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Teaching a child how to be independent has become more important than ever. This responsibility of fostering independence in children falls on both parents and teachers.
Whilst it can be a nice feeling to do everything for your child to make their lives easier and preserve their childhood, it is important to find the right balance of giving them this affection whilst teaching them how to become independent.
By the time your child has reached school age, they will need to be able to perform many tasks alone. So, what can be done? Here is some advice from this nursery in Surrey on helping your child to develop a sense of independence.
Give them chores to complete
You don’t need to give your child a full list of chores to complete on a daily basis, for them to develop a sense of independence. Instead, look at assigning light tasks that your child can complete every single day.
Things such as making their bed in the morning, picking their socks up off the floor, putting their shoes where they belong and taking their plates to the sink after eating, are all tasks that will teach responsibility.
Remember that you don’t need to reward daily tasks, as if you do, the message you will end up teaching them is that they only need to help out when they receive something in return.
Let them prepare for school
Do you pack your child’s bag every night and have their clothes and shoes laid out for them in the morning? Whilst this can be done to save time and energy during the morning rush, getting your child into this habit from a young age, will only make it difficult for both of you in the long run.
Your child must learn that things don’t magically appear in their bag every day and clothes don’t miraculously pick themselves up off the floor.
Make it a habit to ask your child what they need the night before and get them to prepare it themselves. This can be as simple as taking responsibility for preparing their school bag and making sure everything they need has been packed.
Don’t do things that they can do for themselves
The mentality of doing things for your child to save time can actually lead to you taking away their independence. Do your best to overcome the fear of everything being done perfectly the first time.
Yes, your child may go to school one day with mismatched socks or their jumper on inside out, but over time, they will grow to perfect it.
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