subject: Teachable Family Days - Use Everyday Experiences To Teach Children Of All Ages Life Lessons [print this page] There are so many things children need to learn and some lessons can be best taught using everyday experiences. The everyday experiences not only remind the parent of something wonderful to teach their child, but it also serves as a perfect example to help the child understand and remember the lesson. An example of lesson that can be learned is if a child runs up to a strange dog at a playground and gets nipped when they put their hand in front of the dog's mouth. A parent can explain that you should never run up to a strange dog and especially not to put hands in front of a dog's mouth.
Things that happen at school that your child relays to you can also be used as lessons. A young child may come home and say that they were left out of a play group on the playground and that they were sad. A parent can use this experience as a lesson to the child by telling them that they should never exclude other children from playing with them because it can make the child sad, just as they felt today. When an adolescent comes home and says there was a terrible rumor about one of their friends going around school, a parent can use this opportunity to remind the child to never take part in negative rumors that can hurt other's feelings.
While out in public there are many things that can be seen or heard that can serve as life lessons. Maybe while at a toy store your young child sees another child throw a toy down an aisle. Your child should be told that such behavior anywhere is inappropriate since someone could have been hurt, the toy could have been damaged, and especially because the toy did not belong to the child and it's not nice to destroy things that are not your own. You could also witness while out a child being rude to their grandparent and it can give you the opportunity to tell or remind your child how important it is to be respectful to all and especially family and elders.
Life lessons can be taught from events that occur at home too. Anything from a sibling not sharing a toy to events on the news can be talked about and made into life lessons. By using things that happen in your daily routine you'll be able to uncover a variety of endless lessons to teach. The experience happening before your child's eyes or in recent hours will serve as a great way to reinforce the lesson. No matter the age of the children, life lessons can be learned from everyday experiences, just keep your eyes open.
