It is important to start instilling good values to children as early as preschool age because it will be a part of them later on as they grow and develop.

There are many good values out there, but here are five of them that should be emphasized among preschool children:

1. Autonomy – Sure children need our help and guidance! However, there are things that they can do on their own, and we should allow them to do those things. Not letting children to do things that they can do all by themselves will have effect on their confidence, which will subsequently affect their development. Let your child start doing the things that they can do such as carrying their bags, wearing their clothes and eating their own meal.

2. Respect. Respect is not only the way how you should treat adults or how you should treat the rights of your peers. Respect is also knowing how to use polite expressions like “thank you”, “sorry” and “excuse me”. Teach your child to automatically say “thank you” when someone did nice things to them and “sorry” when they hurt somebody accidentally or unintentionally. Also, teach children when to say “excuse me”. When two adults are talking, let your child say “Excuse me. Can I talk to you first?” Rather than just blurting out while adults’ conversation is going on.

3. Friendship. Friendship pertains to being kind, caring and loving to peers. Let your children understand the value of friendship so as not to hurt their friends whom they interact with most of the time.

4. Determination. There are some children who easily give up when facing a problem. Teach your children to persevere and not to give up. When they imbibed the value of determination, there will never be a problem that they cannot surpass!

5. Honesty. Honesty is not only to tell the truth, but also to do what is right. Teach your children to be honest, not just in words, but also in their actions.

Teaching children good values is the best thing that we can do for them so that they grow responsibly and soon become a good citizen of the society.