As you will have already started doing, it’s important that as a parent you work towards building your child’s independence. They will need to learn to do things for themselves, such as eating, getting dressed and more challenging activities as they progress through the various developmental stages. In this post, I share tips below from a prep school in Richmond on how you can help your child with this.

Praise makes children feel good about themselves and encourages them to do more of what they are doing. As your child learns new skills, praise them on the little things they get right as it will motivate them to keep trying and help them improve.

Look and Copy

Many parents feel afraid to let their children do things for themselves as they are worried that they will injure themselves or struggle. Of course, while you should wait for when they are ready, with each thing you do for your child, such as getting them dressed, encourage them to “look and copy” what you do.

Accept Mistakes

To follow on from the point above, it’s likely they will make mistakes while learning. They are a part of the process and while you should show your child the correct way of getting things done, you should try to not be overly critical as this can hurt their confidence.

Set Aside Time

While learning they mustn't feel rushed as this can make this a scarier ordeal. As your child may take longer to do set tasks, you should allocate enough time for them to have a go and learn.

Lastly, independence can be learned through how you conduct yourself and take on challenges. Children learn from their parents so it’s important that you set a good example and take learning opportunities in your stride.

*Collaborative post