Raising Independent Children - Nine and Ten Year Olds
discipline kids, independent children November 26th, 2008
Since I have a nine year old, this age is very dear to my heart! However, this is an age where sloppiness sets in. Nine and ten year olds are usually not very neat with their clothes and will try and wear clothes from the hamper or off the floor. Nine and ten year olds are into making plans and will often help out with family outings planning the littlest of details.
Unfortunately, it is at this age that children also learn that parents are not infallible. They begin to see that everyone makes mistakes and question authority. Girls will start to mature faster than boys and will not understand why the boys in their class at school are still “silly.”
Don’t let your child lose interest in school at this age. Get them additional help if needed so that they do not feel left behind.
Children that are nine and ten should be able to:
- Mop floors
- Do own laundry (with instructions)
- Bake cakes and cookies
- Set goals and follow through
- Learn first aid
- Wash car
- Clean stove and oven
- Write letters and thank you notes
- Vacuum out car
- Plant a garden
- Hammer nails and saw wood
- Use e-mail
- Sew on buttons
- Follow a simple recipe
- Wrap presents
- Use a leaf blower
- Memorize poems or bible verses
If you have a relative that loves to cook and bake, let your son or daughter help them out. We send our daughter and son over to their grandparents house on holidays and they learn how to make some of the old family recipes.
This is also an age when respect needs to be instilled and enforced. If children do not respect parents and other adults at this age, the teenage years will be unbearable!


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