"Help me Daddy!" As parents we hear those words and spring into action. Yet we react far differently to the bittersweet words, "No, Daddy, let me do it." As teachers, the staff members of Kids Konnect know the importance of encouraging children to be risk-takers and deep thinkers. Independence: it worked for our nation, and it works for our children.
This or That?
Independence means choice, in (kid) matters large and small, both at home and at Kids Konnect:
- Choose between drawing, singing, or science experiments.
- Which shirt would you like to wear?
- Select from two snack choices, this Gala apple or these green grapes.
A child unobtrusively supervised by caring adults will feel safe in pushing boundaries, making choices, and testing her own limits.
Remember When?
Remind your children of their own progress in dressing, grooming and feeding themselves. Point out independent success in little things:
- Putting on socks
- Putting away toys
- Brushing hair
Can You Do It?
Before taking over a task from your child, decide which is more important: the quality of the finished work, or your child's sense of independence. Let your child gain confidence by tackling age-appropriate tasks.
On Whose Authority?
Your challenge is to foster in your child a sense of independence and a feeling of ease when separated from you. Often, though, this separation is harder on you than your child. Clingy children, however, are delayed in feeling challenged to interpret the world for themselves. They will look to you as the authority long past the time when they should be forming their own opinions and making their own decisions.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) identifies a link between early childhood activities that foster independence and later success at critical thinking. Moreover, that ultimate capitalist tool Forbes Magazine identified creative, playful learning as the “key to prosperity,” a way to instill in children (and adults) the skills needed to be independent, enterprising, strategic thinkers—the disruptive creators of tomorrow’s world.
Contact Kids Konnect to learn the many other ways we encourage independence in our preschool children.