- 1). Inform your children that there are expectations and requirements including doing their homework or house chores and that they don't always need their parents' assistance or supervision when doing these tasks. Helping and assisting your child is one thing, but when the child expects you to sit with him while he does his nightly homework and won't do it unless you do it with him, this is not teaching him self sufficiency. Children need to figure out how to solve problems, which is something parents can teach them.
- 2). Give your child a hypothetical situation and ask her how she would solve it. Discuss her conclusions and why they are good or bad. Don't always come to your child's rescue. You won't always be there or shouldn't always be there when the child is older so he must learn to save himself, think for himself and be responsible for himself which makes him self sufficient.
- 3). Give the child a job, such as feeding the pet. This is his responsibility. When he learns that he is responsible for something or someone, it is the first step in becoming self-sufficient and knowing that someone, in this case the family pet, is relying on him to do his job. Not only does he learn, in time, how to take care of himself, but also how to care for others.
- 4). Show him how to do laundry, cook, dial the phone, put a stamp on an envelope and wash the dishes. At first let him observe you doing these activities and then gradually tell them to do these things on his own. These are the skills that all people need, and your child will feel a sense of accomplishment when he learns how to do things on his own and by himself.
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