Direct Link: http://www.gollygee-pers.com/shop-montauk-1/introduction-to-manners-curriculum-1

Raising well behaved children is every parent’s desire and goal. Thankfully, Golly Gee-pers created an activity-based way to teach and reinforce great manners for the whole family with The Good Manners Curriculum. Our package contained several teaching items and games that were a fun addition to our household.

Upon opening the neatly packed box, an envelope containing an objectives information sheet, progress chart and stickers, and several manners example posters was seen. According to the paperwork, sample lesson plans and application instructions should also be provided but neither was included and I did not see information on the website as to how to obtain these individually. I decided to spend two weeks focusing on this system to implement it into our daily school and mealtime routine. Then, I spent two weeks reviewing, completing activities, and building on the goals each child had set.

The Good Manners Progress Chart is a weekly sticker reward system for one student. I made a copy of it so our three-year-old daughter could join in but this was not age appropriate for our oldest. I wrote one manner goal, each week for the younger children and gave a gold sticker every day it was accomplished.  The younger two enjoyed earning stickers and I put the oldest in charge of reviewing the chart with them daily. Our goals included saying “please” and “thank you,” serving each other once a day, coming when called, and cleaning up after ourselves. There is also a place to write the reward earned at the end of a successful week. We rewarded them with candy, going swimming, and money to spend at the local dollar store. Since they had a perfectly filled in chart at the end of the month we all got to attend a movie together.  The posters show examples of waiting in line and lend a helping hand and include seek and finds for good or bad manners for your child to point out.  I used one set at a time to teach them but thought these should be printed in color to give younger children a clear visual.

The Manners Fun Book is filled with a variety of coloring pages showing table manners accompanied by a thumbs up or thumbs down to show whether it is appropriate behavior or not. Several blank sheets are included to create table manners catered specifically for your household.  I had my oldest go over the examples shown and the children would color the picture afterwards.  If you have more than one child a using this curriculum then you will need a Manners Fun Book for each of them. Table Manner Progress Charts are also included here and available for free download on the website. These are created in the exact same format as the aforementioned chart with sticker placement for each meal. Our goals included not playing with their food, cleaning up any spilled beverages, asking for seconds politely, and serving each other before themselves.  If someone chose not to have good manners we would give them the thumbs down sign as a family and it actually turned into a great game for all of us. The Fun Book also includes connect the dots, crossword puzzle, word search, and other games. Creative cartoons showing scenes for good manners should make it easy to include older elementary aged children.

A story book entitled If a Very Important Person Invited You to Lunch was also provided. This Award-winning tale is perfect for younger children to sit and think about appropriate behavior at the dinner table. The print is large, easy to read, and uses simple words which is perfect for beginning readers. The illustrations are adorable, yet creative and perfectly placed throughout the book. The story also has plenty of rhyming words which makes the tale easy to listen to and fun to read.

The Table Manners Cards included two game options to reinforce good table behavior. A note to the parents was included with tips on how to apply these principles in a fun and friendly way for children and adults. The rules for each game were easy to follow and made including young children a priority. This game was the easiest to involve our oldest and be sure that he learned or reviewed something. It helped all of us act much better during dinner and gave the younger children something to focus on when we dined out.  I also appreciated the decorative pouch that carried the deck making the cards easy to store and put in my purse for fun at local eateries.

The Musical Manners CD features 10 groovy tunes that our younger children enjoyed dancing to. The chorus lyrics are catchy making it is easy to join in. The song topics include lending a helping hand, sneezing into your elbow, not interrupting, being a good guest, and much more. “Hustle Your Bustle Muscle” was my favorite because I am always explaining the importance of being on time to my family. The “Don’t Pick Your Nose” song was on the CD three times which I thought was unnecessary. Each time the music was slightly different, and the song is less than a minute, but I think they should’ve just written a complete song and included it once.

Overall, The Good Manners Curriculum is a unique way to introduce or review your family rules. The story, sticker charts, CD, and activity book all work well with each other for children ages three to eight years old. The cards are a fun option for everyone and we used those the most. Golly Gee-pers definitely found a creative way to make manners fun to learn and teach about. This curriculum would work well in a homeschool or classroom setting.

-Product review by Ta’Neisha Kemp, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, July, 2018