Can we teach children to make decisions
Decision making is one of the most significant aspects of life. A complicated task whose consequences must be faced with maturity and optimism, do not always turn out as we wish.
Every day we face a constant decision-making, various alternatives are presented before us, forcing us to opt for one or the other, in most cases without holding out the correct choice.
Mistake , or simply opt for one of the options, we are left with the uncertainty of what would have happened if we had chosen the option excluded or experiencing the frustration of the error, in case of failure in our decision. Therefore we must be prepared to face the consequences of our choices, ready to absorb any harmful result to be. And this is an arduous task that must train from early, hence the importance of decision-making work in childhood.
We can learn to decide, we must be free to choose and mature / as to take the results of our decisions, and this learning should begin in childhood.
Parents must prepare children to be autonomous, free to decide teach and instill in them the security to face the consequences of what you choose. This is a task that requires effort, dedication and perseverance, because as the sons and daughters grow so do their responsibilities and hand them the need to make decisions.
Teaching Children Make Decisions:
The decision usually requires previous experience to guide us on the best option. Often, we turn to solutions similar events or have lived and experienced first or witnessed in others, to act accordingly. We try to do it the best way possible, consider choosing the most appropriate alternative, which, in similar situations, has been effective in the past. However, children do not have previous experience may lead them to opt for some other alternative. They face new events require prior preparation so that they can deal with, hence the importance of teaching the correct way to decide.
Decision becomes a question of attitude, to the extent that subsequently, must face the result of them. From our attitude will depend not only what we choose, but the way we affect the outcome.
Some recommendations for decision-making work in children are:
Grant responsibilities: it is important to establish at home a share of responsibilities in the tasks. As mentioned on occasion, their liability should be based on the age of the family members. The division of responsibilities is vital in making decisions because when you assume a responsibility, derived from it are problems to solve, and so there is a focused learning and problem solving approach.
Working the choice of alternatives and set priorities: when the child or the child is in a situation where you have to decide between several options, we encourage you to provide for the election as a challenge that must pay attention and time. In this regard must assess what your preferences are, what choices can fit with them and what not, and in this task, parents should contribute by providing support, advice, opinion and especially being willing to listen to the child’s preferences. So, in the interests of this she should be counseled about the best choice. However it is very important, that despite providing advice and counsel, whether he / she who finally decide what to do, because only then we will be promoting their autonomy and independence.
Avoid overprotection: Sometimes, and especially before decisions can be complicated, parents tend to overprotect their children, which often leads them to decide for them / as. This can take the boy and the girl to avoid mistakes, but also deprived of learning that involves the error (if you have decided to take him / her).
Rate the error: When faced with a particular decision, the child or the child fails in your choice, you will not need to blame or punish for it. We must always remember the educational value of the errors, since they involve not only new learning but assume previous experience useful, below, may be present in similar situations. Therefore, before an error should be discussed with him / her what happened, see where the root of it and assimilate it for future events.
Considering the above and especially taking advantage of any situation to implement it, children can learn to make decisions and face the consequences of the same.
From choice not only of vital importance for the development of safety and autonomy, but also help to increase and strengthen their self-esteem and confidence in himself / herself.