Training to Become a Child Care Specialist

One of the more challenging concepts that you will have to teach your preschooler is responsibility. Responsibility not only encompasses taking ownership of his or her acts, but also doing expected tasks without believing a reward is owed. To help your child learn about being more responsible, here are some tips you can use.  

Start Setting Expectations at an Early Age 

Even though your preschooler has a limited vocabulary, he or she understands enough about his or her world to start learning about being responsible. If you put off teaching responsibility until a later age, your child might have even more difficulties with learning the concept because it was never expected of him or her.  

Teaching your preschooler responsibility does not mean expecting him or her to wash dishes and vacuum. However, smaller chores, such as putting away his or her chores at the end of playtime, are reasonable.  

Your child's preschool teacher can be instrumental in teaching responsibility. Talk to him or her about assigning a task daily to your child so that he or she will continue to focus on being responsible at school. 

Set Limitations 

It is important that you avoid overindulging your child. Overindulgence can often lead to a lack of responsibility. For instance, if your child is supposed to put away his or her toys but you do if he or she complains of being sleepy, you are overindulging the child.  

Setting limits lets your child know that he or she has responsibilities that must be fulfilled and that others will not always be there to take up the slack. Even though it might be difficult, you need to also practice saying no to your child. Saying no helps to keep your child accountable for his or her actions.  

Stress the Importance of Respecting Others 

An important part of being responsible is being mindful of your interactions with others. Your child needs to learn that his or her interactions with others can have consequences and that sometimes, those consequences can be negative.  

For instance, if your child is mean to a friend, his or her friend's feelings might be hurt. When this occurs, talk to your child about his or her actions and help he or she understand what was wrong or right about what occurred.  

Talk to your child's preschool teacher about him or her taking more responsibility for interactions that occur with classmates. The teacher can help with identifying instances in which your child was respectful and disrespectful so you can review it with your child. To learn more, contact a preschool like Youthland Academy.