How to Get Started with Independent Dressing
Ah, independence. We all strive for it, even the little ones. They’re not going to be helpless babies forever – it’s time to embrace your preschooler’s need to do things for themselves! This can be a lot harder on the parent, of course – especially when it comes to independent dressing.
Any parent will tell you it’s a battle of wills each morning that can lead to frustration on both parts. Your preschooler wants to wear a rainbow colored tutu to school for the third day in a row, while you beg and plead for them to wear a more sensible t-shirt and pants combo. It can be a never ending cycle of frustration, but it doesn’t have to be that way. There are ways to compromise. Here are some tips for getting started.
Set the Stage For Success
If you know your weekday mornings are super rushed and stressful as you try to feed the kids and get them out the door, choose a time for dressing lessons that won’t result in tears and anxiety. Busy weekday mornings probably aren’t the best times to start giving your preschooler wardrobe lessons.
Try a day on the weekend when things are more leisurely, such as during a rainy Saturday afternoon or before a family walk on Sunday. Start with basics such as t-shirts and shorts. Depending on their skill level, your preschooler may have trouble with fine motor skill tasks such as buttoning a shirt or zipping up pants.
Give them plenty of time to master the skill, doing it over and over again till they get it. Self-dressing is the ideal way to work on fine and gross motor skills.
Help Them to Help Themselves
Jerry Maguire may have said it best: “Help ME help YOU!” Many preschoolers can be quite stubborn and may scoff at the idea of being taught the right way to get dressed. They may dig in their heels because they’re unsure how to do it, or they may just be locked in a power struggle with you.
Parents don’t always realize just how much of a challenge these seemingly simple tasks are for four-year-olds. But if you take the time to think about it: there’s a lot involved when it comes to getting properly dressed. Break it down into manageable chunks and directions. For instance, show them how the seams should stay on the inside, make sure they know labels should be in the back, and actually show them how to get their head through the neck of the sweater.
Talk It Out
Be vocal about each step and walk your preschooler through it. This not only reinforces the task at hand, it helps them learn new vocabulary (words like hem, sleeves, collars, waistband, etc.). When they know which words to associate with which parts of dressing, you can better talk them through the challenging parts rather than jumping in to fix things.
Present Limited Choices
Independence is one thing; your sanity is another. If you give your children free reign over their whole closet, you’ll both end up in tears. To prevent mismatching and cobbled-together outfits, limit their choices to two selections of weather-appropriate clothing. This will prevent them from getting overwhelmed with a myriad of choices – or heading out in 90-degree weather with a sweater and long pants.
Lay out the two outfits, and close the closet. Tell them to choose one outfit, which puts control in their hands. You can give them a little more control if you think they can handle it – by allowing them to pick out an accessory such as a necklace or belt.
Let the Little Things Go
Letting your preschoolers get ready themselves will take an incredible amount of patience on your part, but once they see that they have some element of control, the process should go much smoother. If they do choose an outfit or accessory you don’t agree with, and it’s not harming anyone, try to look the other way. Pick your battles: it’s a wise piece of advice for a reason.
In the end, it’s important to try to find comfort in the chaos. You don’t want to hear it, but there will be a time when your help will not be needed or wanted, and you won’t have a say at all. Your sullen teenager will only come out of his room to eat and your preteen will roll their eyes at you on their way out the door to school. Let the little things go.
Book a Tour of Country Home Learning Center Today
Coming to school pristinely dressed is not something we expect here at Country Home Learning Center. We understand mornings are tough, so we will help with the transition in any way we can, especially at the challenging preschool level. Contact us today to book a tour of one of our many facilities.
