Parents Are The First Teachers For Children – 11 Key Reasons

We all know the age-old adage “Charity begins at home”. However, it won’t be wrong if we tweak and say that teaching begins at home too. This holds true for each one of us as for every child, their home is the first school and their parents are the first teachers.

Some researchers also say that learning starts even when the child is in the mother’s womb. Children pick up a countless things from their parents from their first word to social skills and good character. All these and many other ‘firsts’ with parents help in shaping children’s character.

Parents happily give up so much of their personal life to provide a better life to their kids, and nothing in the world can compare to what they have given up for raising their kids. I will not think twice to call them the ‘best’ teachers too since parents share every piece of knowledge and experience with their children, so that they grow up more informed, more confident, and are more prepared for the future.

Although there is so much to talk about parents and their experiential way of teaching things, today I would summarize how parents are the first teachers for children and their importance in shaping our lives.

Let’s start.

Reasons why parents are the first teachers for every child

1. Parents teach their babies to speak their first word – parents as teachers

Parents are always conversing with their children. Even though they know that their children won’t understand anything they say. It’s beautiful to see that in some months the babies start to slowly speak up. And when they first start speaking, the first few words they utter are usually Mumma and Papa.

2. They help in teaching early literacy, and numeracy skills – parents as teachers

Parents help in imparting crucial literacy skills to their children. Even before they begin schooling, most children are able to understand and speak the first language spoken in their families.

Kids are highly observant. Without any formal teaching, they are able to speak and understand their mother tongue and with good practice and effort, they can also understand numbers, colors, objects, shapes, etc.

3. Parents guide them with good habits – parents as teachers

All the good habits right from waking up early, brushing their teeth twice every day, taking a shower, etc are all taught to the kids by their parents. Sometimes even if the kids are not willing, it’s the discipline of the parents which makes them do their routine activities till the time they become a part of their habit.

4. Children implicitly learn many things from their parents – parents as teachers

Parents are the world for their kids. Children typically want to copy their parents’ habits and characteristics because they believe their parents always do the right thing. The desire to be like their mother or father is often a child’s earliest wish.

5. Parents teach them good qualities – parents as teachers

Once they teach their kids to speak, their next mission is to teach them how to speak and what not to speak. Parents teach their kids how to talk to an elderly person, how to speak with teachers, friends, and others. They teach them valuable qualities such as helping others, sharing, being polite, etc. All these small little things go a long way to building their character.

Parents who spend quality time with their children in their growing years, help their children to build many life skills.

6. Parents help their kids to gain self-confidence – parents as teachers

Parents help their kids in traveling their journey from “I can’t do it” to “Mom and Dad, see I did it!!”. Parents are the life coach for their children who guide them to achieve greatness in everything they do. They motivate their children each time they meet failure and do everything to boost their self-confidence.

7. Parents assist in their child’s loco-motor movements – parents as teachers

From the early stage on, parents help and teach their children to walk. They hold hands and teach them to walk and support them when losing their balance.

Children learn when they fall and having their parents beside them encourages them to stand and walk again.

8. They teach them to identify what’s good and bad – parents as teachers

Since parents are the first teachers for children, the onus lies on their shoulders to teach their kids what is good and bad. Although this is a skill that can take years to practice, the fundamentals can be taught at an early stage and all parents understand this very well.

9. Parents help their kids to be more social – parents as teachers

When children are listened to at home and their feeling is respected, they become more confident. They slowly become comfortable interacting with their friends, peers, and teachers. This helps in the development of their social skills.

10. Parents assist their children in developing their character – parents as teachers

Children spend most of their early age with their parents and they happen to learn a lot from them even when they are not even teaching.

Kids are highly observant and they carefully watch the way their parents behave with the elders and support staff, the way they communicate with each other, the way they address and resolve matters. All these things leave a deep mark in their minds and go a long way to developing their character.

Broadly speaking, everything parents say or do has a substantial impact on the character of their child.

11. Parents are always there for their kids – parents as teachers

No matter what mess are their children into, parents will always stand with them and help them overcome the problems in their lives. In all likelihood, parents will be with them for every problem. This assurance is important as it gives them the wings to fly and the confidence to take small steps towards their goals.

A few Words from CityMom

Parents are the first teachers and the best instructors because they impart knowledge that cannot be learned from any book. The moral and ethical values learned from parents are far greater than any learning center. 

These selfless people only want their children to be successful and become good human beings. They put their heart and soul into training their children so that one day these children learn to think and act wisely and become well prepared for their life challenges.

The teaching job of parents doesn’t stop after the first few years. In fact, this is just the beginning. Check out how to raise well behaved children and dive deeper into the parenting lessons.

References

unicef.org | eric.ed.gov and many others!