4. Let your child ask for herself. Whether your child is at a doctor’s visit, or at a restaurant, teach your child to speak up for herself. It will empower your child to raise her hand more at school, and to pave her own way.
5. Teach your child how to play by herself. What kids need most lately is less structured play and more unstructured play. Instead of filling your kids days with playdates, and classes, allocate some time each day for your child to play by herself. Not only is this an important social skill to develop (you won’t always have a friend to play with), but unstructured play time is absolutely critical in a young person’s brain development and nurturing their creativity.
6. Read everyday. Life is not long enough to learn only through your own mistakes. Teach your child the importance to learn from others. The key to making reading a life-long habit is to start early and to make it enjoyable. Don’t make your child read longer than her attention span will allow. Even five minutes a day will instill good habits. And let them read whatever it is they want, even if it’s a book about doggie poop.
7. Smile. Smiling not only makes the person who sees it feel good. It also makes the person who’s smiling feel good. It’s a proven science! The muscle movement signals your brain to release feel-good chemicals when you smile.
8. Talk to one new person each day. Even if means just saying hi. The quality of our lives will depend on the friendships we make. The friends and acquaintances we make will enlarge our perspective and open up opportunities.
9. Always say thank you. This particular habit will teach your child not to take things for granted. The easiest way for any child to learn this is by example. But to show how good it makes a person feel to receive gratitude, don’t forget to thank your child for the acts of sacrifice and service he does as well.
10. Keep a gratitude journal. The habit of practicing gratitude has a wealth of benefits. It keeps worry and anxiety at bay. And by being reminded of all the good things will help your child keep anxiety and stress at bay and it will also teach your child to learn to forgive.
Deborah Song
