What role does the education of life skills play in the holistic development of Early Years and Primary school children? In the following article, Tesla Education will share with parents about life skills for Early Years and Primary school students that parents can practice with their children from the early years.
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UNICEF defines life skills as the social and communication skills that individuals need to make informed decisions, communicate effectively, develop coping abilities, and self-manage to lead a healthy and productive life. Therefore, educating life skills for Early Years and Primary school children is an extremely important goal for parents and the community in nurturing the younger generations.
Life skills influence the formation and future development of children’s personalities. Parenting is not only about providing conditions for intellectual and physical development, but also includes emotional development and life skills. Cultivating life skills from an early age helps children become confident, responsible, easily integrated, and assertive individuals.
Educating life skills for Early Years and Primary school children needs to be done early
Educating life skills for Early Years children helps them develop good habits and character traits during their development. Early years is when children tend to absorb and learn very quickly. Therefore, teaching Early Years children essential life skills will help them play, integrate, and learn more easily. Children learn how to be independent and mature in life. Below are some life skills for Early Years children that parents can cultivate for their children from the early age:
1. Skill of self-feeding and drinking water: From a young age, parents should teach their children how to eat and drink independently without the need for assistance from others. While it may be challenging for children to practice the skill of self-feeding and drinking water in the early stages, once they have acquired this skill, they will integrate better when starting school.
2. Skill of self-care: Early Years students are often taken care of by their parents in every aspect, especially for Asian parents who may believe their child is too young to do things on their own. However, this is not true. Children love to explore their surroundings and imitate adults. Parents should establish simple life skills for Early Years students to take care of themselves, such as brushing teeth, washing their face, using the toilet, going to bed, wearing shoes, and dressing themselves. This lays the foundation for children to take good care of themselves when parents are not around.
3. Skill of proper behavior with others: Children have a tendency to mimic and learn from the words and actions of adults. Therefore, parents need to educate children on proper communication and behavior from basic actions such as greeting, expressing gratitude, and apologizing, to respecting adults.
4. Cleaning skills: There’s no need to wait until children are older to start teaching them household chores. Encourage children to develop the habit of cleaning up their toys and tidying their own mess. Children should keep things organized so that parents don’t have to spend extra time cleaning up and so they don’t have to rely on parents to find their belongings.
5. Helping and sharing skills: Parents and adults around children need to be role models to instill positive thinking, caring, and sharing in children. Small tasks within the family will teach children to actively help and share difficulties with others.
6. Danger prevention skills: Life outside always holds unexpected accidents and unforeseeable dangers. Children may not have the ability to cope yet, but teaching Early Years children life skills to prevent danger for themselves is crucial. Parents need to teach children the importance of protecting personal information, remembering their parents’ phone numbers, being wary of strangers, etc.
7. Safe participation in traffic: Safe participation in traffic is a skill children learn at school, but parents need to collaborate to ensure children have the best traffic awareness.
8. Teamwork skills: We cannot always work independently, so Early Years children’s life skills also include teamwork skills. Children need to be educated to understand their responsibility for their actions, respect others’ opinions, and have a spirit of learning.
9. Time management skills: Developing this habit helps children later in life to control their work and plan effectively.
10. Saving and spending management skills: Children need to understand the value of money, learn how to use money wisely, and appreciate their parents’ hard work through the money earned by their parents.
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Teaching Early Years children life skills at Tesla International Early Years
Educating life skills for elementary school students is an important goal, helping them become confident and proactive in problem-solving. Below are some life skills for primary school children that parents should cultivate from an early age:
1. Self-learning skills: Self-learning is an important skill that children need to develop and enhance from a young age. This skill stimulates critical thinking, increases interest in learning, and lays the groundwork for comprehensive development in the future.
2. Critical thinking skills: This is a skill that needs to be developed from childhood so that children have strong mental development, a more multidimensional and comprehensive view of all issues. For primary school students, critical thinking also provides opportunities for creative approaches to knowledge, argumentation, and collaboration.
3. Presentation skills: One of the most important skills in both learning and future careers for children is the ability to present well in front of an audience. To make children confident and articulate in communication, parents should encourage them to ask questions, express personal opinions, articulate thoughts in various forms, and enhance their vocabulary.
4. Listening skills: When children learn to listen, they will learn how to respect, share, and connect with friends or those around them. Listening is a life skill for primary school children that facilitates their learning process, creates opportunities to expand knowledge, and fosters open-mindedness.
5. Communication skills: Communication helps children convey their thoughts and desires. Effective communication and interpersonal skills not only help children maintain harmony and bond with others but also make them confident and assertive in their lives.
6. Collaboration skills: In the context of globalization, collaboration skills are indispensable for every individual. For primary school students, group learning activities and experiences not only help them get along with friends but also understand the value of cooperation to achieve success in learning and future careers.
7. Time management skills: The effectiveness of daily tasks that children perform, such as homework, personal hygiene, and playtime, often depends significantly on how they manage their time. Therefore, guiding children on time management is a crucial task in educating life skills for both early years and primary school children.
8. Emotional management skills: At the primary school age, children experience various emotions and may not know how to control them. Sometimes, they may experience negative emotions such as stress, fear, or sadness. Therefore, parents need to listen and understand their children to help them manage their emotions.
9. Self-protection skills: Risks or accidents can occur anywhere and at any time. Therefore, educating life skills for primary school students and teaching them self-protection is extremely important. Children need to learn about potential dangerous situations such as abduction, fire, natural disasters, etc., and be guided on how to handle and protect themselves in such situations.
10. Anti-bullying skills: School bullying is a problem that can occur. Parents need to guide their children on how to prevent conflicts, teach them to respect others, behave appropriately, and how to seek help if needed.
Educating life skills for Primary school children helps them be proactive in learning
Many parents choose to send their children to life skills centers for learning, forgetting that educating life skills for early years and primary school children can be done right at home and by the parents themselves. Here are the golden principles in educating life skills for children:
– Absolutely no imposition: Forcing children to do something or achieve certain goals is a negative approach to education. Instead, parents should explain the issue to their children and their responsibility in carrying out the task, to foster a sense of autonomy in them.
– Not blaming the child: Children have the right to make mistakes and have shortcomings. It is the parents’ responsibility to closely monitor, help children recognize their mistakes, and correct them.
– Choose the easiest task to request from the child: Parents should temporarily set aside tasks that the child cannot yet do and choose the easiest task to request from them, such as cleaning up toys after playing. Although it may take a while for the child to get used to it, once they can do it, subsequent tasks will become easier.
Life skills for early years and primary school children should be equipped as early as possible because they allow children to have a solid mindset, confidence, and control over their learning and future lives. Educating life skills for early years and primary school children is a process that involves a combination of family and school.
Parents who want to explore the educational programs of Tesla Education please leave your information HERE or contact the Hotline at 098 494 8080.