Fostering Independence
I have been amazed at how much growth and independence I have been seeing since we have been back for 2 FULL weeks (seems like it has been ages since we have had full weeks of school!). I have seen the children in both the Primary classroom and in the Toddler classroom take on more and more in the way of responsibility and flexing their independence muscles.
Becoming "Functionally Independent" is the main focus of the child in the first 6 years of life. It is easy to see this drive in the very early stages of life as our babies become more and more able to do things on their own like getting around crawling then walking then running. As the children get older these moments of independence become a bit more clouded by our adult needs.
We need to get to work on time, so we sometimes rush the child that is working so hard on independently buttoning their jacket. We need to get dinner on the table, so we sometimes overlook the achievement of independently attempting to pour water into a cup.
It is normal for us to feel rushed and then rush our little ones to finish and maybe we even take over to complete the job. But I urge you to slow down and take a moment to see how much your children are capable of doing independently.
Slowing down and looking at the big picture of the accomplishment will leave you amazed at how much your children are doing. Even the toddlers can put on and take off their shoes. Sure, sometimes this skill is practiced at the less than desirable moments, but they don't keep track of that. They only know they want to master the skill. They aren't all that concerned if every item makes it back neatly where it goes, but instead focusing on the skill of simply getting the object back on the shelf, the lunch box, or tote bag.
It is astonishing how much your children know considering that they have only been alive for such a short period of time.
It is our goal here at Wild Fern, to offer as many opportunities to flex that independence muscle. We do this in every aspect of their day, from the way we greet them and invite them out of the car, inviting the children to care for their own belongings by giving them the responsibility of putting their items on their hooks and ensuring they go home, offering the opportunity to take care of their needs in unpacking and repacking their snack and lunch, and of course, giving them the power to choose how they would like to direct their days by giving them the freedom to choose any of the works they have been given a lesson on whenever and for as long as they would like.