During the earlier days, India had a joint family system, every family had about 10 to 12 children growing up together, but nowadays nuclear family system is in trend. Many couples these days want single child or opt to not have children at all due to various restrictions such as lack of support at home, financial expenses or just because they simply want to lead their own independent lives.
These days, children are born into a family where there are no other children. One of the benefits of being born in a joint family is that they automatically learn to share. One of the usual prejudice about single child in a nuclear family is that they do not know how to share. Hereunder are the following ways, how you can teach your child to share:
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Take him to a garden and form a group –
Go to a park nearby with your child and form a small group of children playing in the garden. In this way, they learn to share their toys as well as take care of each other.
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Get a pet –
I have heard from a lot of friends that pets make a good company for the children. In abroad, many times people bring up their pets along with their children as siblings. In this way, they learn how to love, share and care. Considering the space scarcity and restrictions of the housing societies in the Metropolitan cities, this may not be a viable option unless you are an ardent pet lover.
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Once in a while take him to an orphanage –
You may not want to expose the tender mind of your child to such a place at an early age. But it is important that your child learns how to value things that he has, taking him to an orphanage and making him do some social work, will help him understand the value of the things as well as relations that he has.
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Help him mingle with his schoolmates –
Well if any of the above ones are not possible, then one of the ways you can help your child learn to share is to help him mingle with his friends. Learn more about his friends, invite them to your house and even you can visit their home. Regular Pot Luck Parties in a month or two will teach them simple etiquettes of dining and sharing.
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Try activity classes –
Usually, activity classes have smaller groups, therefore children tend to get closer to their batch mates. Don’t just consider activity classes only as a medium to learn. Encourage socialising and sharing at such places.
It is not mandatory that only if you have two children, you can teach them to share. Even if you have one child, he can learn how to share provided you put in your efforts.