Helping Your Child Become More Independent

Babies and young children depend on their parents to care for them and keep them safe. As parents this is always our duty, however, as our children grow they will want to become more independent and try to do more things for themselves.

Independence is a great characteristic to nurture in children because it will help them to prepare for adulthood.

To help develop your child’s independence, here are some great tips from an independent school in Chalfont St Peter…

Give your child more freedom to explore

Children naturally seek more independence as they grow up. As hard as it may be, try to step back and let your son or daughter try new experiences. Allow your child the freedom to explore their environment, make their own decisions and assess any risks. This will help to grow their confidence and teach them important life skills like problem solving.

Trust your child with more responsibility

When your child begins to want more independence, support this stage in their development by trusting them with more responsibility. Start with something simple like household chores. They could feed a pet, wash the car or make dessert. This will not only increase their feelings of competency, but it will also help you to get more jobs done!

Let your child make decisions

A great way to help your child with decision making is offering them more choices. For example, when you are out shopping with your child, select some options for their packed lunch and then let your child decide. By offering your child choices, you can help them to feel empowered and show them that their opinions are valued.

Allow your child to make mistakes

As a parent, it is in our nature to protect our children from failure and disappointment, however sometimes children need to be allowed to make mistakes. Allowing your child make mistakes will help them to identify where they went wrong and how they can do better next time. Making mistakes also helps to build resilience and confidence.