basic training   Start your child on the road to independence by helping her learn essential skills like bathing herself and packing her school bag – before she even starts kindergarten. By SHARON SIM     HAVE YOU HEARD the story of a Primary 3 child who couldn’t tie her own shoelaces? Or the Primary 1 student who needed help getting dressed every morning? Don’t be surprised. Children don’t automatically pick up essential skills in time – especially if the domestic helper has been doing everything for them all this while. Instead, most of them need to be taught these basic skills. According to Susana Chua, who has 18 years’ teaching experience and runs a playgroup called Playschool With Aunti Su, starting early and breaking down each task into a series of steps is the key. “At my school, we isolate a new task or challenge for the children to learn, one at a time. We demonstrate step-by-step, in slow motion, how to perform the task. Then, we let them practise doing it themselves.” Here, Susana gives step-by-step instructions on the eight most important life skills to impart to your child.     PUTTING THINGS AWAY THE RIGHT AGE At one-and-a-half years. Start by getting your child to throw things into the dustbin, return her own cup to the kitchen or keep her clothes in the wardrobe after they’ve been folded. And make it a habit for everyone in the family to put things away when they are done with them. STEP BY STEP Say: “Okay, let’s put the things away.” Initially, let her help you – make it a fun game to see who can do it faster. Or show her how to put her toys, such as her wooden blocks and board games, into their original boxes first, then put the boxes away into her toy bin. Don’t dump everything into the toy bin, as things could get mixed up or lost. Instead, get a separate container to store odds and ends like dice or smaller toy parts. If you can’t put things away immediately, let your child know that while you can’t do it now, “we’ll come back later to keep them”. And make sure you do.     CARRYING THINGS ON A TRAY THE RIGHT AGE From two years. Get your child to help out at mealtimes – when she goes to primary school, she’ll need to know how to buy food at the canteen and carry it to a table. STEP BY STEP Place a plastic cup or bowl half-filled with water on a small tray (choose one that’s suitable for small fingers) and show her how to hold and balance it. Get her to practise walking with the tray from one table to another a few times every day, until she can do it without spilling the water. Then, fill the cup or bowl until it’s three-quarters full and let her try again. When she’s older and you’re at a food court or fast-food restaurant, use this opportunity to let her practise clearing her tray from the table after she’s eaten, which is also a gracious and courteous act.     WASHING HANDS THE RIGHT AGE From two years. Kids tend to give their hands a cursory rinse, and may not even use soap to clean them. STEP BY STEP Keep soap (bar or liquid) and a hand towel within easy reach. Use a steady stepping stool if the sink is too high for your child. The tap handle should preferably be the lever type that can be pushed up or down, or left to right. Stand in front of the sink with your child, turn on the tap and wet your hands before turning off the water. Then show her how to dispense just the right amount of soap. You can use a small dish of liquid soap the first few times or let her practise pumping the lever. With a rubbing action, soap one hand, then the other. Start with the palm, then the top of the hand, followed by individual fingers, the grooves between the fingers, and finally around the wrist. Turn on the water and rinse thoroughly. Check for soap residue on both hands, paying attention to the finger grooves. Wipe carefully, making sure the finger grooves and the top of the hand are dry.     PHOTO GETTY IMAGES