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Our children are the future. We know that we have to set the right examples in life based on what we do and the things we teach them. But we also have to remember that life is all about balance. Giving your child a good foundation to improve their quality of life, along with an understanding of right and wrong, while maintaining balance in life, will help everybody live a better life. However, when children are young we don’t want to overload them with the possibilities associated with adulthood and maturity. We need to find the right balance. But how can we start our young children on the right foot in life using the right tools? Here are 5 important life skills for kids and how to approach them
Encourage Self-Sufficiency
We can find it’s easier to do things for our children rather than encouraging them to do it themselves. Self-sufficiency is a fantastic tool, especially if we, as the parents, don’t have it. And when we start to think about the importance of self-sufficiency, not just in terms of preventing boredom but also having the ability to learn and develop skills by ourselves, this is a valuable trait anyone can have.
When we start to give our children little tastes of being self-sufficient here and there, we can slowly start to build their confidence and curiosity in trying new things. One example is teaching them how to write: we can give them the basic tools i.e. the letters, the pen, and the motor skills. Writing exercises can help build this skill; you can learn more here with regards to writing exercises for young children.
Remember to stand back and not take over and do things for them The important thing when you provide a wider template of tools is this will encourage your children to draw from more things.
Focus on Making Good Decisions
Decision-making is so important in encouraging self-sufficiency. When we encourage our children to make more decisions, whether it’s a certain flavor of ice cream or what clothes they want to wear, this will help them to understand the consequences of their decision-making.
For example, if they choose to wear a wooly jumper but it is a hot day, they may find themselves overheating. But rather than telling them that they shouldn’t wear the jumper, perhaps it’s best to let them learn the consequences of their actions and have a spare breathable shirt ready.
When we encourage our children to make good decisions, while also evaluating the pros and cons and weighing up the consequences, this becomes a wider palate for them to draw from. Learning lessons early on in life about the consequences of bad decision-making for them is more than vital.
Reiterate the Importance of Health and Hygiene
Because of everything that has happened recently, the importance of health and hygiene has, no doubt, been one of the priorities in your home. But there can be a time when our children become lax, such as a child forgetting to wash their hands after using the toilet by themselves. Reiterating the importance of health and hygiene will encourage the development of healthy habits that will benefit for a lifetime.
The Concept of Earning a Reward
Giving our child a reward for something is one key aspect they should learn early on in life, but the other side of this is earning a reward. When our children work for something, we reward them with something they want. You don’t need to over complicate things with real money. When we have children that don’t want to do anything or they rely on us too much, we may see where we’ve made an error in terms of how our children view the concept of rewards. Learning to work for a reward by encouraging them to tidy up after themselves or eating all their food so they can earn a desert are the simple things that, unfortunately, may take a lot of hard work. But if you want your children to understand the satisfaction of earning a reward because of what they’ve done, this is one of the best lessons in life.
Why Time Management Is So Important in Life
Do you feel like your child has their own concept of time? Time management is something that becomes more apparent when we take our children to school and we have to be somewhere at a certain time. Learning to encourage this is crucial, especially when we have to go places. Learning the importance of time management and not being late is partly to do with how we react to time management. After all, they will learn from us, consciously or subconsciously. But if you want your children to be prompt and understand how being early or late can impact their day, we need to encourage this early on. You may want to think about rewarding them for every time they have done something on time or early. But also get into the habit of telling the time. If we can’t tell the time we don’t know if we are going to be early or late for something.
There are plenty of important life skills for kids that you may want your children to learn and this can influence how you teach them. But if you want to give your children a thorough grounding in life, but also help them to become self-sufficient and capable children, you’ve got to start when they are young. When we think about the things we lacked as children, this can shape our own attitudes to helping the next generation become more confident and capable.
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