The flashcards are cleverly written in the voice of two kids, Hattie and John William. Each card provides concrete examples of how to handle first impressions, dining skills and telephone skills. Hattie and John William explain that simple acts, such as eye-contact, can make you feel confident and your acquaintance feel special. This is where Richie gets it right for parents, because showing your kids why manners are important will go a long way towards getting them to apply some of these tips.
The kit also includes a "Manners Around the World" sheet featuring translations of the three "magic" words (Hello, Please, Thank You) in Spanish, German, French, Italian and Japanese. This is a great resource considering the high likelihood that your child’s school has students whose native tongue isn’t English. Unfortunately, this section fails to provide phonetic spellings, which would have been especially helpful for figuring out how to pronounce the Japanese characters.
Though a few elements of the kit lacked thoughtful planning, for parents who need to jump start the manners conversation, Manners to Go may be the perfect ice breaker.
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