Parenting is an amazing job. Don’t get me wrong – parenting is hard work, it’s a 24- hour job for the rest of your life – but it is perhaps the most rewarding and dynamic roles you will ever play in your life. So dynamic it is that as parents, you get to play many roles in your children’s lives – playmate, mentor, preacher, chef, friend, the list goes on.
Most notably however, parents are teachers too. In fact, as a parent, you are your child’s first teacher and the home is their first and most important classroom. That is because teaching does not refer solely to book learning, even though this is an area that parents do help in. After all, parents teach their children to count, read, they teach them about shapes and principles of mathematics.
So your role is critical from birth and throughout every aspect of their lives. Good parenting could actually be more important than good schooling.
Here are some other things that parents teach their children – directly and indirectly:
- Good manners and etiquette
- Communication skills and how to interact with each other
- Sex education – children first learn about their bodies from parents. They learn what are “good” and “bad” touches
- Good self-esteem by affirming your children’s strengths
- Religious principles
- Critical thinking skills
- Value of money
- Love, compassion and empathy
- Resilience – how to get back up after a setback
Your child spends more time at home than at school so it is accurate to say that the home environment is a significant determinant in the kind of adult your child becomes. It is my firm belief that parents hold the key to their child’s success. Children learn best through everyday experiences, so a healthy, secure bond between parents and children provide the optimum foundation for life.
Apart from being your child’s first teacher, fostering an environment of warmth and stimulation encourages those neural connections responsible for thought, emotion and behaviour which will determine your child’s personality. Parents are not solely financial providers but must play active roles in teaching their kids valuable life skills.
Life skills every parent should teach their kids
- Teach kids the value of reading and learning from an early age. Let your kids see you read. Demonstrate your interest in continuous learning and make reading a habit.
- Teach kids how to socialize – encourage teamwork and tolerance. This will promote empathy for others and teach them the value of listening to other people’s opinions
To Read More: Purchase your copy of Volume 9 #2 – May – June 2017