Life skills - A must

Teaching a child life skills is not only important in self care but also helps him in developing self esteem, confidence, socializing, independent thinking and reasoning.

There are certain skills which need to be inculcated at the very beginning of a child’s life and some as they grow. These skills are in cooperated from home and may be not at school. Being an Indian household, every family and religion have different ways of teaching these skills.

I have listed few life skills which I, as an adult and a mother have instilled in my son’s daily routine. Of course, there would be many more which might be taught at different levels. I strongly believe that none of the house chores should be gender specific.  Washing utensils or basic sewing can be done by anybody.

Little Angel (2 – 3 years old)

Ø  Puts his toys away with assistance.

Ø  Puts his soiled clothes in a basket, with little help from me.

Ø  Folds big sized napkins with assistance.

Ø  Assist in dining table setting like     laying the big sized cutlery – plates,   spoon, Bowls, napkin.

Ø Help him hold spoon / fork while   having meals on his own.

Ø Takes more time to complete his food   in the plate.

Ø  Brushes his teeth, washes and wipes his face with assistance. 

Cute devils (4 – 5 years old)

      

Ø  Basic house chores – laying / clearing the table before / after meals respectively, dusting the reachable places.

Ø  Knows his full name, home address and contact number (mobile / Landline) to be able to reach in case of emergency.

Ø  Placing all toys / games in places without any assistance.

Ø  Brushes teeth, washes face, combs hair and has bath on his own.

Ø  Independently folds medium sized clothes.

Ø  Segregates and piles up different categories of clothes.

Ø  Uses child friendly knife and Cuts veggies like Okra, carrots, cucumber with assistance.

Ø  With little help, he peels fruits / veggies using child friendly peeler.

Ø   Identifies currency denominations and its uses.

Ø  Selects his own clothes and basic understanding of
combinations to wear.

Adventurous (6 – 8 years old)

Ø  By now, he voluntarily helps in most of the house chores.

Ø  Enjoys chopping veggies using a blunt          knife.

Ø  Understands the concept of mixing and stirring while cooking.

Ø  Makes simple food like sandwich on his   own.

Ø  Sorts and puts away basic grocery items.

Ø  In an Indian household, he serves meals to the guests (with assistance)

Ø  Starts moving around independently, in known places like building compound.

Ø  Uses dustpan, broom and mopes the floor by him.

Ø  Prepares his birthday party guest list.

Ø  Selects his story books.

Ø  With little help, packs his school bag.

Ø  Tells time (with assistance)

Responsible (9 – 10 years old)

Ø  He starts getting independent with chores like crossing the road.

Ø  Takes care of his personal hygiene without being      told.

     Ø  Goes to a store and makes basic  purchases.

     Ø  Plans his meals with preferences.

     Ø  Uses microwave with assistance.

     Ø  Enjoys packing / unpacking his suitcase before/ after  travelling.         Ø  Looks after younger friends and cousins.

     Ø  Writes letter / post cards to family members.

     Ø   With little help, wraps gifts.

 ** This information chart is compiled with my own experiences and experiments. It varies as per every child’s need and development. It does not constitute a standardized research.

Are we really spending time with our kids?

In today's world, Parenting is so challenging. I remember when i was a kid, there were few games which we played at all ages. Games like hopscotch, kho kho, dog and the bone and more like these are just fading away. A week back i met few friends with their kids aged between 4 to 6 years for a playdate. To my surprise none of the kids knew the game Dog and the bone. But all the kids knew games like candy crush saga, subway surfer , fruit ninja, car racing and all the games that we play either on mobile phones or Tabs or Ipads.
Its a new trend where moms are discussing that what all games have they downloaded on their gadgets. But very few or rather none ever discusses what physical activity did her child do except for classes. I mean classes like football, cricket, skating are really needed at the age of 3 or 4 years? Taking kids to parks and garden is alsofading away.

I agree kids are playing football, cricket, Lego. BUT ALL ON THE GADGETS. Why is it that Moms want their kids to attend all those classes which are happening around? Why cant we sit with our kids and play all those games which we played as a child?
I was surprised to hear about a class where the kids of age 6 to 7 years are taught how to increase writing speed. Isnt thats we as parents need to work on?
There are literally competitions between moms as to how many classes her child goes for. I understand in 21st century, kids are super active and absorbs things from their environment faster than how we learnt as a child. But that doesnot mean that we keep sending kids to all possible classes and miss out on "we" time.
The concept of going for Picnics has just vanished. Why are we(adults) not doing all those things which our parents did for us when we were kids?