Yaya as Teacher: Some Guidelines and Tips

If you expect your yaya to teach your child more than the alphabet, then you must be prepared to do your share to prepare her for the task at hand. One may know how to read, how to draw, how to perform math skills – yet imparting this knowledge effectively to child is another thing altogether.

“Teaching” itself is a skill --- aside from knowing the content of what you want to teach, one must have the proper attitude and values before even attempting to teach a child. Remember, children are like sponges --- they will absorb whatever you expose them to. So make sure that you expose your child to the correct stimuli in a proper environment. Begin with Yaya.

Here are some tips:
1.    Begin with the Basics:
If your yaya is meant to be a pseudo-teacher for your child, make sure you teach her. After all, she cannot teach what she doesn’t know. In this regard, explain to yaya that the following are important:
a. Patience - Your yaya’s total attitude and demeanor must exude this virtue. Explain to her the need for a well-modulated voice, gentleness in her ways and attentiveness to her ward.
b. Perseverance – since depending on the age of your child, repetition may become key.
c. Humility – in as much as Yaya is teaching your child, make sure she understands that if you see that she needs to be corrected with regard to her skills, you will not hesitate to do so. It’s nothing personal. You are only after the well-being of your child. This concern usual arises as a result of mispronunciations, heavy accents and incorrect grammar on the side of yaya.
d. Be loving. – remind yaya to teach from the heart. Many times, this is the best way to teach a child.

2.    Make yaya aware of the different stages of development of a child – the different aspects and milestones to watch out for and what general expectations are per level. Information on this topic is available from our Yaya Manual as well as other basic child development books. Understanding this will prevent yaya from needlessly pressuring your child to “perform” certain tasks that are really not feasible at her developmental level.

3.    Select materials that are appropriate for your child. When it comes to learning, content is always age specific. So deciding on what material to give to your child, make sure that it is age appropriate. There is so much reference material available today. Many of them include the suggested age relevance of the user. In addition, when it comes to teaching, do not limit your child’s scope of experience to just reading books, or doing number-based exercises. The development of motor skills, social skills as well as language, music and art are equally important.

Click here to see more guidelines and tips on how to help yaya teach your child.

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Read on to see more guidelines and tips on how to help yaya teach your child.

4.    Do regular evaluations on your child’s progress as well as your yaya’s progress as a teacher. However, make sure that your assessments do not cause any unnecessary stress for either party. Be positive and constructive with your comments and make the learning and teaching process both educational and fun. Be generous with your complements and try to inspire yaya to be the best teacher she can be.

5.    Reward progress – for both yaya and your child. Make sure that learning becomes a motivation for both parties to give their very best.

Although, a parent still remains a child’s best teacher --- it is always good to have a secondary educator. Once trained and trusted, yaya can take on this task. However, it is always important to note that in as much as yaya can become your child’s teacher, you must also be hers.

You may also want to read: How To Teach Your Yaya (Nanny) To Teach Your Kids

Photo from flickr.com