Teaching your children vital skills is one of the most rewarding jobs a parent can have, yet it is also tedious.
You get to raise well-rounded kids and give them the skills they need to thrive in their adulthood at an early age.
These skills are not limited to just learning or how to drive a car but also include teaching traits like self-reliance, empathy, and honesty.
The Vital Skills Your Child Needs
Have you ever wondered how equipped your child is to look after themselves if left unsupervised for a while?
Children must excel academically and engage in various hobbies and activities to learn more.
Here is a list of vital skills for your child and how to teach them to your toddler at home
1. Basic Self-defence
Safety is crucial in this age, and learning self-defense makes your kid feel more independent and boosts their confidence.
Irrespective of their gender, basic self-defense skills are essential, so do not hesitate to enroll them in classes.
2. Discipline and Hard work
If you want your toddler to excel in everything they do, they need to discipline themselves and put in the work.
Good grades, medals, and certificates come from your little ones applying hard work to their endeavors.
3. Travelling Basics
Asides from navigation, children need to know the basics of traveling and ways to handle themselves during an emergency in a new area.
Teach them the routes from your house to school just in case and travel etiquette.
4. Health
You will not always be available every time your toddler gets hurt or has a rash!
So how about teaching them health skills to enable them to handle themselves in an emergency when they are unsupervised?
Although your child’s school will cover it, you can also reinforce first aid steps at home, so they learn fast.
Children are excellent learners, so you can also teach measures to take care of their health.
Give a fun and interactive talks on the risks of consuming junk food regularly and explain how healthy eating is beneficial.
5. Time Management Skills
It is easy to teach your little ones how to manage time by getting them to claim responsibility for their time.
Start by purchasing an alarm clock your kids can use to learn how to wake up early and prepare for school instead of you waking them up.
Also, get them a checklist to track their assignments, chores, and extra-curricular work and keep track of deadlines.
When they do this, they immediately learn how to assign specific periods for school and play.
6. Decision-making Skills
Various crucial decisions range from education to a career that your child will need to make in their life.
Hence, it is necessary to instill good decisions from childhood, so they master them.
To start, teach them with games and fun activities how to make appropriate choices and the right decisions.
Start by asking them to choose between different activities or games; 2 or more different types of clothes; food items, etc.
Once they choose, your child learns the impact that their decision causes, so ensure you guide them through the decision-making process.
Help them weigh the benefits and cons before they make their choice!
7. People Skills
Teach your children how to interact with people, how to make friends, and also ways to keep conversations with people.
If you think about it, people skills are very essential as it is a task they will engage in daily.
So, if you do not teach your kids this skill at a young age, they may not have a positive outlook on communicating with others.
8. Budgeting
Money management is an essential life skill your children need to learn.
Ways to teach them this is to give your children a specific money allowance daily or weekly for their expenses.
If they wish to items that exceed their allowance, ask them to save up their money to motivate them.
Encourage them when they save their money by helping out.
Teach money management skills at the toddler stage before it is too late for your kids to pick up the habit!
Strategies to Use When Teaching These Skills to Your Kids?
You are your little one’s first teacher as every day you are assisting them in learning new information and skills.
There are different ways you can help your child learn basic skills, from self-care to social skills.
Whichever strategy you choose from below, ensure your child is in the right environment to learn fast and use toys to help them understand better.
1. Through Speech and Words
Teaching by telling is simply explaining to your child what to do and how to carry out your instruction.
For most children, this is the easiest and most efficient method to learn new skills. However, this strategy does not always work.
A tip is to only give instructions when you are sure of your child’s rapt attention and always encourage them to give feedback.
2. Through Practice
Children are natural learners and learn through continuous practice and application.
Find out what works for your toddler, so you can stick to it. Incorporate their favorite rhymes and games to get their attention.
Better yet, when they practice and grasp the new skill, praise them or give a little reward to encourage learning.
3. Teaching Skills by Showing
Through modeling, your child learns how to pick up skills and behaviors you want to teach them.
For example, you are more likely to teach them how to carry out chores or play games by showing rather than through instructions.
Before using this strategy, make sure that your child has cognitive skills and the coordination to learn the new skill.
Conclusion
There is so much for toddlers to learn in this modern world that they may miss out on essential life skills.
Teaching children essential skills is a process that takes time, so you will need to remind and support them as they develop.
With patience and using these strategies, your children will surely pick up these skills and practice them in adulthood.
