When kids are in preschool, or an early childhood education program, they are expected to learn the importance of sharing. However, like any other skill, learning how to share is a process. Here are some tips for teaching your preschooler how to share.
What is the best way to teach your child to share?
It’s natural for children to want toys, food, and attention all to themselves. However, sharing is a skill that needs to be taught—and it doesn’t happen overnight. To help your child feel happier about sharing her toys, take the time to teach her how. Here are some ways you can encourage your child to share without making her feel like she has to give everything away or lose out on something she wants.
-Be a good example: It’s important that you model the behavior you want to see in your child. If you expect her to share with others, make sure you’re willing to do the same. For example, if your child needs help opening up a container of yogurt, share yours so she can watch you open it up and then have some yourself.
-Explain the concept of sharing out loud: When you’re playing with your toddler at home or with other children at the park, talk out loud about wanting to share with others when they ask for something. For instance, if another child wants one of your daughter’s favorite toys and she doesn’t want him to have it, say something like “I know you love that toy and don’t want anyone else to play with it right now. I promise we’ll play with it later.”
Does my child need to go to preschool now?
The answer: Yes! In fact, experts agree that there is no better age than now to start teaching your child the value of sharing. Let’s look at some of the reasons why this is so important.
First of all, have you ever noticed how much time your child spends on their computer or playing video games? While these can be fun and exciting ways for a child to learn new skills, they also come with a heavy dose of screen time. By sending your child to preschool now, they’ll be able to interact with other children while developing critical social skills and learning how to share. This will help them develop into well-rounded adults who understand the importance of being considerate towards others instead of just themselves.
Practice Sharing At Home
It’s important that your child learns to be generous with their belongings, but that doesn’t mean they should give it all away! Teach your child to share by practicing at home. When your child is playing with a toy, ask them if you can have a turn. If they say no, don’t push the issue, but remind them of the importance of sharing and ask for permission again later. If they say yes, thank them for sharing and enjoy playing with the toy. When you’re done, put the toy back where it belongs so that your child can play with it again whenever they want.
If your child is older and understands how to take turns, you can use this method but take turns playing with the same toy. If you have more than one child, practice sharing between siblings.
Sharing can be hard, especially in the beginning. But, you can help your child learn and get better at it over time
Of all lessons we want to teach our children, this is one of the hardest. We do not want them to learn to share at the expense of their feelings and emotions, so we have to find a happy medium between encouraging an appropriate amount of sharing and respecting personal property. By encouraging and training our children in the right way, they can be well on their way to being less selfish and more empathetic.