Mike Smith:
On our last program, Barbara Curtis, an author, speaker, and educator of other moms, began talking about the five learning potentials that your preschool-age child has. Barbara, tell us more about developing those learning potentials, today.

Barbara Curtis:
We talked about independence last time, and that one is a really easy one to see in children. But the ones that we may have trouble understanding are that a child actually does have the potential for learning order, self-control, and concentration in the early years. And those are the potentials that we really want to capture because they’re the ones that are key to his ability to learn later on as an older child.

The first thing I could say to mothers, because I have such a brief time here, is to be a good role model to your children. If you want your children to develop in order, self-control, and concentration, they have to see it in us. I became aware of this when I realized I could carry two bowls of cereal to the table without spilling them, but you know what, my children couldn’t. And so in order to teach my child how to successfully carry a bowl of cereal without spilling it, I had to slow down and carry one at a time and use two hands. We can teach our children so much just about adding more order, self-control, and concentration to our own lives and modeling that for them.

Mike:
Barbara, that’s great information for parents of preschool-age children. Thanks for joining us today! And until next time, I’m Mike Smith.