Recently, I came across this post on the popular r/Teachers subreddit entitled, “What can I teach my kid to make your lives easier?” and I thought that was such a great question.
So, I decided to ask teachers in our very own BuzzFeed Community for some helpful things parents can be teaching their kids before they get to your classroom; and reader, they delivered. Here are some of the most insightful answers:
1.
“How to deal with failure, and that low grades are an opportunity to learn.”
2.
“Mom of a teacher here: teach your kid how put his own coat on, and zip it up.”
3.
“Look up each milestone by age for your child and make notes on whether they met the milestone by the appropriate age. This may help your child get evaluated for a learning disability by the school if needed.”
“The earliest you can do this, the easier it is to get your child the academic help and support they need. This is what my mom did for me, which helped me get diagnosed with Asperger’s when I was a kid.”
—jennies4783ed5b8
4.
“As a Pre-K teacher, these are the things we look for or complain about:”
5.
“Preschool teacher here; a 4-year-old should be able to put on their own shoes and socks.”
7.
“[Kids should know] that there are places and situations where you need to sit still quietly, listen, and follow directions.”
8.
“How to buckle and unbuckle themselves. It makes drop off and pick up go so much faster if the parent doesn’t have to help.”
9.
“My parent taught kindergarten for 20 years. Teach your kids how to zipper their coat, if you can. She said it was such a hassle zipping 30 winter coats before class could go out for recess.”
—re89245
10.
“From a lunch lady: please, thank you, [teach them] not to throw food back into the salad bar if they have food allergies, and how to eat grapes (because I’m not cutting them in half for your kid only).”
11.
“Not a teacher, but a school bus driver. Teach them how to ride the bus safely and [teach them] appropriate behavior. I should not have 5-year-olds dropping the F-bomb on the bus, or yelling, or refusing to follow directions.”
12.
“Really, I think it boils down to not babying your children — which is not to say you shouldn’t respond with compassion or model good EQ.”
“[This was all] much to the shock of their parents, who were often still doing things like spoon-feeding their two-year-old because he insisted he ‘didn’t know how.'”
“Babies stop being babies quickly. Enjoy it while it lasts, then embrace your child’s new abilities. You don’t need to infantilize your child to show him that you love him. It makes it hell for anyone else who has to deal with him.”
—lobster_lemon_lime
13.
“I teach preschool and I love to get kids ready for elementary school. I feel like it’s my job to bridge the gaps between home life… and school life. However, parents, please teach your children to use words!”
14.
“How to put their coat and shoes on independently, open their lunch boxes/snack containers/juice boxes, how to put marker caps on properly, and how to fully close a bottle of glue.”
15.
“Work with them on knowing the alphabet. The number of kindergarteners who don’t recognize their letters and the sounds they make is astonishing.”
—berchenika
16.
“Principal here. Toilet training would be number one. [Other than that, teach them] that adults are to be listened to; to share, and say please, thank you, and sorry; how to speak intelligibly; the meaning of the word ‘no.'”
17.
“Basic manners! I’m a third grade teacher and so many kids don’t even know how to say a simple ‘please’ and ‘thank you.'”
“It goes beyond that, too. Many kids are so selfish, and I can tell which kids were taught manners by their parents [and who were] not taught at all.”
—silkycrab88
18.
“Simple social skills. I taught preschool, and a lot of children had a difficult time being around other children.”
20.
“Their last name.”
22.
“How to go to the potty by themselves. All I can say is ‘Good grief, how did you make it to the tenth grade?'”
23.
And finally: “Manners. Teach them basic manners like [saying] please [and] thank you, not running to be first, no pushing, stealing, [and no] lying to the teacher.”
If you have any thoughts, I’d love to hear them in the comments — especially if you’re a parent or a teacher! Or, if you want to comment but prefer to stay anonymous, you can check out this anonymous Google form. Who knows — your thoughts may be included in an upcoming BuzzFeed article!
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