Learning independently is an important skill that is mostly in demand in today’s times. Every parent wants his/her child to be an independent learner. But not all kids grow up to be the same. It is important to give them access to the right techniques and parental guidance to help them grow into independent learners. But getting too much involved with them can only make them depend excessively on you.
How to make your child an independent learner?
If you want to know how to make your child an independent learner, then it is important to follow a disciplined strategy. Some kids can learn quickly and smartly with many online tools, but that might not work well with all.
Following are a few ways of independent learning strategies that you can adopt to make your child an independent learner:
Have faith in Your Child:
||Behind every young child who believed in himself is a parent who believed first||
The very first step towards teaching your child to be independent is to believe in your child. If you do not have hopes in your kids, they are most likely to lack confidence in themselves. Allow them to solve their challenges and come out of it.
Let them know that you have full faith in them. Keep inspiring them with motivating words like “you can do this”. It boosts their confidence, making them work hard to get things done.
Cater to their needs:
Make them a part of important discussions that revolve around their education and future. This will give you an opportunity to understand what they need and desire. You can also frequently ask them if they need any help with an assignment or homework or anything they are working on. If they speak about what they need help with, then ask them how would they like you to help.
Though it is important to leave them on their own, it is also important to be there for them and cater to their needs when they feel lost or confused.
Praise their Efforts than their achievements:
It is a good practice to praise your kids for their achievements like good academic results, or a good grade or a prize they win at school. However, it is important to remember that these praises only focus on the good results. Children get acquainted with the idea that good results are always expected of them.
Hence, always focus more on the effort they put in for a particular task and the progress and improvement you witness in them. This will help in enhancing the. Help them get over their failures. Let them fail to help them grow up to be great achievers.
Give Opportunities for learning and independence:
If your child is unable to work independently, there might be chances that you are not giving them enough opportunities to develop independence. But, how can you create such opportunities?
Make them take initiatives from a very young age. Let them pick their own clothes to wear, let them assemble their toys after every playing session. You can also ask them to water the plants, help you in the kitchen or around the home, or set the table.
These small tasks help them be effective on their own. As they grow up, assign them bigger responsibilities. In this process, they are learning to do things independently and developing the required skills to take on life confidently.
Provide a Learning Space:
Providing a desired learning space is one of the key ways on how to make your teenager more independent. As kids grow up, their expectations and needs change. They develop different styles of learning and desire an appropriate learning space. Talk to them and ask what they want. Create the type of learning space they want. This way, they can focus more on learning without distractions.
How to teach your child self-reliance?
Given below are some of the fun activities to teach self-reliance to your kids:
Gardening:
Teach your kids to grow plants and flowers at home. Make them water them and take care of them. Teach them to remove dead leaves. This is one of the best activities to encourage independence.
Family Picnics:
Plan occasional family picnics and make your kids a part of the whole planning process. Assign them with small responsibilities like making the list of essentials to carry. This way, you can teach them how to be strategic.
Go camping:
Children get excited about adventures. Go camping or hiking with them and let them pack their bags themselves. These experiences really help in shaping a self-dependent personality in the long run. Talk to them and teach them about different things you come across while on your camping spree.
Art and Craft:
Engage in some fun art and craft activities with your kids. Teach them to make exciting things with basic stationery items. These kinds of activities enhance their creative skills.
Break out bubbles:
This is one of the best activities for encouraging independence in toddlers. Teach them to make their own bubbles at home and engage in a fun competition with them to see who can blow the biggest bubble.
Treasure hunts:
A great way to learn things while playing is a treasure hunt game. Letting your child solve all those little puzzles to get to the reward really helps in becoming an independent learner.
Why is independent learning important?
To know how to learn:
If you give your kids the opportunity for independent learning, they will understand the process of learning. If you are consistently arranging the study materials for your kids and asking them to follow a definite process of learning, they might be able to learn well. But they will never themselves learn to choose the appropriate process of learning. Independent learning will involve picking the materials and selecting the process on their own.
They will learn things at their own pace:
Why is it important for a child to be an independent learner is because every child has different skills and pace of learning. Also, not every learning technique will derive the same result from every kid. When allowed to learn independently, they can learn things their way and facilitate better understanding.
Helps in building other life skills:
When given the opportunity to learn independently, kids start developing other life skills like planning their work list themselves, scheduling their assignments, setting targets, and more. When they come across any confusion, they try to clear their doubts themselves. They learn how to deal with distractions.
Helps kids identify their strengths and weaknesses:
Independent learners can better identify their weaknesses and strengths. They can take appropriate steps to overcome their weaknesses and sharpen their skills. Whereas a child who is not an independent learner will very likely be ignorant about his strengths and weaknesses.
FAQs
What are the challenges of independent learning?
Independent learning surely has its challenges. Your child might feel lost and confused at first as to how to go about doing things on his own without your guidance. It is very obvious. Hence, a planned approach is recommended to let your child adapt to that stage.
How can kids be independent learners at school?
A parent cannot always keep an eye of how his/her child is learning at school. A teacher has to provide an appropriate learning environment and opportunities in the classroom for kids to learn independently. School curriculum should be planned accordingly.
Teachers can also encourage group discussions and debates in the classroom for kids to come up with suitable answers to different questions.
Can independent learning be encouraged through group learning?
Yes, independent learning can also be encouraged through group learning. Let your children make group studying or assignment sessions with their friends and classmates. It promotes teamwork and healthy learning amongst each other. They also learn how to work in a team. However, group learning shall not be encouraged at all times.
How would I know if my child is an independent learner?
Your child will not become an independent learner in a day. It is a gradual process with varying time frames for every kid. An independent learner will require less involvement of his parents in doing his homework and assignments. He will be more active towards taking responsibilities around the house without having asked to do something. He will take care of his belongings himself without needing your help much. These are some of the signs, which you can look for in your child.
