Raising an Independent Child

Give your child too much freedom, and he may misuse it. Give him too little, and he may grow up to be completely dependent. Heres how you can find a balance. You want to raise your child to be independent, and to help him make his own decisions. But if you give him too much freedom, and he may get confused, misuse the freedom or make the wrong choices. On the other hand, if you use the benefit of your experience and make all his choices for him, you are destroying his ability to make his own decisions, making him dependent on you and perhaps making him rebellious and resentful. If you want your child to grow up into an independent person, you need to create a balance. Here are some tips on how you can achieve this balance and help make your child more independent. In this articleTake it one step at a timeDont be in a hurryWatchHelp him make listsTake it one step at a time Everytime you do something for your child, do it slowly and let him watch careful, so that he learns how to do it by himself. So if you are helping your child wear his socks and shoes, do it slowly. Let him see how you make him wear the socks. Turn them inside out and show him the right side. The next time, let him wear the socks, while you help him get his shoes on. Show him how he can tie the laces. Dont be in a hurry Dont rush in to do everything for your child, no matter how tempting it may be. Your child now may be trying to tie his shoelaces himself. You know that you can tie them much faster for him, and youre getting impatient waiting for him to get it right. However, dont interfere and tie them for him. Stand by and watch while he tries to do it himself. If he gets it wrong, you can redo it and ask him if he wants to try again. If not, theres always tomorrow. Dont interfere until he asks for help or unless he gets it wrong - after he has completed the task at hand. Watch Soon you would have passed the stage of helping your child with every little task. You could simply be around monitoring him at some level. Dont brush his teeth for him - let him brush them himself, but be close by while he does it. The more he starts doing things for himself, the more confidence he will start having in his own abilities. This is why you should avoid checking him at every step. Instead of telling him what he is doing wrong, tell him before-hand how he can get it right. Often, the difference between raising a child right and wrong is just a way of putting things across to him. Help him make lists One of the best things you can teach your child is to get him into the habit of making lists of his homework or his chores. This will help him complete more tasks by himself and will consequently turn him into a more independent and capable person. You could start out by making the list for him, and as he completes each task, you could make him cross it out from the list.

Give your child too much freedom, and he may misuse it. Give him too little, and he may grow up to be completely dependent. Here's how you can find a balance.

You want to raise your child to be independent, and to help him make his own decisions. But if you give him too much freedom, and he may get confused, misuse the freedom or make the wrong choices. On the other hand, if you use the benefit of your experience and make all his choices for him, you are destroying his ability to make his own decisions, making him dependent on you and perhaps making him rebellious and resentful. If you want your child to grow up into an independent person, you need to create a balance. Here are some tips on how you can achieve this balance and help make your child more independent.

Take it one step at a time

Everytime you do something for your child, do it slowly and let him watch careful, so that he learns how to do it by himself. So if you are helping your child wear his socks and shoes, do it slowly. Let him see how you make him wear the socks. Turn them inside out and show him the right side. The next time, let him wear the socks, while you help him get his shoes on. Show him how he can tie the laces.

Don't be in a hurry

Don't rush in to do everything for your child, no matter how tempting it may be. Your child now may be trying to tie his shoelaces himself. You know that you can tie them much faster for him, and you're getting impatient waiting for him to get it right. However, don't interfere and tie them for him. Stand by and watch while he tries to do it himself. If he gets it wrong, you can redo it and ask him if he wants to try again. If not, there's always tomorrow. Don't interfere until he asks for help or unless he gets it wrong - after he has completed the task at hand.

Watch

Soon you would have passed the stage of helping your child with every little task. You could simply be around monitoring him at some level. Don't brush his teeth for him - let him brush them himself, but be close by while he does it. The more he starts doing things for himself, the more confidence he will start having in his own abilities. This is why you should avoid checking him at every step. Instead of telling him what he is doing wrong, tell him before-hand how he can get it right. Often, the difference between raising a child right and wrong is just a way of putting things across to him.

Help him make lists

One of the best things you can teach your child is to get him into the habit of making lists of his homework or his chores. This will help him complete more tasks by himself and will consequently turn him into a more independent and capable person. You could start out by making the list for him, and as he completes each task, you could make him cross it out from the list.