6 Important things you should teach your children before they turn 5

Education is very important for our children and there is no greater powerful tool to survive in this world than knowledge. The knowledge they gain from school, books and teachers can help them land in a decent job, establish a successful career and grow their bank balance but are we really focusing on what they should know to lead a meaningful, satisfying and a peaceful life?

These are the important life lessons every kid must be taught before they turn five, in order to make them a better human being with good human values.

1. Appreciate your family

Kids must be taught to appreciate the efforts taken by parents to make their life comfortable. We, the parents, go out of our way and strive really hard to bring smile on our little one’s face and it is important that our kids know what we are going through. It will help them understand the value of family and how important it is to be on family’s side all the time. You don’t have to expect them to be grateful and expect them to return whatever you do but make sure they are aware of the hard work, care and time you spend for them.

2. Be compassionate and kind

It doesn’t matter how successful you are at your profession, if you don’t appreciate kindness and compassion, then you are definitely a failure in life. Every life on this planet needs love to survive. I cannot stress more on thiz value. Spending time with animals and visiting grandparents often can help them develop these qualities.

3. Be honest and truthful

Anybody can be successful in this world but if that success needs to be permanent, one has to be sincere and genuine. Even if they lose at some point in life, one can be victorious again if they have these values. So, teach your kids to be very honest at all situations and not be afraid to speak the truth even if it means that they are going to face problems.

4. There is no other thing like hard work

Hard work has no substitute. If you need to achieve something, we have to work for it. If we don’t achieve it, we haven’t worked hard enough. It is that simple. We have to emphasize the importance of labor to kids really early but I have to add here that don’t be hard on them and force them to work hard to earn good grades. Show them real life examples and inspire them to strive hard in the right way to be successful.

5. Time Management

Teach your kids the value of time and how to manage it efficiently. For young kids, parents can prepare a schedule and help them stick to it. Keep telling them what they are supposed to do at that specific time. For example, before having breakfast tell them it is breakfast time and after that it is time for music lessons and then it is time to have a nap etc. Help them finish the particular task within the time frame and reward them for being punctual.

6. Show respect to everyone

Respecting everyone and giving everybody a fair chance is something that even certain adults must learn. Teach your kids to show respect to others by being thankful, giving space for others to speak and taking time to listen, encouraging fellow kids and standing up for the weak.

According to me, these are the most important lessons your kid has to learn before he/she turns five. I would also like to add that, we cannot sit and force them or lecture them to develop these values. We have to show them by being an example. We have to incorporate these ethics in ourselves first before expecting our little ones to have these in them.