Stop & Think

How can you facilitate good decision-making skills in

your elementary school-aged child?

Presented by: Torre Shepker, School Counselor

 Goals

At the end of this presentation, you will have knowledge that

will increase your ability to:
o Understand your childs unique experience in decision-making
o Help guide their decisions without deciding for them
o Understand issues that get in the way of making good decisions
o Know ways to support their continued decision-making skills
What exactly is decision-making?

Decision-, or choice, making is the ability to show

a preference among two or more available options.
Choice-making skills allow children to gain
increasing control over their immediate
environment
Weir, Cooney, Walter & Moss (Retrieved 2015).
Decision-making is a lifelong process. Special skills are required to
be able to make effective decisions, both long term and short term.
Thus, children are not inherently born with the ability to problem
solve and make actual decisions. Through their personal and unique
life experiences and watching the behaviors of others, children learn
to make decisions through stages. Essentially, impulsivity and
rationale battle in a never-ending cycle as kids attempt to make
decisions about the world around them.
 How decision-making skills transform:

As they develop,
Younger Children
children are more
are more likely to:
able to:
Focus on one aspect of a
See things from different angles
situation

See other peoples points of

Focus on their own position
view

Look for immediate benefits Think and plan ahead

Want things now Focus on longer range goals

Act without thinking first Consider consequences

Make simple distinctions Apply more complex values to Adapted

between good/bad, right/wrong their own thinking
from:
Make decisions based on a Used reasoned strategies for Kids Matter
whim making decisions
(2015)
 Things that can get in the way.

Internal Factors External Factors

Prejudice
Negative Consequences
Strong Feelings
Lack of experience Group decision-making
Impulsivity
Overconfidence
Competitiveness
Poor social skills
 What can parents do?

Teach your child what it means to make a decision.

Talk through the process with him/her.
Incorporate a simple motto such as Stop & Think to encourage
your child to think before acting.
Provide many opportunities for your child to make decisions for
himself/herself.
Guide your child through the process and towards the outcome.
Teach to your child about the outcomes of decisions.
Honor their mistakes, praise them for their efforts, reward them for
their triumphs.
 References

KidsMatter (2012-13). About good decision-making. Retrieved from:

https://
www.kidsmatter.edu.au/families/about-behaviour/making-decisions/lea
rning-make-good-decisions-and-solve-problems

KidsMatter (2012-13). About good decision-making. Retrieved from:

https://
www.kidsmatter.edu.au/sites/default/files/public/KMP_C2_HCMD_Abou
tGoodDecisionMaking.pdf

Weir, Cooney, Walter, Moss (Accessed 2015). Fostering self-

determination among children and youth with disabilities. Retrieved
from: http://
www.waisman.wisc.edu/naturalsupports/pdfs/FosteringSelfDeterminatio
n.pdf