Kids Can Be Taught to Make Smart Choices

There are no tested and proven magical guidelines to raise the wisest of children.  There is a lot of advice out there and Janis Meredith from Raising Champion Families shares some tips on how to raise confident children so that they will hopefully make smart life choices.  Here are some things that she suggests:

1. build a strong foundation - create family core values that they can refer to when making choices
2. give them room to learn from mistakes - a common parental mistake is fixing their children's missteps; allowing them to experience the natural consequences is often the better lesson
3. offer opportunities to problem solve - don't be too quick to share your advice rather help your child think through their problem and come up with a solution of their own
4. teach sold decision-making skills - share a guideline with them that includes:

• not to make snap judgments - study the situation
• thinking about possible solutions and writing them down
• discussing the solutions and looking at both the negatives and the positives
• picking the best solution
• planning how to solve it, evalutating your plan and then doing it

5.  Talk to them about goal-setting and help them to set goals for themselves

Janis shares, "Teaching your kids to think for themselves so that they are not easily talked into making bad choices is a process that must begin when your child is young. However, if your kids are older it’s not too late to help them learn. But it takes parenting intentionality and consistency."

Read more:  YOU Can Raise Confident Kids Who Will Make Smart Life Choices!

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