As parents, our best concern is building independence within our children without overwhelming them. Learning should be considered at the young stage of their life; they are new to everything. There is a perk to encourage them to make decisions for themselves; it makes them believe in themselves. Being independent means having the courage to fail and stand up on their own. So, learning these steps might get overwhelming, but have patience with your child. Surely, they will come out as a better version of themselves.
Together, we will learn some useful ways to help them become independent. This might be challenging; it requires time, effort, and patience. Also, knowing what should not be done throughout this process is crucial.
10 Practical Ways to Immune Independence in Your Child
If you want to develop independence in your child, you may try to introduce them to people and other kids, establish a continuous routine and age-appropriate tasks, and let them help you, which will help them grow as independent people.
Throughout this blog, we will learn some easy ways to build independence in a child.
1. Introduce with People and Other Kid
Learning starts early, which is the peak time for planting the seed in your children’s minds. So, encourage your children to socialize at a young age. Let your kid interact with different people and other kids. Teach them some basic manners, such as hello, thank you, and welcome. If you don’t let your child socialize with people afterward, they will get shy and face issues talking with people.
2. Follow Consistent Routines
When children are in the world of the unknown, they need consistency and reassurance. They are in a phase of learning new things, so a peak of certainty gives them a sense of comfort. Having a consistent routine helps your child develop independence. Create routines such as
bedtime, bath time, morning preparation, or setting up for meals. A consistent routine helps your child to be more confident and independent.
However, a lack of consistency makes it difficult for them to achieve clarity, satisfaction, and behavioral issues.
3. Give Them Space
Don’t let your child too much rely on you. It decreases the chance of being independent. Give them a chance to discover themselves. In order to grow and be dependent, they need to have space. If they never find themselves in a position to solve the answer or do their things they wouldn’t be confident enough to be independent.
Offer them plenty of opportunities to explore without supervision. Let your child learn that the only way to be independent is when they seek to solve the matter themselves.
4. Give Age-Appropriate Tasks
Another way to build independence in your child is to provide them with age-appropriate tasks. Provide them with simple and clear instructions. So that they can find comfort while doing the tasks and show interest in doing more.
For example, if your child is under 6, then give them the task of putting away the groceries. Let your child make their own bed, pick up their toys, and dress themselves.
5. Let Them Help You
You’re not any superhero! Let your child help you. They love to help you around. They seek to learn new things. Allowing your child to help you around makes them interact with you more and provides confidence in them. Besides, working side by side may teach them new skills.
For example, let your child help with cooking, bringing meals to the table, cleaning, car washing, etc. That way, you may learn about their hobbies and goals.
6. Allow Them To Take Risks
If you want your child to grow as an independent person, you must allow them to take risks. This will help them think they are capable of taking action on their own. It helps them to think we believe in their decisions. Taking risks might be scary, but it helps them overcome their fear of taking challenges.
When children face a new challenge, don’t just sit by and watch. Guide them to go further and encourage them to encounter more challenges. Children tend to be curious to do new things; don’t stop their curiosity; consider remaining curious with them, assisting with the challenge, and seeking to learn their plans.
7. Normalize Mistakes
Not one person was found who didn’t make a single mistake in their life. We learn from our mistakes, which is why we learn to grow. Making mistakes allows us to develop a sense of confidence. To live a free and independent life, it is a must to make mistakes throughout our journey. It is crucial for a child’s development to make mistakes. That helps to be free and resilient, develops a growth mindset, and develops the ability to learn more accurately.
8. Let Them Make Choices
Letting your child make choices helps to build independence, confidence, and responsibility. Offering your child the opportunity to make choices helps them feel empowered and have control over their decisions. They can learn to manage decisions for themselves and face the consequences.
Don’t give your child too many choices that may overwhelm them. Make the choices two or three and let them decide. Even though they may not make the right decision, still let them choose.
9. Self Feeding
Encourage your child to eat from an early age. Let your child feed by themselves by giving them finger food so that they can learn to eat food on their own. Teach them to use a fork and spoon. Practice them by self-feeding, even though it gets messy. With time and patience, they will learn to feed on their own. Also, self-feeding encourages confidence and independence in your toddler.
10. Set Boundaries and Expectations
To grow your child as a confident and independent person you must set some boundaries and also don’t meet all their expectations. Over-expectations make people weak. So, make them realize not everything will go according to their plan. For instance, you could set some boundaries: “If you eat so many chocolates, you can’t go to play, or if you don’t do your homework, I will not get you from school.”
4 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Encouraging Independence
While you are making an effort to make your child independent, some mistakes can prevent the chance of becoming independent. Parents tend to make these common mistakes throughout the journey.
- Being Too Overprotective: Being too overprotective harms the relationship between you and your children. Also, it can waste all the effort you put into your child. That may discourage being confident and independent.
- Have Unrealistic Expectations: Don’t put your burden on them or have unrealistic expectations from your child. You never know; they may be trying very hard to meet your expectations but failed to do so, and they blame themselves.
- Not Listening to Your Child: The most important parental role is listening to your child. It is the best way to show love for your child. However, not listening to your child makes them insecure, have low esteem, and will not confide in you afterward.
- Not Being Present: Not giving enough attention and being present may affect the relationship between you and your child. Reassurance stabilizes their emotional well-being and decreases the chance of building independence in your child.
Final Thoughts
Providing our children with a deep sense of independence is an important role of parents. However, that might be challenging. Sometimes, it gets messy and affects your relationship with your child. Learning independence fosters their self-esteem and enhances their chance of becoming a better person. For example, normalize their mistakes, set some boundaries and expectations, and let them make choices.
Also, remember to avoid some mistakes while you are encouraging your child to build confidence and independence. For instance, don’t be too overprotective, have unrealistic expectations, and not listen to your child, which can affect your relationship with your child.
