What should parents focus on teaching during the first five years of life?

This blog focuses on the first five years of life.  Why?  Because by age five, the basic character of a child is well established. The core of his character includes his ability to empathize, communicate, reason, make choices, assimilate information and solve problems. This is why I parents should be the dominant players in their child’s intellectual, social, and emotional development before (and beyond) age five. If we as parents consistently and lovingly teach our child we will give him a rich emotional and intellectual reservoir from which to draw for the rest of his life.

So what should you focus on teaching your child in her early years? I have found that while it is essential to follow your child’s interests, there are some important things she will not show interest in on her own simply because she does not know they exist.  For example, your one-year-old child is not likely to come up to you and say, “Mom, I’m really interested in learning the alphabet so that I can start reading.” She will not say this because she does not know what the alphabet is or why it might need to exist. Nor does she have the ability to think into the future and consider how she might extend her knowledge base through reading.  Therefore you can slowly, lovingly, and purposefully teach her things that will be of most value to her now and later in life. 

In other words, you don’t have to wait until your child requests that you teach her the alphabet. You know that it will be valuable for her to know the alphabet, so you can begin exposing her to it now by means of the well-known alphabet song. She will learn to sing the song because she likes singing the song with you, not because it is part of her personal long-term learning goals. But you have long-term goals in mind for her, and you can set her feet on the path to achieving them before she even knows that there is a purpose for what you are teaching her. In addition to capitalizing on your child’s natural interests, part of your responsibility is to build your child’s interest in things you know will be of value to her.

Do you agree?  What are your experiences?