How to Help Your Child Develop the Skills for a Successful Life
All parents are concerned with helping their children develop the necessary skills to become healthy, happy, and successful adults later in life. Children thrive when they are supported, when they are in stimulating environments, when they feel safe, and when they are challenged.
It becomes important then, for parents to make sure their children are going to schools, daycares, or camps that are supporting their child’s development. Kids Kingdom is concerned with offering children the best environment to grow, learn and play. Kids Kingdom is also committed to meeting parents’ standards of safety, cleanliness, and respect.
With two locations, Kids Kingdom is there for countless children across Ottawa. Whether for family fun in Ottawa, daycare, preschool, or local Ottawa summer camps, Kids Kingdom provides a fun, safe, and engaging environment to help children develop the skills they need to succeed in life.
Along with making the most of Kid Kingdom’s programs, parents can help support their child’s early development to succeed in life through reading, exercise, play, socialization, and more. Here’s how.
Defining Success and Expectations
Each child is unique. So when trying to define success and set goals for your child, remember that they will have their own unique skills and abilities. When you spend time getting to know your kids, you can pinpoint your child’s strengths, weaknesses, talents, and interests. And then you can encourage them to accomplish goals based on their unique abilities.
You don’t want to set your child up for failure by setting your expectations too high. The most important thing is that your child will develop a strong sense of self-worth and be motivated to accomplish goals in life. A successful child will grow up to be a successful adult, who enjoys learning and being around loved ones, and who is an ethical person with a strong character and good values and morals.
In general, most people define success as being happy, healthy, and able to enjoy life to the fullest.
Success Varies
Success comes in many forms, such as academic success, creative talent, emotional intelligence, and physical abilities.
Children start learning social skills from the moment they’re born. And these skills will help them relate to and get along with others, succeed in school, work, and other social settings, and form friendships and other meaningful relationships in life.
The following are social skills kids learn through interactions with their parents, siblings, friends, and peers at daycare, school, and summer camps that will contribute to social success and building emotional intelligence:
- Overcoming shyness/social anxiety;
- How to form relationships;
- Listening skills;
- Communication;
- Being comfortable with making eye contact;
- Good body language;
- Empathy;
- Turn-taking;
- Sharing;
- Making up after a misunderstanding/conflict resolution;
- How to show respect for others;
- Confidence to join in on social activities; and,
- How to regulate behaviour.
Encouraging Children to Read
Reading is the key to success for learning. A child who loves to read will also be more likely to love learning. And this helps set children up for success in school.
Reading helps children develop a strong vocabulary, language skills, creativity, empathy, and imagination. It also helps them learn how to concentrate and process concepts and communication. Children who have strong reading skills tend to do well in the language arts, writing and reading, along with other subjects like math and science since they learn to absorb more knowledge.
To develop a love of reading and your child’s reading skills, make reading a regular activity for you and your child. Start with reading to your child daily, and then have them read to you when they can. Also, have designated family reading times where everyone reads their own books. When your child sees you reading your own book, they’ll see how important reading is.
Fill your home with books and reading materials, and make a weekly or bi-weekly visit to your local public library so your child can choose their own books to read. This trip to the library can become a fun outing that will nourish your child’s love for reading even more.
Encouraging Children to Play and Do Physical Activity
Play and physical activity help kids in so many ways. Play stimulates creativity and imagination. And physical activity promotes both physical and mental health, giving kids the confidence they need to continue being physically active and living a healthy lifestyle.
Those who exercise tend to be happier, sleep better, have more energy during the day, and have stronger immune systems. Physical activity also reduces symptoms of mental illness, such as depression and anxiety.
Team sports and activities teach children how to be a contributing member of a team. In team settings, they can learn to work well with others and develop resilience and leadership skills that will help them as they get older, especially in the workplace.
Children who participate in sports and physical activities also tend to have better time management skills and do better in school. They are also less likely to take up smoking and recreational drug use as they get older.
Discipline, Patience, Problem-Solving Skills, And Other Characteristics to Instill in Your Child
When kids get frustrated, they often want to give up on the task at hand. But it’s important to encourage them to keep trying, be patient, and take their time, instead of letting them quit. When a child can finish a task well from start to finish, they can learn the importance of discipline and finishing what they started.
Delaying gratification is another essential skill to have for self-discipline. Learning that important “work” tasks must be completed before fun play can happen is a useful skill for success in life. Self-discipline also involves learning to say no to one’s self. For example, teach your child to avoid snacking if they aren’t actually hungry.
For kids to develop problem-solving skills, they must be allowed to fail and learn to pick themselves back up again on their own. So while it’s okay to guide your child to make the right choices, you can’t solve all of their problems for them. They must learn from their mistakes and problem-solve so they can succeed out in the real world.
Other characteristics to instill in your child so they will grow up to be a successful, well-rounded individual include valuing community involvement, helping others, and developing an appreciation for the great outdoors. You can get your kid involved in the community through volunteer work, charity drives, collecting donations, and other community activities.
And take your kid on bike and camping trips to encourage your child to develop a love for nature, exploration, and outdoor activities.
With safe, nurturing learning environments both at home and at preschool, your child can learn all the essential life skills necessary to live a healthy, happy, and fulfilling life.
