How to foster independence in children: [Harvard Health Publishing] As a parent, you often may feel like a superhuman circus act as you help bathe, dress, feed, teach, console, and do a multitude of additional tasks for children who seem to have an endless supply of needs. You may feel exhausted by all of the demands, but it also can be rewarding to feel needed. “They only are so small for so long,” you may think, “so I’ll just do this for now.” Hold that thought for a moment. Remember that one of your roles as a parent is to prepare your child for an independent, self-sufficient life. If you find that you often step in quickly to help, you may inadvertently communicate that your child is helpless and incapable. How can you strike a balance between nurturing and fostering independence by facilitating competence and confidence?
Raise Self-Reliant Children: [Psychology Today] Your role as a parent involves, initially, providing structure for your children’s lives in the form of boundaries, expectations, and consequences. Then, as your children grow, the role changes to one of increasingly placing the onus for their lives on their shoulders. Their transition involves a shift from micromanaging (yes, you must micromanage your children’s lives until they have the experiences and skills to micromanage their own lives), to managing, to simply giving feedback to your children about their lives. This evolution means giving your children more options and decisions, fewer boundaries, expectations, and consequences, and more freedom to determine the course of their lives.
How to Raise Self-reliant Children: [ParentCircle.com] Teaching children about self-reliance makes them understand how to manage their emotions and behaviour. Self-reliant children tend to be independent and are more likely to develop better academic and social skills. They are also more mindful of nature and better aware of the choices they make.
9 Ways to Encourage Self-Sufficiency in Young Kids: [Selfsufficientkids.com] There comes a time in every parent’s experience where we want more than anything for our kids to be independent. For them to tie their own shoes, make their own breakfast or remember to change their underwear without a reminder. Getting kids to the point of self-sufficiency can be challenging. We often find it’s easier to say: “I’ll do it!” and take over a task just so we can move on with our day. But each time we take over for our kids, we’re robbing them of the chance to learn on their own. So how can parents encourage young kids to be self-sufficient without pulling their hair out?
Responsible children — Make your Child Self Dependent: [Wisdom Times] In today’s modern family, working parents are facing a huge challenge of raising responsible children and making their child self-dependent. In the beginning, it’s a complex project but once achieved smartly, the life of each family member gets simpler.
10 Effective Tips to Make Your Child Independent: [FirstCry Parenting] There comes a time in every parent’s experience where we want more than anything for our kids to be independent. For them to tie their own shoes, make their own breakfast or remember to change their underwear without a reminder.
