One of the most important gifts you can give a child is to teach them how to become an independent thinker. Mastering independent thinking empowers a child to develop critical problem solving skills. Independent thinkers are good team leaders because they consider different backgrounds and ideas of their team and they help foster solutions to problems. Ways to foster independent thinking is to encourage children to ask questions and then find the solutions on their own. Encourage a child to experiment, then explain their results and defend their conclusions. Allow your child to play alone and support imaginative play. If a child is having a disagreement with a classmate, friend, or sibling, let them solve the problem on their own. If a child doesn’t understand a concept or thinks they have a better way of solving a problem, inspire them to ask questions and voice their opinion. Let your child know that learning independent thinking skills will help them to be more efficient and empower them to do better in the classroom and out. If they fail the first time, teach them to try, try again. These lifelong skills will help them to be successful.
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