Kathleen is a Communication Coordinator for the Atlanta Day care facility, a member of the AdvancED® accredited family of Primrose Schools (located in 16 states throughout the U.S.) and part of the network of day care preschools delivering progressive, early childhood, Balanced Learning® curriculum.
When we are born, we are born without the ability to know that we are in a world with others that we are going to need to share and work with. We only gain this knowledge and ability by growing up and learning these skills from our guardians. Even up until age three, infants might not understand that the key to getting things done is through cooperation and sharing both toys and, eventually, taking turns to share your enjoyment.
At those fundamental ages, it is of paramount importance to make sure that children learn the importance of sharing and cooperation. The ramifications of not teaching them these skills could be detrimental to their development as they grow. It could effect their ability to make friends as young as preschool and have positive interactions with their peers. If they are properly taught how to share, it is going to aid them in being generous and productive members of society.
Remember, that in all things, you are the role model that your child is going to base their actions. You should be talking to them about helping where they can, and sharing whenever possible. Make it clear that these things are important to you, so it should reflect that it is important to them. There are easy ways of modeling this behavior with positive reinforcements, such as allowing them extra reading time if they help you finish a task.
This isn’t something that you should be doing alone. Sharing is going to take help from every member of your household. Try and have sharing and cooperation be a factor in all family projects, whether it be going on vacation or playing a game. Make everything seem like it works out better when you are working together.
For the most ideal time that you and your child are going to get the chance to learn that cooperation leads to something better than working alone is dinner time! Let them help measure out ingredients, set out the plates, and explain to them that because you worked together, everybody gets to enjoy a delicious meal!
There are tons of fantastic stories out there that will help your child learn how to cooperate and share with each other. From Stone Soup to the Berenstain Bears, keep them entertained while they learn, and make sure at the end of each book that they understood the lessons taught.
A fantastic way to introduce them to how cooperation helps the whole is by playing for them a piece of classical music. Explain to them that there are many people all sitting and playing, but if they were just sitting alone it wouldn’t sound so wonderful. A piece of great music can be played alone, but doesn’t sound so amazing without the entire orchestra.
Step by step, and lesson by lesson, your child will learn that cooperation makes the world a better place. Never give up on them, and they will amaze you every step of the way.