Teach Your Child to be Self-Reliant

Parents should aim at building self reliant kids. Self-reliance is the confidence that a person has in his inner resources to cope with any situation on his own.Self-reliance is one of the important virtues that parents must inculcate in their children. Being self-reliant can help to boost self-esteem and self-confidence of children. Such children will not have to depend on others for little things. It can prepare children for facing tough situations in life with an ease. Here is how you can teach your child to be self-reliant. In this articleSelf-reliance vs. self-confidenceWhat is self-reliance?Letting goHow to build self-reliance in children?Avoid Doing Everything for ThemAssign Tasks to ThemEncourage Extracurricular ActivitiesProvide Opportunities to ExploreEncourage Decision MakingBoost Problem Solving SkillsLet Them Learn from MistakesHelp Them Distinguish Between Right and WrongSelf-reliance vs. self-confidenceSelf-reliance is a trait that parents should aim at building into their childrens personalities. A self-reliant child is one who is more active, independent, creative, competent and spontaneous. You are probably thinking that a confident child would show the same traits. However, there is a thin line that separates self-reliance from self-confidence. Self-reliance is a broader concept than self-confidence. While self-confidence relates to specific skills and aptitudes that an individual may have, self-reliance refers to the confidence that a person has in his inner resources to cope with any situation on his own.What is self-reliance?A person who is self-reliant is self-sufficient, is able to think and function independently, is not risk-averse and solves problems rather than worries about them. Such a person would trust his own judgement, rarely needing to consult others for advice or guidance. A self-reliant person has better control of his life and can handle any curveball that life may throw his way. Letting goYour child will not develop self-reliance as long as you are hovering around him like a fussy mother hen. You are going to have to learn to let go. But its going to be a bit like walking a tightrope. If you let go too soon, your child may end up feeling insecure rather than independent. On the other hand, if you let go too late, you may have already made your child get into the habit of being dependent on you.How to build self-reliance in children?Here are certain things that you can follow to build self-reliance in your children.Avoid Doing Everything for ThemTo build self reliance in your children the first thing that you need to do is avoid doing everything for them. Let them do certain age-appropriate things on their own.Assign Tasks to ThemAssign them daily tasks and chores which are appropriate for their age. It will develop a sense of being responsible in them.Encourage Extracurricular ActivitiesEncourage them to take part in extracurricular activities. Getting involved in such activities will boost their confidence to try new activities on their own.Provide Opportunities to ExploreProvide enough of opportunities to your children to explore new things and to think on their own.Encourage Decision MakingBoost decision making skills in your children. Give them right choices and let them decide what is best for them. This will improve their thinking skills and decision making skills.Boost Problem Solving SkillsIf children are facing some problem, encourage them to think of the solution on their own to boost their problem solving skills. But you must definitely help them if they are unable to find a solution or they are choosing any wrong way to solve the problem.Let Them Learn from MistakesDo not yell or shout at your children if they make mistakes. Help them to realise their mistake by talking to them calmly. Let them learn from their mistakes so that they do not repeat such mistakes in future.Help Them Distinguish Between Right and WrongTeach your children to distinguish between right and wrong, good and bad, ethical and unethical, moral and immoral etc. In this way they will always choose right path in life.To inculcate qualities like self-reliance in children, it is necessary for parents to be a good role model. Therefore, make sure that you practice what you preach your children in order to raise them into self-reliant individuals.