Being a parent can be a lot! After all, there’s so much that we not only need to do for our kids but that we need to teach them to do for themselves as well. Unfortunately on occasion, this can mean some of the more important things get missed or overlooked. Happily, you can prevent this from happening with your child, by reading the post below.
How To Manage Their Money
Like it or loathe it, money does make the world go around, and that is why it’s so important that we teach our kids how to handle any money they have. The good news is there are so many ways that we can do this from teaching them basic math to using currency when they are young to educating them about taxes, how and where to save, retirement funds and investing as they get older.
A fun practical lesson about money that many kids respond well to is to get their own bank account with a debit card. They can then use this to save, and they can pay in any allowance or money they have earned by doing jobs. Additionally, such bank accounts are set up to notify the parents when they spend, save or earn so you can help them keep a close eye on their money and learn good habits from the very beginning.
How To Read
Another thing that parents need to teach their children to do is read. Sadly, many people think it’s now the job of school to teach their child to read, and while of course, they will be involved in the process, ensuring they progress, the foundation building blocks can be taught when kids are very young at home.
A great way to encourage your child to read at home is to use a program that covers all the reading skills to teach them to read and comprehend well. You can also invest in some books that you know they will love. You can even get them to choose the books so you know they will be motivated to read
How To Balance Their Time
Time planning is tricky even for adults, but helping your kids understand what a realistic split in how they spend their time can look like can be very useful to them as they progress through school and as they grow into an adults.
For example, setting a good example, by splitting time at home into different categories like learning, crafts, screen time tidying up, and testing can be very useful. This is because your child will then come to expect to spend some time on each task, rather than only on learning. In turn, this will make sure that they are refreshed when they do need to learn, that they stay organized and do not burn out later on.
How To Stay Safe
Another of a parent’s most important lessons to their child is how to stay safe in the world. Of course, this includes physical safety such as not touching fire or things that are hot, and looking both ways before crossing the road as well as stranger danger.
Specific types of physical safety should be covered too including bodily autonomy, water safety, and safe behavior in vehicles.
The safety education that you provide to your child should include online safety, and how to deal with issues such as bullying. Last of all, it’s vital that you teach them about how to identify safe people that they can trust and go to for help when they need to, as this is a skill that will help them thrive over the long term.
How To Deal With Failure
Oooooh this is a tough one for many adults, let alone children, but actually teaching them to deal with failure and the downs of life in a constructive way can be a real gift both at school and once they are out in the real world.
Of course, some of us as parents aren’t so good at dealing with failure either, but instead of ignoring this vital lesson why not make a skill that you embrace and learn together?
Dealing with failure involves a range of smaller skills such as being able to manage our emotions, being able to be realistic with our goals, and being able to show compassion to ourselves when something goes wrong. Indeed, self-compassion in particular is a skill that we as parents can model for our children, as well as expressly teach from even a very early age.
