What are the 5 Great Habits for kids to develop early?
Developing habits as one gets older is hard – because you have to break old ways of doing things – unlearning and learning is harder than learning it the right way in the beginning!
Here are 5 Great habits you could encourage your child to develop early :-
1. Being kind
Man is a social animal – Aristotle
This simple philosophy is lost upon us. Bullying in school is a great example of children who haven’t been taught kindness or empathy. Parents have a profound influence on the development of this ability to be empathetic towards others.
Example- When a baby is crying or upset, the parent picks up the baby, sings to it, and soothes it. This calms down the baby as a reaction to the facial expression of the parent. This is the first learning of compassion a child inherits from the parents.
Being kind to others triggers a hormone called oxytocin which significantly increases the level of happiness and reduces stress levels. This makes it clear that our children should embrace a positive outlook on life so that they can deal with challenges and turmoil. And as parents, we should model this behavior of kindness.
The good feeling that we experience when we are being kind is produced by endorphins. They activate areas of your brain that are associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust and increase happiness. Explain this to your kids. Have conversations around it. Children mirror parents and take a lot away from seeing the way parents treat other people. Teach them kindness by showing them and others kindness.
2. Reading
Reading is a wonderful way to unwind and learn new things about the world. Books teach us things we would never have learned otherwise. Books inspire your youngsters to broaden their horizons and dream big about the vast world around them.
Also, it is a great way to get inside someone else’s thoughts and observe things from their point of view. Reading books gives your child quick access to the author’s mind and educates them to be more compassionate, empathic, and accepting of other people’s lives and perspectives.
Good fiction books inspire you to conceive worlds you never imagined were conceivable and characters who feel so real you can’t believe they don’t exist.
The written word forces youngsters to imagine what something or someone would appear like in real life by forcing them to paint pictures in their heads. This boosts their imagination and inventiveness.
3. Growth Mindset
How we showcase our moods, attitude and disposition toward life is what determines our mindset. With a growth mindset, you have a positive outlook on life. This mindset will help you see that every failure or misstep is a learning curve, making failure your best teacher. Having a growth mindset makes you believe that you will achieve everything to desire or deserve through trial and error and hard work. Your child will start looking at challenges as an adventurous opportunity to grow. The more your kid feels this way, the more resilient he/she will become.
Tips on how you can embrace this mindset –
- Believe that there is no such thing as perfection.
- Add the word ‘yet’ to your vocabulary and it will keep you in the game.
- Accept mistakes.
- Hard work will see success so do not shy away from it.
4. Eating healthy
It’s challenging to make the best decisions all of the time, even as grownups. Consider how challenging it must be for a child to choose healthy food over sweet temptations.
So – right from the beginning, why not offer veggie sticks as a yummy treat or snack? We develop our children’s mindset with how we act and what we consider treats! When you say, “eat your veggies and I’ll give you a chocolate” – what you’re reinforcing is that chocolate is the treat and that eating veggies is distasteful. When my kids were young we had the sweet and the savory on their plate at the same time and they picked the order in which they ate it. And the sweet could be a piece of cake or a slice of apple or 5 grapes! They were all equal.
5. Discipline
Successful people are not born but are created. They are subjected to the same temptations and frustrations as everyone else. They achieve because of their perseverance. They persevere in the face of adversity and failure until they achieve their goal. Many individuals conflate self-control with stubbornness. Discipline is the willingness to look for a way around a problem instead of accepting defeat.
Discipline is more than merely enforcing rules on children. Instead, it ensures that youngsters develop the necessary abilities to become responsible adults. Teach discipline by allowing children to face the natural consequences of their actions. The more protective you are as a parent, the less self discipline your child will develop. Allow them to falter and just be there to help them recover from their mistakes. Talk to them about different approaches that might be more effective in the future. That’s how they will learn.
Conclusion
The foundation of a person’s personality is formed by their habits. Everywhere we go, we are defined by our habits. As a result, developing excellent habits and behaviors is critical for establishing a good reputation in society.
The optimum time to practice and acquire excellent habits is during childhood. This is related to the fact that children have exceptional ability to grasp quickly, learn and apply what is taught. As a result, it is easier to instill positive behaviors while their brains are still young and malleable.
A child is pure and innocent. He believes that his parents are always looking out for his best interests. To instill good habits in children, their parents should demonstrate appropriate behavior at appropriate times in an enjoyable manner. Parents – spend time with your children – talking, discussing, having arguments and debates. Raising kids isn’t just about feeding, clothing, instructing and sending them to school. It’s about developing a deep relationship and connection with them so that they come to you with their stresses, ask you for help with their problems and want to share their joys and accomplishments with you.