Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children

The day before Eid, which happened to be on a Monday, I remembered my article deadline and had to scribble one down immediately before it's too late and with the help of @Sarah_Sharji I came up with this in a mere half an hour.

Nurturing Independent Thoughts In Children
~ As published on Oman Observer; Wednesday, 17th.

Our society nowadays lacks of certain elements that enables it to become on the top, like for example, independent thinking. Since it’s an on-going process, it needs to be started with from childhood. Nurturing independent thoughts in your child helps him to grow autonomously, without uncertainty or doubt in himself.

Dependence can only be achieved if you, as a parent, start giving specific and simple tasks to your child; for example; tying his own shoelace, tidying up his playing area by placing the toys in their right position, or even as undemanding errands as arranging the bed. When the kid realizes the great trust you’ve put into him, he’d grow to being responsible of his own belongings and would even take great joy in being a part of something that would eventually benefit him.

These kinds of simple tasks boost the level of self-confidence and opens doorways into the new and serious world of adulthood where face-to-face confrontation and public-speaking seems as natural as breathing.

Other than that, in-between competition between the siblings encourages the child to think of his team, yet depending on his own mind and not forgetting the fact that he’s part of that team. It can be anything from sports contests, drawing, or even solving pieces of a puzzle.

We see a lot of kids nowadays lacking a persona, especially when it comes to blind-copying, they seem to get better everyday at that particular aspect as impersonating an already displayed character seems much easier than getting creative and being unique. Sadly to say, that’s what we need right now; something new instead of the same old. Gone are the days when the ‘odd’ one out is unneeded or even picked on, because we’re now in a world that cares, not about quantity but quality.

The child then grows up feeling his presence, not just wanted but needed as well. You can then trust him with even more demanding things like taking care of his younger siblings while you’re away, taking him grocery shopping and letting him hand in the money so that he can feel the big trust you have in him or her.

Above all, make sure to asses a room for him to speak up his mind even if it meant listening to his little stories because only that broadens his creativity and enhance his ability to interact with people above his age and beyond.