For parents with little children, you might feel like you’re always in a hurry when children ask for different things. When we tell our children “wait a minute” or “be patient”, they usually start screaming, crying, or even complaining, leaving you no choice but to either comply with their demands or burst in anger. This leads to a recurring challenge between parent and child.
Teaching Your Kids The Value of Patience
The reality is that children below the age of 5 are unable to fully grasp the concept of time. One minute might seem like an hour if they need or want something. Because parents are used to asking their children to meet their requests immediately, the child internalizes those behaviors and asks for the same in return. How can we teach our children to have patience?
- Firstly, parents should be patient when their children ask for something. They should also be patient when their children repeat their demands.
- Also, parents should be cautious not to respond to their children’s needs just to avoid their screams.
- You should simply explain to your child that you are in the middle of completing a task; tell them that you will meet their needs once you finish your job.
- You must be clear in using phrases such as “I will help you install the game when I finish washing the dishes”. Social education experts confirm that 18-month children can comprehend such phrases if parents say them clearly and in a simple way.
How to teach patience to a child?
There are many indirect ways to help you teach your children how to be patient.
- Do not allow your children to get involved when you ask them to wait. Therefore, avoid giving them the phone while you finish the task on-hand because they will grow accustomed to being busy and won’t learn patience that way.
- If you feel that your child does not understand the meaning of time, try to simplify the concept. Explain that storytime comes when the sun sets and the moon shines, instead of repeating “at 7 o’clock”. In addition, you might tell your children you will take them for a picnic “after we sleep, and the sun comes to visit us again” instead of using the word “tomorrow”.
- Moreover, you can train your children on how to be patient through activities like concentration games, painting, agriculture, pottery, and other hands-on tasks that require patience from start to finish.
- Finally, remember that your child’s education is as valuable as patience, which requires joint efforts from parents, nursery, and kindergarten. While your child is in their early educational years, it’s important to seek advice from their educators and teachers on the progress of their personality and behavior.
We at Little Steamers Nursery listen carefully to parents’ educational input, helping them guide their children academically, intellectually and socially.