We have curriculums and frameworks that prescribe the education our children receive within the school system, this ensures all children have access to rigorous academic experiences. However, formal education is only one aspect of learning, arguably life lessons are as important as they equip our children with a toolkit to face challenging situations and emotions they may face in their lives.
There are numerous life lessons to teach our children, here are our top 7:
DOSE Magazine was born out of a need to share with the world that the secret to happiness is within our control. In a world where we can choose to be anything, choose to be happy. Consciously activating the DOSE happy hormones, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins by completing the simple and fun tasks every day means we can manage our own levels of happiness.
Often the ways we can make ourselves happy are simple and widely known like breathing fresh air, being surrounded by nature or getting crafty, yet we forget to do them or don't make time for them in daily life. If we could help our children understand they are in control of their happiness and their intentional actions can create immediate happiness, we are gifting them with the most important life skill there is.
DOSE magazine is designed to explain the happiness hormones, Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins and give a library of resources to help children manage their happiness.
If anything, we are taught to put ourselves last, deadlines, commitments and other people we put them all in first. We are taught the importance of respecting others, being kind to others, being a success with criteria set by others, but we are rarely taught to focus on respecting ourselves, being kind to ourselves and setting our own criteria for success. This is sadly the cultural norms we accept and conform to, however, if the adults of today don’t challenge and change then our children, the adults of tomorrow, will mirror the exact same mindset.
So how do we change? We take small positive steps to prioritise ourselves. Incorporate self-care into every day, with small acts at first, stepping outside to take five mindful breaths of fresh air, swapping the news for stand-up comedy, learning one new yoga position or playing an old album that you love. Self-care isn’t always a long hot bubble bath with a face mask (although it could be if you choose). The objective is to prioritise yourself and show that you are important there are 1,440 minutes in every day, make sure you protect some of those minutes for yourself.
Showing your children the importance of self-care and self prioritisation normalises the behaviour and allows them to mimic it in their lives. It is important we take time for ourselves, it is not selfish, you can't pour from an empty cup. But self-care doesn’t always need to be something you do alone, try yoga alongside your children, sit cuddling under a blanket together and listen to a relaxing story in a dark room or do Mirror Mantras together in the bathroom mirror.
We often believe we don’t have enough time for self-care, that we are just too busy, but that’s just not the case, it’s about prioritising ourselves. It may feel challenging at first but like anything with practice it becomes routine, but we must practice.
It is healthy for children to have boundaries set by their parents and teachers and for them to be able to set their own boundaries. Children feel secure with set boundaries such as routine bedtimes, limits on sweet treats, or limits on screen time. By nature children challenge boundaries, this is how they develop their independence and their character, parents can choose when their challenge is acceptable and therefore the power remains with the child and where there should be consequences and the power is switched back to the adult.
Children should also be able to set their own healthy boundaries in accordance with their own zones of comfort. Empowering a child to know they can define how they would like to be treated and what they want to tolerate allows the child to build their inner confidence. Having people respect their boundaries will encourage children to respect the boundaries of others.
Teaching a child to say no, when something is outside of their boundaries is empowering. Being able to recognise what feels right for them and what doesn't and then having the ability to voice this gives them power and builds resilience. The more they are able to exercise the ability to say No and enforce their boundaries the stronger their resistance and the more confident they will feel as they grow into adults. It will allow them to understand the feelings behind saying no and therefore empathise with others when receiving a no.
Children who understand and actively practice gratitude have higher levels of happiness, improved sleep, reduced levels of stress and anxiety, increased self-esteem, and stronger resilience. That is a pretty powerful arsenal. The power of gratitude is phenomenal and if we could teach our children to harness it we would be giving them one of the greatest gifts in life.
Gratitude becomes easier the more we practice it and the result magnifies with time. Within two weeks the benefits of gratitude can be felt in a child and the positive impact can last for months at a time. The benefits of gratitude and not only felt by those giving the gratitude but also those receiving the gratitude
A love of learning turns into an inner passion and a characteristic of a child’s personality, it opens up a child to so many possibilities. If children love the process of learning they will be so much more receptive to the lessons being taught, they will develop a natural ability to question, explore and continuously develop. Each child is unique and therefore the way to cultivate their love of learning will be different.
It’s really important to teach our children the concepts of earning, saving, spending, sharing, and borrowing. An excellent way to help your child acquire money management skills is by giving them pocket money. This is your child’s money to do with it as they please. What they do with it will tell you a lot about their personality and the areas they need to learn.
Do they want to spend the lot? or do they save it?
Weigh up the pros and cons of spending their money and if they want something expensive help them to save. There’s nothing more rewarding than saving up and eventually being able to buy what you really wanted.
Children benefit significantly from learning simple money management skills and healthy habits, starting from a very young age. A study conducted by the University of Cambridge indicated that a child's long term money habits are formed by the age of seven. Wow !!
Personal care is the looking after of oneself in order to function on a daily basis. Getting dressed, washing, brushing teeth, and tidying your personal space are all everyday personal care tasks and are learned by children at different stages of their life. It is the responsibility of parents and teachers to role model personal care in order for children to understand how and why it is important. Once a child hits a personal care milestone it is important to let them try without limitations and make mistakes as these become learning experiences. Encouraging and praising children through the learning stages, focusing on the elements they are getting right will motivate them to continue.
