Thursday, April 12, 2012

How Many Choices...?

I remember reading an article about giving children choices in order to develop a better sense of independence. I believe three years of age was a good time to start doing this so, I went out and bought six different kinds of cereal and gave my little girl, Georgia a choice of which cereal eat the next morning. It took twenty minutes for her to decide which one. I even got the cereal and milk in the bowl and she cried because she had changed her mind. We both ended up grumpy and not eating much breakfast.

As you can imagine I was beside myself and ready to toss the idea of giving a three-year-old choices!! I found myself in Miss Cherie’s office discussing my frustration. Well, after our talk things went much smoother the next morning. I gave little Georgia a choice of pancakes or cornflakes. To my surprise it only took her 30 seconds to decide on pancakes!! The trick was to give her a choice between TWO different items. Even if she said she wanted eggs I told her the choices were pancakes or cornflakes today. IT WORKED!!

I think I am brave enough to move onto giving her a choice of whether to wear the pink dress or the purple pants to Preschool next time.

Hugs,

Georgie