Beth Brainard
Award-Winning Author | Manners Expert | Mom
These are the questions – Do you know the answer? How about your child?
Take the Etiquette IQ Quiz
Try to answer the 10 questions in the Etiquette IQ Quiz then refer to the answers below. If you have a child who is around 10, ask him or her to take it as well.
Let’s repeat the questions
- What is the key to being polite?
- How do you introduce your aunt to a friend?
- When do you turn off your cell phone?
- How do you set the table?
- How do you cut a cherry tomato?
- When do you write a thank you note?
- How do you know what to wear to a party?
- When is it OK to spit?
- What do you do before leaving a party?
- When do you clap at the symphony?
If you don’t know all the answers, that is OK. Use the answers below for reference as you instruct your child.
Why is it Important?
The quiz is really a discussion starter.
It has a broad scope that touches on areas with rules of social behavior. A 10-year-old child should be on the way to mastering the keys of being polite.
The key? It doesn’t matter how polite you are if you are not kind and gracious to others. Good manners without good character are hollow.
Introductions – Knowing how to meet other people is key to building social relationships, and knowing how to help others meet each other is key to putting people at ease and growing a circle of friends.
Telephone/Cell Phone – Phones are everywhere, all the time. It is important to learn how to use them considerately.
Dining – So much family and social time revolves around meals. It is important to know how to behave to ensure that it is a pleasant experience for everyone.
Writing Notes and E-Messaging – Effective written communication skills will serve your child for a lifetime.
Dressing and Personal Habits – How you look and carry yourself affects how you feel about yourself and how others will treat you.
Parties – Learning to be a good host and a good guest ensures that people will want your child to be a part of their celebrations.
Public Places – Whether it is the symphony, the zoo, or the raceway, kids need to know how to behave politely outside the home
The Etiquette IQ Answers
1. The key to being polite is to live by the Golden Rule: treat all people the way you would like them to treat you.
2. “Aunt Amelia, this is my friend T.J. Ruiz. T.J. this is my aunt, Ms. Sweet.” Say your Aunt’s last name so your friend knows what to call her.
3. Respect “no cell phone” zones in public places and ALWAYS turn off your phone at the table.
4. Plate in the center; fork and napkin on the left; knife and spoon on the right; glass above the knife and spoon. Check out an etiquette book for a good diagram.
5. To cut a cherry tomato, place your knife behind it so it will not roll away. Slide your fork tines into it firmly but gently, then cut into the tomato with your knife along the fork tines. This method cuts your tomato in half and prevents it from shooting off into the universe!
6. Write a thank you note to anyone who has given you a gift; anyone who has invited you as a house guest; anyone who has done something nice for you.
7. Choose your outfit based on they type of activity, location, and weather. If you are still not sure, it is OK to call the host and ask.
8. It is OK to spit when you have a bug in your mouth!
9. Before leaving the party thank the host and his or her parents for the nice time.
10. Clap at the symphony when the music stops and the conductor puts his hands down to his sides.
So how did you do?
About Beth Brainard
Beth Brainard writes manners and life skills books for kids, teaches etiquette classes for children and young adults, and speaks to parenting groups and organizations. Etiquette IQ is her specialty! Learn more about her award-winning book Soup Should Be Seen, Not Heard here.
Over the course of her career Beth ran a consulting firm specializing in social and corporate protocol, created and taught a K-5 etiquette curriculum, hosted a radio talk show for parents called “Kids Don’t Come With an Owner’s Manual,” and participated in the formation of the Josephson Institute’s K-12 Character Counts! program.
To put her sons through college she served as a Director of Communications for divisions of Disney World and Harvard University. Beth is a graduate of Harvard University and lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Paul. They have LOTS of kids.
0 Comments on “Take the Etiquette IQ Quiz”
Thanks this made for a wonderful discussion this afternoon with my grandkids who are home sick with colds,we all learned a thing or two.Great post thanks for sharing !