The Beauty Battalion - Featuring Beauty In All Shapes & Sizes April 2017 | Page 7
How to develop character in young children
I
FAMILY FEATURES
n a typical day, it’s possible for
children to spend more time
engaging with technology than
interacting with their peers face-
to-face. As a result, the “selfie culture”
is on the minds of today’s parents,
who worry about how they can make
sure their children grow into kind and
selfless adults.
However, a national survey
revealed that parents don’t fully
realize the power they have when it
comes to developing good character
in their children. The online survey,
commissioned by national high-quality
preschool provider Primrose Schools ® ,
profiled hundreds of U.S. parents whose
children attend, will attend or have
previously attended an early education
program between the ages of 3-5.
In today’s social media-focused
world, 92 percent of parents agree that
nurturing positive character traits in
children is more important than it used
to be. Yet nearly 50 percent of parents
are unaware of just how early they can
and should start helping their children
develop these traits.
When Character-Building
Should Begin
The foundational skills for good
character start emerging in the first year
of life. Children as young as 6 months
old can demonstrate outward signs
of budding empathy skills. Character
and emotional intelligence continue to
develop throughout the early years and
are significantly influenced by young
children’s interactions with their parents
and caregivers. Yet almost 50 percent
of parents believe preschool is too early
for children to start learning social-
emotional skills, and could be missing
critical opportunities to support their
child’s development.
“We now know that IQ no longer
represents an accurate predictor of
school readiness, much less future
life success,” said Dr. Laura Jana, a
pediatrician and nationally acclaimed
parenting and children’s book author.
“It’s not just about learning the ‘3
Rs’ of reading, ’riting and ’rithmetic
anymore. It’s the addition of a fourth
‘R’ that represents relationships and
the importance of reading other people,
which sets children up for success in
today’s world.”
Finding Child Care that
Nurtures Good Character
In addition to parents, child care
providers play a key role in helping
children develop a strong foundation.
However, more than half of parents
surveyed feel their child did not or
will not acquire honesty, generosity
and compassion (54, 54 and 62
percent, respectively) during their early
education experience.
Parents seeking early education
and care for their children should
look for providers that emphasize
character development. In these
nurturing environments, children have
opportunities to learn and practice
social-emotional skills every day
through games, puppet play, books,
music, art projects and more. At
Primrose Schools, their Balanced
Learning ® approach also includes
hands-on experiences to help children
apply concepts like generosity in real-
life situations.
For example, each year thousands
of children at more than 325 Primrose
schools across the country take part
in the annual Caring and Giving Food
Drive. The preschoolers earn money to
purchase canned goods through chores
at home. They practice perspective
taking, learning about the importance
of giving through stories, songs, art
projects and more. They even take
field trips to grocery stores to shop for
food items, which are then donated
to local charities. At the end of the
experience, the children feel a sense
of accomplishment and have practiced
skills like empathy, generosity and
compassion.
“We believe who children become is
as important as what they know,” said
Gloria Julius, Ed.D., vice president of
education and professional development
for Primrose Schools. “That’s why
nurturing children’s social-emotional
development and building character has
been an integral part of our approach
for more than 30 years.”
For additional information, tips
and resources on how to nurture
good character in children, visit
PrimroseSchools.com/character-
resources.
Why Nurturing Good
Character Early is Important
Intentionally nurturing social-emotional
skills starting at birth is an important
and often overlooked opportunity as
these skills have been shown to be key
predictors of future health, academic
and life success. Early brain and child
development research now shows more
clearly that the first five years of life
are critical for building the foundation
for traits such as honesty, generosity,
compassion and kindness, which will
impact children for a lifetime.
DEVELOPING CHARACTER AT HOME
Take an active approach to helping children develop a solid foundation in good character with these tips:
n Help
children recognize their feelings. Help little ones
recognize and understand their feelings by giving them
vocabulary words to express themselves.
n Lead
by example. Children learn a lot by watching the
interactions of adults. Model social-emotional skills by
listening to others, apologizing when you hurt someone’s
feelings, being respectful of others, etc.
n Help
children identify other perspectives. Point out differences
in other people’s thoughts and feelings. When reading with
children, ask what they think the characters are feeling or
narrate the emotions and exaggerate facial expressions for young
children.
n Talk
about your own decisions in terms of right and wrong.
As children’s abilities and understanding grows, discuss your
values and take advantage of everyday situations to describe
and demonstrate good citizenship and desirable behavior.
n Let
kindness and respect rule the day. Set household
guidelines grounded in showing kindness and respect, and
help children learn to follow them. When they break the rules,
calmly explain how or why their behavior was unkind and
how they could have better handled the situation.