29 Jun: Nurturing independence in teens

[Sophie-RO]

Hi @Tessisme! Thanks for joining us! What do you think about Q 1 - In what ways are your kids already independent?

[Sophie-RO]

@AmyJay - wow you have the full range of ages... how do you help the younger ones to have appropriate levels of independence...?

[AmyJay]

Hi @Sophie-RO and @Tessisme my youngest (Mr9) gets himself dressed, sets and clears the table and helps walk our dog. He does get a little more support from Ms16 and Mr18! We are encouraging him to work more at organising his morning tea to pack for lunch and ensuring he packs the right homework books etc for school (just had Parent interviews tonight). AmyJay

[Tessisme]

Hi there! My 12 year old daughter loves being independent and doing things on her own such as watering the veggie garden, feeding our hamsters and puppy and she is starting to walk home from school aswell. My oldest son is in year 10 and has started to really study this year and be responsible in terms of his studies although he loves video games! He will take the dog for a walk sometimes but mostly is independent throughout his studies.

[Sophie-RO]

@AmyJay Are mr18 and ms16 good for role modelling responsibility, time management etc for the younger one?

[Sophie-RO]

Hey @Tessisme, great that your daughter is getting involved and confident to walk home and your son is somewhat autonomous in this school work..

For you, and anyone else out there here's 2. What are they ways that your try to help your child build more independence?

[AmyJay]

Yeah, it does rub off for sure. He sees both positive beahvious and not so positive behaviours  

[Tessisme]

I was just wondering, maybe it's just a boy thing however my son is not always on top of his homework and doesn't face it as positivily as my daughter. I understand that she is only in year 6 however I can see her positive attitudes towards her work and studies more so than my son. Thank you.

[Sophie-RO]

Hmmm interesting Q @Tessisme - what do you think @AmyJay?

[AmyJay]

I guess we use the trial and error approach. Part of the learning process is to fail (first attempt in learning) and work out a solution. We tried encouraging mr9 to make his own lunch like the older two- but we also need to have things ready to assist him. SO part of the process is for us parents to put things in place to ensure successes and confidence.