YOGYAKARTA Determining choices means expressing opinions, making decisions, and developing skills in solving problems. Teaching children to make choices from the time they can do it, will be very useful. How to teach children to make choices? Erin Leyba. LSCW., Ph.D., therapist and writer reported by Psychology Today, Wednesday, December 28, advocates this method.

Children want and expect their parents to help them feel safe. While it's good to give their children opinions on various things, too many choices can make them overwhelmed or too pressing them. Give small children choices between just two things. If they can't or can't choose between the two, don't offer a third. This doesn't include "play time free", where they have to be able to do whatever they're interested in.

Teaching children to make choices needs to be done consistently. Otherwise, children are often confused, resulting in rejection, questioning, or refusing to obey to determine the real limit. If adults often see rejection as uncooperative behavior or pretending, but for children it is a way to determine the extent of their strength.

In teaching children to make choices, parents need to make it a 'ritual'. That is, if you go to the park, name the two parks and let them choose which one every Friday visit. For example, again, on Saturday afternoon, children must choose to go with you or stay at home.

If your child has difficulty carrying out new tasks, then give him responsibility. To do this, create a list of tasks of all the things he has to do. Ask them to cross out every finished thing.

When children make one choice out of two, you need to validate their choice by thanking and strengthening their choice. For example, when a child chooses to swim rather than climb a mountain, you can validate with Thank you for choosing to swim. It's great to play water with you.


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