Some decisions can be made in a moment. But others require time and thought. You can help your middle schooler learn to make difficult decisions.
Stress that “making no decision” is not a good option. If your child avoids making decisions, then he is willing to just let things happen to him. He won’t learn responsibility and he could be hurt badly.
Encourage your child to use these steps to make decisions:
- Pretend you have already made the decision. What has happened? What are the consequences?
- Learn about your choices. Even if you are just deciding which movie to see, read some reviews. Make an informed choice instead of guessing.
- Make the decision after getting your information and thinking about the consequences.
- Think about your decision. How did it turn out?
- Learn from the decision. Would you make the choice again? What would you do differently?
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- This article is part of the following topics:
- Building Responsibility & Independence Decisionmaking Early Elementary School Elementary School High School Middle School
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