Parents who want their children to succeed as adults should start teaching them valuable life skills while they are still young. Some life skills are more important than others. Parents can read on to find out about seven essential life lessons they should be teaching their children while those children are still young so they don’t have to learn them on their own.
- Understanding Others’ Perspectives
Most children aren’t naturally predisposed to understanding other people’s viewpoints, but they can develop this skill with the help of the adults in their lives. Make observations about others’ feelings and ask questions of the child, read stories told from diverse perspectives, or go a step beyond and enrol your child in an international school like The Perse School Singapore. Interacting with other students from different places and making diverse friends is a great way to help young kids understand perspective-taking.
- Focus and Self-Control
Children thrive when they are provided with set routines not just because this kind of environment creates a sense of security, but also because it gives them the opportunity to learn focus and self-control. Keep the home organized and talk to children about what they should expect each day. Children who live in busy households can also benefit from quiet activities like reading and doing puzzles to improve their focus.
- Interpersonal Communication
Children must learn how to read social cues and communicate effectively with others at a young age to prepare them for higher education and adult responsibilities. Teach communication skills like active listening and thinking before speaking. Even talking with peers or interested adults in calm situations that allow children to focus on the conversation can help.
- Forming Connections
Young children typically begin to recognize patterns and form concrete connections at home. Parents can encourage this by allowing children to choose climate-appropriate clothing or situationally appropriate toys. They can also point out abstract connections in life to help children better recognize them.
- Critical Thinking
Critical thinking skills are essential for properly analyzing information and making decisions. The best way to build critical thinking is through open-ended play, either alone or with friends. Role-playing, building, board games, and physical games all allow children to create hypotheses, try new ideas, and implement creative solutions.
- Learning Resilience
Children learn just as much from failures as they do from successes, so don’t be afraid to let kids take on new challenges for themselves. Provide just enough structure to help them feel safe, then offer new challenges. These can be small tasks like learning how to tie shoes or bigger ones like riding bikes or climbing trees. Just make sure to offer plenty of encouragement and let the child learn from his or her mistakes.
- Self-Directed Learning
Encourage a love of learning by giving kids plenty of time for play, exploration, and reading. These tasks create an enthusiasm for learning and let children explore their personal interests. Kids skilled in self-directed learning will grow into adults who are innovative, curious, and rarely bored.
The Takeaway
Early learning isn’t just about performing well in school. It’s about learning life skills that can help kids succeed in all facets of their lives, including academia. Parents can encourage their children to learn new life skills at home and choose educational institutions that focus on this integral aspect of early learning to give their kids a good start in life.
