He does not beat his children yet acts stern and firm on certain issues. For instance he insists that Jem reads to Ms.Dubose or obey Aunt Alexandra or Calpurnia.
At the same time he does not impose his ideas and decisions on them rather explains and makes them realize and learn things they still need to .
To help them inculcate the right values in his children he tries to implement and put into action the same ideas or morals he preaches. He thereby teaches the children not to have double standards or be a hypocrite.
By trying to be nice to his sister Aunt Alexandra he teaches the children the concept of family unity and often plays the role of a peace maker.
He does not believe in stereotyping people and helps Scout maintain her individuality and be a tomboy and does not insist her to be brought up the traditional way.
At the same time he accepts his limitations and realizes that his children need a mother figure and recognizes that she is a far better homemaker . By doing so he lets it be known that he is not influenced by the racial prejudices of Maycomb. He has no objections to his children attending Calpurna’s church and admonishes scout not to use racial slurs and is careful to always use acceptable language and terms for his time and culture.
Thereby he sets a role model for his children to follow and gains their respect .
He teaches Scout he first lesson in compromise when she encounters the conflict between home and school education with her teacher .Atticus understands the fault of the education system but aware that it is essential for one to accept this to be part of society he helps her to make a compromise.
He also talks to them on the evils of taking advantage of those less fortunate or less educated or vulnerable. He carries his philosophy to the animal world by his refusal to hunt.
By sharing life’s truths and experiences Atticus teaches his children much more than school would.
Atticus urges his children to try to step into other people’s shoes to understand how they feel and see things from their point of view. This really helped the children to develop a much better understanding of people and gradually remove the prejudices they harboured in their mind.
These lessons and education were valuable in their upbringing and changed their perspective of people and life.
It broadened their moral and social understanding!!
