In this article you will have an idea of 5 skills children need to learn before starting school.
Teaching these age-appropriate skills to your pre-school kids will help prepare your child for the next stage of life and making them more independent.
It also help them grow into confident, self-sufficient adults.
Why it is important for a child to be independent?
As parents, we want nothing but the best for our children. One of our duties towards our children is helping them to be able to look after themselves if left alone for a while, to help support your child’s growing independence.
Independence is about learning to do things for themselves, which includes making decisions and taking on responsibility.
The degree of independence you can expect from your child must appropriate to their age and abilities and varies with each different situation. Children may be more independent in some situations than others.
As your children reach the age of school, they become more independent in some basic areas of living but still depend on you for love, protection, guidance, and support.
Taking care of some basic tasks on their own helps kids orient themselves in their surroundings. And that will help them to grow as an independent adults.
If a child is not allowed to gain independence, they may react with anger and resistance, especially during their phase of self-affirmation. Children may also react with feelings of abandonment and develop a seemingly indifferent attitude.
5 skills children need to learn before starting school:
Do you think your child is well-equipped with essential skills to face the world? If not sure then please keep reading these important skills kids need before they leave home.
1- safety skills:
There are many safety skills that you need to start teaching your child today, and don’t wait until they are teens.
- Basic self-defense.
- Teach them it is not okay to go with stranger adults.
- No one should ever touch them in their private areas unless mommy and/or daddy is there.
- How to use the contents of a first aid kit.
- What’s their address ( for emergency situations).
- Their first and last name & and their parents first and last name.
- A phone number to reach their parents.
- How to make an emergency call.
- How to cross the street safely.
2- personal hygiene skills:
Personal hygiene not only helps in keeping your children clean, but also prevents the spread of infectious diseases.
- By the age of school, children should be fully toilet trained!
- Explain to them the concept of germs and bacteria.
- Teach them how to wash their hands probably before eating and after using the bathroom.
- Teach them how to take care of their teeth.
- During flu season, Teach them how to cough into their arms, wash their hands and avoid sharing germs with other students.
3- How to get dressed:
Getting dressed is an important skill for children to learn, but it can be a little bit hard when they first try to do it by themselves.
Here are some skills to be learned by the age of school:
- How to button their pants.
- How to put on and zip their jacket.
- How to put on hats and gloves.
- How to pack up their backpack.
- How to tie their shoes.
- Putting their clothes in the hamper when they undress.
4- Social skills:
Social skills or human interaction skills are so important to our children’s development and well being.
The first social skills children learn are acquired by watching the adults around them and the role modeling of what they see.
Here are some of the important social skills parents should focus on for their preschool kids:
- Greeting: This is very important because always the first step in a social interaction is greeting someone.
- Sharing: sharing a snack or a toy with other children could be the first step in making and keeping friends. Teaching your children to share may be key to boosting their self-esteem.
- Cooperation: it is important for children to start exercising the art of cooperation at an early age. That’s because cooperation raise achievement of students and build positive relationships among them.
- Being kind: helping your children to be kind persons is beneficial because it helps them to build a sense of security and stronger relationships with other children and educators. And it encourages tolerance and acceptance of others and promotes good mental health.
- Being okay with waiting a bit: it is very important to teach our kids the art of waiting. Just like other social skills, it needs to be practised in order for there to be improvement in it. You can teach your kids this skills by reading them some books to help children learn patience.
5- Decision making skills:
Teaching children how to make decisions is a valuable life skill for children to have. When they learn the decision making process steps, they make more responsible decisions, and this prepares them to make big decisions that impacts their future.
And again, just like other social skills, decision making skills needs to be practised in order for there to be improvement in it.
Here are some quick tips to help your children develop good decision making skills:
- Expose them to real world.
- Allow children to make mistakes, so that they learn from their own experiences and remember not to repeat them again.
- Teach your children to know themselves. They should be able to realise what they mostly excel in, and what things they are not.
- Stay involved with your kids. Training the child in his field of interest will mould his future.
- Praise them for making good decisions.
Now, give me please your opinion about what skills children need to learn before starting school.. share the post to share the knowledge..
