By Jessie Blakely
Author of the bestselling book “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” Robert Fulghum once said: “Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate-school mountain, but there in the sandpile…these are things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush…
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”
This quote is about going back to the basics with quintessential life skills. The skills we learn in the sandpit encapsulates what we need in our daily lives even as adults – important skills that hold us in good stead in the workplace and at home with our loved ones.
Teaching values in today’s changing world
We live in challenging times. The world is changing rapidly, and Covid has shown that we need to be resilient and adaptable to changes. Besides academic learning, we are also teaching and preparing our preschoolers for life.
Here in our schools, we want to help children develop the aptitude and aspiration to continue learning even after school, at home or outside of their comfort zones.
If they can be confident in themselves, adopt a responsible attitude , be happy with little blessings, have the ability to solve conflicts in a peaceful way, cultivate resilience and finally, be a catalyst for positive change wherever they go, I think our work as educators and parents will be more than deserving of a pat on the back.
As parents, the values we deposit with our children today are values that will govern their lives in the future. We need to think clearly and intentionally how we want to nurture and be a role model to our children.
There is no guidebook for this, however, you can start with these 5 daily teachable moments that you can incorporate into your daily life with your child.
Creating teachable moments
- Prepare for school
We can start encouraging our children to pack his or her school bag to prepare for school instead of spoon-feeding them until Primary School. A simple task such as packing the school bag can help your child remember and follow instructions from their teacher. It can help their sense of concentration, memory, responsibility, and accountability.
2. Get enough sleep
Is it often a tussle in the morning to wake your child up for school? Inconsistent bedtimes and sleep deprivation are affecting our little ones. Sleep is the time for restoration and for children’s bodies to recharge and retain the information they have learned throughout the day.
Set and build an age-appropriate routine at home. Even if they are wide awake and do not fall asleep immediately, let them lie down on their bed so that they can prepare their body for full rest.
3. Respect others
Children learn respect when they see it modelled by their parents.
How do you show respect to the adults in your child’s environment, such as their grandparents or domestic helper who often drop off or pick them up from school, and the school staff who welcome them into the school?
4. Set healthy boundaries
Do you demonstrate healthy boundaries for work and play? It is important for your child to experience and learn balance in his or her life, including witnessing this balance in the lifestyles of the adults around them.
Spending quality one-on-one time with your child, with your spouse or even spending time together as a family or extended family helps them to learn about making time for socialisation and bonding with their safe community.
5. Apologise
Saying sorry to your child when you made a mistake will help them learn humility and self-regulation when encountering conflicts. This will in turn help them to learn to navigate friendships appropriately with their peers, especially when they are older.
By apologising, you are teaching your child the importance of taking responsibility for your actions and that it’s okay to make mistakes.
It also helps build trust and respect in your relationship with your child.
Bonus: Laugh together
Finally, does your child get to share your humour and laugh alongside with you? Studies have shown that laughter is highly beneficial for children’s physical health as it reduces anxiety, stress and improves sleep! Continue to be silly and laugh with your kids and create happy childhood memories that will last a lifetime!
Going back to the sandpit analogy, if we can cultivate and nurture these simple life skills at an early age – sharing, playing fair, saying sorry when you hurt somebody etc. – I am confident that each child will be equipped for life, even after their precious preschool years.
To find out more about our preschools, visit https://littleseeds.edu.sg/.
