We are currently experiencing what can only be described as an exceptional time in our lives. A time when we are together as families for extraordinarily lengthy periods of time. A time when going outside is limited. A time when meeting up with groups of friends is not advised. A time when we need to be a little creative, and certainly more patient. A time when we need to view our glass as half full. You don’t need to be a teacher to provide your child with opportunities to learn; you simply need to identify where opportunities may lie. Here’s a clue: they are abundant. They are everywhere. By promoting and supporting the skills of responsibility and independence, you have a chance of teaching your child so much more. Responsibility is one of our Hiba values and independent is one of the pillars of the Hiba identity, therefore it makes sense to write about them together. It is also timely, as we currently have plentiful opportunity, to outline what can be done at home to support in promoting these fundamental skills. Independence is about learning to do things for oneself, which includes making decisions and taking on responsibility. These are hugely important skills for children to learn to cope with in adulthood. Helping children to become independent is considered so important that it is a major focus of most early years’ frameworks and curricula. Early years practitioners help children develop these skills through some of their everyday routines, for example being encouraged to hang up their coat, put on their shoes, help tidy away toys or pour a drink. Your child is also given plenty of opportunities to choose what to play with, allowing them to explore and learn independently. Home is an ideal place to practise becoming independent. Start by looking to see what your child can do already, and build on this. If your child can put their coat on, maybe they can have a go at doing up one or more of the buttons or pulling up the zip once you have started it off. If they can reach their toys from a certain height of shelf, then they can put them away again. Working alongside your child, modelling, is often helpful so that they can learn skills by watching you. The kitchen can be a great place for promoting responsibility and independence. The role of the adult here, is not only to be a role model but to relinquish some control too. Jobs might take longer, or not follow the order if you were in charge, but that’s not the point. You are allowing your child to take some control, under your guidance with lots of encouragement and support. Your child can help to choose and wash a few vegetables or get out some items from the fridge when preparing lunch or dinner. They can help washing and drying the pots and putting them away – no knives or glasses, but plates and cups are great for younger helpers. Under appropriate supervision, children can help to prepare food: making sandwiches, chopping softer vegetables and fruit. Weighing ingredients for baking a cake not only promote a sense of independence and responsibility but a great sense of pride (there’s a basic cake recipe at the end of this post that you can try together). If you’re going to the market to buy food for dinner, allow your child to count the money that will be needed and count change after purchases. Without realising it, your child is a scientist, mathematician, chef, baker and home economist. They are exercising their brain, muscles and joints. They are demonstrating to themselves a ‘can do’ attitude. However, they cannot do this without adult support in presenting opportunities to them. Here are some other things to try Getting dressed – experts suggest that from the age of 2½ to 3 children can dress themselves. However, children need to be able to easily access their clothes and have a modest amount of clothes available for choice. Too much choice and they can be standing there all day deciding what to wear. Household chores – young children make ‘mess’; they spill things, bring dirt through the house, smudge windows and generally leave a trail behind them. None of these things are a major disaster however, if mum, dad, grandma or ayi are constantly cleaning up the mess, it can reinforce dependent behaviours. Have the right tools available and accessible so you can simply direct your child to clean up their own mess – a dustpan and brush, cloths for mopping up spills (don’t forget to show your child where the laundry basket is too!) and boxes for putting toys in. Allow your child to help sort laundry – darks, brights, whites etc and choose the cycle for the wash. Let them help to hang the laundry on the dryer and pair socks together when the time is right. Let your child dust, vacuum, mop floors, water plants…… Feeding – preschool aged children and up are entirely capable of helping to set the table, helping to prepare dinner and making themselves simple snacks Again, it is about having the right equipment available and accessible for them to use. Taking the time to teach a child how to make a snack is worth the time invested – it may take a number of times for your child to do it with adult help at first but once they have the hang of it, they can do it by (and for) themselves (and for younger siblings). Self-care – as children begin to have the fine motor capability to complete simple areas of self-care (washing hands, brushing hair, cleaning teeth), take the time to show your child how to do them with increasing skill. As time can be a curious and challenging concept for young children, an egg timer / sand timer can help to support – 2 minutes of cleaning teeth can seem an eternity! Teaching children to do these basic tasks really benefits the child. The confidence boost that children receive from being able and allowed to do things for themselves is remarkable. Children feel an enormous sense of pride when they master a new skill or gain competency in a new area. By encouraging children to do for themselves what they are capable of, you are placing them firmly on the path to confident independence.
Basic cake recipe You will need:
