Teaching children about careers with the help of books

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Today I wanted to talk about teaching children about careers. As children grow, develop, and move on with their schooling, they will start to ask more questions about work, jobs, and careers. It is only natural that they will want to know more about how the world works and what role they could play in the future workforce. To feed their curiosity and to encourage them to start thinking about their futures, you could begin to teach your children about careers and life paths.

Talking with your children about ideas, choices, and options, even early, is positive and encouraging. There is no pressure on them to go into a job or follow a career path they don’t want to. However, when they are reading a book, either on their own or with you, they get more of an insight into just what they can do when they enter the big wide world. This is why teaching children about careers using books is a great option.

The Reality of Growing Up

It is never too early to begin talking about careers and jobs with your kids, and unfortunately, whether you like it or not, your children are growing up, probably a lot faster than you want them to. However, the reality is that your kids will most likely want to work in the future, and there is no harm in looking at choices and options, even from as young an age as 4 years old. In addition, as your children are growing up, they will look at others around them, both inside and outside of their family, and it is important that they realize the roles that people within the modern workforce play. Discussing roles and even discussing what jobs entail will allow your children to get a good idea and grasp on what jobs and careers are about.

Using Pictures and Photos

A lot of children, especially younger children, learn really well from looking at pictures and photos. Using a picture book is advantageous because it will show children what people in different careers wear when they are at work, will help your children identity different people in different occupations. This can be used when they are out of the house, perhaps on the street, or at a shopping mall. Getting your children to recognize people’s careers and occupations based on what they are dressed like and wearing is good for both memory and recognition. Giving role descriptions and responsibilities alongside pictures and photos will allow your children to pick up on new keywords and vocabulary, which will, of course, help them improve their conversational speaking as they get older.

Talking About Why Jobs Are Needed

As children get older, they will begin to understand that money is needed to buy things, and when they can make this association, they will start to wonder how they can make money and just how much money they will need. Being open and talking about why jobs are needed and why money just cannot be handed out is important, and it will help your children establish a sense of responsibility. Children need to learn that money has to be earned and that it cannot be given out readily. When children learn the value of money, they should begin to take better care of their toys, possessions, and keepsakes because they will realize that if an item gets damaged or broken, it will need replacing, and that money will be needed to make this happen.

Careers That Make a Difference to the Lives of Others

As well as people working to earn money and earn a living, it is important to teach your children that people also work to make a difference to society and the lives of others. When children learn that they can also help others and make a difference, it will open their eyes to what they can achieve within their own lives and future careers or jobs. Discussing careers that impact the lives of others and then giving examples will help to bring careers to life. For example, when discussing what it takes to be a doctor or nurse, you may want to talk about nursing trends and even talk about how sometimes lots of people want to become nurses, whereas at other times lots of people want to become hairdressers or beauticians. Being open and honest about careers, jobs, and trends will allow your children to form their own ideas and opinions.

Discussing Responsibility

All jobs carry some form of responsibility, and, as your children are growing and getting older, it is right that they pick up some more responsibility along the way. Whether this is something like washing the dishes, or taking out the trash every week, a little bit of responsibility will do them good. Talking about responsibilities and teaching them responsibilities as they get older is essential because you want to prepare them for adulthood as well as you can. Giving examples of careers and workers’ responsibilities will help your children see first-hand why responsibility is important. Within books, you can have descriptions that feature duties and responsibilities held and reading this with your children will again help them increase and build on their existing vocabulary.

Role Play

Your children are never too old to participate in a bit of role play, especially when it comes to talking about careers and jobs. They do not have to dress up in an outfit to take part in role-play, but by using books and acting out responsibilities, they can really get a feel for what it would be like to be in a career they may be interested in right now. When you are carrying out a role play, it is beneficial for your children to focus on their memory and recall skills. Getting them to remember as much information as they can and recall what objects a certain profession or career would use is positive.

It is beneficial to give your children ideas, inspiration, and information and let them make their own choices because career talks and career decisions don’t just happen when your children turn 16. Teaching children about careers with the help of books is a brilliant way of opening their eyes to different career opportunities and possibilities for their futures.

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