The seven important things to teach to your preschooler at home include loving everything and anything, respecting elders and also themselves, never to talk to strangers, to stay away from plug points or electrical outlets, to brush their teeth twice daily, teaching them to be organized at all times and to be successful without hurting others.

The world is an extremely competitive place and as parents, we want to prepare our kids for life by teaching them to read and write at a young age. However, in the bargain, we forget certain important lessons that every preschooler should learn at home. These lessons will stand the preschooler at good stead and also prepare him for a successful adult life in the future.

7 Things To Teach Your Preschooler At Home

Here are the 7 most important things you can teach your preschooler at home.

1. Love

Teach your preschooler to love everything and anything. The moment you instill the ability to hate something in your preschooler, you have done the damage. Such a child will learn to hurt other people and themselves and unfortunately will not know how to love themselves and others. On the other hand, preschoolers who are learning to love from a young age end up growing in emotionally, physically and psychologically healthy adults. So, teach your preschooler to love everything around him and see what a difference it makes to his personality.

2. Respect

As sad as it sounds, many parents have forgotten the value of respect. Every often you will not find parents correcting their children when they are rude or mean to their elders or utter words not meant for children. Children have to be taught respect at home. When children learn to respect themselves, they respect others too. So, inculcate the importance of respect in your preschooler and use positive reinforcement to strengthen this behavior.

3. Never talk to strangers

The days when parents could leave their kids unsupervised to play in parks and gardens have long gone. Today, the world is a dangerous place and you need to teach innocent preschoolers the importance of not talking to strangers. Make sure they understand regardless of how nice a stranger appears, it is not okay to talk to them.

4. Stay away from plug points

Preschoolers are curious and the world around them is a big journey of discovery and adventure. In all their innocence, kids want to touch, feel and explore anything different and unique. This can prove to be dangerous when it comes to plug points. Teach your preschooler the dangers of touching a plug point and letting them know it is not okay to put things into them.

5. Brush teeth twice a day

Our kids are the new generation and their eating habits have changed significantly. This makes them prone to cavities. This is the reason why it is best to start early and teach preschoolers the importance of oral hygiene. Make it a fun routine for your preschooler to brush his teeth twice a day and sooner or later, it will become a habit that your child will never forget, even when he turns into an adult. The result – healthy teeth and gums.

6. Teach them to be organized at all times

Preschoolers are notorious for spreading their toys, books and play things all over the room and house. If you don’t want to spend your waking hours removing the clutter or avoiding toys, teach your preschooler the importance of being organized. Make it a rule that he puts away his toys in their proper place after playing, while the books need to go to their designated place on the shelf. You also can teach your preschooler to put his dirty clothes in the laundry basket. These are habits that will come to good stead as your child grows. It teaches his responsibility and also the ability to focus on completing one task before moving on to the next.

7. Be successful without hurting others

Yes, the world is a competitive place and we all want our kids to excel in all spheres of life. But would you want your child to be successful at someone else’s cost? Most probably no. So, teach the preschooler that hurting someone and succeeding in anything is worthless. Instead, teach them to be supportive and cooperative. Above all, show them winning is not always important as there could be someone better than them. So, instead of being envious and resentful, they should appreciate the other child’s success and be willing to emulate the success using the right approach.

Being a parent of a preschooler can be tough, demanding, challenging, frustrating and joyous. Remember, kids learn through examples. So, if you want to teach these 7 things to your preschooler, lead by example. Instead of lecturing or getting angry with them, offer them hands-on experience and offer guidance when they go wrong. Give them the freedom to make their own decisions and then reap the consequences, good or bad. Watch and observe from a distance, but be around to answer their queries and doubts and guide them when the need arises.