*This is a guest post brought to you by Amanda Green*
My children won’t stop growing. I often find myself overwhelmed and feeling like I am missing on important lessons that I want to teach them. I read somewhere that 90-percent of brain development happens before the age of five which tells me that I am already behind, something Emilie understands well.
Last night I found myself making a list of important things I want to teach my kids and at what age I want them to learn these lessons by. Clearly it may not go as planned and I may change as I learn more from them. My list had 72 different items on it. That is too much to go over with you all at one time, so I decide to narrow it down to the most important.
Teach Them About The Environment
This is an important one for me as it is their future that we are ruining. My oldest is already aware of recycling, but I think I want to introduce more. I need to instill in him the importance in saving electricity and not being wasteful with anything. I have decided that I am going to incorporate these lessons in everyday life as well as by sharing with them news and technology to show them it is up to you to do your part to help sustain our environment.
Teach My Kids the Importance in Education
As of now my kids love to learn. But I am realistic that at any point they could be persuaded by outside pressures and school could go by the wayside. This is a lesson I feel needs to incorporated every single day until the day they graduate college. I am not sure how realistic it is, but I am already deep into tuition planning. I want them to reap the benefits of my hard work while achieving a life filled with success and stability.
Teach them About Financial Stability
Living outside of their means is something I never want for my boys. I have started this in a sense. I don’t allow them to have things we can’t afford and I have started instilling money saving tips into their little brains. I have decided at age 11 I will sit each one of them down and explain to them about banking. At 13, we will dive deeper and talk about credit scores and why it is important to apply for the lowest interest credit card available. I will share with them the mistakes that can be made and the direct effect of these mistakes. I plan on revisiting this subject regularly until I am confident that they understand and see no other way of life.
Teach the Importance of Family
It’s easy right now for them to know that their family is the best thing in life. They are still young and want to be around us. I remember being a teenager and the days of hating my parents and wanting nothing to do with them. I am realistic that my boys may experience similar emotions. But I have every intention of going to extreme measures to make sure my boys know that family will always be here. This is a lesson that does not come at a certain age, but comes with lifelong acceptance and guidance.
To me these are the most important things I can teach my kids. Of course, I want to be there when they learn how to ride a bike, when they lose their first love, and everything in between. But by instilling these few lessons I am confident that my kids will live a good life.
Disclosure: This is a guest post brought to you by Amanda Green.
courtney b says
these are good tips , I struggle with how to teach my young kids and I need insight like this!
Janet W. says
There really are so many things to teach children about. The ones you chose to talk in depth about are so important!
vickie couturier says
you picked some good topics an they are important ones
Sarah L says
Those are very important values to teach all kids. Thanks for the post.
ColleenMarie82 says
Thanks for the good reminders and tips. All these things are very important and easily forgotten.
Tammy S says
Great post! I think you have some great ones on your list. Another top one for me is to teach them to give back to their community. To volunteer their time to causes they support. That is one that is important to me.
Lyn says
The lessons/values/morals just seem to fall into place as you spend quality time with your children. They are like sponges and will pick up so much from you and one day you’ll be able to sit back and smile, knowing you did a great job, with or without a list in hand, Our children are an extension of ourselves.
Bekah Kuczenski says
I agree that these are all important things to teach our kids! I love how organized you are and you know at what age you will teach them different things. My daughter is only 2 so we’ve just been teaching her as we go, but now I realize how fast they grow and need to start planning as well!