How do you teach your students to have a conversation?  Isn’t it special to have someone be fully present with you?  To have a conversation with anyone, an adult or a child is something to behold these days…a conversation without distraction.

My most popular topic when teaching business etiquette in the workplace is The Art of the Human Connection. The art of having a conversation, is a lost “art”.  We are so consumed with social media that often we are so buried in it we miss out on so many opportunities.  Often, it is the first request I have from a human resource director to discuss the basic skills of conversation to their team.

Take the time to teach your students how to converse!  Life is fuller when you have this life skill.  You actually become interesting.  A children and teens learn so much about life when they hear others conversing.

5 Tips to Teach Students to Have a Conversation

1. Eye contact: This is a social skill that is so very important.  By making eye contact, it shows someone that you are interested.  It sends a message that you are confident.  Point this out to your students.  Explain why this is important.  Take the opportunity to talk about confidence and how it feels. If your students are six or younger, get on their level.  Literally!  Get down on your knees if necessary and make eye contact with them.  
2. Teach them to listen to others: Another important social skill is to listen. Tell them it is alright for there to be silence when having a conversation.  This is the time to practice sharing-sharing the space to tell ideas and experiences.
3. Ask questions:  By asking questions, you show others that you are interested in their experiences. Ask a student questions.  Explain to them that you are having a conversation.
4. Phone skills:  The Wall Street Journal had an article about answering the phone.  Remember when we were growing up and we took messages for our parents?  With smart phones, this most likely is not happening. This was a great way to teach conversation skills.  It is still important for children to know how to answer a phone and converse.
5. Read a story.  After reading a story, talk about it with your students.  Did they like the story?  What was their favorite part?

The post How to Teach Your Students to Have a Conversation appeared first on Manners To Go™.

I have a very special place in my heart for teachers.  My mother was a teacher for nearly 36 years. My sister was a school administrator. All of my aunts and uncles were teachers.

A Teacher Starts an Etiquette Business 

My lineage runs deep.  I remember helping my mother set-up her classroom at the beginning of the year.

Amanda Trower is a teacher and has started a business teaching manners.  The name of her new business is More than Etiquette.

Needless to say we are thrilled to have someone like Amanda teaching Manners To Go in her community.  

Amanda brings a tremendous amount of value.

I know her students love her as much as we do.

I looked forward to every training session we had together.

Have you considered starting a business?  A manners business?  We have many teachers teaching Manners To Go.  

There are many reasons to start:

• You want something of your own
• You realize the need to teach manners, life and social skills to our youth
• You want to earn extra money
• You are in a state of transition and this could be exactly what you want and need to do

5 Tips for Starting an Etiquette Business as You Transition from Another Career

Whatever your reason, we are here to help you.

Here is a FREE Guide to Help YOU Start a Business Teaching Manners to Children

CLICK THE IMAGE TO GET THE DOWNLOAD RIGHT NOW

   

Here Are Your Next Steps

Get to Know Manners To Go™

Most likely, you will want to get to know us. Feel free to call or email us. Click on the links below. We are happy to discuss the details with you.

Send Email to Lisa Richey

Schedule a Call With Lisa

Decide on the best training option for you

We offer two trainings to become certified to teach manners to children:

Option #1:

“Live” Video Training

If you are looking to start immediately and save money on travel and time, then this is your best option.You choose the dates of our trainings. Most choose to have their sessions once a week, others twice. This is a “live” and private training. It is NOT self-guided.

Learn More

Option #2:

Two-Day In-Person

PRIVATE Training.  That’s right, we meet in person, the two of us and our focus is completely on your business.  Click the image above or follow the button below to learn more and to see a list of cities available for your training.

Learn More

Receive the curriculum and book your training dates

Upon payment, you receive the curriculum. Next, we will send an email asking you to schedule your first training date.

Join the
Manners To Go™ movement with Lisa Richey.

Email to Lisa Richey

The post A Teacher Starts an Etiquette Business  appeared first on Manners To Go™.

10 Tips to Teach Manners in Your Classroom

Now more than ever, teaching manners in your classroom is critical. Children today are looking to learn more about building relationships and creating community.

At Manners To Go, we believe that all children deserve to learn the social skills that will help them grow up to become healthy, happy, successful adults. Here’s your chance to make it happen. We owe it our children to teach them good manners.

Eye Contact

It is amazing what happens when you bring this to a child’s attention. Eye contact is the basis for feeling and showing that you are confident.

Greetings

What a great way to start the day.  Greet your students every morning or end the day with “good morning” or a “good bye”. Make eye contact and smile.

Introductions

The best way to teach introductions is to organize a role-playing activity for your students. They can pretend they have never met each other. Teach them to say “hello, my name is”.

Posture

Sit up straight.  Stand up straight.  Having good posture shows that you are confident and interested.

How to Hold a Fork

Holding a fork correctly is important and shows that we have good table manners.

Napkin in Your Lap

Teach your students to put the napkin in the their lap during recess or lunch.

Conversation Skills

Do your students know how to start or carry on a conversation with each other or with someone they don’t know?

Be Fully Present | Put Down the Phone or Device

Isn’t it a beautiful gift when someone pays attention to what you are saying and shows they are interested?

Deference | Respect

Allowing someone to go first or opening the door.  This is deference.  This is respect. Model this in your classroom.

Greetings

Say good morning or good bye to your students or co-workers

Teach Manners in Your Classroom

Good Manners Set the Stage for Future Success

As an educator, you know how important social skills are for a child’s success. Children who are polite, well spoken, and attentive to others find it easier to get along with their peers and make a positive impression on the adults in their lives.
As a result, more opportunities come their way, laying the foundation for future success in life.

Yet too many children are not being taught proper manners or other valuable social skills at home. Which means it’s up to us as educators to equip them with these important life tools – and help them grow up to be responsible, caring, successful global citizens.

Now you can help students improve their behavior in as little as 10 minutes a day… a week… or month.

Preschool | Elementary | Middle School | High School

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CURRICULUM

About Manners To Go

Most likely we already share something in common. We believe that teaching children manners, character and social emotional skills are very important.

Manners To Go™ is a full-service company for those choosing to teach manners to children. You can make a difference. All children and teenagers deserve to feel what it is like to be confident, and use good manners out in the world.

Manners To Go™ is taught in public, private and charter schools around the world. The New York Times, Parents Magazine and Fox News have all featured Manners To Go and the many benefits of teaching social skills to children.

Whether you are an educator who wants to teach it in the classroom or someone who is looking to become trained and certified, we provide all the solutions.

My name is Lisa Richey, and I am the founder of Manners To Go™ . This brand has given me the honor of teaching manners to thousands of people around the world. The journey has taken me from Portland, Oregon to the Middle East. I believe that manners are not about judgment or rules. Manners are about self-interest. It really is about how using good manners makes you feel on the inside.

The post 10 Tips to Teach Manners in Your Classroom appeared first on Manners To Go™.

During this afternoon tea instruction you will learn:

The history of tea

How to hold a teacup (you might be surprised)

How to eat a scone (hint, not as if you were eating a sandwich)

Milk in first or last

How to stir (this might surprise you too)

How to set a “tea” table

Napkin etiquette

And so much more

DATES: Thursday, May 6 | 4:00 pm EDT

Saturday, May 8 | 4:00 pm EDT

This event is complimentary. We so appreciate your support over the years.

HERE ARE YOUR NEXT STEPS TO ATTEND THIS VIRTUAL EVENT

1. Mark the dates on your calendar (choose either date)
2. Look for our next email with a registration link
3. Invite family and friends
4. Once we receive your name and email, a follow-up Zoom link will be sent

The post Free Virtual Afternoon Tea Instruction appeared first on Manners To Go™.

I was lucky enough to see her speak at a school in Philadelphia.  You can tell she is the EXPERT and one of the most passionate advocates for children and teens.

If you have not seen her, spend some time on You Tube to see and witness what I mean.

Thrivers: The Surprising Reason Why Some Kids Struggle and Others Shine 

Dr. Borba says Thrivers are made not born.

Even before the pandemic, children were stressed, lonely and overwhelmed.  According to Dr. Borba, we have focused so much on testing and being competitive, we have lost touch and not taught children how to be human.

When I read this….it caused a moment of pause. It is a profound statement and one I believe to be true.

Teach Character and Manners to Children

Here is the good news.  Character strengths can and must be taught to children. Character strengths, teaching manners and life skills are as important as academic success. 

Dr. Borba Lists Character Strengths As:

• Self-Confidence
• Empathy
• Self-Control
• Integrity
• Curiosity
• Perservance
• Optimism

The book is filled with proven strategies you can easily teach children from preschool through high school.

I like how Dr. Borba gives you ideas on how to weave these skills into our everyday lives.  We don’t always need worksheets or lectures. 

By reading this book, we learn how to find meaningful ways to nurture the seven character strengths by modeling, discussing and pointing them out.

As always, thanks for reading and being a part of the manners movement. 

Have You Downloaded Our FREE Manners Lesson Plan (for each grade level)?

If not, what are you waiting for? Today is the day.

Click here to download the free manners lesson plan by grade level

Teachers love using our lesson plans to teach manners in their classroom. The lesson plan objective along with suggested dialogue and handouts are included.

We make it easy for you.

Teaching manners and character strengths in your classroom will make a difference.

The post Teach Character and Manners to Children appeared first on Manners To Go™.

A Teacher Becomes More Interesting When Teaching Manners in Middle School

Storytelling sets you apart as a middle school teacher.  Think about it.  As a teacher, I don’t need to tell you how much younger children love it when someone reads a story to them.

This works for middle school students too…only you don’t need to read to them….TELL them a story.

Share a story about you and an experience you had.  Maybe you made an “etiquette” mistake.  Maybe you made the right decision with choosing to use your good manners in a certain situation.

Good or bad, share your story.  Make it real for this age group.

I can promise, they will sit up and listen to “your” story.  It will make you more interesting.

The moment you share your story is the moment you take control of your classroom and become more interesting as a teacher.  This matters to a middle school student.

Manners are not about rules so don’t teach it that way.  Share a real life experience.

                                     Lisa Richey, founder, Manners To Go | Join Our Manners Movement

They will remember it.  Understand it.  Use it.

To learn more about teaching manners, etiquette and life skills for middle school students, click here.

Would You Like to Join Our Manners Movement and Teach Life Skills in Your Classroom?

Click Here for Your FREE Manners Lesson Plan and Curriculum (all grade levels are available)

Manners To Go Links and Resources

What Are Good Manners in the Middle School Classroom and Why They Are Needed

Manners at the Table : Device Free Family Meal

The post Manners Lesson Plans: A Teacher Becomes More Interesting When Teaching Manners in Middle School appeared first on Manners To Go™.