Developing independence skills is an important part of your child’s growth. Children need certain abilities and support to learn how to do things on their own.
Learning skills to help develop independence
When children learn to do things for themselves, they use a mix of many different skills.
Tasks such as dressing, feeding or washing need coordination, strength and planning, as well as focus and motivation.
Each child develops these skills at their own pace. Everyday routines offer lots of chances to practise them.
How to begin teaching a task
Supporting a child to achieve a goal can take patience, understanding and resourcefulness.
Sometimes it can help to use visuals and verbal prompts. Be flexible and change the part of the task that is too difficult. For example, use velcro instead of laces.
Choose a task
Identify a task that your child needs to work on. There may be different parts to the task. Start with 1 part at a time.
For example, start with taking off trousers before putting them on. Or start with unbuttoning before buttoning.
Analyse the task
Before trying to support your child to learn the new skill, complete the task yourself.
Break it down into specific steps and write down each step. It can help to take pictures of each step. You can show these to your child when you begin teaching the skill.
Try to be organised
Being organised can help make the teaching process easier. For example, if your child finds dressing difficult, help them to organise their clothes into labelled boxes or drawers.
Planning outfits for the days of the week can make getting dressed easier.
If your child finds choosing their clothes stressful, plan the outfits together.
Find a way that works for both you and your child.
Consider a reward system
Some children respond well to motivators or rewards to achieve a goal.
Make sure your child understands:
- what goal they are working on
- why the goal is important
- the reward they are working towards
Make an agreement with your child and make sure you both understand the plan.
Be consistent
Decide who will teach a skill. If a child is taught the same skill by different people in different ways, it can be confusing. For example, there are many ways to take off a jumper.
Sometimes inconsistency can stop your child’s progress. It can also lead to frustration.
When teaching a task, practise with similar equipment at the same time of day. Use the same strategies.
If you are teaching dressing skills, use similar types or styles of clothing at first. You can progress to different clothing as your child’s skills improve.
Check your child’s position
Think about your child's position when doing a task. For example, when they are handwriting, using cutlery or getting dressed.
Your child's position can affect how they do a task and achieve a skill.
For example, it might be easier to get dressed sitting on a firm stool or chair than on a soft bed.
Depending on the task, think about the options of sitting in a corner or leaning against a wall. These can give stability or boundaries.
If your child sits with their feet raised on a step or stool, it can help them to reach without losing their balance.
Sometimes it can work to sit your child on your knee. This can give them physical and practical support. It also lets them see the starting point of the task to be completed. For example, when putting on socks. It may give them a better understanding of the final steps.
Backward chaining teaching approach
Backward chaining is an approach that can be helpful when starting to teach a task.
The aim of backward chaining
The aim of backward chaining is for you to do less and less and for your child to be continually growing more independent.
How backward chaining works
You complete most of the task and your child does the last step.
For example, you complete steps 1 to 5, and your child does step 6. When your child is fully comfortable completing step 6, they can then progress onto completing steps 5 and 6, then 4, 5 and 6 - and so on.
Positive reinforcement
The backward chaining approach usually leads to positive reinforcement for your child, as they get to finish the task successfully.
This content was adapted from video series 'Independent Skills' by Enable Ireland.