My children were not perfect.  I’m guessing your children aren’t perfect either.  But somehow, some way, we need to get them on the road to independence.  Eventually they will need to work independently on their school subjects.  That’s the goal – learning without you.

That begs the questions, “How do I get my student to work independently?”

A lot of people think that high school is the point where students should become self-teaching, but the truth is that students don’t just suddenly wake up on the first day of 9th grade and become perfectly willing and capable of working independently.   That only happens with perfect children, and I haven’t met one yet!

Relax!  That’s not how it will happen at all!

It’s a training process, very much like teaching a baby to walk. When kids are ready to walk, most of them don’t just stand up and start walking.  Usually a parent spends a long time hunched over them, following from behind, encouraging them on, and holding a cookie so that they’ll want to walk independently.  Frankly, they fall down an awful lot. In the same way, expect your teenagers to try to work independently, and expect them to fail to act independently.

Your job is to follow behind, pick them up and hold their hands, and guide them until they can be completely independent, ready to graduate and go on to further learning adventures!  Keep your eyes on that goal.

Shape and mold.  It takes time.  Lots of time…

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Filed under: Independent HS by Lee