12 Life Lessons for Kids and How to Teach Them

What Important Life Lessons Should We Teach Our Kids?

What are the most important life lessons to teach or children?  That question would probably be answered differently by every mom you ask.  It depends of so many things; that mom’s value, morals, upbringing, religion.  But I think we moms all have the common goal of raising our kids to be good members of our world society.  And I know that although we might each have a different parenting philosophy, we can all learn from one another’s philosophies, too.  So let’s see what life lessons each of our B-Inspired Blogger mamas nurture in their kids…

12 Life Lessons for Kids and How to Teach Them [From the Mouths of Moms]

• Persistence – “We try to teach that trying is important. If goblin is struggling with something we’ll always say ‘well done for trying’ before offering any help. We ask him to get a far as he can with getting dressed before asking us. And the same with food; He needs to try it first. If he doesn’t like it that is fine but we want him to be informed before making that decision.” The Monko of Taming the Goblin
• Patience – “We started very young teaching our little one patience. We tell her it is waiting with a sweet heart. We also ask her if she is mama’s patient lady. She loves the idea of being a lady!” Leah of Simple. Home. Blessings.
• Faith – “First and foremost, we teach our daughters about faith in God. No matter how much or how little you have, your faith can never be taken from you!” Becki of Organic Aspirations
• Self-Sufficiency – “If you don’t know how to do something, figure it out. Ask someone for advice, look it up in a book, use your reasoning skills. I come from a long line of self-sufficient, motivated people who have taught themselves to do everything from tanning a deer hide and making a pair of homemade moccasins to dismantling an old barn and re-using the wood to build a new, modern house. I think my husband decided to marry me after I replaced a leaky faucet instead of calling a plumber.” Dawn of Prickly Mom
• Tolerance – “‘Different people like different things.’ Such an easy way to introduce young children to tolerance!” MaryAnne of Mama Smiles
• Attentiveness to Others – “Every person is worth our time and attention. Outside the house, the phone is tucked away, and we are focused on those around us. We greet people as we pass them. We talk to and thank employees that help us such as the checker at the store, custodial staff at the gym, and the guys that run the garbage route. We say hello and have a nice day. (My boys will now ask the person how they can help them with their job. Most decline the help, but every now and then someone will give them a simple task. The boys think that it is really cool to help with the job.)” Sheila of Pennies of Time
• Giving to Others – “I want my son to learn early on the importance of giving to others. We go to a food bank, donate old clothes to charity, and have visited a children’s home.” Deirdre of JDaniel4’s Mom
• Respect for Themselves & Others – “A word we use around our house a lot is ‘respect.’ We strive to teach our children to respect themselves and to respect others. Given their young age we haven’t focused as much on respect for self, but part of respect for self involves standing up for yourself when others are taking advantage of you. We have been working on respect for others with particular focus lately on using words instead of hands, talking with a respectful tone of voice, using respectful words like please and thank you, and showing respect for others’ by taking turns and waiting patiently.” Katie of Gift of Curiosity
• Gratitude – “We teach our boys that serving and caring for others should be something that we seek to do every day. Through this focus, we have experienced how easy it is to teach our children about gratitude, the importance of thanking others, and how helping others makes your own problems become smaller.” Sheila of Pennies of Time
• Self-Reflection – “I really want my son to learn critical thinking skills and be able to decide things for himself (at an age-appropriate level, of course). I do my best to provide him with choices when possible, although I still have a long way to go in that department. I also have a habit of asking, ‘how can you solve that problem?’ to prompt him to think through the next steps. It’s funny because now he’ll say something like, ‘I’m hungry!’ and then he’ll stop and say, “‘ know, I know! How can I solve the problem?’ When we’re talking about things that happen at school, I say ‘use your own brain’ when he starts focusing on something another child has told him to do (when it’s obviously not the appropriate thing to do, or when the child is trying to push him into something).” Mary Catherine of Fun-A-Day!
• A Love for Learning – “I try to nurture my kids’ natural curiosity so that they can hold onto that childlike love for learning about our world and the people in it.  I hope that encouraging this will help them be open-minded adults someday.” Krissy of B-Inspired Mama
• Compassion – “I want my child (4 yrs. old) to learn early on in his life the the gift of giving, being compassionate and caring for others. We pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child every year, we collect canned goods and food items for the local pantry; and Stamp Out Hunger. We often go through his gently used toys to donate as well.” Frances of Discovering the World Through My Son’s Eyes

What life lessons do you try to teach your kids?  And how do you do it?  Please share in the comments below so we can learn from you, too!

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