
Let your actions be your child’s teacher
Lots of good advice…
“If we use our actions as teaching tools by consistently modeling and demonstrating behaviors we want our children to follow, it will not only benefit them, but it will also benefit our own personality and spirituality as well…
Rather than tell children what to do, he would show them through his own actions. When teaching his young helper, Anas Ibn Malik radi Allahu ‘anhum (may Allah be pleased with them), the value of giving “salaam” (greeting of peace), the Prophet ﷺ made sure he was the first to give the “salaam” to Anas. When he wanted to teach a young man to lower his gaze around a pretty girl, the Prophet ﷺ moved the boy’s head away from the view of the girl with his hand rather than say anything reprimanding or embarrassing. When he wanted to teach children to be loving and kind, he would rub and kiss their heads and say a kind word to them. When he wanted to teach respect, he would stand up and give his seat to his daughter Fatima when she would visit him. He actually said very little to the children around him. He let them learn through his example as he knew that made a much greater impression on children than complicated words they may not quite understand or appreciate at their age. The Prophetic model of guidance had a tremendous effect on the children around him. Until the age of 103, Anas ibn Malik would still recall his time with the Prophet ﷺ, and made sure he practiced those lessons himself.”
http://www.virtualmosque.com/islam-studies/prophet-muhammad/let-your-actions-be-your-childs-teacher/