Summary: Making choices and decisions are an important part of life. As adults, we make hundreds of decisions a day. How did we learn to make decisions? How can we help children learn to make choices and decisions? The opportunity to make choices can help young children learn language, independence, and to accept the outcome of their decision. Offering choices can help give a child a sense of control and thereby decrease their desire to be oppositional. As children grow, model your thought process when you make daily decisions by narrating your thoughts. This can help children understand how to think through making decisions. Accepting the outcomes and consequence, both good and not so good, is another important life skill that parents can help children learn. “Life is a matter of choices and every choice you make, makes you.” John C. Maxwell
