To help your child become an autonomous and resilient learner:
Foster self-sufficiency and self-confidence by offering encouragement and support.
In his book Age of Opportunity, adolescent psychology expert Dr. Laurence Steinberg provides many practical strategies for raising children in an a positive, authoritative manner. This parenting style has been shown to help teens develop critical socio-emotional skills that set them up for personal and professional success.
Steinberg explains how being an encouraging and supportive parent will boost your child’s self-sufficiency and self-confidence – and set her up to succeed. Here are a few key techniques you can use to demonstrate encouragement and support:
- Set responsibilities and expectations that help your child demonstrate her maturity; this builds self-confidence.
- Praise your children’s accomplishments, focusing on the effort and not the outcome; this builds a growth mindset.
- Don’t be intrusive: your child can’t develop a sense of self-sufficiency if you micromanage her.
- Help your child think through decisions rather than making them for her.
- Protect your child but let her go beyond her (and your!) comfort zone occasionally; children need to learn from their mistakes.
- Relinquish control gradually, as your child gets better at managing her own life.