Independence is ... What is independence and how to develop it in children and adolescents?

Independence is a very desirable, but in some cases hard-to-reach quality. How to influence its formation in a child? How to achieve that children grow up and develop independently? And when can you start to instill in your child this useful quality?

First of all, it should be clarified what is actually meant by the word "independence". This, according to the explanatory dictionary Ushakov, suggests the following: "existence separately from others, independently." In addition, autonomy means determination, the ability to act independently, initiative and lack of fear of mistakes, freedom from the influence of others and the help of outsiders.

Development of independence in children

Very often parents misinterpret the notion of "independence". In their opinion, the child will be independent if he unquestioningly does what the adults tell him. But in reality it is, rather, the ability to follow instructions and instructions, that is obedience. And the child's independence is first of all his "separation" and autonomy.

It's very early for a child to be interested in performing certain actions. At seven months he rejoices when he can get his own toy. In a year it is happy, if to it give the chance most to sit down, and after it starts to eat without the help of adults. That is, independence begins to manifest early, but this quality requires development and consolidation.

Methods for developing the child's autonomy

To ensure that in the future your baby does everything he can, do himself and enjoy it, you need to use the correct methods of education. First, it is very important to encourage the child to be independent. A small child will want to do something by himself only if his efforts give a positive result. In addition, it is very important for him how the surrounding adults will react to this. The child wants to receive praise from the elders and approval. It is for this reason that parents should try to encourage independence in their child.

The development of independence in children is a complex process, and one needs patience. Do not rush to help your baby, have patience. Try to get him to cope with the difficult situation, and then praise him. Help only if the child can not do it himself, but do not do it instead, but act with him.

Forming independence in children

Passivity and lack of initiative is the main problem of adolescents and children of younger preschool age. Independence of schoolchildren is formed even when the child was not seven years old. But parents often do not attach importance to this, hoping that the child will simply grow older. Until then, they all do it for him, without waiting for him to take the initiative. But in fact, school age in itself will not be that magical period when a child suddenly begins to show such qualities as responsibility and independence. This is wrong, with the child's dependence on the adult, one must begin to struggle at an early age, when the baby starts walking, eating, and so on.

Gradually, the child must independently perform what is in his power. And parents should not interfere too much in his activities, but they must teach their child to associate his actions with the result, that is, responsibility.

How to teach a child to order

Parents are often upset by the fact that their already grown-up child absolutely does not want to maintain order and take care of self-service issues. He does the bed only after the reminders, the things are scattered around the room, and the dishes after the meal are not cleaned. How to prevent the development of such a situation? According to most adults, the only responsibility of the child is to unfold the toys in places. But experienced teachers assure that it is better to teach the child to order in the age of up to five years. Later this will make it much more difficult. The kid is able to bring himself a cup, put the plate in the sink and perform many other simple instructions already in a year and a half, if you, of course, give him this opportunity. If you do everything for him, how can he learn to be independent?

Independence of adolescents

The question of how to teach a teenager to be independent is very important for parents. This period is a crisis, since it is associated with the child's awareness of himself as a person with his own characteristics and character. For him, the evaluation of peers is of great importance, through which the very perception of the adolescent is refracted. During this period he, like a two-to-three-year-old kid, tries to check the rules for strength, in order to form his moral and ethical code. Nevertheless, this is only a continuation of the formation of the thinking of an autonomous individual, separate from adults, and not the beginning of the development of independence.

Why does the child become addicted to the parents? Basically, because he gets used to, that everything is decided and done by his parents. This reduces his sense of self-competence and forms dependence on the opinions and tips of others. The child becomes older, but at the same time he continues to think that he is unable to do anything or solve without the help of adults.

Why it is necessary to develop independence in a child

This is a very important process of growing a person. At the same time, the goal of developing independence is not only to teach the child to serve and clean up for himself. It is important to pay attention to the development of such accompanying independence of qualities as the formation of one's own opinion, self-confidence. The child must learn to make decisions and take responsibility for them, not be afraid of consequences and the desire to show initiative, be able to determine goals, achieve them and not be afraid to make mistakes. After all, it is much easier to get down to business, if the assessment of others has no special effect.