Thursday, April 9, 2009
Autonomy!
So last class we talked about children's play and their growing development towards autonomy and independence. They want to try things on their own, not be filled with shame and self-doubt. They are, not even realizing it, finding their identity and parents and others have a huge role in molding that. Well, as I was listening I was thinking about my soccer team that I coach. I wanted to find ways that I can increase their autonomy and self-worth at soccer practice. So, yesterday, I asked them to make decisions (one of the ways we talked about that can help) about what drills or games we wanted to do. I gave them a choice in rewards - if one team won, what's the reward? They would decide and feel like they took part in a decision. I also had different girls model the drills - which they got super excited about and felt confident! It was so fun to see!
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I also think autonomy is important when developing one's self and boosting self worth. When children make decisions for themselves they are choosing what is right for them, and what they like, if it turns out to be a good decision it can boost their self esteem. Making your own decisions helps you to discover what you like and don't like in life. I coach basketball and the girls loved to demo drills, they felt like they were doing something right and it boosted their confidence too. I also would give them decisions and they loved to feel like they had a little bit of say in what was going on. So often children are told what to do, and feel like they have no choices, when they are given one they seems suprised sometimes.
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