Supporting Your Child's Independence in Early Childhood

On-Demand Class · Parenting

Insightful early childhood developmentally based class and easy-to-implement strategies to support children as they take small steps in their developmental journey to become independent, confident persons who thrive in life.

Class Description

This course looks at how children develop independence from birth and throughout the formative years of early childhood development. Responding appropriately to the developmentally driven behaviors of the young ones lies in the understanding of early childhood development and the characteristics associated with the infancy, toddler, and preschool stages. The more knowledge parents, caregivers, and early childhood educators have of the characteristics of each stage of child development, the more they can understand the link between the development and behavior of children. The knowledge becomes the bedrock for nurturing infants to develop a sense of trust; guiding toddlers to channel their will to develop a sense of autonomy positively, and encouraging initiative and a can-do attitude in preschoolers in their journey of self-discovery and independence. In addition to learning about the vital characteristics of the infancy, toddler, and preschool developmental stages, this course also covers the following areas: The significant developmental elements of cognitive, language, physical and social-emotional that support the independence of children and what parents can do to support children in these areas. The place of potty training in the journey of independence, the signs that indicate children's readiness, and the processes to achieve success. The role intentional behavior guidance plays in guiding children to learn social-emotional skills for positive behavior. The need to create age-appropriate rules with clear boundaries to foster positive behavior and independence, and the place of chores to instill a sense of responsibility and independence in children. What process-based praise is, and why it should be used in acknowledging children's positive behavior. This course provides practical, easy-to-understand, and implement strategies you can use to guide children at various stages of development to take confident steps toward independence and manage themselves as a person and in group settings. The class is an essential tool for any parent, early childhood educator, or caregiver who wants to understand child development and children's behavior and is passionate about learning how to guide children to develop positive behavior and a 'can-do attitude' while taking one small, confident step at a time.

Class Materials

Notepad Pen or pencil

Sessions Overview

  1. Meet Ngozi and What to Expect from This Class: A welcoming session introducing the class, the instructor, and what you will learn at the end of the course in your passion for empowering your child to become a positive, confident, independent person.
  2. Laying the Foundation - Infancy: How would you respond to your infant's internal question, "Can I trust you to take care of me lovingly and securely?" Responding appropriately and practically to this question lies in understanding the characteristics of the infancy stage and children's basic needs.
  3. Laying the Foundation - Toddlers: How would you answer your toddler's internal question, "Am I capable of doing things independently, or will I depend on you to do things for me?" Find out how to answer this question to empower your child to explore and feel in control to build independence and positive behavior.
  4. Laying the Foundation - Preschoolers: How would you practically answer your preschooler asking, "Am I good or bad in the quest to develop a sense of initiative and the purpose behind rules?" Explore strategies to support your child's sense of initiative and purpose for rules to confirm their best to avoid a sense of guilt.
  5. Building Independence - Cognitive, Language and Physical Skills: Critical to building independence in the early years is the ability to reason, communicate, and develop physical-healthy and social-emotional skills for group interactions. Strategies to support children to develop these skills are embedded and explained in this section.
  6. Potty Training: Potty training plays a significant role in children's journey toward independence. Learn about the cognitive, physical, and social-emotional signs that indicate children's readiness to start and the processes to achieve success. Explore the key to helping a regressed child overcome confidently.
  7. Encouraging Positive Behavior: Social-emotional skills are critical for intentional learning in early childhood. Create age-appropriate rules with clear boundaries to foster positive behavior, with parents as role models. Tips to get children to process instructions and cooperate without complaining abound.
  8. Participating in Chores: Take chores out of chores! Highlighted are age-related examples of chores and play-based strategies to encourage preschoolers and older ones to do chores. Chores teach the little one basic self-care skills and instill a sense of responsibility and belonging as a family or group member.
  9. Use of Process-based Praise: Catch them being good! Why should you acknowledge your child's positive behavior? Find out what process-based praise is and why it should be used in acknowledging children's positive behavior.

Your Instructor

Ngozi Uche

Hello Parents, My name is Ngozi Elizabeth Uche. I am a life-long teacher, educational psychologist, parenting coach, and early childhood education management consultant. I am a mother of two boys and a grandmother. My family and I reside in Toronto, Canada. I have a degree in General Education with a minor in Social Studies. I also have a Bachelor of Education in Educational Psychology, Guidance & Counseling, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA). I have spent over thirty years working with children of all ages, teachers, and parents. After twenty years of working with children and teachers, I became a focused early childhood development specialist working with parents and teachers on behavior management techniques, caring for and raising positive, self-confident, empathic independent children who cooperate without complaining. I have lived, worked, and taught in four continents. The interactions enlarged my personal and professional experiences and deepened my understanding and appreciation of the diverse cultures and culturally imbibed forms of raising children. I managed the most prominent International Childcare organization in the Netherlands that provides daycare, preschool, afterschool, and parenting services from January 2011 to August 2020 as the Educational Program/Managing Director. While managing the day-day strategic operations of the childcare organization, with direct oversight of five early childhood program managers, two after-school care area managers, and five business support departmental managers, I also carried out the following responsibilities: Developed and delivered practical parenting workshops quarterly on intentional behavioral guidance techniques and other topics related to caring for and raising positive children. Carried out one-on-one parenting coaching and counseling sessions. Developed and delivered professional workshops for early childhood teachers on child-centered reflective practices and learning. Trained and coached early childhood teachers and after-school care teachers on setting up childcare centers and techniques for planning and implementing an age-appropriate program of activities. Researched and developed the bilingual curriculum framework for the early years' group and trained the teachers on the concept and approaches. It became the most sought-after program in all its early childhood centers. I am the founder and Principal Program Director of Linz Education & Training Services. My responsibilities currently include and are not limited to: Providing early childhood and childcare set-up consultancy and management. ​​Parenting coaching and child behavioral guidance & counseling sessions. Developing and delivering professional training for early childhood teachers. Developing a child-vision-oriented early childhood curriculum. One-on-one career coaching & counseling sessions. Personal skills development workshops for work & life successes. I am passionate about the quality of care provided for children in their early stages of development by parents and teachers. I am equally passionate about supporting parents and early childhood teachers with practical child-centered developmental tools to guide and empower the little ones positively. Another area I am passionate about is supporting parents and teachers to understand who Third Culture Kids(TCKs) are, what makes them unique, their characteristics, unique challenges, and how to support them with issues that come with living and growing up in multiple countries. The numerous transitions influence their persons and perspective compared to children who grew up in a mono-cultural setting. I am grateful for the opportunity to train and coach hundreds of parents, early childhood teachers, and afterschool care teachers, on various child developmental centered topics, to reflectively work to raise positive, self-confident, independent children to succeed and thrive in life. I am also the author of the book "The Reflective Teacher: Holistic Pedagogic Approaches for Early Childhood Educators." The book is a practical resource that includes everything early childhood teachers in preschool and daycare settings need to inform their teaching and caring of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. It is also a valuable resource for parents passionate about guiding their children to learn and develop as happy individuals who thrive in group settings. The book is rooted in a deep understanding of child development and attachment theories which is the foundation for understanding the characteristics of early childhood development and the link between developmental attributes and behavior. Approaches and relationships highlighted in the book to support the child’s developmental journey include: Leveraging play as a means of learning and development. Encouraging the social-emotional competencies of children through intentional social-emotional guidance. Dealing with challenging behaviors of children from a foundational standpoint. Means to individualizing care and learning according to the unique needs of every child. Building trusting relationships with parents, especially in challenging situations. Thank you very much for taking my class, a testament that you are deeply committed to doing your best to empower your lovely child to become a positive, self-confident, independent person.

Degrees and Certifications

General Education Degree (Minor in Social Studies) Bachelor of Education (Educational Psychology, Guidance & Counseling) Master of Business Administration (MBA)

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