Fostering Independence in your Child

Independence is an important aspect of your child’s development. From the age of two, children strive for more independence. From this age, you should encourage your child to make simple choices about their lives.

Around first or second grade, children begin seeking more independence.

Children at this age want to — and need to — make significant decisions. Instead of closely supervising your child’s every action, focus more on guiding decision-making and creating room for reflection and mistakes. When getting ready for school these activities could include: getting dressed themselves, putting their lunch box in their bag (after you have put their food in it), carrying their own bag into and out of school, walking into school by themselves...

Though it may actually take more time initially for parents to support children to do age-appropriate tasks for themselves, your child's self confidence and independence will grow as a result.

This increased sense of ownership — even a simple phone call to set up a play date — is vital to developing independence and responsibility.  

The positive of Covid that we have seen at St Paul's is that our students are becoming more independent and willing to undertake these tasks. They are walking into school independently and willingly on their own. We congratulate the children on doing this. Let’s embrace this challenging time with a positive outlook and work together and become a team that supports natural and healthy developmental drives for independence.