Top Tips For Teaching Your Kids

Helping your kids is one of the main duties we have as parents. The help we offer them will shape their personalities, contribute to their skill sets, and even determine their role in future relationships. Striking the balance between too much and too little is incredibly challenging for any parent. Think back on all the jobs, you had when you were young. Did your boss at the time coddle you and help you through every little task for several weeks? Or did he give you a task list and sit back until you made a mistake?

There are extremes on the scale of course. The age of your children will also determine how much help they need. Generally speaking, each new task needs to be related to an earlier one so they can draw upon skills already learned. So when you are teaching kids to tie their shoe laces, remind them how to put on velcro or buckle ones first. Invite them to talk about how the shoe feels when it is on securely. Ask them to find a way to do the same with lace-ups.

The practicalities of tying the bow in the lace can be related to putting bows and ribbons in the hair of dollies. Creating plaits in string is a good precursor to this challenge too. Often, we show our kids what it should look like finished. Then sit behind them and tie their shoe so they can see it being done from the correct angle. We might try a little rhyme to help the remember the steps too. It can be very tempting just to take over and do it ourselves, especially when we are short on time.

The point at which you say enough is enough and your kids must find out for themselves is up to you. It may depend on their age, temperament and the task at hand. Some parents want to be very supportive and available. Others fear over-mothering, dependence and falling behind in essential skills. For example, you may feel playing a computer game is not an essential activity to get involved with yourself when your children get stuck on a level. Some parents might send their older child to view the pet rescue guru saga videos for help with that game. Others will take the game over to get them through the tricky part. There are also lots of responses in between. It is up to you.

It can be hard to get the balance right. All children need to learn to fend for themselves eventually, but the journey of discovery to get there must be guided by you. A mix of demonstration, verbal instructions, videos, reading and self-discovery could be used. All of this is time-consuming, and you may need the patience of a saint! But when your children are suddenly independent enough to take care of their morning routine themselves, you’ll know if was worth it. Every child and every parent are different, so you must feel with your heart that is the best method of helping for you both.