Little kids are amazing!
They have the most sponge-like brains due to neuroplasticity, meaning they can soak up all sorts of wonderful knowledge and skills quickly. Of course, a smart parent will take advantage of this and make sure to teach them things that will serve them well in later life. Skills, such as the ones you can read about below.
How to swim
Most people like to teach their kids how to swim when they are young. Some even take their children to baby swim sessions! This is because it can make all the difference when they are around water in a location such as the swimming pool or beach. Indeed, it can also help parents feel more relaxed about letting their kids play in or near water if they know they have the skills to stay safe.
Of course, you can teach your child to swim yourself, something that is much easier for those that have a home pool. Although many people find swim classes easier and more fun to do. The reason being that your child will be in a group with others of the same age and so they get to make friends, as well as learn a new skill.
How to budget their money
Now, you may not think that children have any need for money, and so their opportunities to learn about budgeting are limited. However, this isn’t the case as there are plenty of activities you can do with them to help them better understand how to manage this resource.
The first is, when they get to about 9 years old, assign them one of the household bills to pay online each month. The money will come from you of course, but you will be teaching them a valuable lesson about meeting their financial responsibilities.
Also taking your kids through the steps of opening a bank account when young, and saving and budgeting for things they want can be incredibly useful. You can even get linked bank accounts where your child gets a debit card and you get to set limits and receive notifications when they make a purchase. Something that can help you guide your child in budgeting their money correctly.
How to feel their feelings
Teaching kids to be able to manage their emotions goes beyond asking them to push down any experience that they do not like. Unfortunately, many of us adults have been taught to cope with our emotional experience this way, and then end up passing on the bad wisdom to our kids.
Instead, a better approach is to teach kids that emotions like physical sensations are a part of our human experience, but that we neither need to suppress them or let them dictate our behavior. Yes, this means sitting with them as they feel the discomfort of anger, sadness, or any other less desired emotion while it fades on its own. However, by doing so we set them up to manage their future life in a much more realistic and effective way.
