Social Skills Book Review: 50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know

David's Mom:

50 Things Every Young Gentleman Should Know has been one of the best resources I have found for teaching social skills to older kids.

It is 50 short chapters about 4 pages long each with what to do and what not to do examples. 

All of the topics felt relevant and up to date. Here are a few examples: Accepting a gift you don't like, Meeting people with physical challenges, Ordering from a menu, Paying a compliment. 

The lovely thing about this book is it gives reasons why a gentleman would do these things. It explains what actions show respect, what actions may mislead someone and what actions may hurt someone's feelings. The reasons why certain things are considered polite really resonated with all 3 of my boys. And it played into David logical sensibilities. If A+B=hurting someone's feelings, he does not want to do that. 

A few times a week, I read a chapter out loud to my kids and had them illustrate what not to do and what to do in each situation. They really enjoyed drawing what not to do. A lot of David's early Social Skills Comics came from these drawings he did in his journals for this book.

There is a 50 Things Every Young Lady Should Know but we have not read that one.