Lessons to teach your child show up every day. They can be valuable but they can also be difficult to teach. You just need to remember to try to teach whatever lessons come up as frequently as you need to.

One of these kinds of lessons is about taking turns — a lesson your child should probably learn before he enters kindergarten — the earlier, the better. He needs to fully understand how important it is for school and at home, and how to be fair.

Taking turns can be a difficult concept for toddlers to understand. Around the age of 3, you child will begin to understand what taking turns is all about.

• Sit down on the floor and roll a ball back and forth to show another way of taking turns. Be sure to identify that you are taking turns.

• Use a timer or a clock to set time limits for taking turns with a toy that two or more children want to play with. This counts for siblings, too.

• Have him take turns when he is watching television or playing with the phone. Let him have a turn and then make certain he lets his friend have a turn.

• Take turns with each of your two children setting the table for dinner. Be sure to call it “taking turns.”

• Take turns even in the car, such as who gets to pick what to listen to on the radio.

• Don’t forget about feeding the dog. Whose turn is it tonight?

• Be a role model. Play games with your child and any other child but be sure to emphasize taking turns.

Feelings

This is not a bad time to talk about feelings. Taking turns sometimes causes hurt feelings when your child wants to have an extra turn or for some reason he missed his turn. During these times he has strong feelings he struggles with.

Feelings are another lesson your child needs to learn to understand. He may have strong feelings but he doesn’t always understand what he is feeling. He may know he is upset but he doesn’t know why.

This is a time when you need to help him understand. He needs your help when he is sad, mad, angry, hurt, worried, anxious, and happy. Talk about these different feelings so he can identify them when he experiences them.

Let him know when you are feeling these kinds of emotions. This helps him know that feelings are normal.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.