Kids need to be loved and cared for, but loving doesn’t necessarily mean that we don’t teach them values and discipline. Kids need to be taught and guided in certain ways. Toddlers and preschoolers are often viewed as too young to be taught values. However, that is a misconception.
Your children should play, explore, and learn during their early years. It would help if you also kept in mind that every child is gifted differently. You may want to consider being gentle and not hard on them. Here’s a simplified list of things every child should know by their fifth birthday and some tips to help them stick.
1. To Listen and follow Instructions
Your child should know how to listen and follow instructions by the time they start school. This can be started early at home with simple tasks such as asking them to tidy up their toys or setting the table for breakfast.
2. To Read books
Kids should be taught to read books from a young age for it to become a habit. They are able to develop their imaginations by reading books. Let them choose the books they enjoy and read the stories aloud to you.
When you read to them, make sure you use your finger to follow the words on the page so they can associate the letter sounds with what you are saying.
3. To promote understanding
During their first year of school, children should be able to listen to and understand five to ten-minute stories. In most cases, the kids can retell simple stories they heard, and some may even tell their own stories. You may encourage your child to retell stories you have read to them by drawing pictures, using puppets, and roleplaying.
4. To Teach sustainability
- You may teach your young ones sustainability by reading books about climate change to them.
- Let them accompany you to the grocery store. Explain to them the concept of eco-friendly products and show them how to identify locally produced and organic products.
- In this way, they may take responsibility for their actions and share their vision of a sustainable future.
- Children who see their parents actively choosing lifestyle choices that save the environment are more likely to emulate them. Here’s an example. You may want to consider going shopping with your kids to purchase organic clothes and explain why you chose them.
5. To promote independency
Dressing
Kids should be able to dress themselves without assistance. From rompers to zip suits, kids should know how they work. You may help your child become more independent each day by helping them dress themselves, including zipping pants, buttoning shirts, and putting on socks, gloves, and jackets.
Feeding
You may want to teach your kids to differentiate various ingredients, choose their meals and snacks, open containers, drink water, use napkins, and eat without spills.
Hygiene
- Make sure your kids wash their hands before and after toilet breaks.
- Teach them to clean up their mess and spills.
- Ensure that their plates are placed in the sink after eating.
- You should remind them to brush their teeth twice every day.
- When your kids cough or sneeze, instruct them to cover their mouths and use tissue while blowing their nose.
- Kids need to be taught to comb their hair and dress neatly. Make it a habit to regularly trim their nails.
6. To Teach manners and respect
Kids need to be taught to treat others properly from an early age. Respect is expected of everyone, including other children. Your little one needs to be taught to act with politeness and use polite words.
- Using words like excuse me for grabbing the attention
- Being polite and saying thanks is a sign of consideration
- Should be taught to make eye contact
- Being accountable for their actions and apologizing
- Sharing toys with other kids
- Kids should be taught to avoid hurting one another by pushing, hitting, biting, or pulling.
Author – Andrea Micheal, is a post-graduate in humanities and communications, and an inquisitive person who loves writing. She is working for Tiny Twig and her forte is digital marketing and everything that has to do with phones and screens. She is someone who believes that one person can make a change, and that’s precisely why she took up writing, which is the best tool to communicate these days. She has a decade of experience in writing and marketing, and she still finds herself learning new things about it, which she want to share with her readers.