E18. 5 Parenting Hacks on How To Raise Independent Children
Episode Description
In this episode, we bring you five parenting hacks on how we foster a family environment that helps raise children who are more independent, and why autonomy is the end goal.
👉 Key Points
1. Allowing Children to Make Choices
- Dinner
- Shower
- Utensils
2. Let children struggle safely
- For example, children climbing trees and ‘can’t get down’. We might say, ‘You’re too high for me to help you but I’ll stay here with you while we work it out. What can you do to get yourself down?
- Being the emotional (not physical) support to help them troubleshoot their own problems
3. Release expectations
- Appropriate levels of learning
- Embracing the mess whilst they’re learning
4. Not micro-managing
- Not too quick to give solutions
- Let children do things for themselves as often as possible
5. Age appropriate tools
- Kiddicutter: https://www.wildlingsforestschool.com/shop/kiddikutter
- Peeler: https://www.wildlingsforestschool.com/shop/opinel-peeler-beech
- Pocket knife: https://www.wildlingsforestschool.com/shop/my-first-opinel-whittling-knife
- Cleaning toosl: Mini dust buster, dustpan and broom, cleaning cloths and vinegar spray within reach
- Plastic steps/montessori stool
- Mini First Aid Kit: Bandaids, tea tree oil, tweezers - clear expectations
👉Examples
1. Sawing – “This is your project, I can help but I won’t make it for you. You’ll feel so much prouder when you make it all by yourself.”
2. “You try it first, then I’ll help if you need it, but I believe you can do it.”
3. Dinner – “If you don’t like it, you can choose from these options or make yourself eggs.”
4. Leaving the house visual checklist
👉 Guest Details
Vicci Oliver and Nicki Farrell are adventurous nature play makers, risk-takers, children’s rights advocates and the co-founders of Wildlings Forest School. We are the hosts of the ‘Raising Wildlings’ podcast and we put the dirt back in childhood.
Wildlings aims to get more children outdoors connecting with nature, creating the village parents are yearning for and inspiring change in the education system.
During any Wildlings Forest School program, you are likely to find Wildlings up trees, sliding down mud slides, whittling with pocket knives, lighting fires and building rafts. We let kids, be kids - because children can’t learn to protect nature if they’ve never had a childhood in it.
👉 Wildlings Forest School Contact Details
👉 Freebie:
And if you’d like a little help changing the language you use in your family to help de-escalate conflict, click here to get our FREE Words of Empathy and Validation printable to stick on your fridge for those rough moments.
👉 Did You Enjoy This Episode?
If you enjoyed this episode and the Raising Wildlings podcast generally, we have a favour. Please take two minutes to subscribe, and to write a rating and a review. You can do that on Apple Podcasts right now by clicking here. If you are an Android user, you can follow the podcast on Spotify here and Google Podcasts here. Those actions will help the podcast reach more people, and we would be truly grateful. Thank you so much.
