Decision Making ~ The Foundation for Responsible Behaviour
Decision making is not confine to just adults. Even young children regularly choose which toys or games they would like to play with, how they will behave, which books they would like be read to, or which television programmes they would like to watch. As they get older, they make bigger decisions that very frequently involve their family, their friends and their schoolwork. The types of decisions children make could affect their wellbeing, their relationships and their success.
But how do children make decisions? Do they have a set of rules or tools to follow? Or do they simply make a decision because ‘I see someone doing that.’, ‘Everyone’s doing the same thing.’ ?
When the children are young, we often help them make good decisions. A good decision is one that is most likely to lead to a positive outcome for everyone concerned such as brush your teeth now before you go to bed, let’s read a book together now, choose the healthy meal for lunch now, eat your fruit. But as they grow older, they become more independent and they will become assertive in making their own decisions. Other times, they may need to make a good decision and you won’t be available for consultation. The crucial thing to ask is do our children have the tools to make good decisions? With this future moment in mind, start decision training now. No one learns to make consistently good decisions overnight. Children can learn skills for making good decisions gradually.
As children develop skills for managing their thinking as well as their feelings, they become better at putting decision making into practise. For example, children who have learned to use thinking to manage their behaviour are able to say to themselves, “Stop, I’d better think about this first.” “What are the consequences now and later.” “Who can I approach for help?” The ability to think before acting helps children control impulsive behaviour and make better decisions. Being able to think about time and plan ahead provides a basis for children to evaluate options by considering long-term goals, not just immediate circumstances.
What we do
We want to help our kids be empowered to make GOOD decisions because we simply cannot help them make good decisions all the time.
Our BrainWise programme is a proven, evidence-based programme for building critical thinking and decision making skills in children, youth and even in adults. In 2007, BrainWise received an award by Rotary International recognising it as an Innovative Literacy Project.
Thousands of individuals have been trained in and taught the BrainWise programme since it was first introduced in 1995. BrainWise is taught throughout the United States, Canada, China and India. Now it is available in Singapore.
