Life Foundations: Important Skills To Teach Young Children

As soon as babies are born, they are constantly picking up new skills and knowledge that can help them to survive better independently in the world. Most of the skills that they learn in their first year naturally come about as they grow and get stronger, such as holding their own head up on their own and being able to sit up straight unaided.

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However, once your child starts to grow and becomes a lot more independent, it becomes time for you to intervene and start to teach them some important life skills that they might not be able to pick up on their own. These are the skills and knowledge that they will need to learn in order to get ahead later in life. Even though they might learn a few of these skills once they get to kindergarten or school, it’s usually best to start to teach them the basics while they are still young and eager to learn new things.

 

[ctt template=”4″ link=”LgKQ7″ via=”yes” ]Are you starting to wonder what skills to teach young children? Here are a few of the main life skills that they need to know before they start school.[/ctt]

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Personal Hygiene

 

One of the first things you should teach your child as soon as they can walk is the importance of personal hygiene. At this age, it’s just necessary to teach them about the basics, such as the importance of trying to stay clean while playing. When they are tottering around, you should tell them not to put their hand in any mess or dirt that they might see no matter how intrigued they are by it. You should also make sure they understand the importance of washing their hands after every time they go to the toilet. By teaching them about the basics of personal hygiene, they will be a lot less likely to pick up any nasty bacteria and germs while they are playing, so they shouldn’t fall sick too often.

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People Skills

 

We all want our children to grow up to be sociable and friendly people who are always willing to talk to everyone they meet. Part of being so sociable comes naturally to most people, but it’s always something that you can help your child practice from a young age. It’s really easy to do too, as all you will need to do is ensure that they have a lot of play dates with their friends. This will give them plenty of opportunities to be sociable with their friends and practice being around people in casual situations.

 

Money Know-How

 

Even though your child won’t have to worry about money for quite a while just yet, it’s still a good idea to start to help them learn about the basics of money. To start with, you just need to help them learn to count and do basic sums. It’s also a good idea to play some games with them that can help them get used to handling coins and notes. For instance, if you buy a toy grocery store then you can both play shopkeepers together. One of you can sell the other some items. This will also give your child the chance to get used to the concept of giving change. This may not seem like they are learning a lot but getting used to the basics can help to reinforce their education at school.

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Road Safety

 

One of the most important aspects of safety to teach young children has to be anything that is related to the road. When you are out and about, you will no doubt walk down busy roads together, and it’s necessary to teach your child how to do so in a safe manner. This is especially necessary when it comes to crossing the road. Children regularly get caught up in road traffic accidents, and it can be incredibly difficult to win compensation after car accidents if it is impossible to prove who was at fault. So, if you want to make sure that your child is always safe when out and about, spend time teaching them how to correctly cross the road and how to take care when walking close to a busy street.

 

Emotional Intelligence

 

As soon as we hit adulthood, most of us find that it can be very difficult to change the way we experience feelings and control our emotions. To make sure your child doesn’t suffer with being able to explain their complex emotions and feelings, it’s a good idea to teach them good emotional intelligence from an early age. Not only will this help them to deal with difficult emotions in later life, but it can also help them with better self-awareness. As a result, they will be a lot better equipped for successful relationships. To teach emotional intelligence, you need to first allow your child to express themselves and then try to see things from their own perspective. Whenever your child expresses their feelings to you, you should listen carefully to them so that they don’t feel like you are simply brushing off their issues.

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Creativity

 

Creative children will grow up to become creative adults, and all of this creativity can really help them achieve success in various walks of life. So, it’s important to give your young child plenty of creative outlets through which they can express themselves. The more outlets you give your child, then the more chance they have of finding their favorite. For instance, most children will prefer either painting, drawing, writing stories, or playing musical instruments. Try to give them as many options so that they can experiment with different creative forms, and then they will likely find their favorite. You never know, this may become a passion, which could in turn, could become a very successful career.

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Leadership

 

Even though your child won’t be stepping into any important leadership roles for the next few years, it’s still a good idea to let them have a go at practicing some leadership skills. It’s true that some people are born leaders, but there are still quite a few who are made. So, if you don’t think your child is made of true leadership material, this could be something that is worth working on. Don’t forget that leadership comes in many forms – it doesn’t mean that you need to teach your child managerial skills, though, as you could teach other forms of leadership. It also includes the wider skill set that comes around managerial skills, such as clear communication, good people skills, and good judgement. Even if your child won’t become a leader in later life, it’s still a good skill to have and will ensure that they grow up into a well-rounded and independent individual.

 

Problem Solving

 

No matter who we are or where we go in life, we will face various problems that will need to be solved. Sometimes, this skill can come about from learning good leadership skills, as problem solving is heavily wrapped up in that. There is no doubt that your child will require this great skill as soon as they reach the workplace, and they may even need to know some basic problem solving when they head off to school. One way to get your child to develop their problem-solving skills is by trying to take them away from the family environment so that they can experience new surroundings as often as possible. Gently pushing them just outside of their comfort zone can also engage these skills as well. Allowing them to do puzzles of various types is one way to encourage problem solving skills as well.

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Decision Making

 

As soon as your child starts to grow older, they will need to make more and more important decisions that could have a significant impact on their lives. Making decisions and choosing between choices isn’t always easy, especially when both options seem to be positives. Offering your child choices as often as you can, even if it is something as simple as deciding what to have for tea, can help them develop some really strong decision-making skills.

 

Getting Ready

 

Once your child is old enough, it’s useful to show them the basics of getting ready for the day. This includes things like getting dressed, washing their face, and doing their teeth. Your child should be able to do this once they are going to school so that they can get ready independently of you. This will save you a lot of time as you won’t need to see to them after you have yourself ready for the day.

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Basic Cleaning

 

Need a bit of help around the house? You could try to get your young child interested in helping you clean. As long as you try to turn it into a fun game, you should find that kids are open to helping around with some very easy chores. For instance, they could help you sort out the laundry or do some basic food preparation in the kitchen.

 

As you can see, there are quite a lot of skills that young children need to learn. But, thankfully, most of these are easy to teach in everyday life.

 

This is a contributed post.

 

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